If that doesn't stop you, then please read on and I will tell you the story of BUS290 - "Ancient Mariners"
HISTORY
Former Japanese school bus imported to NZ 2003 by City South Commercials of Christchurch. Purchased by original owner in Napier and lovingly converted over 2 years to a very high standard with no expense spared. A full album of photos detailing every aspect of the construction is part of the document pack. According to the log it did around 150k as a school bus over 10 years. This is pretty light duty for a commercial bus - just 15k a year. There is a photo of it in its original school bus livery.
The bus is quite rare in that it is centre door only from the factory. It does not have an original front corner passenger side door which has been filled in. This enables the front passenger to be properly seated side by side with the driver, unlike many other converted buses that formerly had a front corner door. My understanding is that this was specifically for school bus use, to prevent the kiddies running into the road easily. This made it ideal for motorhome conversion.
The bus was owned by the constructor from 2003 until 2020 when he reluctantly had to sell after many years of retirement travel around the whole of NZ - all detailed in the log book. The present owner, me, is a UK based motorhome owner of 25 years standing, here on an extended NZ trip visiting our immigrated family. We were extremely lucky to find this bus when we did, having suffered some terrible viewings. This bus is a beauty - expect tears when we say goodbye.
CONSTRUCTION and LAYOUT
The coach work is all plywood faced with cream gelcoat with Rimu hardwood detailing.
The layout is 2 swivel seats to the front - driver and passenger. Dual bench settees (with certified lap belts for 3) behind, with swivelling table. Central entrance door with kitchenette opposite. Bathroom and fridge/storage units behind leading to master bedroom with N/S island bed. Plenty of cupboards, drawers and wardrobe space, plus copious under bed storage accessed by gas assisted lift up bed.
The bathroom is a full wet room constructed to yacht building standard consisting sink, cupboard, shower head and Thetford Cassette bench toilet.
The bus has sliding tinted windows throughout, but not too dark, allowing panoramic views. From the outside you can't see inside at all, except at night. All windows have really high quality curtains with tie backs, plus front drop blinds.
Fitted carpets throughout with protective mats.
TECHNICAL
WATER/TANKS - 215L fresh water. 210L grey tank. Both insulated. Black - cassette. Surflo pressure pump with accumulator. Propex water heater. Both tanks have LED level gauges inside, but grey tank level is faulty - one of the very few minor faults with this bus. It's probably an easy fix - the 4 sensors on the grey tank are accessible. Fresh tank sensor is fine. 3 sets of hose, plus fittings for all taps and adaptors.
ELECTRICAL - 220AH 12v deep cycle batteries in recent good condition. Bus is 24v, separate Bosch 110a 12v alternator is fitted in engine bay for house battery charging.
Shore power - 220v Victron Smart 30a charger with Bluetooth and silent mode. Approx 50 m of electrical hookup cable.
House power monitoring - Digital battery monitor fed wirelessly by negative battery shunt sensor, displaying voltage, state of charge and current charging or discharging. Electrical cupboard and switch/fuse panel, all laid out neatly and properly built.
USB - There are USB charge points everywhere (except bedroom - never got round to this because never felt the need with modern device batteries lasting so long).
Lighting. Tasteful and useful individual spotlights with warm white LED bulbs are situated in all convenient locations. Lighting has been further improved with tasteful RGBWW strip down each side, downlighting. Control is by remote, and controller is Amazon Alexa compatible. Lighting can be set to any colour, dimmable. There is also colour change mode, which is a bit of a gimmick, but great for impressing visitors in "disco mode"!
Power consumption - We run laptop and TV plus lighting, pumps, chargers etc. Evening power consumption with TV, lights and laptop is around 6a. Winter performance, off grid, under thick cloud with minimum solar, is minimum 2 days, usually 3. In summer there is power in excess, batteries fully charged by lunchtime. You don't have to even think about power consumption in summer. In mid winter panels perform at around 25% which is usually enough to get a decent daily charge - weather dependent of course. The bus is set up for freedom camping 24/7/365.
TV - Brand new RV media 12v TV - Smart TV, Sat TV, Bluetooth enabled, centrally mounted, great picture. Connected to Winegard manual dish, which is showing its age, is a bit stiff, but works fine once you get the hang of it. It has a brand new LNB (2020). We don't really watch satellite TV, all our TV comes over internet via Wireless Nation router (not included, unless you really insist). 12v point for router installed. We pay $90 a month for 300gb, which is enough for around 6 hours of internet TV (Netflix etc) viewing per day, plus normal internet use - Facebook etc.
AUDIO - Panasonic head unit connected to quality car speakers front and rear. Aux and USB in enabling music to be played from any phone or device. Charging points adjacent.
HEATING - Previous owner fitted a Propex 1800w gas heater with outlets in lounge and bathroom. We found this noisy and inadequate in winter. We fitted an additional diesel heater in the lounge which is quiet and powerful and heats the bus in minutes, yet is quiet enough on low setting to not interfere with TV - we like a quiet vehicle. Diesel heater has remote control and digital display. Diesel heater can be run while driving, ideal for winter.
GAS - 2 gas lockers, front and back. 2 x 6kg refillable at front. 1 x 9kg bottle in rear.
KITCHEN - Stainless steel sink, mixer tap, 4 ring cooker with grill and oven, all in good condition. Fridge Dometic RM2553 150L 3-way fridge in excellent working order. Fridge has twin selectable fans for summer operation. Above kitchen is a Fiamma turbo fan which is a powerful fan that both extracts and blows in. Keeps the van ventilated and cooking smells disappear very quickly.
MECHANICAL - 252,000km. Mitsubishi 6D16 straight 6 normally aspirated 7.5L diesel. The bus is rear engined which makes a big difference to noise and a pleasure to drive. It is a 5 speed manual with the usual 3 pedals - exactly the same as a car or ute. It is just a shade under 9m long which is big enough but not huge. It has a short wheel base and a great turning circle - it is easy to drive and manoeuvre. Air brakes.
Back in Europe and the UK I was always a Mercedes man - this is the first Japanese vehicle I have owned. Mitsubishi build quality is impressive and easily as good as if not better than Mercedes. It is absolutely solid.
Full recent service history - Bus has a log book with everything recorded since construction. I have a Mitsubishi 6D16 workshop manual in PDF format. There are active Facebook groups for converted Mitsi Fusos.
Bus was always garaged under cover by previous owner for 17 years since import. No rust. Underneath is well protected to a high standard.
Recent work includes 6 brand new Bridgestone tyres - January 2022, not in "last few years". $4500. This did hurt my wallet, but again, the old tyres were getting old. I had already replaced the fronts, and then had a puncture on the rear a week later. Not good to mix old and new tyres on the same axle, so they were all replaced and balanced by Bridgestone.
2021 - complete brake rebuild and re-shoe front and back plus new cylinders. The brakes and tyres are spot on and good for another 20 years. Reason for work was that one wheel was slightly warmer than rest, which turned out to be a sticking brake cylinder. There is no point in replacing one out of 4, and no point at all in not replacing all the pads while it was up on the ramps and the wheels off - so it was all done. New brake cylinders stainless steel lined, brake fluid replaced. Front drums skimmed. $4k well spent. Photos and receipts included.
The bus has been serviced and oil changed twice under my ownership. 3 COFs passed with flying colours. Next COF will run from March 2022.
DOCUMENTS - Everything in order. Current SCC and ECC. 2 inch thick document wallet with every single manual and leaflet. Plus photo album of construction containing over 80 photos of the original construction in detail.
OUTSIDE
AWNING - beautiful recent Fiamma awning in good condition. Guys and pegs in locker.
ROOF - contains solar panels and 4m plastic kayak on custom built rack - included in sale.
LOCKERS - a full complement of lockers all around the bus giving access to water, toilet, batteries, engine, hoses, gas and storage - see photos.
BIKE RACK - Extended so bike does not obscure rear lights. Merida electric mountain bike available by negotiation.
EXTRAS - 2 brand new folding directors chairs with side tables. 1 large and 1 small portable table. Outside plastic carpet.
As we are regretfully leaving the country after a wonderful 2 years, everything else in the bus is to be either left, or discarded. This includes kayak, fishing rods, tackle, cray pot, tools, spares, touch up paint, a big box of stuff that came from previous owner. All crockery and cutlery, sheets and bedding is offered if desired. Coffee grinder, pots and pans. Tool box with basic tools - sockets, spanners etc. Most, but not all, of this stuff is from op shops (but decent quality), and is in no way offered as an incentive to buy - it's just there if you want it. All we intend to do is take our personal effects. But if you don't have a motorhome already, with your own stuff, then you could literally just move in and drive away. We will prepare and clean bus to your requirements - completely empty if required.
AVAILABILITY - we have to leave in April. We are flexible but ideally hand over will be in March.
SALES PITCH! I am a retired engineer, so I am very caring of my equipment. We have been in motorhomes and yachts for about 40 years. We have travelled all over Europe and North Africa and completed over 250,000 miles, from Turkey to Ireland from the Sahara to Scandinavia. I was an engineer by trade and the constructor was also an engineer and quantity surveyor in Napier. This bus is a technical work or art - a one off and an absolute pleasure to own. If you have a similar technical background - as you use this bus, you see little attentions to detail everywhere. As I sit on the loo I admire how he sculpted the panels of the walls, and as I shower I smile as the water flows perfectly down the hole - it takes skill to hand make a shower floor with the correct amount of fall.
As I upgraded the solar panels in 2021 I marvelled at the quality and thickness of the original cabling, the fusing and distribution wiring - everything just so. This bus is just full of little touches that anybody with even a slight technical background will appreciate and understand the quality of construction.
The original constructor was a skilled woodworker, among his many other skills.
It is these little touches that stand as testament to the overall build quality. It is really satisfying and relaxing to know that everything is just so, even the things that you haven't discovered yet, you know there are no nasty surprises. Every hinge, every electrical connection, every drawer runner - all top notch.
After looking at at least a dozen vehicles over a couple of months, as soon as I walked into this bus, I knew this was the one. Of course I have the experience of such things, and I would say that, but I guarantee that this bus stands up to scrutiny.
The original owner designed and built the conversion as the perfect vehicle to tour New Zealand for a couple - and it fulfils this perfectly. It is spacious, comfortable and easy to maintain and handle. But it also has a modern role as well - that as a modern off grid residence and workspace. It would also fulfil that most Kiwi of institutions - a tiny home.
Why buy a converted bus and not a purpose built motorhome? I believe the answer to this is quality and solidity. A purpose built motorhome from the big manufacturers is usually a thing of beauty and a pleasure to own - until it goes wrong, or you break something. I have no end of stories to tell I have heard over the years. Modern chassis are computerised to the nth degree - if you end up with an error code or are in limp mode, you are in the hands of the main dealer. If you drop something and break a plastic moulding, or any other plastic motorhome part, you can only get that part from the original manufacturer. But with a bus like this, you can get it fixed anywhere - it's a commercial chassis, and no computers. There is a truck garage in every town. You can get mechanical service anywhere in the commercial network - it's a Fuso. You can get repairs from woodworkers, cabinet makers, yacht builders, electricians - anywhere. I have been amazed at the quality of service from the people we have had occasion to deal with all over New Zealand. I believe that a quality conversion will always offer more value than a motorhome, for the same money. But that's just me - the choice is yours!
With care and respect, this bus will be the same in another 20 years.
Based on other buses we have seen and what we paid, we think the price of $90,000 is reasonable. We have seen a very similar bus, almost identical, in N Island for $135,000 - the main difference was that it had aircon, but we couldn't see $135k. We have seen many buses but with higher mileage and older for similar money, but none of this quality. But of course ultimately the price is what someone is willing to pay. The prospective buyer will have done his homework, know what is on the market and for how much.
The dealer we bought it from in Napier, who is now a personal friend, will take it back and sell on commission if not sold before our departure.
So that is the story of our bus. If you think all these words are a bit over the top and too salesman-like, then I accept that. But please understand that I have also been a blogger and amateur writer for many years and it is just my style. The standard of adverts I have seen over the years selling vehicles and yachts is generally poor. It is a huge purchase and you deserve every detail before you spend time and money viewing. But I am a true mobile home enthusiast, not a salesman.
Thank you for your time. If not our bus, hope you find yours!
PLEASE SEE PS BELOW!
Ron and Luda Bentham
funkyronster@gmail.com
027 322 8481
All these photos and more can be downloaded from this Google Drive link. This will enable you to zoom into more detail in the photos if required.
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/12snQYrMXWsJmYlKAYokt_5xEL3Gcz7z8?usp=sharing
PS - EDIT - 28TH MARCH 2020. We have re-listed on Trademe. The bus was sold, but unfortunately fell through. We are currently half way up S Island and will be in N Island in a few days.
24th April. We are now in N Island - Waikato area.
BUS IS NOW SOLD.
Ignore my question on Trade me, as I have just read the end of your blog. Confirm still unsold?
ReplyDeleteYes unsold at present with one other person in Hamilton wanting to view.
DeletePlease contact me directly on the phone number and/or gmail address above.
We are just N of Tauranga, heading towards Hamilton. Where are you?
I am in Paraparaumu. Your description of the electrical is first class. Well thought out. Little but big is things like the electric fan for the fridge, which is so necessary for summer if the sun is beating down out the outside vent.
ReplyDeleteFridge has two fans, big and small. Small one is silent, big one you can just hear it - both work perfectly and we have had no problems with the fridge in summer.
DeleteI have a Rav 4 with a tow frame, does the bus transport certificate show the braked and unbraked limit for towing?
ReplyDeleteSend me an email and I'll send you a pic of the ticket which has the weoghts on it
DeleteTwaddleg@gmail.com thank you.
ReplyDelete