Why is nobody buying this bus for a conversion ?

[someguy]

I agree to some extent.  You could part it out if it was bad.  S60 cores are getting hard to find.

[buswarrior]

Nobody that is hoping to stay in business are openly advertising... that is certain death in a customer service business... nobody will book or give a deposit, if they get even a whiff of potential closure.

Fleets are going so far as to hide some of their equipment, to maintain appearances around their usual place of business.

You want a coach, start calling around to see what might be quietly for sale, that was on the road, before it all hit the fan.

Stuff is not going to come served on a platter.

The fleets that have gone under, nothing is for sale openly, because there are no potential commercial buyers and the finaciers can afford to wait for awhile.

Busnuts do not enter into the picture, too few, too cheap.

The bus industry is stalled, kaput, non-moving.

The deals require connections, phone calls, and effort. The carnage to the living and the dead is unprecedented.

Happy coaching!
Buswarrior

[buswarrior]

I agree to some extent.  You could part it out if it was bad.  S60 cores are getting hard to find.

Part it out to who?

Current conditions are no demand and over supply.

Ask the rebuilder if they want that S60 out of a BUS, and at what price, before you gamble. They don't make money having to screw around swapping it to truck configuration.

This is not the time to be trying to turn a bus into money.

It certainly is a good time to turn money into a bus, ignoring the rest of our economic disaster for a moment.

Happy coaching!
Buswarrior

[someguy]

COVID isn't going to last forever.   And when it is done there is going to be a tidal wave of cooped up people looking to travel.

Truckers are still going strong.

I've got a line on another bus but this one is cheaper.  I didn't give this bus much thought until I created this thread last night. 

I've contacted the seller.  We are going to go through some things on Monday.

[Van]

  S60 cores are getting hard to find.

Really? How many do you want? Lol!

[someguy]

1st rebuild cores ?   That aren't cavitated around the liners ?

[Van]

1st rebuild cores ?   That aren't cavitated around the liners ?

"How many do you want?"

[Jim Blackwood]

Better not count on scrapping it out. That's a fool's game unless you're already set up for it, and $10K is too much to pay for a total. You'll be spinning your wheels instead of building a bus. Not the best plan.

Bottom line is that you need to verify the condition of the bus. Sounds like you know enough to do that yourself. So go look at it. If it's close enough to bring home it's certainly close enough to drive to see it. If the seller won't accept that, drop your offer to 25% or less and ask him to reconsider the inspection. If he doesn't get the idea from that, give it a pass. Better deals will come along.

Jim

[someguy]

I wouldn't buy a bus to scrap.  But if you found something wrong with it, you wouldn't be far out scrapping it.  A running S60 sells for $5K, plus the core charge, which is $2500.

https://www.vanderhaags.com/Search-Results.php?items=50&subcategory=engine-engine-assembly&manufacturer=detroit&model=60-ser-12-7&inventorytype=engine-assembly&typesetid=3000

[chessie4905]

time for a road trip to check it out in person. make you are setup with insurance and some kind of paper work or tags to take it along if it checks out. Unless you buy brand new, there are always some kind of issues, hopefully none that are a deal breaker. a good test drive with your prior experience should alleviate most issues, ie engine, trans, brakes. No engine service light issues especially. Maybe if the location is reasonable, you could have a company mechanic come and run a scan tool on it if necessary. Make sure the service light comes on when started, then goes off.
Another idea would be to check with Luke if he knows of any of that model near him for sale that he has serviced.

[windtrader]

Why isn't anything selling?

This far into the pandemic?

There are NO buses on the road up here, fleets are shuttered all over North America, many people have a big hole in their bank account from reduced or lost work, those with money, are worried about their adult kids reduced/lost wages...

The potential market is WAY WAY smaller, almost non-existant, than it was 9 months ago...

Good buses are going for cheap, why buy a very likely crap bus?

Happy coaching!
Buswarrior

Uh. Read the business journals. Retail sales are trending up and recreational vehicle sales and support are booming. Thank you US Goverment for printing 3 trillion dollars in funny money and blowing it all over the us like these recent hurricanes. More to come to with the elections. Nobody wants to defend chocking off all the free money. There will be a day of reckoning, always settled with devastating conflicts and terrible suffering to humans and countries.

[someguy]

Here is a J, one year newer, a little cleaner... $60K
https://www.ebay.com/itm/2003-MCI-J4500-For-Sale/392907813527?hash=item5b7b217297:g:YywAAOSwGz9fNiR0

Here is a 2000 EL3, 602K miles... $19,900
https://www.truckpaper.com/listings/trucks/for-sale/27146071/2000-mci-102-el3

Here is a 1998 EL3, 620K miles... $17,900
https://www.truckpaper.com/listings/trucks/for-sale/29536377/1998-mci-102-el3

Here is a 2008 J, 480K miles... $100,000
https://www.ebay.com/itm/2008-MCI-J4500/174398605160?hash=item289af78768:g:A3YAAOSwoaFdeTfl

If the 2002 really has 480K on it, it is a good deal for ~10-12K.  There aren't enough changes between 2002 and 2008 to warrant paying $90K more for the 2008.

[chessie4905]

most of stimilus has been spent by consumer. tiny home sales and busses and shells has slowed now. notice how many are now for sale on facebook and craigslist?
bus companies going under or offloading assets to keep from going under, bank repossesions, loancompanies repossesions, etc. good time for next few months to score a deal. If a reliable vaccine comes out, things "may change quickly". or get worse. it is just a gamble.

[windtrader]

FYI - Bus just sold at $14k, 10 day on this listing, earlier post implied it was posted previously. 2 bidders. bid it up $1k from $13 to $14k

[someguy]

FYI - Bus just sold at $14k, 10 day on this listing, earlier post implied it was posted previously. 2 bidders. bid it up $1k from $13 to $14k

Doesn't surprise me that it sold.  Looked like a pretty solid value at that price.

Now that it sold, I'll give you the back story.  A pastor purchased it for his church.  It passed safety inspection in December.  It was being used in early 2020.  Covid hit and he couldn't afford to make the payments and it got repossessed.

It's bus number 61873.

Bid history.

Bidder
   Bid Amount   Bid Time
o***l(1349feedback score: 1349)   US $13,999.00   29 Aug 2020 at 14:59:05 EDT
4***6(226feedback score: 226)   US $13,899.00   29 Aug 2020 at 14:59:03 EDT
o***l(1349feedback score: 1349)   US $13,699.00   29 Aug 2020 at 14:58:33 EDT
4***6(226feedback score: 226)   US $13,699.00   29 Aug 2020 at 14:59:00 EDT
4***6(226feedback score: 226)   US $13,399.00   29 Aug 2020 at 14:58:28 EDT
4***6(226feedback score: 226)   US $13,199.00   29 Aug 2020 at 14:58:20 EDT
o***l(1349feedback score: 1349)   US $13,099.00   29 Aug 2020 at 10:53:20 EDT
4***6(226feedback score: 226)   US $13,099.00   29 Aug 2020 at 14:58:17 EDT
Starting Price   US $12,999.00   19 Aug 2020 at 14:59:08 EDT

When I started looking at bus conversions back in 2006, an MCI9 with 800,000 miles was selling for $20K.