Knowing where to buy a used bus can make it even a little easier to find and buy one. You could save so much time if you only knew what was the best place to start, or who to ask about buying a used bus. 

There is no lack of choice when finding a used bus for sale, so if you know what to look for in a used bus, that will help to considerably narrow down your choices of what buses to look for. As to where to look, that will depend largely on what kind of bus you’re thinking of buying. With many companies and manufacturers involved, there are bound to be places that offer the best options and the lowest prices. That said, here are the best places to look for and purchase a used bus, often for around $5000 or less.

 

Social media

There are people who want to cut out the middleman, so to speak when selling a used vehicle, and the same goes for buses. Facebook Marketplace is a good place to start, as it limits listings to those that are in your area. So if you don’t want to travel far to inspect the bus and buy it in the end if you like what you see, social media is worth checking.

Whether or not the price is worth it, though, depends on the one selling the bus. If they were completely honest in their listing and didn’t leave out any details about the bus’ history and maintenance needs, then you’ve saved yourself even a small sum that would have gone to, say, a dealer. On the other hand, there’s a chance that you’ll end up biting more than you can chew because of something the seller decided not to mention. 

Public bus auction websites

If you don’t mind the possibility of having to travel to inspect a bus before making a purchase, then public auction websites are another good place to look. In fact, buses can often be bought for a very low price at such websites, and that’s because your state isn’t planning to make a profit on these sales, compared to most private organizations. 

If buying from someone on a public auction website, the price may not be completely worth it if the quality of the vehicle isn’t as high as you were hoping. Don’t forget to ask the seller important questions, such as the bus’s history and what sort of maintenance it will need. Despite such precautions, though, buying a used bus on a public auction site will be hit-or-miss, so it’s a good idea not to set your expectations too high. 

Schools

If you’re thinking of buying a used school bus, there’s no better place to start looking than in schools and even school districts. Since the children’s safety is important, there’s no doubt that the schools will have had someone regularly maintaining the buses until they started getting too old. 

In addition to regular maintenance, it’s fairly easy to obtain information from mechanics about the buses, as well as their assessment of them, so there’s very little cause for concern. Given that, buying a used school bus will be worth the price if you do end up buying one from a school or a school district, whether it’s near your community or not.

Dedicated second-hand vehicle listings

There are websites dedicated solely to second-hand vehicles, with a few focusing on vehicles bigger than the average sedan.

UsedVending.com, for instance, is a website that’s dedicated to second-hand heavy vehicles. It helps make it easier for people to sell used step vans, food trucks, dump trucks, and other types of semi-trucks. This in turn helps customers find the heavy vehicle they’re looking for in the first place, including used buses, whether it’s a coach bus or school bus.

Think of such websites as a blend of a public auction website and a social media listing, but without questionable customer satisfaction. Typically, those who manage the websites won’t allow sellers to list vehicles that aren’t of good quality, because that would reflect badly on them. After all, once you buy a bus, you wouldn’t want to spend almost as much as you paid for it just to fix it up and make it fit to drive again. 

The prices on such websites may vary more than you might be used to, but that’s only because the quality of the vehicles being sold will vary, too. “Secondhand” doesn’t automatically mean a vehicle is more than, say, 10 years old, so don’t be surprised if you come across a bus that’s about three years old or a little older. Knowing all that, it’s safe to say that a bus bought through a dedicated second-hand vehicle selling website will be worth the price.  

There are more places where it’s possible to find and purchase a used bus, but these four are far and away the most promising places to look. You just have to remember to ask the important questions and consider what need you’re trying to fill by buying a used bus, and you’ll have little to no trouble finding the right bus for you.

 

Read these articles for tips on how to choose the right vehicle:

• 5 Critical Things to Check Before Purchasing a Used Shuttle Bus
• 5 Important Questions to Ask Before Buying a Used Party Bus
• 6 Things You Should Consider Before Buying a Used Coach Bus
• 6 Things to Look For When Buying a Used School Bus

Or contact our team at UsedVending so we can help you compare the used buses for around $5000 available on our platform.