| Author | Message | ||
| Roderick W. Chandler (172.172.132.162)
Rating: N/A |
Ace I am thinking of purcahsing a bus from Easter bus sales. I think that is where you got yours. Are you happy with the transaction and do you feel that you got what you thought you were getting?? Please respond to may e-mail address if you prefer to keep your opinion private. Thanks in advance. | ||
| Ace (24.28.44.58) Rating: N/A |
Well as everyone knows by now I'm the kind of guy that tells it like I sees it so with that now known, let me first say, I truly enjoy our new coach even though we have had to spend money for repairs on safety items I felt should have been done prior to our purchase. My biggest mistake was spending money on a coach that I personally wasn't involved with during the stripping of the inside or the fixing up of the outside. They cut wires that I asked specifically not to and they left out electrical components that really needed to stay in order for other items to work properly. I wanted wipers removed from the top windows of our H3 and HE told me he couldn't do that because of a Va. state inspection. I guess the Va inspections are frugal because it was ok to let the bus go out with NO dash lights, a side window you can't see out of due to moisture, trans not shifting right which may cost me up to $4700 for re-build, drivers door glass fogged up where you can hardly see in or out, but we DID get NEW tires! Repeated phone calls have gone one way, me to them and never a return call before OR after they got paid in full. I think the only way to deal with them is face to face and not on the phones. We have had our coach now since January and have YET to have any of them call us back regarding ANYTHING! We never got a "how did you like the trip home" or "How do you like the bus" or "Is there anything else we can do for you" and all of this is AFTER we were told "If you have any problems, just let us know"! Don't count on it! THAT my friend WON'T happen! My advice to you is, do it ALL In person and make sure you get what YOU pay for BEFORE you pay for it or it's too late! The sales invoice will defintely say "as is"... and it WILL be! Would I do it again? Yes but this time it will be MY WAY or they can keep the bus they have! There are plenty of busses for sale elsewhere without all the hassles or bad taste! | ||
| Roderick W. Chandler (172.164.85.240)
Rating: N/A |
Thanks Ace. I went to their location and was really knocked out by the amount of stock that they have. I had not intended that they strip the bus as I looked at some they had stripped and were stripping and did not like the way it was being done. Besides I have some ideas about some of the things that a "Converter" does not need. They did offer to supply conversion supplies at their cost. Whether this will happen is left to be seen. Again Thanks for prompt response. I get the feeling that except for the sloppy strip job you feel that their price was competitive. Rod | ||
| Johnny (4.174.91.73) Rating: N/A |
"I guess the Va inspections are frugal because it was ok to let the bus go out with NO dash lights, a side window you can't see out of due to moisture, trans not shifting right which may cost me up to $4700 for re-build, drivers door glass fogged up where you can hardly see in or out" I've seen no inspection that has EVER checked my dash lights, trans shifting (as long as it doesn't slip during the test), or fogged-over glass (as long as the defroster blower works). I'd be inclined to agree about the wipers, though. | ||
| Jimmy (24.174.238.253)
Rating: N/A |
Roderick. There are a lot of H3,s coming on the market right now.ADAME and many others are going to the 04/05 ABC VanHool,s. Its a buyers market.But be aware when you pick up one at a bargin basement price,the chances of it having lack of maintence is good.As Ace is now struggling with. Jimmy | ||
| Ace (24.28.44.58) Rating: N/A |
If ANY inspector was to drive this bus he would have parked it immediately with the way the trans shifts. It didn't and still doesn't shift properly (passenger would love this ride) AND is it safe for a driver, ANY driver to run down the road with NO dash lights? How does he maintain safe speed or see if he has air pressure? The window is referance is the drivers side that won't allow you the driver to view the rear view mirror AND the entrance door which isn't sooo bad but still is foggged limits viewing out the right side. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a n inspector by any means but... I DO have common sense! | ||
| Johnny (4.174.91.73) Rating: N/A |
As I said, I have NEVER had dash lights checked in ANY inspection. Unless it's fogged when inspected, I don't see how they'd even notice it. I've never seen any inspection that involved a road test--no more than in & out of a garage bay. | ||
| R.J.Bob Evans (64.110.227.177)
Rating: N/A |
We just bought a coach from out of our home jurisdiction and had to have it inspected before we could register it. It failed due to condensation in the door window. | ||
| Nick Morris (Nick3751) (69.68.36.101)
Rating: N/A |
I bought my silversides from Easter and was very pleased with the whole deal. Bobby answered all my questions plus some and I got a great bus to work with. I don't think he would sell you a bus he knew wasn't safe. | ||
| James Maxwell (Jmaxwell) (66.81.215.224)
Rating: N/A |
Ace: He knows he is low on air because he hears the audible alarm required under ICC regs. But, I happen to agree with EVERY complaint you have or had and agree the bus was a safety hazard in the condition delivered to u. Actually, I'm somewhat amazed that you even give a conditional approval of the place after following your story since Jan. I perhaps would expect the treatment you got from some unscrupulous individual peddling his bus, but not a dealership. But then, they are only used car lots that deal in oversized autos, so I guess u can expect oversized problems. | ||
| John Rigby (24.174.238.253)
Rating: N/A |
Ace . You could,nt see the fogged windows? I thought it had missing windshield when you bought it or was that the fog? When you drove it before you bought it could you not feel the tranny problem? I,ll bet the price was right,though, for a H3 Prevost. John | ||
| Ace (24.28.44.58) Rating: N/A |
John when I went to look at the bus it was missing FRONT windshields that were in the process of being replaced. Still don't know why but they were. The bus was in a shop and all they offered was to start it up. We made a deal and left, with them agreeing to do what we asked at a specific price. Returned to pick it up approx 6 weeks later when they called to say the bus was ready for pick-up. When we arrived the bus was still in the shop only turned around. The mechanic at that time was STILL working on it. Not exactly sure on what but he was working on it. I would have thought after receiving a call to pick it up that it would have been ready to go. Anyway, he backed it out and at first site it looked great. The mechanic asked us if we wanted to ride with him to put fuel in it so we did. Never driving THIS bus in these surroundings, I opted for him to drive it. I noticed a few things with the shifting but he said it was normal. The SIDE windows, NOT the windshields were fogged and WET inside the two panes. He said it would go away and clear up once we hit hot weather. It WAS cold there! The mechanic was scared we would not make it to the fuel stop (convenient store) because the tank was that low. I ended up paying for the fuel even though it wasn't the best price in town! That itself kind of thru up a red flag but hey, it WAS going to be MY bus! After signing papers with the owners daughter, (owner never said hello, wave or anything) we were driven back to the bus at another shop only to be left alone to leave on our way. No goodbyes, NO thank you's, No have a safe trip home, No kiss my arse, No Nada! After doing a generic (quick) pre-trip inspection, I noticed the oil wasn't changed as agreed, the belts were not changed as agreed, and the dash lights didn't come on. The mechanic said he didn't change the belts because he could not find the right size, he didn't have time to change the oil, and the dash lights only needed bulbs. Bad winter storm was on the way so we opted to leave. Didn't want to get caught in the mountains with this bus in a storm. As soon as we left, we noticed the irradict shifting that I questioned when going for fuel. It was so bad, I called the owner. He would NOT get on the phone. He was to call me back. Never did! We continued on and it seemed to smooth out. We found the jake brake not working nor was the fast idle. We called them back and they were closed (Saturday) so we continued on towarss home. Two more attempts to contact the owner on Monday went un-answered. The following week the same thing and still goes on to this day. I have YET to speak to the owner since pick-up! I WILL say, he was VERY friendly before he got paid and even returned phone calls and fax's. Boy did THAT change! As for the great price on the H3? Yes and no! If I would have looked around, I could have found others in the same price range and maybe more road worthy and probably left with a better feeling. So far we have spent approx. an additional $1K on repairs that should have been done prior to our purchase and still more to go. I still think windows to see out of and lights to monitor gauges is a must for safety reasons! What else can I say? We were excited and it was Christmas!  We now have our bus and were doing all the repairs and we will know what we have from now on. Bottom line is, it isn't at all the way it was portrayed to us! I feel strongly that all they did for us was cosmetic. They made it look good but did absolutely nothing to make it safe or sound! I don't feel bad. I have had other e-mails and phone conversations with past buyers from this dealer and they too have had bad dealings BUT some have had good deals too! Don't know why! I would have thought all deals should go smoothly and friendly expecially with this kind of money! | ||
| Ron Leiferman (Ron_In_Sd) (24.220.237.100)
Rating: N/A |
Since Ace shared his store about Easter I figured I would add mine to the list. I also purchased a Prevost from Easter last Year (Mar 25 to 30, 2003) but I purchased a 86 LeMirage XL. I saw the bus listed on Easter's web site. It as listed at a 85. (BTW...Up until a couple weeks ago it was still listed for sale on their web site.) I was planning a trip down to check out the bus but I was unable to break away from work. I asked Easter to send me picture of the bus and ask for some specific areas. I asked if their were any body damage and areas of rust. Bobbie said no. He also said that it had a 8v92 and a HT740 trans. We worked out a deal to have them remove the seats, over head racks, cover over the 4 windows per side, paint the bus white, install a hitch, service the road air, and do a full service on the motor and trans. After a number of calls to talk with Bobbie and very few returned calls, we worked out a price. He passed me over to his daughter to start the paper work. He did not tell her about a deal and the list of work to be done. I had to give her the list. She said that they could not do it for that price. I said that it was what Bobbie and I worked out. She put me on hold and came back and said OK. We agreed that I would pick up the coach in 4 weeks. I started working out the trip and was able to setup a load of computer equipment and car parts to be dropped off on the way out. During the for weeks I called Easter's to check on the status of the bus and was told that everything is on track and get some information for insurance the bank. After getting the serial number and checking it agains my secret decoder ring I found out the bus was a '86 that had been built in '85. Easter had used the build date to get the year not the true model date. I pointed that out to Easter's. That said they would not increase the price. I would just get a one year newer bus. I called on Monday the week of picking up the bus and they said everything was great. So we loaded up the car trailer with the parts and we ready to take off Tuesday night on March 25th to pick up the bus on that Friday. Tuesday morning Bobbie called me back and said that the bus would not be ready on Friday. They had a death in their family last week and it put everything off. Funny his daughter did not say anything about it on Monday. I said that based on what his daughter said yesterday, I was already on my way out and Bobbie said they would get it done. We took off Tuesday night and drop off our parts on Wednesday morning and Wednesday afternoon. I pulled into Easter lot on Thursday about 1 pm. They were really surprise to see me since we just talked Tuesday afternoon and I was just leaving. When I pulled in the bus was in the paint bay just finishing being sanded. After talking with everyone they said the bus would be ready until Saturday morning. They ended up staying that night putting the bus in final primer and they painting it Friday morning. Thursday is when I found out the bus had a 6v92 and a HT 750 trans. I was a little upset. When we came back on Friday late morning, they had just finished the paint work. Parts started going back on Friday afternoon. They all said the bus would be ready Saturday morning. Knowing that the bus was 24v and the trailer was 12v and they had not done a set of relay for step down something I forgot to ask about. We went a pickup a couple trailer lights and wire to hard wire the new lights into the bus. We stopped back Saturday morning at 9 and they had just pulled the bus out the door and it was running. We checked everything over and had them fix a couple marker lights and yes we did check the gauge lights the best we can in the day light. After hooking up the trailer and load up the pickup on the trailer we started working on the lights. Easter did not offer any help they just gave us the 24v bulbs they said they had. We wired up everything in the junction box in the engine compartment. Bobbie did show up for a couple minutes we finished up the paper work and I gave them the money. Bobbie was surprized that we where wiring up the light in the junction box and not just cutting into the lights. He said "That is wait I would have done." I asked about the other things that need to be done. They said they changed the oil and filters but did not do the trans because they did not have the filters. They did not touch the road air because they did not have any freon. I check the oils and water level. Everything looked good. I noticed that the fuel filters was not changed. Again they did not have any on hand. I did not know how long the bus had been seating and how old the fuel was in the tank. I was agian upset but just like Ace bad weather was on it way in. We ran into snow about a hour out. We ended up pulling out the drive at about 2 pm. The last words that they said to us was that we should get some fuel because they did not know how much was in the coach. After we stopped at a fuel station we ended up only putting in 50 gallions in the 160 gallon tank. After a hour on the road, we stopped. Everything was looking good but I noticed some oil drops on the pickup. I checked the oil. EVerything looked good. I had not been seeing any smoke out the tail pipe while driving and the tail pipe was dry. I did not see any leaking on the ground. We figured just drive on and keep a eye on it. After about 4 hours on the road we stopped for fuel and to eat. I checked oil and now it was down. I added a gallion. The pickup was really starting to show a good number of oil spots. It was dark now so we figured we would just drive on and stop more to check the oil. During the night we figured stopping every four hours and adding a gallon would keep the oil up. So 250 to 300 to a gallon of oil was the going rate. I also started to see oil in the passagers drivers wheel. It was leaking from the axle seal. We drove all night only stopping for about 4 hours for some needed sleep. When we got home, we found that the back over on the alternator was only finger tight. Also we found that the drivers axle was only finger tight. After replacing the seals on both of these, I don't have a oiling problem but it did take $15 at the car wash to just the pickup a little clean. You could still smell the oil in the pickup up until the day it was sold. After doing some work on the bus I did find rust in the area above the rear wheels. I guess I am like Ace. I am just fixing the problems and passing the word that the buyer should be doing his home work also. BTW... Bobbies other business is selling used cars. | ||
| Ron Leiferman (Ron_In_Sd) (24.220.237.100)
Rating: N/A |
Sorry the long winded version. Bottom line... Would I buy from Easter again. Yes if the price was right but this time I take it to the local Detroit dealer in the town right down the road because paying a dime. I would have them do all the service work and check the bus over because anything. I would not have Easters do anything on the bus except for removing the seats so the title can be changed over to a motorhome. That is one thing Easter did for me that saved some trouble back home. They already changed the title over to a motorhome title so I did not have any problems back in South Dakota | ||
| Nick Morris (Nick3751) (65.117.139.135)
Rating: N/A |
I'm not trying to make anyone upset here but it sounds like ya'll took the word of a man who was selling the comodity you were buying. I had a good experince with Bobby myself but I didn't take his word for the condition of my bus. As many busses as he's got on the lot there is no way I would put him or anyone it the situation of lying to me about something I don't expect him to know like the condition of every bus on the lot. It sounds like ya'll didn't get the "deal" you thought you were going to get based on the info you had and you didn't bother to check the information your self. Maybe I'm just pickier with my money but if I'm spending more than $10 I'm going to check out the product. Even though it was in unknow teritory I don't think I'd buy anything bus or auto without driving it. Just doesn't seem like good business. What is the saying "Buyer be ware" Just my two cents worth. | ||
| Ron Leiferman (Ron_In_Sd) (24.220.237.100)
Rating: N/A |
Not to start another board "war".... Yes I took the word of the seller but Booby also said he would perform work that was not completed based on the signed contracted date. Bobbie did not offer to reduce the rate or make up for the un-completed work. I was not informed that their was trouble with the time table until it was to late and everyone commited. Yes Bobbie did have people work overtime to get the main part of the job done but the little things did slip. Do feel I got a unfair deal or a bad coach. NO NOT at all. I love my coach and with that love just like any other love you take the good with the bad. Bobbie was very aware that I was going to be driving the coach back 1350 miles and that my time line was tight. He said that the coach would be completed and ready and that everything would be in good working order and I would not have any problems. Yes I did take a risk and purchase the coach "site unseen" and undriven but that was my doing not Bobbies. I did not blame Bobbie for that and the coach was very close to described by Bobbie. I feel that the 6v92 with the 5 speed is a better option for me then the 8v92 with a 4 speed. Except for the oil leaks the coach has been with out major issue. As I said would I buy from Bobbie again, Yes I would but I would do it differently. But I do not want someone to make the same mistakes I did. I would travel down to Easters look over the large selection (one reason I would go back.) Drive a number of busses and select the one that I wanted. I would pay to have it checked over by the local Detroit people. Then I was work out a writen contract, line item by line item for the work to be performed by Easters with line item pricing and set a pickup date. The contract would also include penates if the work is not completed on time or if I was not informed of a delay in a timely fashion. I under stand that we all have delayes but when the story changes from one day to the next that is not good business. Once the work is completed and I picked up the coach I would not pay for any uncompleted work. I would also have the coach serviced by the same Detrot dealer that checked out the coach before. That way if there is any "new" problems they can be dealt at that time. I want to make sure that everyone gets what they are contracted to get. This is were I feel that Bobbie has come up short on. I feel that this board is a great education and I am just trying to make sure that everyone is educated about the issues of buying a coach. These should apply to all dealers not just Easters. | ||
| Nick Morris (Nick3751) (65.117.139.135)
Rating: N/A |
I totaly agree with all you've said Ron. I would have to say that if you had an agreement with Bobby to do X and he didn't I would have reduced my payment by a lager amount to engourge his cooperation. However I've never been know to be the most PC person in the world. | ||
| Stephen Fessenden (Sffess) (65.134.2.204)
Rating: N/A |
Sounds like there might be better places to buy a bus. Once a model starts hitting the market in our price range, there will be more than one dealer with them. Ace bought early so he could get started, but I bet by now, an H3 could be had from a dealer who has a reputation for doing what he says at a favorable price. Did either of you have the repair work to be done detailed in writing? Some sales people will promise anything to make a sale and not be the least worried when they cannot deliver what they promise, which really irritates the rest of us who try to do what we say we will even if it cost $$. Too bad New Jersy Transit wasn't running H3s. | ||
| John Rigby (24.174.238.253)
Rating: N/A |
Everthing else aside. Driving all that way to find a diffrent engine and tranny in the bus.That does not sound like anyone I would like to order a nut and bolt from.Because if they shipped the wrong size then it appears I would be on my OWN.. No Thank You. John |