apprasal vs. resale & upgrading coaches

[singing 4 Him]

Me and my brother in law are almost finished with our conversion of our singing groups coach.  We have a 1987 MCI 102A3. It was just appraised for just under $90,000 we just wondered if anybody had any ideas on a ballpark number on resale value.  We enjoyed doing the conversion and now we are thinking about buying a MCI-9 for ourselves to convert.  We can't afford alot so we are hopeing to buy one between $10,000 - $15,000 or cheaper put about $7,500 - $10,000 into the conversion and resell it. Then by a little newer better bus, convert and sell that one till we can have the coach we want for ourselves. My question is, is this feasable,we know that it will take a long time. Thats ok but will it be hard to sell a converted MCI-9, is there much demand for converted coaches in the $30,000 - $60,000 range. Any ideas on either of these questions would be much appreciated.  Thanks 

[jjrbus]

With diesel fuel topping $3 a gallon it does not seem that converted buses would be a hot market right now!

[JackConrad]

Unless you already have a lot of the stuff on hand, I think it would be difficult to do a complete conversion by adding 7500-10,000 to the cost of the shell. Plus, what is your time worth. The big companies like Marathon figure a minumum of 4000-5000 man hours for a very basic coach.  Fuel prices at the time the conversion is completed and reay to sell could have an effect on sale-ability. I thnk most of us do not expect to finish our coaches and sell them at a profit. When the time comes that I am no longer able to travel in our bus, I would be happy to even get what I have in material and the cost of the shell, npot including the 6000-7000 hours of my time.  Jack

[Ross]

Anything more than 10 or 12 years old will be hard to finance and people with that much cash on hand are scarce.  It may sound odd, but I think the market for higher end newer rigs is stronger because they can be financed.  As far as real resale value...It's worth as much as someone is willing to pay.  Appraisals are for insurance companies so they can have *something* in writing to justify your insured value.  It has nothing to do with real resale.

I just bought a mint condition 95 Ford F450 with a 12' rack body and lift gate, power stroke diesel, 5 speed.  They were asking $7500 which was a decent price.  I offered $4500.  They said it's worth way more than that.  I said, not to me, and I was the only one to bring in a cash offer in any amount.  So what's a seller to do?  If the highest offer you can get is $4500, then that's about what it's worth.

[Jeremy]

"With diesel fuel topping $3 a gallon..."


You guys don't realise how lucky you are; diesel in the UK is 97p per litre on average, and well over £1 per litre on the motorway (freeway). £1 per litre is equivalent to $8.50 per gallon.

But at least (as my American friends tell me) we don't have to pay for medical insurance.

Jeremy

[Big Tom]

Most private converters are lucky to get back the amount they spent for the shell and the conversion materials.  There may be exceptions, but not regularly.

As mentioned, financing can be a problem.  Many financial institutions will only carry paper on commercially done conversions such as Marathon, Libert, etc.  Insurance companies also are prone to be picky about "home done" rigs, particularly on accident and comprehensive.  They worry about things like wether wiring was done properly or is a potential fire hazard. 

[brojcol]

my 2 cents. 

Don't get into the bus conversion business on a small scale thinking you will make money.  I spent three or four times more converting my bus than I ultimately got out of it when I sold it.  Remember, you can spend $50,000 fixing up an old bus and when you are done, all you have is a fixed up old bus.  You may know it's awesome, and I may think it's awesome...but people are reluctant to spend major moolah on an old bus, regardless of how much money was spent on the inside...

The average consumer couldn't care less if it's a "classic" one of a kind, etc...  One reason why I am not a salesman is because I think the mind of consumers is deranged.  It's very simple if you look at it like this: They want something for nothing and they're willing to pay for it!  

Figure that one out and I think you may have something.

Jimmy