📌 Buying a bus: the short guide nobody gave us

Buying a bus: the short guide nobody gave us

Most of the expensive mistakes in a skoolie build happen before you own the bus. Here's the stuff that matters, in the order you'll run into it. Add your own hard-won lessons in the replies and I'll fold them into this post.

1. Decide the mission before you shop

The right bus depends on how you'll use it, and that decides length, engine and layout.

• Short (20–25 ft, "shorty"): easy to drive and park, fits most campgrounds, one or two people. Cutaway vans (Chevy Express / Ford E-series front) are gas, cheap to fix, and nobody blinks at them.
• Mid (28–35 ft): the sweet spot for couples and small families. Still fits most state parks (many cap at 35–40 ft).
• Full-size (38–40 ft): a real house. Also a real commitment: harder to park, more national parks off limits, more tires, more fuel.

Also decide now: full-time or weekends, mountains or flat, how many beds. Everything else follows.

2. Where buses come from

• School district auctions (GovDeals, Public Surplus, Municibid, state surplus sites). Usually the best value: fleet-maintained, service records often available, sold as-is with a scheduled inspection day. Go to the inspection day.
• Bus dealers / resellers cost more but you can test drive and sometimes get a short warranty.
• Churches and camps often sell low-mileage buses that sat a lot. Sitting is its own problem (seals, tires, rodents).
• Marketplace / Craigslist: fine, but assume nothing until you've seen the title and started it cold.

3. Body types, in plain English

• Conventional / "dog nose" (Type C): engine out front under a hood. Easiest engine access, cheapest to work on, most common. Longer overall for the same floor space.
• Flat nose, rear engine (Type D RE): quiet cab, best floor space, great weight balance, but the engine lives in a hot closet in the back and some mechanics hate them.
• Flat nose, front engine (Type D FE): the engine is in a "doghouse" next to the driver. Noisy and hot up front.
• Cutaway (Type A): van chassis with a bus body. Gas engine, normal parts counter, easy life.

4. Engines: the ones people hunt for and the ones to skip

Diesel mileage isn't like car mileage. 150,000–250,000 miles on a well-serviced school bus is normal; condition and records matter more than the odometer. Pre-2007 engines have far less emissions equipment to go wrong; 2007+ have DPF, 2010+ add DEF/SCR.

Generally liked:

• International DT466 / DT466E: the one everyone wants. Strong, rebuildable in the chassis, parts everywhere.
• Cummins 5.9 / ISB, 6.7 ISB, 8.3: excellent. Common in Blue Bird and Thomas.
• Cat 3126 / C7: good engines, but Cat parts and HEUI injector work cost real money.
• International T444E: a cousin of Ford's 7.3 Power Stroke. Reliable, a bit underpowered in a full-size.
• Mercedes MBE900 (Thomas): fine, but fewer shops know them.
• Gas (Chevy 6.0, Ford 6.8 V10/7.3 gas): on cutaways, totally fine. Cheaper to fix, drinks fuel.

Approach with caution:

• International VT365 (cousin of Ford's 6.0 Power Stroke): head gasket and injector history. Many people walk away.
• International MaxxForce 7 / DT (roughly 2007–2014): emissions-era trouble, expensive to sort.

5. Transmissions: this one actually matters for travel

Look for the Allison tag on the transmission or in the records.

• Allison AT545: the weak link. No lockup, overheats on long grades, hates mountains. Fine for flat local use, bad for cross-country full-size travel.
• Allison MT643 / MT653: solid 4-speeds. Good.
• Allison 2000 / 2500 series (electronic, 5–6 speed with lockup): the best you'll find in a school bus. Worth paying more for.
• 3000 series: great, usually on heavier buses.

6. Rust: where to look

Northern, salt-road buses rust from the bottom up. Dry-state buses (AZ, NM, TX, inland CA, NV) are worth travelling for. Florida buses are rust-light but check for humidity and mold.

Bring a flashlight, a small magnet, and an awl. Check:

• The floor under the rubber mat, especially along the walls and at every seat leg. Some surface rust is normal; soft spots and daylight are not.
• Stepwell, wheel wells, rear emergency door sill, around every window gasket.
• Frame rails and crossmembers (crawl under it). Flaking is one thing; scaling and thin spots are another.
• Roof seams and around hatches and marker lights (water stains on the ceiling panels tell on them).

7. The inspection, in order

1. Cold start. Insist the engine is cold when you arrive. Hard starting, white or blue smoke that doesn't clear, or knocking are reasons to leave.
2. Fluids and leaks. Oil (milky = coolant), coolant (oily = bad), transmission fluid (should be red/pink, not brown and burnt-smelling). Look under it after it's run.
3. Brakes. If air brakes: with the engine off and air up, watch for pressure loss (more than a few psi a minute is a leak), check the low-air warning, and the governor cut-in/cut-out. If hydraulic: pedal feel, lines, fluid.
4. Tires. Find the DOT date code. Anything over 7–10 years old needs replacing regardless of tread, and six 22.5s are $2,000–4,000. Budget for it or negotiate it.
5. Drive it. Shifting (clean, no slipping or flaring), steering play, pulling, noises over bumps, temperature gauge on a hill if you can.
6. Electrical. Every light, wiper, heater, dash gauge. Batteries and cables.
7. Water intrusion. Smell it. Mold smell, stained ceiling panels, rust streaks below windows.
8. Paperwork. Title in the seller's name, VIN matches the plate and the title, no liens. Ask for service records; fleet buses often have them.

8. Title, registration and licence

• Get the title in hand at purchase. No title, no sale.
• Most states let you retitle a school bus as a motorhome / RV after conversion, usually with photos or an inspection showing cooking, sleeping and sanitation. Some require the stop arm and flashers removed and the yellow changed first. Check your state before you buy; it's a different thread here: Which states make the RV title conversion easy?
• Licence: once titled as a motorhome for personal use, most states don't require a CDL, but a few require a non-commercial class for heavy vehicles, and air brakes may need an endorsement. Ask your DMV, not the internet.
• Insurance: harder during the build than after. Call before you buy.

9. Real budget numbers

• Bus: $3,000–12,000 for most auction and private buses; more for low-mile or newer.
• Tires: $2,000–4,000 if they're old (they're usually old).
• Immediate mechanical catch-up (fluids, filters, belts, batteries, a brake job): $1,000–3,000.
• Conversion: $10,000 for a scrappy DIY to $50,000+ for a full-time build with solar and real plumbing.
• Don't forget: registration, insurance, a place to park it while you build.

10. Walk-away list

• No title, or title doesn't match the VIN
• Won't start cold, or smokes and keeps smoking
• AT545 on a full-size bus you plan to drive over mountains
• VT365 or emissions-era MaxxForce unless it's cheap and you know a diesel shop
• Frame rust you can push a screwdriver into
• Welded patches on the floor with no explanation
• "Just needs a battery," "just needs a sensor," or a seller who won't let you inspect it cold

Bring with you

Flashlight, magnet, awl or screwdriver, tire gauge, a phone for photos of every tag and every rust spot, an OBD reader if the engine is electronic, and ideally a friend who knows diesels. Take your time. The right bus is worth a few extra weekends of looking.

This is a living post. Reply with what you've learned and it gets added.