Finding a suitable bus to convert has become more difficult in the last few years - the changes in the emission laws means rising prices for the secondhand buses imported from Asia.
We'd already had a good look around, and now the Bus Boy Co did some research as well. We needed a 9m bus, with a middle door and didn't want the mileage to be huge - preferably under 250,000km. If that seems a lot - these things are designed for over 1 million km! It was also important to avoid a 'city bus'. These have low ratio differentials and are used for short trips with lots of stopping and starting; hopeless on the open road.
The shortlist basically came down to three - two in the South Island at over $50,000, and one in the North Island just under $40,000.
As luck would have it, the North Island bus was in Taupo - the same place the conversion would take place. It had already been stripped out as the owner planned to convert it, which made it much easier to check out. It needed work to the compressor and shocks, so in the end we paid $33,000.
So, now we have a bus AND a builder. And the fun was just beginning.
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