Excellent Video, I had no clue they would be that hard to insure......Also a note on buying from local schoolboard auctions vs marketplace or craigslist....If you buy from a county or city that has their own maintenance division that works on the buses, most likely you will get the maintenance records, also the county or city is not going to neglect maintenance on a school bus because of liability issues associated! If they have one they cannot fix or pass inspection it's usually a pretty obvious reason and you can see it, or they will tell you if you just ask one of the mechanics at the auctions.. That's just me 2Cents worth....
All excellent points you made! Getting the service records was a big plus for me. I’ve continued on with them as I do things to the bus. I was becoming really discouraged over the insurance deal. I’m so thankful for the help the guy gave me about Hagerty. Thanks for watching!
I have been looking for a bus for 2 years. I finally found a good one. It is a 98 Bluebird 8 window, non SPED, no rust, a rebuilt DT466e with good tires. The engine has been rebuilt, there's no blowby and it starts right up. I drove it home 330 miles and it ran excellent. Already stripping the interior. When I was looking, there was either some significant mechanical issue, or chassis rust or I just couldn't get any information from those awful auction houses. Or, when all (or most) of my boxes were checked the sale price went sky high. I've seen busses like mine sell for more than $6000.00. The shorter ones sell faster and higher than the full length ones.
Sounds like you found a good one! I was lucky to have known my buses history and it’s driver while in service. I also have all service records since it was new. Appreciate you sharing your experiences!
Glad you got everything done on your bus!! I appreciate the way you help folks understand things & help folks with things from your experiences!! Like I said, I'm taking you with me when I fo truck shopping!! Lol!! You really got your bus looking sharp, keep the videos coming brother!!
This won’t apply to many people but hopefully it will be a help to at least one down the road. Appreciate you watching and I’ll help you what I can if you start looking for a truck!
Nice to see things coming together on the bus. Those cracks on the tires. Do like Bert Munro did on his over 40 yr oldIndian motorcyle tires. He filled the cracks in with shoe polish! Then set a land speed record over 200 mph. The World's fastest Indin is a true story about Bert Munro from New Zealand.
Yes I’m so thankful for the help that guy gave me on the insurance. There was a lot to this bus think that I never expected. Hopefully it will help someone in the future. Thanks for watching!
Your video is VERY informative and has caused me to "press my brakes" regarding purchasing a School Bus-. So Thank you for your audio & visual information to help me not be another uninformed person buying a Bus and developed "Buyers Remorse". Malave' Contreras Friday 26th of August of 2022.
It’s truly an overwhelming job to get one road ready. I had a few days of thinking what have I done. Thankfully it all worked out. Appreciate you watching!
@@khtractors I additionally appreciate your unapologetic-honesty. So please keep informing your followers. Malave' Contreras Friday 26th of August of 2022.
I sound this to be very informative and interesting. Who would have thought that finding insurance would have been an issue such as she ran into. We can take nothing for granted, I've just learned. Thank you for the education.
Not only is this awesome, valuable information, it is also straightforward LIFE advice to ask yourself what your goal is, what you need to achieve that goal, and what you really WANT along the way. Great job!
So glad I stumbled upon this video. Great tips to follow while we are shopping for our bus! Makes sense to start with a good base before spending a bunch of money on the inside!! Thank you!
I'm not in the market for a bus, but I found this video very informative. Good job, Ben, and I hope you enjoy your bus. ps: I think the color was a good choice.
How's she gin'? Getting a used school bus could lead to a fun project but like you point out, it's not all easy going eh!! Thanks for covering all these points. Take care!!!
Good video. A lot of great points to consider. I have bid on the short bus at local auction and ended up not getting it because of the price. I too had issues getting insurance quotes. The only option was local agent working with progressive, the policy was 660 for a year - commercial for private use. Since that auction I have read a lot of stories how people get dropped couple weeks later by Progressive for no reason. There is an option to get it titled to RV which than would widen the pool of insurers but as I understand, only few companies want to insure converted bus. Considering this, I rethought all idea of converting bus to rv. Knowing how things are with insurance companies and having only select few who want to do anything with you, is it really worth the risk? You would put a lot of money into the bus converting it, spend countless months or even years, just to discover that one day you may become uninsurable and thus illegal on the road. What is one suppose to do with the vehicle at that point? Also, one piece of advise - do NOT tell Progressive or your local agent that you are to convert it to RV/camper bus. You will burn the last bridge if you will tell them. One last point, in Indiana (I think it is like that in most states), you are no-go in the private campgrounds with converted school bus camper. The reason being their insurance does not cover that. Cheers.
I think the color thing applies up here as well because all of the tobacco farms around here have school buses for hauling the migrant workers. They all have very poor ugly paint jobs lol at least yours looks nice! What paint did you use, I’d like to paint the wheels and dump body on the 800. I had haggerty for my 58 f100 when I had that. Probably a good idea to check the age of my tires too. I’m due for a battery, it’s dated 2012 but seems to work fine and I’ll never be more than a few miles from the farm. Good stuff here a lot of good checks for my self to look into after buying a medium size truck.
It bet the color does apply there too. I used rust oleum gloss black. It did good. Short trips I don’t worry much about the tires but running at 55 or better for extended periods of time is where you might have a blowout. You may still get a few years out of those batteries. Thanks for watching!
Great video man I want do get a 2005 bluebird vision also known as the first generation bluebird vision is my dream bus I won’t be turning it into a RV or house and such it will just be for fun because it was apart of my childhood riding those buses
@richard harrison we’ve actually done some work to it now to at least camp in. Nothing fancy though. Actually going a maiden voyage here in a few days. My Bus is Ready for Camping and measurements for the scissor lift attachment! Here’s a link to what we did. ruclips.net/video/WMqErVV8CXo/видео.html
well just stand up to them my buddy did they backed off they were telling him he could not park his semi at his house he told them you pay for a parking spot every day at the truckstop i ,ll move it they left him alone after that
@@khtractors do you know the rules of bringing the bus to another country? Because apparently my home country of Indonesia only allows you to import used buses and trucks but not used cars lol
Greetings. I'm not educated, older gentlemen .Dont want to get screwed over price wise. I'm interested in buying 2003 chevy express with only 20 thousand miles to live in! Day care van bus / skoolie Owner wants to sell How much shoud i offer / bid? Thanks
Hey Ben, question for ya - the Thomas/Chevy that I’m looking at is 500lbs over the gross weight requirement for a CDL license and I’m wondering if it’s registered for private use and all of the seats are gone, will I need a CDL?? Very hard to find solid answers on this topic
You will probably have to retitle it as an RV or truck depending on your use. I was told by the state people even though the seats are removed it’s still considered for example a 66 passenger bus. But you can get a reconstructed title and change it but it will need to be approved by an officer. I left mine as a bus because I have the license. You probably can call your state police and ask. That’s what I did with mine.
Excellent Video, I had no clue they would be that hard to insure......Also a note on buying from local schoolboard auctions vs marketplace or craigslist....If you buy from a county or city that has their own maintenance division that works on the buses, most likely you will get the maintenance records, also the county or city is not going to neglect maintenance on a school bus because of liability issues associated! If they have one they cannot fix or pass inspection it's usually a pretty obvious reason and you can see it, or they will tell you if you just ask one of the mechanics at the auctions.. That's just me 2Cents worth....
All excellent points you made! Getting the service records was a big plus for me. I’ve continued on with them as I do things to the bus. I was becoming really discouraged over the insurance deal. I’m so thankful for the help the guy gave me about Hagerty. Thanks for watching!
I have been looking for a bus for 2 years. I finally found a good one.
It is a 98 Bluebird 8 window, non SPED, no rust, a rebuilt DT466e with good tires. The engine has been rebuilt, there's no blowby and it starts right up. I drove it home 330 miles and it ran excellent. Already stripping the interior.
When I was looking, there was either some significant mechanical issue, or chassis rust or I just couldn't get any information from those awful auction houses. Or, when all (or most) of my boxes were checked the sale price went sky high. I've seen busses like mine sell for more than $6000.00. The shorter ones sell faster and higher than the full length ones.
Sounds like you found a good one! I was lucky to have known my buses history and it’s driver while in service. I also have all service records since it was new. Appreciate you sharing your experiences!
Glad you got everything done on your bus!! I appreciate the way you help folks understand things & help folks with things from your experiences!! Like I said, I'm taking you with me when I fo truck shopping!! Lol!! You really got your bus looking sharp, keep the videos coming brother!!
This won’t apply to many people but hopefully it will be a help to at least one down the road. Appreciate you watching and I’ll help you what I can if you start looking for a truck!
Nice to see things coming together on the bus. Those cracks on the tires. Do like Bert Munro did on his over 40 yr oldIndian motorcyle tires. He filled the cracks in with shoe polish! Then set a land speed record over 200 mph. The World's fastest Indin is a true story about Bert Munro from New Zealand.
That’s a cool story Jim, I hadn’t heard that before! Thanks for watching!
Hi Ben, glad you were able to get insurance and tags on your bus.The paint is awesome.Take care and be SAFE.💯👍👏🙏❤️
Yes I’m so thankful for the help that guy gave me on the insurance. There was a lot to this bus think that I never expected. Hopefully it will help someone in the future. Thanks for watching!
Your video is VERY informative and has caused me to "press my brakes" regarding purchasing a School Bus-. So Thank you for your audio & visual information to help me not be another uninformed person buying a Bus and developed "Buyers Remorse". Malave' Contreras Friday 26th of August of 2022.
It’s truly an overwhelming job to get one road ready. I had a few days of thinking what have I done. Thankfully it all worked out. Appreciate you watching!
@@khtractors I additionally appreciate your unapologetic-honesty. So please keep informing your followers. Malave' Contreras Friday 26th of August of 2022.
I sound this to be very informative and interesting. Who would have thought that finding insurance would have been an issue such as she ran into. We can take nothing for granted, I've just learned. Thank you for the education.
Yes it became more of a struggle then I anticipated! Thanks for watching!
Good job on your video and thanks for all of your background information and what to look for in a used school bus.
Your welcome, I just hope to be a help to someone in the future with this! Thanks for watching!
Not that I’m in the market for a bus but you’ve provided some really good info for those that are looking for one, great job Ben 🙂🙋🏼♂️👍🏻
I hope it may help someone. The insurance deal gave me a few gray hairs! Thanks for watching!
Hey Ben. I'm not in the market for a bus, but I just like listening to you. Very interesting! Take care
Thanks John, just hope to help someone down the road! Take care!
Not only is this awesome, valuable information, it is also straightforward LIFE advice to ask yourself what your goal is, what you need to achieve that goal, and what you really WANT along the way. Great job!
Thank you Logan, this can be overwhelming when you discover it all after the fact like I did. Just glad it all worked out!
Thanks for your video. You have covered several important points that all newcomers to the bus world should know.
Glad it was helpful! Thanks
So glad I stumbled upon this video. Great tips to follow while we are shopping for our bus! Makes sense to start with a good base before spending a bunch of money on the inside!! Thank you!
Glad it helped! Thanks for watching!
I'm not in the market for a bus, but I found this video very informative. Good job, Ben, and I hope you enjoy your bus.
ps: I think the color was a good choice.
I appreciate that! Hope you all are doing well!
Good evening Sir, you have made a very well informative video mon ami 👍😉👌 Cheers 🍻
Thanks buddy, I hope it helps someone!
How's she gin'? Getting a used school bus could lead to a fun project but like you point out, it's not all easy going eh!! Thanks for covering all these points. Take care!!!
Your right it’s not all fun, lots of work and research involved! But I don’t regret a minute of it now! Appreciate you watching!
Im not a international fan, love my Thomas, but this one you have is in beautiful shape!
It’s a Thomas body on a International chassis. Thanks
Just watched your video, very wise words of wisdom.
Thank you for creating this video.
Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks
Thank you for posting! My son and I are looking at one this week
Good luck! Thanks for watching!
Very good information ! Love the Bus ! Have a Blessed Day
Really appreciate you watching!
In Indiana you have to paint it before you can register it as well.
Thanks for watching
That's good to know about thanks for info 👍🏻
Thanks for watching!
Good info! I’m looking and yep paper work is the worst!
Thanks for watching
Good video. A lot of great points to consider.
I have bid on the short bus at local auction and ended up not getting it because of the price. I too had issues getting insurance quotes. The only option was local agent working with progressive, the policy was 660 for a year - commercial for private use.
Since that auction I have read a lot of stories how people get dropped couple weeks later by Progressive for no reason. There is an option to get it titled to RV which than would widen the pool of insurers but as I understand, only few companies want to insure converted bus. Considering this, I rethought all idea of converting bus to rv. Knowing how things are with insurance companies and having only select few who want to do anything with you, is it really worth the risk? You would put a lot of money into the bus converting it, spend countless months or even years, just to discover that one day you may become uninsurable and thus illegal on the road. What is one suppose to do with the vehicle at that point?
Also, one piece of advise - do NOT tell Progressive or your local agent that you are to convert it to RV/camper bus. You will burn the last bridge if you will tell them.
One last point, in Indiana (I think it is like that in most states), you are no-go in the private campgrounds with converted school bus camper. The reason being their insurance does not cover that.
Cheers.
Thank you!
Great video!👍🏻
Thank you!
I think the color thing applies up here as well because all of the tobacco farms around here have school buses for hauling the migrant workers. They all have very poor ugly paint jobs lol at least yours looks nice! What paint did you use, I’d like to paint the wheels and dump body on the 800. I had haggerty for my 58 f100 when I had that. Probably a good idea to check the age of my tires too. I’m due for a battery, it’s dated 2012 but seems to work fine and I’ll never be more than a few miles from the farm. Good stuff here a lot of good checks for my self to look into after buying a medium size truck.
It bet the color does apply there too. I used rust oleum gloss black. It did good. Short trips I don’t worry much about the tires but running at 55 or better for extended periods of time is where you might have a blowout. You may still get a few years out of those batteries. Thanks for watching!
Very informative great job.
Appreciate that!
Excellent! Thank you very much.
Really appreciate you watching!
Valuable information, thank you.
I appreciate you watching!
Great video man I want do get a 2005 bluebird vision also known as the first generation bluebird vision is my dream bus I won’t be turning it into a RV or house and such it will just be for fun because it was apart of my childhood riding those buses
They are fun to drive and have around. Thanks for watching
no problem if you have tips for me please let me know I’d love to have some
this was amazing!!!!!!
Thanks for watching
Hey Ben I like the hat you are wearing
😁 Yeah it sure is! That’s become my Sunday hat! Thanks!
@richard harrison we’ve actually done some work to it now to at least camp in. Nothing fancy though. Actually going a maiden voyage here in a few days. My Bus is Ready for Camping and measurements for the scissor lift attachment! Here’s a link to what we did.
ruclips.net/video/WMqErVV8CXo/видео.html
well just stand up to them my buddy did they backed off they were telling him he could not park his semi at his house he told them you pay for a parking spot every day at the truckstop i ,ll move it they left him alone after that
I’m confused on this comment.
Tons of great information !
Thank you!
Does the can't be yellow for 15+ passenger rule only apply to school bus yellow? Because I've seen yellow coaches
I believe your right. Can’t be school bus yellow. Thanks for watching
@@khtractors do you know the rules of bringing the bus to another country? Because apparently my home country of Indonesia only allows you to import used buses and trucks but not used cars lol
@@khtractors but does it count if you cover the school bus sign? Because if I ever buy a bus then I wouldn't have the budget or tools to paint the bus
No that still doesn’t count for here, I even asked about removing the seats and the police still said no. Had to be painted.
Wow I never figured it’d be a deal to get tags and insurance on a bus. What part of Virginia are you in?
It’s Dickenson County, we are near the KY boarder. Yes it was a stressful few days trying to figure out how to insure and tag it. Thanks for watching!
@@khtractors gotcha, beautiful country up that way
thanks for posting.
You're welcome! Thanks for watching
How much does youre dt-466 I want a medium length school bus to live in for 5 years ill move it around every once in awhile.
What’s your question? I think you may have left part of it out. Thanks for watching
Greetings. I'm not educated, older gentlemen .Dont want to get screwed over price wise. I'm interested in buying
2003 chevy express with only 20 thousand miles to live in!
Day care van bus / skoolie
Owner wants to sell
How much shoud i offer / bid?
Thanks
I wouldn’t have any idea on that. Wish I could help but without a good first hand inspection I would be afraid to make a suggestion.
Hey Ben, question for ya - the Thomas/Chevy that I’m looking at is 500lbs over the gross weight requirement for a CDL license and I’m wondering if it’s registered for private use and all of the seats are gone, will I need a CDL??
Very hard to find solid answers on this topic
You will probably have to retitle it as an RV or truck depending on your use. I was told by the state people even though the seats are removed it’s still considered for example a 66 passenger bus. But you can get a reconstructed title and change it but it will need to be approved by an officer. I left mine as a bus because I have the license. You probably can call your state police and ask. That’s what I did with mine.
What if I have a CDL B with P and S endorsements? Could I still have 15+ passengers?
Not if it’s yellow and used for personal use. Virginia law. Thanks for watching!
I hate when people rip it up and just give up then leave the next buyer with the mess. Even lose or throw away the interior panels very stupid.
I’ve seen several for sale that’s was gutted and then they stopped worked. Thanks for watching
Are you aware of the rules in Maryland
No I’m not. Each state is different, these laws are tuff to find a get clarification on also.
I LOVE ❤❤BUSES AND I LIVE IN KERRVILLE TEXAS AND LOOKING FOR A BUS 🚍
Thanks for watching!
I LIKE TO USED MY BUS 🚍 FOR A R.V. FOR TRAVEL
Who would want to keep it yellow or keep the upper lights ?
Probably no one, but it would be nice to tag it and run the bus awhile to see if it’s going to be worth the investment to paint. Thanks for watching!
WHERE CAN I BUY A GOOD USED BUS 🚍 ❤
Just have to watch for auction notifications from school districts.