Every church needs a private vehicle to reach out to the masses and help people in need. Previously, they used a 15 seater van to transport members of the congregation. But in 2006, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration issued a notification. They said that the vans are not suitable for public transportation. Because several cases we documented of it rolling over at high speeds. And its tires blew out during reflex traffic maneuvers. Studies showed that the van had a high center of gravity. As a result its chances of rolling over increased by 70% with more than 10 passengers. The number of accidents increased by 35% with more than 7 passengers. After 6 months the administration issued another notification about the unsafe nature of these vans. This time the insurance companies jumped in. They stopped providing coverage to van owners. And increased the premiums on existing vans. As a result, it became expensive to own them. Thus, van owners started getting rid of the vans and purchased 15 seater buses for sale instead. Used buses have revolutionized church transportation. And have become their first vehicle of choice. These vehicles are much safer than a van. Because they have an average height of roughly 7 feet so a person who is 6 feet 4 inches tall can stand inside the bus. To compensate for the extra weight, the bus has dual rear wheels which reduces its center of gravity. Thus there are less chances of a bus rolling over when loaded to full capacity. Moreover, it has a heavy duty steel cage construction. It protects the passengers during emergency situations. Due to these increased safety features more and more churches opted to buy a bus rather than a van. The used bus industry has seen a phenomenal growth in the sale of second hand buses since 2006. These sales have kept increasing over the years with leaps and bounds. So think about a bus when you think about transporting a church congregation. Ideally, these vehicles travel up to a distance of one hour from the church and operate throughout the day picking up and dropping off people from their homes to the church and back. The dependence on these vehicles for member transportation has increased to such an extent that a church's normal functioning will be severely jeopardized in their absence. Big churches have fleets of several buses to transport their congregation, smaller ones may have one or two but it's the startup churches who are eager to buy a secondhand bus for their members. A church will find it difficult to grow and expand without a bus service because if it has 100 members, then chances are high, it would have 50+ vehicles parked outside its premises during Sunday Sessions. Thus becoming a nuisance for everybody in the neighborhood. In short, a bus is a must have to transport the church congregation.
But why buy used buses for sale?
There are several reasons why it makes good sense to buy a used bus for sale for transporting the members. A new bus should be purchased only when it has to be used full time to its fullest capacity. Otherwise what's the point in buying a $50,000 vehicle and letting it sit in the garage for 6 days out of 7. Churches do not require a bus for full time, most of them need it only on Sundays. There are roughly 53 Sundays in a year, does it make any financial sense to buy a $50,000 vehicle just to use it for 50 days in a year?? Most churches do not have the budget to buy a new bus so they will have to purchase on credit. By the time they own the vehicle after a few years, the total cost including interest payments can be $65,000+. Then there are other expenses like insurance, fuel, maintenance, parking fee, driver and staff wages that can put the total cost of owning a bus to more than $100,000 in the case of a new bus. Now, you get the point why churches do not buy a new bus? Experts in the used bus industry advise buyers to purchase these vehicles only if they will be used occasionally i.e. less than 20,000 miles a year and less than 5 years. Now, this precondition perfectly fits the church requirements because a church bus will never add more than 5,000 miles on its odometer. Even if the church activities are stretched to include other community activities like organizing public kitchens and others get together on weekdays, the bus will never cross 10,000 miles. Thus a church should always buy a second hand bus for sale rather than its new counterparts. When you include all the additional expenses mentioned above, the total cost of owning a bus will be up to $40,000 or a little bit more than that which is fairly affordable for a church that is well established among the masses.
What is the life of a used shuttle bus for sale?
A brand new shuttle bus lasts for up to 15 years and up to 300,000 miles. The owner sells it when no longer needed. By this time it has already been on the roads for 7 to 10 years and has registered up to 100,000 miles on its odometer. So the life that remains in this used bus is 5 years and up to 200,000 miles. Keeping these numbers in mind a church bus can take up to 20 years to exhaust all the remaining 200,000 miles if its using the bus more frequently and adding an average of 10,000 miles a year. 5,000 miles is what the church uses normally, in this case it will take up to 40 years to exhaust the 200,000 miles remaining on its used bus. However, it should be remembered that the longer you use a second hand bus, the more it will cost for maintaining it. Thus experts advise not to use a pre owned bus for sale for more than 5 years as it will cost more to maintain it. The used bus markets are full of pre owned buses and it will be cheaper to buy another used bus rather than spending more and more on maintaining an existing bus. It's always the members who pay for the bus and its overhead costs. A church should always find better and efficient ways to spend the money donated by its congregation. Its a wise decision to get rid of the bus after 5 years, purchase another used bus and start the entire cycle of bus ownership and member transportation all over again.A church should always be in contact with a good bus repair shop that will maintain and repair its vehicles on a regular basis at a price that is fairly affordable. Unfortunately, bus repair shops are not available everywhere and a church should maintain a good relation with them once they have been located. This relationship will last for decades and will help fix the various buses owned by the chapel or the parish on demand at a reasonable and discounted price. A buyer has to buy a bus and find a repair shop just at the same time because all used vehicles need to be maintained and a used bus requires more maintenance than any other vehicle. With all these tips in mind, soon a church will learn the art of owning a used bus profitably in the long run. Remember, a church needs a bus which in turn needs a repair shop.
Aren't used buses defective?
Yes, they are and if you purchase them as is then you are certainly going under the bus. As discussed above, these vehicles have been on the roads for more than a decade and have endured a lot of wear and tear due to the hundreds and thousands of passengers walking in and out daily. Chances are high, if the previous owner did not maintain the motor coach well on regular schedules, then rust might have entered its critical parts that need immediate replacement before being put back on the roads. This calls for a full inspection of the vehicle before purchase. For example, the anti lock braking system comprises of thousands of small metallic parts, if rust has taken its toll on these smaller parts, then it's time to replace them immediately otherwise the strength of these parts will be compromised and they might even break apart in transit casing death and injury to those inside as well as other pedestrians on the road. Thus there are two types of used buses for sale, those that are being sold as is by the owners and others that have been fully reconditioned from bumper to bumper with no defects. These reconditioned used buses will cost 15% more than those that are being sold as is but they will give the buyer the confidence that the vehicle will not break down unexpectedly that will require a catastrophic repair cost to fix it. All buyers are advised to spend a few extra dollars and buy reconditioned used buses rather than others. These reconditioned used buses will further enhance and improve your art of owning a second hand bus profitably. Once you get used to this art, you will be looking for business opportunities everywhere.
Major Vehicle Exchange has been selling fully reconditioned used buses for more than a quarter of a century, that is 35 years and still going strong. We owe our success to the long list of satisfied customers across the United States. Many of whom have become repeat buyers thus increasing our sales year after year. We always look forward to having a long term relationship with our customers rather than a one time transaction. So when you buy a used bus from us, you can be sure that we will be with you throughout the bus ownership. Moreover, once you are done with the bus, we will be happy to buy it back provided it has been well maintained on a regular basis. Our customers love this feature, because it helps them get rid of a huge vehicle in their garage or backyard that is no longer needed by making a single phone call to our dealership. That is the extent to which we have simplified the bus ownership process for our customers. Buy from us, use it as long as you can and resell it back to us once done. Check out our inventory of more than 40 used buses for sale, call us at 516-333-7483 today and let us know which vehicle you are interested in and we will get it delivered to your location in less than a week at a very affordable shipping price.
https://www.quora.com/How-do-you-transport-the-church-congregation/answer/Charles-Kaufman-8
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