I incorporated my second company last week, but didn't really see the point in boring you with the details of that as it's exactly the same process as before. I've been casually looking at buses over the last couple of months and was searching some websites for a used bus in good condition. I went onto Ebay of all places and just did a random search in the commercial vehicles section to see what it came up with. Our preferred bus is a Mercedes Vario 24-seater conversion, but we hadn't seen any in good enough condition to convince us to bite. We weren't going to buy a bus for another month or so, but I saw this beautifully kept coach and just HAD to go and see it with my business partner, David. It was just 25 miles away from Edinburgh, so we felt we owed ourselves the opportunity to actually go and view it.
David, as I said previously, has the necessary qualifications to run a transport firm and knows a lot more about buses than me. So the following day we arranged to view it and visited the coach company who had owned and operated the coach for the last 9 years (always a good sign). The bus is almost 12 years old, but this isn't necessarily a good guide to it's valuation or reliability. In the coach business, it's all about maintenance and how well it's been looked after. Both David and myself have driven coaches in the past that were 2/3 years old and what we would call 'dogs', and we've both driven immaculate 15 year-old buses. So when we went to meet the owner of this firm who has a 20-strong fleet and he was underneath one of his buses in overalls with his hands covered in oil and grease at 8am on a Saturday morning, we knew it was a good sign that the bus had been taken care of.
Sure enough, David went for a wee test drive and remarked about how well the bus drove and how solid it looked. I looked around it and made a few generic bus remarks to make it look as though I knew what I was talking about, but generally I kept out of the way as I trust David's judgment. I have to admit, it felt very solid from my seat at the very back of the bus and when we returned we asked the obligatory questions you ask when buying a used vehicle. It's coming with a full years' MOT and nearly-new tyres which is excellent, the bodywork is incredible (for it's age) and it suits our needs perfectly.
We asked him for his lowest price, and he told us. We were pleasantly surprised, but I think the fact we're 'bus' people and fairly local meant he knew we weren't there to mess him about. So we discussed it on the way back to the city, and we both agreed we wanted THIS bus. It's not the cheapest, it's a bit of gamble (indeed I might just tag this with 'Daft things I've done'), and it's not exactly the right time for us, but we've bought it. "Seize the moment," as they say. Here she is; albeit with the company name blurred to conceal identity of seller;
We're going to get a de-liveried silver Mercedes Vario coach, and I need to get my arse in gear and organise the balance by next week. The seller won't be getting a replacement for 4-6 weeks, so has said we can leave the bus there during this time, which is perfect for us as it means we don't have to pay for storage space. I wrote up a quick contract of sale to affirm both of our positions, as the seller is going to replace the silencer on the bus as the agreed price, and we have no interest in the private registration number plate he has on it, so he retains the mark and will put the original back on. I also forfeit the deposit if I don't come up with the cleared balance with 14 days, but this shouldn't be a problem. All of this, AND I'm heading to Paris on Monday for 3 nights with my girlfriend. It's going to be a hectic couple of weeks!
We're going to try and get a quote to get her painted for launch sometime over Easter, and if I get my way, she'll look like this:
GINGER BUS!
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