Buying a used school bus?

[Canada EH]

Anything past 4 yrs, private insurers dont care. Employers tend to run 3 or 5 yr abstracts. But for the same price an employer can ask for a 25yr abstract.

[EverythingPinkIsMagic]

15 hours ago, Talamakara said:

My dad bought a bus. Took it out to the country, stripped all the seats and frames out of it. Then used it as a large storage container, instead of renting a storage locker. Cost 400 bucks once and he used it for our entire family to store stuff for over 10 years. Best use for an old bus ever.

Where did he keep it?

[Canada EH]

School buses, or the cube off a cube van, old semi trailers, old rusted sea cans.

 

Keep it out in the back yard, hidden out of sight.

[EverythingPinkIsMagic]

15 hours ago, straight_stewie said:

Well, we need more information. I know a good bit about collecting large vehicles (I collect military trucks, specifically, these: M939). There are a few factors to consider:
 

1. Does the bus have airbrakes?
2. Is it a full size bus?
3. Does it meet current emissions requirements for your area (or is that a non-sequiter)?
4. Are you willing/capable of getting the necessary CDL (which may or may not include airbrakes, mostly may)?
5. How much are you willing to pay for insurance? (Insuring commercial vehicles can be expensive if you do it wrong)
6. Can you even get it registered in your area? (Again, can be expensive if not done properly)
7. Have you ever driven a vehicle that large?
8. Have you been in an accident where a person died or was permanently injured and you were found to be at fault in the last 3 years?

1) I think so?

2) 40'

3) I have literally no idea.

4) What's that?

4) I hope not much. Maybe $40/month? I won't even move it every month.

6) I think so?

7) No.

8) No comment. Kidding, no I haven't.

[EverythingPinkIsMagic]

2 minutes ago, Canada EH said:

School buses, or the cube off a cube van, old semi trailers, old rusted sea cans.

 

Keep it out in the back yard, hidden out of sight.

I think they look cool!

[Canada EH]

2 minutes ago, EverythingPinkIsMagic said:

1) I think so?

2) 40'

3) I have literally no idea.

4) What's that?

4) I hope not much. Maybe $40/month? I won't even move it every month.

6) I think so?

7) No.

8) No comment. Kidding, no I haven't.

If its on the street you should move it every few days. I have called cars in on a busy street. Car did not move for a month.

Most places dont have emissions.

Air brake is all you need, plus whatever class.

[EverythingPinkIsMagic]

Just now, Canada EH said:

If its on the street you should move it every few days. I have called cars in on a busy street. Car did not move for a month.

I could do that I guess. 

[Canada EH]

You realize if you run out of diesel fuel, your engine is fucked right?

[straight_stewie]

5 hours ago, EverythingPinkIsMagic said:

20 hours ago, straight_stewie said:

Well, we need more information. I know a good bit about collecting large vehicles (I collect military trucks, specifically, these: M939). There are a few factors to consider:
 

1. Does the bus have airbrakes?
2. Is it a full size bus?
3. Does it meet current emissions requirements for your area (or is that a non-sequiter)?
4. Are you willing/capable of getting the necessary CDL (which may or may not include airbrakes, mostly may)?
5. How much are you willing to pay for insurance? (Insuring commercial vehicles can be expensive if you do it wrong)
6. Can you even get it registered in your area? (Again, can be expensive if not done properly)
7. Have you ever driven a vehicle that large?
8. Have you been in an accident where a person died or was permanently injured and you were found to be at fault in the last 3 years?

1) I think so?

2) 40'

3) I have literally no idea.

4) What's that?

4) I hope not much. Maybe $40/month? I won't even move it every month.

6) I think so?

7) No.

8) No comment. Kidding, no I haven't.

It seems to me that you're relatively unaware of what it takes to own a vehicle like this, and slightly uncaring of how difficult a big vehicle like this is to drive. My official recommendation is that you don't get the bus, until you do these things:
 

1. Find out what emissions are in your area (if you care, I don't, so I just ignore them)
2. Find out how much insurance and registration costs before you buy. If you can't afford these, then you can't afford the bus.
3. Get experience with airbrakes! Find someone in your area that will teach you how to drive them. Airbrakes are so different from brakes in a normal vehicle, and you have a very finite amount of them (you can easily run out of air in heavy traffic).
4. Find someone who will teach you other things pertaining to your CDL, or read your DMV (or equivalent) manual. Getting a CDL with not only require a driving test in a vehicle you bring, but a test of how to "properly" operate airbrakes, and a test on basic parts of the machine. There are some secrets you need to know, like: You are technically supposed to check the steering shaft before starting the vehicle.
5. Learn how to do your own maintenance and repairs on it (if you don't already know how). Fixing a bus is expensive, getting it towed is even more expensive. Being able to do it yourself will save you tons of money.

The hobby of collecting big vehicles for fun is a good one, but it's not for everyone: Just last year the government shut down sales on a huge chunk of M939 trucks because some putz bought one and didn't know how to drive it and ended up running it through two houses in one go. That means that all of the ones still owned by the military are destined to be "garage queens" and then to be scrapped. It's likely that that rule is going to carry over to, well, all of the other military vehicles 5 ton and up for eternity.

It's easy to see how one person making a mistake can ruin it for everyone. Please don't do this unless you really are able to do it, it's all fine and dandy until you run out of air going downhill coming up on a stoplight in traffic and someone gets killed because of it. 

[Canada EH]

Pipe dreams is the order of the day!

[EverythingPinkIsMagic]

6 hours ago, straight_stewie said:

It seems to me that you're relatively unaware of what it takes to own a vehicle like this, and slightly uncaring of how difficult a big vehicle like this is to drive. My official recommendation is that you don't get the bus, until you do these things:
 

1. Find out what emissions are in your area (if you care, I don't, so I just ignore them)
2. Find out how much insurance and registration costs before you buy. If you can't afford these, then you can't afford the bus.
3. Get experience with airbrakes! Find someone in your area that will teach you how to drive them. Airbrakes are so different from brakes in a normal vehicle, and you have a very finite amount of them (you can easily run out of air in heavy traffic).
4. Find someone who will teach you other things pertaining to your CDL, or read your DMV (or equivalent) manual. Getting a CDL with not only require a driving test in a vehicle you bring, but a test of how to "properly" operate airbrakes, and a test on basic parts of the machine. There are some secrets you need to know, like: You are technically supposed to check the steering shaft before starting the vehicle.
5. Learn how to do your own maintenance and repairs on it (if you don't already know how). Fixing a bus is expensive, getting it towed is even more expensive. Being able to do it yourself will save you tons of money.

The hobby of collecting big vehicles for fun is a good one, but it's not for everyone: Just last year the government shut down sales on a huge chunk of M939 trucks because some putz bought one and didn't know how to drive it and ended up running it through two houses in one go. That means that all of the ones still owned by the military are destined to be "garage queens" and then to be scrapped. It's likely that that rule is going to carry over to, well, all of the other military vehicles 5 ton and up for eternity.

It's easy to see how one person making a mistake can ruin it for everyone. Please don't do this unless you really are able to do it, it's all fine and dandy until you run out of air going downhill coming up on a stoplight in traffic and someone gets killed because of it. 

That's a lot to take in. I understand this isn't something I can do easily but I will research all of these points. Thank you! You really know what you're doing. I hope I can learn this too.

[Canada EH]

Tires are expensive for big trucks. Rims are too.

 

Good Luck!

[byalexandr]

On 10/29/2016 at 1:26 AM, Xanthe_2871 said:

I don't know how much you've researched this but a bus is nothing like a car...

 

Where will you store it?

Do you have a class A license?

How much do repairs cost?

How much does it cost to insure a bus?

1. He seems to have that sorted.

2. Class A licenses are pretty easy to obtain. Whether or not he is capable of driving a large school bus is the real question (seriously those motherfuckers are long, really wide, and top heavy).

3. Repairs shouldn't be too much, the engines are extremely easy to maintain (and they last a long time because they are diesel). Plus parts should be easy to come across, think about how many other school buses there are.

4. Normally the state that the bus is registered to is paying for the bus and insurance. Because schools and school property are property of the state. That's also a reason why they sell so cheap, I'm pretty sure OP might even need a certain school administrator title to buy one.

[Canada EH]

Not Christian schools, or private schools.

[Talamakara]

On 10/30/2016 at 3:49 AM, EverythingPinkIsMagic said:

Where did he keep it?

on our farm in the country.