Date of manufacture?

[Songman]

This is a kind of odd question and the answer may vary between bus manufacturers...

When I bought my bus, I was told that it was a 1989. The spec plate in the bus says that it was manufactured in 11/89. If it were a car, it would be considered a 1990. I don't know if buses are the same. More specifically, I don't know if TMC buses are the same. Did the PO just read the date off of the plate and call it an 89 or is it really an 89? The reason this is important is because I am putting it up for sale and want to have the right information in the ad.

Thanks.

[maria-n-skip]

Songman,

   Since I have to deal with the situation of the title date not matching the manufature tag date please keep them the same.
The rules are different in different states as what is allowed.

Some items I have found out.
   Some states allow the title to reflect the delivery date of a new bus not the manufactured date.
   Some states allow RV manufactures to use the RV completion date for titles not the Vehicle manufature date.

   Since you do not know what state your bus is going to keeping things the same makes it easier for the rest of us.

   Skip

[Songman]

Thanks Skip,

I'll just list it as 89/90 in the ads and tell the DOM. The bus would be exactly the same between those two years anyway.

Thanks.

[Sam 4106]

Hi Songman,
Seems to me the year of a vehicle would be determined by the title. What year does the title say it is?
Good luck, Sam 4106

[Songman]

CA is odd about that. Unless it is a car where the VIN shows the year, they will pretty much put whatever you tell them on there. The title now says 89 because that is what I was told and that is what I told them.

I had a similar experience on a 46 International street rod pickup I had. The PO told me that it was a 46 KB-1 pickup. Once I bought the truck and registered it and started building the hot rod out of it, in my research everything I found said that KBs weren't built until 47. But also that International had crazy paperwork back then. So.. .either I had a very rare early 46 KB-1 OR more likely I had a 47 KB-1 that the previous owner registered as a 46.

Basically, the title doesn't prove anything.. It really doesn't matter anyway. There is no difference in an 89 RTS and a 90 RTS. I was just wondering because in cars, anything after August of the year is considered to be the new year model.

[msheldon]

CA is odd about that. Unless it is a car where the VIN shows the year, they will pretty much put whatever you tell them on there. The title now says 89 because that is what I was told and that is what I told them.

Very true, the CA title on my scenicruiser says it's a '56. But this is bus serial 066, which puts it as being made in mid-'54.

I'm gonna try to get that fixed when I transfer the title to AZ

[DrivingMissLazy]

I have seen titles from CA that were 10 years or more off. When registering it as a motor home the clerk will sometimes use the date of the conversion, not the actual vehicle manufacture date. There can be some financial/tax problems later when moving to another state as some states calculate registration fees or annual personal property tax based on the year model it is registered as.
Richard

CA is odd about that. Unless it is a car where the VIN shows the year, they will pretty much put whatever you tell them on there. The title now says 89 because that is what I was told and that is what I told them.

Very true, the CA title on my scenicruiser says it's a '56. But this is bus serial 066, which puts it as being made in mid-'54.

I'm gonna try to get that fixed when I transfer the title to AZ

[msheldon]

I have seen titles from CA that were 10 years or more off. When registering it as a motor home the clerk will sometimes use the date of the conversion, not the actual vehicle manufacture date. There can be some financial/tax problems later when moving to another state as some states calculate registration fees or annual personal property tax based on the year model it is registered as.

Oh lord, it would hurt if you let AZ re-title with a recent date. AZ charges annual property tax as part of the registration based on a prorated value of the original cost of the vehicle. The reg is only around $20, but a new car can have the annual registration up in the $800+ range. Though by the time a vehicle reaches 10 years old, that part of it has dropped to almost zero.

[DrivingMissLazy]

Same here in WV. That is why you see so many rednecks driving junker pick-em-ups.
Richard

I have seen titles from CA that were 10 years or more off. When registering it as a motor home the clerk will sometimes use the date of the conversion, not the actual vehicle manufacture date. There can be some financial/tax problems later when moving to another state as some states calculate registration fees or annual personal property tax based on the year model it is registered as.

Oh lord, it would hurt if you let AZ re-title with a recent date. AZ charges annual property tax as part of the registration based on a prorated value of the original cost of the vehicle. The reg is only around $20, but a new car can have the annual registration up in the $800+ range. Though by the time a vehicle reaches 10 years old, that part of it has dropped to almost zero.

[orfunauto/Darrell]

I just got my first North Carolina tax bill for my 74 MCI motor coach.  $11.50    Personalized plates are an additional $40.00 a year.

[Songman]

CA is odd about that. Unless it is a car where the VIN shows the year, they will pretty much put whatever you tell them on there. The title now says 89 because that is what I was told and that is what I told them.

Very true, the CA title on my scenicruiser says it's a '56. But this is bus serial 066, which puts it as being made in mid-'54.

What year would #558 be? That is what the Scenicruiser in the field near me is.

[msheldon]

What year would #558 be? That is what the Scenicruiser in the field near me is.

Pretty easy to figure. 1000 scenics were made, starting in the summer of '54, ending the summer of '56.

So rough estimate would be late summer of '55. There's more factors involved, but that should get it pretty close.

[steveggt]

Howdy!

Noticed your RTS was "dated" 11/89 with a 6V-92 and ZF 5-speed automatic tranny.  If it's an ex-Golden Gate Transit from the San Francisco Bay Area, then I might be able to help you.  I drive for GGT and have spent a lot of hours in this series...1989 T80206-S fleet numbers 1181-1243.  If you have the VIN, I can verify if it's one of my old "friends".  Feel free to email me at "steveggt (at) yahoo (dot) com" if you're interested.  - Steve

[Songman]

Hey Steve! Nice to see someone with experience in these buses.

Yes, my bus is ex-GGT. I just happen to have a photo of the VIN plate. My bus was number 1123.



More pictures are at: http://busphotos.busconversionstuff.com/photo/thumbnails.php?album=23&page=1

Feel free to pop over and check out my RTS forum too (URL in signature). I'm sure your experience would be highly prized.

Thanks,
Dale

[RJ]

Dale -

According to the VIN posted on the Manufacturer's Data Plate pic, State DMVs would consider your coach to be a 1989.

The model year encoding is located at the 10th position, reading L > R.  The letter "K" corresponds to 1989.

See "Vehicle Identification Number" on Wikipedia for more detail:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_identification_number

Agree with others, tho - KISS and stick to 1989 - it will cause fewer headaches for the buyer.

FWIW & HTH. . .