Need a good laugh? Skokie adventure

bronson · October 16, 2020, 05:46:19 PM

Headline... After living in a converted school bus for a year, a retiree is now $10,000 in debt and selling her schoolie — here's the one cost she didn't see coming
She spent $45,000 converting a 1999 freight liner school bus into a tiny house with the help of a builder. But, in the past year while on the road, she said she slipped into $10,000 worth of debt after dealing with the surprise costs of tiny house living.
In the past year, she had to replace "pretty much everything under the hood," including the engine control module, the clutch fan, the master brake cylinder, the ABS sensor, the shocks, and the brake pads.

"When you're looking at paying $3,000 or $4,000 for a single item, that's pretty overwhelming,"
$45000 build ? Ecm, clutch fan, master cylinder ABS sensor shocks and brake pads? Sounds to me like she was taken for a ride.

Story here
https://www.yahoo.com/news/living-converted-school-bus-retiree-183135528.html

windtrader · October 16, 2020, 08:25:42 PM

Humm.. I find the story quite sad and have deep empathy for this retired person who simply did not do enough research to understand what it takes beyond writing those first checks to purchase and immediate deferred items.

Can you imagine being in this woman's shoes? Man, assuming limited fixed income, she is now in real deep financial straits as paying out a 10k debt is a tremendous burden, both financially and emotionally.

All wannabe bus conversion nuts, please ponder the lesson coming from this sad story.

DoubleEagle · October 16, 2020, 08:33:35 PM

She got helped by the people who gouged her at every turn. The outside is not even painted! There is not much chance of selling it for $63,000. P.T. Barnum was right.

Lin · October 16, 2020, 10:18:26 PM

It's kind of depressing how many are so prone to thievery. Sometimes when dealing with someone who turns out to be strictly honest I am just amazed by it and wonder why the heck are they not trying to cheat me.

richard5933 · October 17, 2020, 04:20:03 AM

From the few photos in the article, the interior looks really nice. I bet she spent every penny on creating the 'tiny house' part and totally neglected getting the chassis in working order first.

I suppose that if she were planning to live in it as a tiny house and not a motor home it would still be working for her. With her goal to travel around the country though, she apparently didn't choose wisely when selecting her bus and where to prioritize spending.

Not sure that she got ripped off though, even without the exterior paint being done. Anyone who's ever had a kitchen or bathroom redone in a house knows how quickly custom work like this can add up. She probably spent a few grand just to have the flooring installed. Even the small things add up quickly, and if you're having the work all done by someone else it adds up very quickly.

What I found out of sync was her comment about 'replacing everything under the hood' when the only things mentioned were either maintenance items or peripherals. No mention of an in-frame or other major work. This might be where she grossly overpaid - getting things fixed on the mechanical end. Hard to say though without seeing things first hand.

buswarrior · October 17, 2020, 04:37:24 AM

The situation is not rare, what is rare is that we are hearing about it.

Not too often do people talk about a busnut failure, they just vanish.

Another gift of the gender differences? We don't learn much from hurt men...

If all the failed busnuts reported, no sane person would ever convert a bus again...

Ignorance is bliss?

Happy coaching!
Buswarrior

chessie4905 · October 17, 2020, 05:49:30 AM

I'll bet the many recently acquired coaches that you see for sale on Facebook shortly after purchase are the result of not being able to get insurance. "plans have changed" " the hard work has already been done" "going in a different direction".🙄

Van · October 17, 2020, 10:01:42 AM

Quote from: buswarrior on October 17, 2020, 04:37:24 AM
The situation is not rare, what is rare is that we are hearing about it.

Not too often do people talk about a busnut failure, they just vanish.

Another gift of the gender differences? We don't learn much from hurt men...

If all the failed busnuts reported, no sane person would ever convert a bus again...

Ignorance is bliss?

Happy coaching!
Buswarrior

Yeah I could probably write a book on that subject but yet we forge on lol!
Definitely not for the weak of heart