The total cost of a bus is the amount you have to pay including insurance and taxes. When buses list for sale online, sellers mention the net price i.e. the price of the vehicle. But they don't include insurance and taxes. The buyer will end up paying a few thousand dollars more to own the vehicle. That would include registration fee, insurance, sales tax, shipping, warranty and more. Nobody can give the exact figure except for the dealerships. Moreover, buses are of different sizes. They are generally categorized into mini, medium and full size. Depending on the size of your bus, its total price will vary. For example, insurance companies charge higher premiums for commercial use. And lower premiums for personal use like a recreational vehicle or a church ministry. They even charge lower premiums to long time customers and higher fee to new customers. So the total price that you pay for a bus will never be the same for other customers.
The total price can differ depending on whether the vehicle is new or preowned. This difference can be of that between heaven and earth. For example a basic feature 15 seater new bus for sale will cost $50,000 before taxes. Whereas the second hand version of the same vehicle will cost $15,000 to $25,000. The price of a used bus for sale depends on several factors. Some of which are age, mileage, engine and transmission type, comfort features and more. We are trying to give a rough estimate on how much new and used buses for sale can cost. Buyers can search for buses for sale online. Contact the seller to get an estimate on what the total cost of owning the vehicle will be. This should include registration, insurance, taxes, shipping and everything else. In the case of used buses, buyers should be cautious and inspect the vehicle before buying. Hence the total cost of ownership will increase further due to professional inspection services. Dealerships usually have established contacts with professional 3rd party inspection companies. They will be able to tell you on their fee too.
Purchasing the vehicle is a fraction of the total cost of owning a bus. Once purchased and delivered to the buyers location, there will be other costs too. For example, parking. The parking space can be a barn, garage or an over sized shed. But if none of these are available then it will need a parking lot or stand by the side of a road. The owner will have to pay a parking fee. Buses should never be parked in dark places or in the open. Because parking in a poorly lit area will invite professional thieves. They can break into the vehicle to steal expensive parts, components or fuel. Others will ride it to other states, alter its history, papers and sell to unsuspecting buyers. On the other hand, parking in the open will expose it to the elements like heat, air and water thus reducing its overall lifespan and even reducing its resale value. Buses are vehicles that people buy for a specific purpose, when the purpose is fulfilled and no longer exists, people tend to list them up for resale. It's vital for the vehicle to be in good condition at the time of resale. Parking in the open and exposing it to the elements will fade appearance, potentially causing rust and aid in its spread to critical parts of the vehicle compared to a closed enclosure. Such vehicles will cost more to maintain because they will require repainting, rust works, dusting and much more. Keeping these facts in mind, it's important to park in a safe, secured and enclosed place which will obviously demand a fee for the service.
Next comes maintenance. Every vehicle needs regular maintenance, newer ones will require less compared to preowned ones. Though a new bus for sale will not require frequent maintenance, its prime drawback is that it depreciates at a very high rate between 30% to 40% in just the first year even if it's not being used. On the other hand a used bus for sale will depreciate slowly because it has already gone through the initial high depreciation phase but it will require more maintenance comparatively There are no fixed rules on how much maintenance a used motor coach will need. It depends on what the previous owner did to keep it fully functional. Buyers will have to talk to the vehicle's owner, driver, mechanic, check historical data(previous maintenance records), perform 3rd party inspection and take a test drive to get an actual feel of how the vehicle operates and what frequent maintenance will be required. Sometimes lucky buyers get their hands on a low mileage bus for sale. In the used bus industry, low mileage refers to vehicles that have less than 200,000 miles on their odometers. Such motor coaches are in really good condition and don't require frequent maintenance. Experts advise owners to perform regular maintenance on their second hand motor coach every 6 months even if they look good and function great. The pre-scheduled regular maintenance will keep the owners informed of any upcoming repair works and avoid sudden breakdowns, repairs that can break the bank or potential accidents. Buyers will have to check with the previous owner, how much they used to spend on maintaining the vehicle and get a rough idea on how much they will have to spend once it has been purchased. Previous maintenance records play a vital role in getting this estimate.
Once the buyer has figured out where to park his vehicle and the cost of maintenance. Next comes the cost of operating the bus. Buses are either purchased by individuals, organizations or businesses. Individuals buy with the intention of converting them into recreational vehicles for long vacations across the North American continent. Organizations like churches and schools purchase them to transport members and students. Businesses buy them to transport employees, or to convert them into moving shops and stores. In the case of individuals the owner tends to drive the vehicle along with his partners on the trip. However, in the case of organizations and businesses a professional driver needs to be hired. A minibus for sale does not require a commercial licence and any driver with a regular licence can operate it, but medium and full sized buses will need drivers with a commercial licence. It should be noted that a driver with commercial licence commands a higher wage compared to one with a general licence. In either situation paying driver's wage adds up to the total cost of owning the motor coach. This cost will be more for bigger buses because they need commercial licence to be operated and less for minibuses because they can be operated with a regular licence. The driver will also have to be trained on how to operate the new vehicle because chances are he might have experience driving a different model bus comparatively.
Fuel consumption plays a vital role in the overall cost of bus ownership. New buses for sale have brand new engines hence their performance is at optimal levels. However, this is not the case with used buses for sale. Every second hand bus will have a different fuel performance depending on how well it was maintained by the previous owner. This is because over the course of time the engine's filtration system gets clogged up. Its fuel injectors and pistons undergo wear and tear. If they are not cleaned regularly then the engine's performance will take a dip and its fuel consumption will go north. The average fuel performance for any used bus for sale is between 9 to 12 miles per gallon. If the performance is less than this average then the buyer needs to look for a better vehicle. The best way to check fuel performance is to conduct a test drive of the motor coach. The demand for used buses is from every corner of the United States, but the dealerships are located in a few selected states. As a result purchases are often made online without face to face interaction. If the buyer and dealer are located in different states, then the buyer can ask the 3rd party inspection company to perform a test drive before making the final purchase decision. The drawback is that the buyer will have to pay for the inspection services even if he or she does not make a purchase. Inspections are an important part of the bus buying process and buyers should never skip this step under any circumstances even if it means shelling a few extra hundred bucks before settling on the perfect bus.
Depending on the size of the bus, the owner will also need staff for cleaning before and after every trip. This will keep its appearance in good and like new condition. It will also keep its interior free from bad odor, dust and other trash that passengers may drop on the journey. If the bus will be used for commercial purposes like a jitney service charging a fee for transportation then a ticket collector will be needed to take fares and distribute tickets to on boarding passengers.
If you are seriously looking out to purchase a bus, then check out our website for more than 40 used buses for sale. Every vehicle has a detailed description with more than 45 photos for each bus along with their purchase price. Shortlist all the vehicles of your choice and give us a call at 516-333-7483 during normal business hours to get an approximate cost of getting the motor coaches delivered to your location. We are a used bus dealership and have sold our vehicles to thousands of customers all across the USA for more than three decades. We have a long list of satisfied customers and hope you will be our list too. Search for Major Vehicle Exchange on Google and you will get all the information about our company, website and how to get in touch with us.
https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-total-cost-of-a-bus/answer/Charles-Kaufman-8
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