Bus mechanic says "Don't buy a bus conversion"

[Lee Bradley]

I can see the mechanic's point. If he buys a used S&S, he can get it for a song. Say it is has a 454 or 460 gas engine and it is bad, he can buy a brand new factory engine for about a third the cost to rebuild a DD. The brakes are simpler and cheaper. Tires are cheaper. Unless he is full-timing, he will not wear it out. Yes they are less crash worthy but no one plans on crashing. I bought a bus because I like buses and the ability to build any layout I want and that screaming Jimmy in the back and they are so much nicer to drive but from a dollar stand point .....

[Paladin]

I bought mine for pretty much the same reasons. People have told me not to buy unless I had money falling out of my pockets but I heard that when I bought my airplane too and it wasn't too bad. Same on boats which can also be money pits.
I figure it's sort of a relative thing. It's relative to your inclinations and abilities to do your own work, relative to your resources and really it's relative to individuals. What one person calls really expensive and a deal breaker some others will shrug off and simply feel is maybe a little expensive... or find a creative way to deal with it other than retail expenditure.
I'm very far from rich but I'm a dreamer so I have my toys. If this gets to be too much for me I'll sell it and get out. It's a dream and an experiment to see what I can do. For what I'm into mine I could sell and make a nice profit right now.

-Dave

[Flyboy]

Dave,

What kind of flying machine do you have?

All,

I'll have been a bus owner for exactly one year on the 31st of October.  I don't have any regrets whatsoever.

My wife and I bought our bus knowing that it would be a long term labour of love and may cost us a few bucks over the years.  We plan on keeping it for good.  At $17,000 initial purchase price I figure it is totally at the end of the depreciation curve.  If I had to spend 20K on it next week I would be hard pressed to say I didn't get a good deal.  Friends of ours bought a brand new class A this summer. As far as I'm concerned it is an overpriced, character-less, loose assortment of staples, paper and chipboard .

Having a bus that has the history of a 4104 is priceless. 

We are pulling our kids out of school in 10 days to hit the road to Mexico for 2 months and I am glad I'm driving what I am.

JMHO.

Aron.

P.S.  I'll be posting before and after pics of our recent improvements.  Interior and exterior.  Intsead of a camper I feel like I'm sitting in a working tug, now that I built diner style booth seating.  With two under 10 yah gotta have the elbow room!

We also came up with an innovative solution to our gen exhaust problems...safety was definitely not first with the PO.

[Paladin]

I used to have a Piper Cherokee and was the flight manager of a charter\school outfit. Had access to tons of planes. My Cherokee got run over by an unsecured DC-3 when we had micro burst winds. The DC reached rotation speed in the winds and lifted off the sandbags they used to chock with and rolled back into mine.  Peeled it open like a tin can and I sold it for scrap plus the good engine. Insurance co said it was an a act of God and not negligence!!!
The DC also hit 2 Lears, a Gulfstream and a few Cessna's. The Lears and Gulf were taken care of, we weren't and I got tired of fighting in court.
We now return you to the original thread................

[Flyboy]

Pretty typical of insurance companies, no doubt.

I started out in the bush in Northern British Columbia flying Beavers and 185s.  Flying heavy iron now but sure do miss the smaller stuff.

Maybe we'll meet on the road sometime!

Cheers.

Aron.

[TomC]

Yes there are many used sticks and staples out there that with a new engine, brakes and tires can be made to go again-as long as you don't get into an accident or get hit.  Once again- being an old truck driver saw many a sticks and staples in accidents.  Usually the owners did not make it, and the entire motorhome would be pealed open like a sardine can or just plainly disintigrate.  To many bus accidents that don't have the same out come-bus will get dented up, but rarely do you see them open up like a sardine can.  Good Luck, TomC

[DavidInWilmNC]

I'm thinking that mechanic would rather own one of the newer, poorly built slab homes complete with sheetrock not completely attached to the studs, lumps in the slab (yuck!) floor, and vinyl siding that's not even properly nailed rather than an older home that was built right.  That's just what a lady at work has; several strips of siding were attached by three nails each and blew off in a mild storm.  What's particularly bad is that we live on the coast!  I'd much rather have an older house where such cost-cutting isn't so evident or even existing.  It's the same with a bus conversion vs. a S&S.  Buses are obviously built better and safer. They will / can certainly cost more for some repairs, but I doubt if one will have to repair or replace the same mechanical item twice on a bus conversion. 

A friend has a '91 motorhome that's a real POS.  I wouldn't even know where to begin to describe it or correct it.  I've advised her to sell it and buy a conversion (she does NOT need to convert one herself!); she can afford it.  As it is, she's afraid to use her RV; as something breaks on every trip.  It has a Ford 460 engine, which is fine in a car, van, or a truck, but a motorhome?  It doesn't have the top speed of my bus, sucks gas (6mpg vs 7.2 for my bus), is scary to drive, and has sucky brakes.  It doesn't even ride well.  The only positive about it is that it is complete and can be used, but it's best left parked and used as a camper that can occasionally move rather than something that gets driven.

David