New to the site - Buying a bus

pennuja · August 15, 2014, 06:59:33 PM

My name is Jim, I joined the site because my wife and I are interested in buying a bus conversion. We have wanted a bus for a long time and the possibility of buying one has kind of found us.

About me: I am a programmer and have worked on all kinds of things electronic and mechanical my whole life, I am not great at working on anything specific just good all around knowledge. I recently purchased a 1975 Airstream and have been restoring it, I am sure it will be a work in progress for a while but I have it to the point of using it for camping.

The bus that found me is not officially for sale, but the owner wants to get rid of it. We looked at it tonight and we are very interested but unsure of what a good price is to offer for it, we don't want to offend the owner but don't want to over pay either. We are looking at a 1958 GMC bus with an original 6-71 engine with around 250,000 miles. The bus was professionally converted in what seems to have been in the 80's, the owner used it for 10 years and has let it sit for the last 5 years. I know that it has a new clutch and has had some work done to it, he thinks that it had fuel system upgrades the last time he had it worked on. The bus is definitely in need of being cleaned up externally and internally it is in no way ready to use.

For sure I know that the batteries are all bad as well as all 6 tires. The right side windshield has a crack in it, and the front door and rear engine compartment door need to be aligned they look like they are not closing correctly but both do operate. The refrigerator is bad (Smells like ammonia) and the bathroom looks like it could have been getting wet (Maybe a vent leak) but the bus does not really have a musty smell or anything. The paint on the roof and side stripe are peeling and cracked, I also can tell that all of the side windows will need new gaskets. The interior albeit very outdated is still in pretty nice condition.

I do not know how much they paid or are expecting to get, and they want me to make an offer. Does anyone have an idea of what it would be worth by the description. If I had to make an offer on my own I would think around 4500 would be fair for me, but I would love some guidance on what it really is worth. I know in order to just get the bus to a point of being able to safely drive it I an looking at a minimum of 3k in tires and batteries alone.

I posted this on another site as well, jut trying to gather as much info as possible.
Thanks for reading,
Jim

eagle19952 · August 15, 2014, 07:17:43 PM

one thing I would consider, what is the total amount of money that I would want to invest add that to the $4500 thought.
then I would go look at all the coaches I could find ( online, nearby etc.) and compare those to the one you are looking at now.

Although it has sat for 5 years, with a battery it should run and drive (albeit not to your safety standard)... if it will not move at highway speeds, I would look elsewhere.

pabusnut · August 16, 2014, 04:32:46 AM

Jim,

If you post your location, and the location of the bus, there might be a "busnut" nearby who could help evaluate it. There are still a lot of us GM fans around.

Steve Toomey
PAbusnut
(currently suffering from TBWD syndrome)

pennuja · August 16, 2014, 04:41:22 AM

Sorry Steve I probably should have posted that, I live right off of RT 80 exit 12 in NJ and the bus is located in Dover NJ.

kanda · August 16, 2014, 05:58:13 AM

Welcome. Newbie busnut here as well.
We recently bought a 1958 4104 as well. 3596 specifically. We paid about 1/2 of what you are thinking offering but after a few months have quite a bit more into it in parts. Couple thousand actually. Picked up ours in a "fire sale" sort of situation so that may have affected price. Labor has so far been paid for only in sweat.
Ours was in similar shape overall to what you are describing. Took us a month of intermittent tinkering to get her road ready. Batteries are not cheap and tires are about as far from cheap as you can get. We lucked out and have not had to do tires (yet), little bit of weather cracking but still within safety range.
Not sure on glass prices, but I bet 300+ per windshield side.
We had all the service records since new and the chassis has 1270000 miles on it. The odds that the bus you are looking at only has 250k on it are zero. When new in the 1950s, transit buses were in continuous serviceand per the records for ours, our bus had nearly 750000 mi on it by 1961. Most were retired from revenue service,from what I have read, when they had 1, 000, 000+ miles.
Anyway, its a fun project so far. Just make sure you are realistic on time and money budget! We budgeted a year of time and about 10k over that time to get things how we want them

pennuja · August 16, 2014, 06:10:26 AM

Thanks for the advice Kanda. I know that the owner as all of the records too, although I have not seen them so I agree about the milage probably being more. I am looking at it the same way we are in no rush to get it to be 100% functional and I will try to do as much as possible myself. We know that we are going to spend upwards of 10k in renovations alone and will not get it back if we ever sell it but that is how hobbies like this are. Glad to hear that the windshield will be around 300 I was figuring way more

lou432 · August 16, 2014, 06:16:52 AM

Welcome Jim !! I`m new here too ,wish I`d done what your doing and asking ??`s fore I bought. No regrets though!! :-) ( So far!! )
Link to some valuable info>>>>> http://www.busconversions.com/bbs/index.php?topic=11781.0
and keep ax`n ??`s Good luck!

chessie4905 · August 16, 2014, 06:39:58 AM

Jim,
I live in central Pa. If you could send me several pictures of prospective coach, maybe we could hook up to look at it. Had a 4104 in family for several years, so know some about them.

kanda · August 16, 2014, 06:53:28 AM

Heck, offer him 3k cash and show up with a handful of hundreds and a list of pricing of things that you know it needs. They might take it!
Lots of good info on here. Without this site and the bno bulletin board I never would have bought ours. Makes troubleshooting easier when there is so much information online from those who have "been there and done that".
Ours has a rebuilt 671 4 head with jakes, wipers converted to electric, alternator conversion, and I think a different geared a axle than stock as I had it out last wk on the highway and at about 1900 rpm we were easily holding 70mph on the flat.
Good luck!
Heck, if your deal doesnt work out, pm me as we could consider parting with ours for the right deal. I have a lot of projects right now and love this one, but work and kids has my time short

pennuja · August 16, 2014, 07:54:23 AM

We were thinking about offering lower, it is tough when someone tells you to make an offer. I think that it is a really good bus, the conversion was done in a way that they did not ruin the bus part of it. They reupholstered the driver seat rather than replace it and they also left the handrails around the steps and drivers seat. They have an older split air conditioner so that it is not on the roof, and they also did not cover up any of the windows.

shelled · August 16, 2014, 10:04:21 AM

Quote from: eagle19952 on August 15, 2014, 07:17:43 PM

Although it has sat for 5 years, with a battery it should run and drive (albeit not to your safety standard)... if it will not move at highway speeds, I would look elsewhere.

Moving a bus that won't motivate itself is very expensive. If the bus cannot be driven, your price competition is the scrap dealer & you can bet the scrap dealer will subtract tow costs from any offer.

edward

pennuja · August 16, 2014, 12:55:41 PM

Quote from: shelled on August 16, 2014, 10:04:21 AM
Moving a bus that won't motivate itself is very expensive. If the bus cannot be driven, your price competition is the scrap dealer & you can bet the scrap dealer will subtract tow costs from any offer.

edward

I am pretty sure that I have someone that can move it, I talked to him today. That is one good thing since it is only about 30 miles away, if it was farther I would really have to factor that into the price.

Cosmo · August 16, 2014, 05:18:00 PM

Pen, I'm a newbie to this bus nut thing and can tell you this, IT'S ADDICTING once you start into it. There are a lot of bus nuts on this site that are very helpful with about any question you may have, guys here have seen it all. Myself I'm bring back to life a 1964 GM PD-4106. It sat for the last three years, I knew the PO who happened to be a buddy, he passed away. So when his widow came to me it was a no brainer, as I already had history with this bus and always wanted a bus. It's like you said, this bus found us. When we drove it home, there was no feeling like it. Since then I have parked it my driveway and my wife and I have started on her. I'm in charge of the exterior and mechanics, my wife the remodel of the inside (except for driver's area). Like your bus we needed to replace two Windows and two tires, servicing the 8V-71, I think the oil bath air filters, I was bit. We look forward to our first road trip and haven't looked back, good luck with your purchase.

gumpy · August 16, 2014, 06:41:03 PM

When someone won't tell me what they want for something, I usually low-ball it. I figure if they take it, I got a good deal. If they say it's too low, then they know what they want, and
usually will reveal it at that time. If they don't I let them keep sitting on it, move on, and never look back.

luvrbus · August 16, 2014, 06:57:43 PM

Those dreams don't always work out for you Jason come to my mind the young man was so happy with his purchase he had tranny problems in OKC then dropped a valve in the engine last I heard he was sitting in OK working at a job to get enough cash to fix the monster or get back home with his family. One does need to be careful buying a 50 or 60 year old bus BTW has anyone heard from Jason did he sell the bus or having it repaired ? your heart breaks for that young man and his family