We had to back out of the bus purchase. :-( Turns out, the information in the listing was completely incorrect. The year and model were correct, but just about everything else was listed incorrectly. Which wouldn't be a problem if the engine in the bus wasn't listed as one of THE worst possible engines to have. We're talking class action lawsuit against the engine manufacturers for that exact make a year due to complete engine failure (often while driving!) that cost 8k just to replace the parts, or 30k for whole new engine.
Yeah- no. Due to the incorrect listing, they were nice enough to let us out of our bid without any penalty. We went to look at another bus locally here, but much like the other's we've looked at in the area, whole body panels were rusted out and would need replaced, along with some concern about axle rust being extensive enough to be of concern.
So, we turned to eBay where I had been keeping an eye on an older, lower mileage model with a much more reliable engine. The catch? It's located in Maryland. It says delivery, so I contacted the owner and sure enough- he offers to have a driver drive it to you and then fly back to Maryland.
A few things to mention here: It's terrifying to put in an offer on something that large, site unseen. Pictures obviously never tell the whole story. But the guy is confident enough in the state of his buses that he's willing to have someone else drive it 1000 miles to us. Plus, he's backed it up with a limited warranty for the first 30 days. It's a lot better then any other's we've come across.
With 19 minutes left to bid on the bus, we once again checked the specs, looked up the VIN to verify, and poured over the photos for any signs of significant damage or issues.
7 minutes till bid close, and we put in our offer. Then we waited while it counted down, anticipating someone swooping in last minute to grab up such a great offer.
Thankfully, they didn't, and we won! For exactly $3000 including delivery, we now own a 99 IC T444e rear engine 78 passenger International bus with 117k miles. It's high-height meaning the interior height is 6'4" verses the standard 6'2" (you'd be amazed at the difference those 2" make.. "That's what she said!" lol)
The driver should be here later this weekend and I'll have a TON of photos to upload then. For now, the listing photos will have to do:
Yeah- no. Due to the incorrect listing, they were nice enough to let us out of our bid without any penalty. We went to look at another bus locally here, but much like the other's we've looked at in the area, whole body panels were rusted out and would need replaced, along with some concern about axle rust being extensive enough to be of concern.
So, we turned to eBay where I had been keeping an eye on an older, lower mileage model with a much more reliable engine. The catch? It's located in Maryland. It says delivery, so I contacted the owner and sure enough- he offers to have a driver drive it to you and then fly back to Maryland.
A few things to mention here: It's terrifying to put in an offer on something that large, site unseen. Pictures obviously never tell the whole story. But the guy is confident enough in the state of his buses that he's willing to have someone else drive it 1000 miles to us. Plus, he's backed it up with a limited warranty for the first 30 days. It's a lot better then any other's we've come across.
With 19 minutes left to bid on the bus, we once again checked the specs, looked up the VIN to verify, and poured over the photos for any signs of significant damage or issues.
7 minutes till bid close, and we put in our offer. Then we waited while it counted down, anticipating someone swooping in last minute to grab up such a great offer.
Thankfully, they didn't, and we won! For exactly $3000 including delivery, we now own a 99 IC T444e rear engine 78 passenger International bus with 117k miles. It's high-height meaning the interior height is 6'4" verses the standard 6'2" (you'd be amazed at the difference those 2" make.. "That's what she said!" lol)
The driver should be here later this weekend and I'll have a TON of photos to upload then. For now, the listing photos will have to do:
She's gonna need some work, but I'm looking forward to making her shine. <3
Comments
Post a Comment