Hi all We are considering buying a house bus.I would love to hear your ideas about this please.
At some stage we will have to leave our Christchurch home for major eq repairs and we are contemplating living on a bus during this time.
Ideas please!Thanks
kazbanz,
Nov 29, 5:59am
House buses are great.camper vans are great if you are travelling so need the engine etc to go places. If its going to be just in one place going nowhere i'd recommend a caravan rather than a bus/campervan.
the-lada-dude,
Nov 29, 6:55am
massive costs with H/Bthey chew up money just sittin there.beauty of a bus is your well up off the ground, but then youve got steps, and make sure the doorway isn't too narrow.What ever you get make sure it is well INSULATED
scoobeey,
Nov 29, 8:01am
well i live in a large moterhome and if you are permanent go as big as you can to alieve 'cabin fever'.Mine is 55cube so plenty of space .depends how long for
olsod2,
Nov 29, 8:37am
i would not buy a motor home or caravan unless it is certifiedself contained.make sure it has good size fresh and grey water tanks.i have not yet seen a jayco van or an imported english van pass csc on the first check.one large van i checked from australia needed about $1.000 spent on it to comply.
matarautrader,
Nov 29, 2:39pm
My English caravan flew through self containment check. No problems whatsoever. Mind you I had made sure that it complied with all the regs before I had it checked.
godfreybunch,
Nov 29, 5:23pm
buy a caravanthen you have when eqc work done
chris.f,
Nov 29, 5:52pm
If you're thinking of going Gypsy Style with an early model bus think twice because of cost of ongoing maintenance, sluggish performance and dwindling availability of parts. If you can't fix things yourselfbe aware that a lot of businesses will quickly bring their roller doors down if they can sense a housebus within a 100meters (well maybe not literally).
fordcrzy,
Nov 29, 6:05pm
the road user charges have sky rocketed for campers and house buses so watch out or you could be in for a $100 trip to the dairy
neville48,
Nov 29, 7:53pm
A mate of mine has a late model house bus and always seems to be heading in for a WOF every time he uses it, not cheap either. Maybe a caravan if you are static or a relocatable house, trailor unit.
scoobeey,
Nov 29, 8:21pm
fordcrzy wrote: the road user charges have sky rocketed for campers and house buses so watch out or you could be in for a $100 trip to the dairy[/quote your not wrong there my rig can carry 20ton .its 13 now so i pay for 20 not cheap 350 thousand km
scoobeey,
Nov 29, 8:27pm
but i have a flat basically so class it as rent and the best part the sound of the 6v71:)
mckade2,
Nov 29, 8:51pm
Cant beat a bus,go live the dream,got both,houses over rated,cost you all the time,bus cost you f.k all,if you spend the $$ at start,and the kids love it, think they camping lol,if no kids just gets better!
mckade2,
Nov 29, 8:59pm
i heard that motels,hotels,and milk and bread skyrocketed too! Cant beat $30 at supermarket and $30 deisel,and a weekend away! ooh and 3 beers roadtax.nasty!
elect70,
Nov 30, 2:00pm
Helped a guy build his ownfrom aex chiller truckcost him around $100 Gall up .completely self contained
strobo,
Dec 1, 3:29am
I suggest an x bus company fleet busas they upgrade all the time to meet requirements. Those sort of buses get the works with constant c.o.f s and get parts thrown at them all the time . Ritchies for example have listings online there web site & a few others do too.Then custom fit out yourself. vtnz are forever helpful with info .good luck.
strobo,
Dec 1, 3:29am
I suggest an x bus company fleet busas they upgrade all the time to meet requirements. Those sort of buses get the works with constant c.o.f s and get parts thrown at them all the time . Ritchies for example have listings online theirweb site & a few others do too.Then custom fit out yourself. vtnz are forever helpful with info .good luck.
muzz67,
Dec 1, 4:53am
Bus/Camper/Caravan!Having had all 3 in the past, I reakon it all depends on your intended lifestyle,, ie, whether you intend to travel much or park mostly. Bus is not a great travelling wagon unless you're already used to large vehichles on th road but will have more living space. Camper easier on the road, but with less space. My pick is caravan and tow car,, not bad on road and you can camp somewhere and explore the area for a week or two before moving again.
fordcrzy,
Dec 1, 7:51am
converting a bus has its pitfalls too. i beleive if its over 11Meters you have to add a third axle. so thats a trap for the uneducated
fordcrzy,
Dec 1, 7:53am
save your money. buy a convertible and stay in 5 star bedsits and motels! Cheaper to run and maintain, cheaper to buy so all the money you save you can spend on nice accomodation.and you wont annoy the **** out of your neighbours for having an ugly as sin bus on your front lawn 40 weeks a year.
fineo,
Dec 1, 8:16am
And a large house bus,not easy to on sell
elect70,
Dec 1, 2:15pm
This one still hadtail lifter so made it sohisMX5rag top could fit inside turned sideways , under thedouble bed , so had arunabout. Need to join club as they have all the places in NZ where they are accepted( including privateproperty ) , most camp groundsspace too small forh bus .
blueskyday,
Dec 2, 5:11pm
thanks so much for all the feedback.This is much appreciated.Remember that this house bus is not just for recreation but it's for our family to live in while our home gets fixed from the earthquakes.In chch it is very hard to find rentals especially with having a dog.Somehow it will all work out.
scoobeey,
Dec 2, 5:58pm
how long you expecting to live in
blueskyday,
Dec 4, 3:26pm
Don't know yet, as still waiting for answers from our insurance company.It's only been 2 years and 3 months.Tries the patience.
Thanks for the help everyone
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