Theoretical Question (for fun)

[Seangie]

These questions are fairly generic on purpose. I know there are a million things to look at when buying a bus. But I also see from reading that we all come from all different backgrounds.  Some mechanical, some craftsman, some electrical, some fabrication, Some industrial and some jack of all trades, others masters of none. 

I'd love to see where your passion is in owning a bus.  Keep in mind that it's not about the best model bus to buy or to flame others but rather - what your personally preferred path to take in bus ownership is. 

I swear this is a one time thing...Don't get the idea that I'm going to be postin' psychologically sentimental questions once a week.  Just a newbie here trying to see where you all come from.

[PP]

Buses are like mates--even if they sing out of tune, you gotta love em. Gee, I wonder which one I voted for.....

[Sean]

The best market values right now are in already-converted coaches.  The bottom dropped out of that market in a much bigger way than it did for the seated market, whence come unconverted shells.

No matter what, though, even a fully-converted coach in that price range is going to have issues.  If I had a fixed capital budget (of any amount) to buy a bus today, I would try to get the best already-converted bus I could for about 70%-80% of that budget, keeping 20%-30% in reserve for repairs, upgrades, and refurbishment.

The older the coach, the greater the percentage of the capital budget should be reserved.  As an extreme example, my good friends Cherie and Chris, who can be found under the name "Technomadia" on this board, just surpassed the 100%-of-purchase mark on their maintenance and upgrades.  They were fortunate to find a mostly-already-usable fully-converted coach to their liking for less than $10k, and have already put again that much into it replacing worn-out mechanical items, adding a house battery system where none had existed before, and doing some interior work to make the space more livable.

I would think that with a broad enough search you should be able to find a coach that mostly meets your needs in the $30-$35k range, which still leaves $15-$20k to replace all the inevitable stuff that such a coach would need.  Don't underestimate how spendy some of these items can be -- a new set of tires alone can be $3,000 or so.

HTH,

-Sean (the other one)
http://OurOdyssey.BlogSpot.com

[Seayfam]

Ideally, I would like to take the 50k and dump it into the bus I already have. Series 60, custom paint, lots of extra chrome and stainless steel polishing. That would be my dream bus and probably use that money up. But that wasn't on the poll.

My first choice if I didn't already have a bus would be... I really like the classic buses (classic being 40 years old or older) I really like those because they are one of a kind and get lots of attention. If I could find one of those that has been completely restored and converted with all the bells and whistles, I would get it.

If I couldn't get that, my choice would be to get the newest and most reliable shell I could find with the four stroke engine in it. Then I would convert it my way in time. I really like building things and I really would like to know what I have when I'm done. If I was older and didn't have the time or the knowledge to build it, then I wouldn't choose this route. But this is where my vote went.

[technomadia]

As an extreme example, my good friends Cherie and Chris, who can be found under the name "Technomadia" on this board, just surpassed the 100%-of-purchase mark on their maintenance and upgrades.  They were fortunate to find a mostly-already-usable fully-converted coach to their liking for less than $10k, and have already put again that much into it replacing worn-out mechanical items, adding a house battery system where none had existed before, and doing some interior work to make the space more livable.

Actually..  that's a bit misleading.   We bought our 4106 for $8k, and have now put in just over $8k in maintenance *alone*. This includes all new tires & wheels ($4500 right there), air suspension bags, new fluids, new filters, misc adjustments, bearings re-packed, new mini-max brakes, lubing and I'm sure some other things I'm forgetting.

Our upgrades & remodeling are a different budget line

For us, this wasn't a theoretical question.. it was/is our reality.  We decided to look for a bus that gave us a balance of the functionality we wanted and in completely livable & operational condition from day 1.   We set an overall budget of what we didn't want to exceed in our first year of ownership  (including setting aside an emergency fund) for things like bringing the bus up to date on maintenance & making it ours. We left it open to finding a bus that was already nearly there (thus spending more of our purchase), or investing in making it ours (thus more of the budget on maintenance/remodeling/upgrades).   

We ended up spending far less on our bus than we anticipated in far better condition and usability than we aimed for. Thus leaving us more room for upgrades, and we entered into this particular bus knowing that we'd need to put $8-10k immediately into getting caught up on maintenance. 

- Cherie

[artvonne]

  I chose older conversion. But one for $10K, spend $10K making it bulletproof, and spend the other $30K driving it somewhere and back.

[prevosman]

Always absent in discussions of what to buy, convert your own, buy an existing conversion and fix it up, etc. are two points. First, these conversions are impossible to justify. They make no economic sense, can actually be considered a waste of money, and are done because we want one, not because we need one. Having said that however, the second point is they are a hobby, and a great hobby at that. We spend a lot of time and money in pursuit of this hobby but the satisfaction we get when we accomplish something or reach a specific milestone is worth every cent.

So in the context of the survey, I think the correct answer is whatever the person taking the survey feels it is. I am way over my head trying to understand DDEC and the transmission computers and how they impact everything so I would never tackle a project where I re-engine and put a new transmission in the coach. And while I would be comfortable builing a house in an empty shell, I wouldn't want to give up the time it takes to build one when I could be enjoying one that is already done, while I am planning my next remodel or upgrade. I think what makes this site so great is the variety of ways owners enjoy the hobby of owning a conversion and how much I learn from the different perespectives.