Options, Advice, Decisions Part 4 - Shopping and acquisition

[Scott & Heather]

Fantastic! Congrats!! You got a nice bus for a nice price Don! Wow! Your patience and diligent searching paid off and should be an example to other future buyers. Nice work. Super glad to have you part of the bus community.


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[Dave5Cs]

You did good Don. I really didn't think you would ever do it, LOL
Rio Vista? We spent three years on the Delta and did our food shopping there and I used to fish salmon and Stripped Bass in Steamboat Slue....

[luvrbus]

Patience payed off Don good for you,this a bus board so this might not set good with some. There are buys out because so many are walking away from the older buses and buying later model factory built motor homes sticks and stables as they are called here.
I have friends 7 in the last year that have sold their buses and went to factory RV, it really surprised me when Majors sold his Eagle and bought a Beaver.I am thinking very hard about it to if I can find the right one with a friggin claw foot tub  

[Geoff]

There were no deals like that when I was bus shopping 25 years ago.  I had to build my own.  Congratulations to Don!

--Geoff

[RJ]

Don -

Congrats!

Just remember that EVERYTHING is behind you while tootling down the road - you don't want to scrunch up any of those nice baggage bins!

See you down the road somewhere. . .

[bigred]

Patience payed off Don good for you,this a bus board so this might not set good with some. There are buys out because so many are walking away from the older buses and buying later model factory built motor homes sticks and stables as they are called here.
I have friends 7 in the last year that have sold their buses and went to factory RV, it really surprised me when Majors sold his Eagle and bought a Beaver.I am thinking very hard about it to if I can find the right one with a friggin claw foot tub  

Am kind of leaning that way myself ,and if I do ,I don't even think it will be a Diesel but rather a gasoline pusher !!! IF I can find a nice used one!!!! Don't get me wrong,I love my bus ,but to only use five or six times a year,it is just not practical .Guess I'll make that decision a little farther up the road.

[windtrader]

For those in the hunt, a few other insights might be helpful.

Geography A significant aspect when searching for the best value deal, the broader an area the more chance of finding the best deal. Being in SF, my boundary was set to Colorado and states west. The difficult and costs to visit further add up in a hurry. The trip to get this coach in Denver added at least a thousand to the total acquisition costs. Several days in Denver hotels, food, local travel, etc. Then  fuel costs from Denver to CA, plus several days of food and other supplies.

Time Fortunately my time is flexible and "free" now but it took 9 days to get the coach home. Lost a few days due to missed deadlines for money transfers on Friday and having to wait until Monday morning to complete transaction.

Time to search diligently on a regular basis, make the calls, do the research, stay upbeat and focused, all takes commitment to the goal. There were times it got frustrating and stalled like a boat on the sea in a windless day. There were times I'd make the daily rounds and scrap the crap sites just to see if something new might be there, only to be reminded why I put some sites on the crap list.

Time to get really in tune with the reality of the current bus conversion market and how much it favors buyers. Take enough time to understand how strong you are if you have cash in your pocket. Don't be influenced by all the social media fart fanning posts about what a deal, how cheap, I'd buy it if I had the money, blah, blah. All pointless blather, the real buyers are not in the cheap seats spewing out these comments.

Time to find the diamond in the rough. Mine was in plain sight for months; I kept wondering why no one was biting, it was right there, clear as day. I just kept thinking there was something wrong that I did not see. Started the inquiries and it was several months before actually doing the deal.

Time to really know the buyer. Understand their motives for acquiring the coach and for it being on the market. You learn a lot of how the bus is built based on getting to know the owner's character and value system. Every facet of the bus reflects the owner's motivation, attention to detail, doing things the right way or taking a shortcut, etc.

Professional Bus Inspection Finding qualified two stroke bus mechanics is difficult and almost certainly each new prospect is in a different location, so plan on searching for a mechanic who is local and available and affordable. Don Fairchild was kind enough to make the trip to San Diego to inspect a bus in the timeframe. Plan to write some checks to vetted professionals like Don; search costs add up.

Market value This is quite difficult and takes time and diligence to determine actual SELLING price. List/ask price is more wishful pricing and there is tremendous range in what an owner things their coach is worth. A new seller with a stack of receipts is surely going to price well over the market. Things at 50% of the receipts should be about right, sadly very wrong. The longer the coach is for sale, the more time the seller understands their original wish price is unrealistic, then make a price drop. As the months go by, grudgingly, more price cuts. At some point the seller gets the price into the range where it warrants serious consideration.

Still, no expectation the coach sells at this price but starts getting some bites. What a buyer decides to offer below asking is all based on how confident the buyer has done the homework to know what it is worth today. Once the negotiation begins, skill and experience determine where the final price lands and if there is a deal.    

[RJ]

I don't even think it will be a Diesel but rather a gasoline pusher! IF I can find a nice used one!

Red -

Good luck with that!  I don't think there are ANY gasoline pushers out there in RV land, unless you happen to find a 1947 Gillig skoolie with an industrial Ford V8.

Now, you might find some LPG or CNG pushers (skoolies and transits), but then you open up a completely different can of worms when it comes to actually traveling in one.

FWIW & HTH. . .

[luvrbus]

Red -

Good luck with that!  I don't think there are ANY gasoline pushers out there in RV land, unless you happen to find a 1947 Gillig skoolie with an industrial Ford V8.

Now, you might find some LPG or CNG pushers (skoolies and transits), but then you open up a completely different can of worms when it comes to actually traveling in one.

FWIW & HTH. . .

There are lot of gasoline pushers in the RV market up to 38ft  just saw some at the RV show in Phoenix most had the big Chevy engine a few had the V10 Fords I understand some outfit has the rights to the 502 Chevy to keep building the engine
 

[lvmci]

Only using a Gas engine 5 or 6 times a year, brings in gas preservation issues, did you ever have  a Generator or a motorcycle that sat for a few months and had to rebuild the carbs?.  lvmci...

[Dave5Cs]

Called Shellac. If before you park it turn off the fuel and let it die on its own. Then put gas conditioner in the tank before you park it.
Most people don't, like on a lawn mower and can't figure why it won't start. When they start it with old fuel in the line it sucks that gas which has turned to shellac into the carb and wa la plugs all the little holes and fuel feeds.

[Lowblock]

Red -

Good luck with that!  I don't think there are ANY gasoline pushers out there in RV land, unless you happen to find a 1947 Gillig skoolie with an industrial Ford V8.

Now, you might find some LPG or CNG pushers (skoolies and transits), but then you open up a completely different can of worms when it comes to actually traveling in one.

FWIW & HTH. . .

I might be of some assistance on this, however it is kinda OT.
Workhorse Chassis builds a gas pusher chassis. Winnebago/Itasca used them mostly, but Fleetwood and some of the smaller outfits did as well. In addition back in the late 80's before Roadmaster chassis was bought by Monaco, they built gas pusher frames for both Monaco and Country Coach (Country Camper at the time), the biggest problem was keeping the engine cool back then, and they actually brought back most of the units and replaced them with diesel engines because they couldn't keep the gas engines on the road. I remember going over the grapevine with my Dad heading to an RVIA show in a Monaco pusher and we had to pull over about every 10 minutes cause the thing kept getting to overheat, and that was crawling a 10-15 mph. I think they have sorted out the issues with the cooling now, and Workhorse is a very good chassis.

[Tom Y]

Any of you guys ever see a FMC or FCM 9or something like that) motor home? It was a gas Dodge with a step in the floor half way back. Built low and wide.

[luvrbus]

We owned a 34 ft Gulfstream for while that had a 460 Ford pusher on a John Deere chassis it never run hot but the gas mileage sucked 4 to 5 mpg

[luvrbus]

Any of you guys ever see a FMC or FCM 9or something like that) motor home? It was a gas Dodge with a step in the floor half way back. Built low and wide.

I always wanted a FMC they were neat and well built and at the time were pricey