Tag: Juan Way

So it seems a bunch of people want to come with me to Minnesota. I’m not really sure why, but I’m not going to tell them no. So I’m posting this to say that if you’re interested, and can pay for a Greyhound ticket and food, you’re welcome to come.

Its a two day bus ride out there, and a day plus ride back. If you are interested, let me know.

So, I talked to the guy selling the bus both yesterday and today, and he’s really cool. He’s willing to hang on to it for a while, until I can get time to get out to MN and pick it up. So I’ll be heading out a month from today (March 6th) to pick up the bus. By Greyhound it should take about two days to get out there, and I should arrive and leave on Saturday, returning with the bus. This means that there probably won’t be any updates to this blog until closer to when I head out, but I’m pumped anyway. Let’s see if I can carry this high for a month.

If you didn’t see the pictures yet, here they are:

Bus!
I finally won a bus! It’s a 1990 International with 210k miles, DOT certified until March. And it looks beautiful. I’ll be heading out to pick it up (1200 miles away) either this weekend or the next. I’ll definitely keep this updated on any developments.

Its understandable that sellers think highly of their buses, because of the original price they likely paid for them. But as soon as these buses get on in years, they lose value considerably. The average prices on these things is around $2000. Lately, the average reserve is higher.

I’ve seen dozens of buses on eBay end without sale. So many, any of which I would have gladly bought. Sellers are setting reserve prices higher than they will ever get. This is the main problem I’ve had buying buses so far. 7 auctions have ended in which I was the high bidder, but the reserve price wasn’t met. Its starting to bug me. I just wish sellers could start setting realistic reserve prices so auctions would end with a winner.

So…
There were 4 bus auctions ending today. I bid on one before I went to sleep, and though I was the high bidder, the price hadn’t yet passed the seller’s reserve. When I woke up shortly before the auction ended, I had been outbid by a couple hundred dollars, but the reserve still hadn’t been met. So that was a lost cause.

Next bus: I was outbid, and when the auction ended, the reserve was also not met. The third bus was higher than I wanted to bid, and it ended at about the same price as the second bus, with the reserve not met.

The fourth bus is the only one without a reserve price, but the current high bid is over $3k. So that’s out as well. Desperate, I went to the next bus on my watch list (this is the bus located in CT), which ends in a few days. I bid my max ($2150) and was immediately outbid by the previous high bidder.

So…crap. Turns out January is not a very good time for buying used school buses. Mid-December was incredible, but I wasn’t yet ready to buy, so I held off. Let that be a lesson to you, if you should ever have to buy a school bus, do it mid-December.

Looks like I’ll be waiting a while, and may not get a bus this break (I will get one this semester). Hopefully that’ll work out in the end.

Well, I’m looking at a few buses on eBay, many of which end in a couple days.  Also, somehow most of them are also located in Texas.  I have no issue with going to Texas to pick up a bus, especially when they look as good as these do.  Thanks to Texas weather, these buses have a lot less rust than buses in the Northeast.  Here is an example of the buses I’m looking at (there are two more that are practically identical from the same dealer).  There is a reserve price, and the high Buy It Now price makes me think that these might go above my budget, which is less than usual thanks to the cost of getting down there. 

There is hope, I’m also looking at a bus for sale in CT, which I would love to get.  Its a beautiful bus, but it is also a ‘95, meaning it’ll probably also go out of my price range. 

The quest continues, and even if I can’t get a bus before I go back next semester, I’m willing to wait until the perfect bus comes along.  That isn’t a big issue, since I wasn’t going to be able to work on it much while at school.  My only concern is that prices may go up once spring/summer come around…

No surprise here. I knew that I would be outbid from the second I threw my hat in. My bid was just barely above the guy before me, and the current bid was high enough that even if someone bid the minimum increment, they’d have me beat. Oh well.

Looking ahead, this bus catches my eye. Its massive, with lots of storage and a side door. In fact, this bus has everything going for it except that it is on the other side of the country. Now, I’ve got no problem going 6,000 miles (round trip) for my bus, but I am concerned that something could happen to it. That’s a long haul, and if it isn’t in perfect mechanical condition then it may not make it back without issue.

I think I’ll give him a call later today and see whats up.

Mr. Transistor (w/Auld Lang Syne) by Perpetual Groove
[audio:http://www.archive.org/download/pgroove2007-12-31.flac16/pgroove2007-12-31d3t01_64kb.mp3,http://www.archive.org/download/pgroove2007-12-31.flac16/pgroove2007-12-31d3t02_64kb.mp3,http://www.archive.org/download/pgroove2007-12-31.flac16/pgroove2007-12-31d3t03_64kb.mp3]

Well, sort of. This blog isn’t going anywhere, but I’ve created a new blog for the Juan Way Tour so I can keep its updates and such all in one place. I think I’ll have that stuff all cross-posted on this blog, so if you already read this blog, you won’t have to read that one as well. But if you should want to read about the tour without the rest of the crap on this blog thrown in, it has its own home.

Kickin Up Dust by Robert Walter’s Super Heavy Organ
[audio:http://ia310129.us.archive.org/2/items/rwsho2005-08-19.flac/rwsho2005-08-19d2/rwsho05-08-19d2t01_64kb.mp3]

I’m selling the ~$400 of stock I have tomorrow, so I can get that money by the time I’ll need it. That money should put me at almost exactly $2000 to spend on a bus, which should be plenty. I’m planning on picking up a early 90s bus with around 120k miles on it, somewhere between 36 and 40 feet long. In a perfect world, I would have bought this bus. But the timing wasn’t right, the price ended up higher than I wanted it to, and it was in Montana. A bus that fits my needs will come around, I just hope I don’t need to wait too long.

My dad was trying to persuade me to buy something smaller, so I could use it as a day-to-day vehicle. He encouraged me to look at box trucks, step vans (UPS-like vans), or even just fullsize vans. I get where he is coming from, but I really am looking for a dedicated roadtrip machine. I’ll still use it as a day-to-day vehicle, in spite of the impracticality of it, because it is so incredibly novel. Even though I have no intention of buying notabus, I took a look at what else eBay had to offer me.

I wasn’t too impressed by any of the vehicles my dad suggested to me, but I’m glad I looked around, because I found eBay Motor’s Emergency and Fire Trucks section. Yes, you can buy fire trucks. They’re actually quite reasonably priced. I am a happier person now that I know that I can buy a fire truck on a whim. But what is really interesting about this section is that I discovered ambulances. They’re perfect for live-in vehicles. I’m not talking about ambulances that are just significantly modified vans, but the ambulances that have a massive box for a back-section.

They are tall enough for me to stand in, they already have a bed, electrical setup, air conditioning, and they have access to the cab. They’re also decently cheap (<$5k for a decent one). I would love to buy one, but I figure at most six people could stay in one, and that would be tight as hell. I figure I’ll buy one after I’m done touring with lots of people. An ambulance is perfect for a solo trip, or a trip with four or fewer people. You don’t need a special license to drive them, and overall they seem to be pretty comfortable living. I’m watching this one. Again, not intention of buying, but I’m going to keep it in mind, for future plans.