Okay, so maybe it wasn’t as bad as the title suggests, but I did have to fork over some cash for repairs once I bought the bus. She has always started up and run, which is about the end of my expertise when it comes to choosing a mechanically sound vehicle. Turns out she was in need of some TLC which I was sort of expecting in a 36 (now 37?) year old vehicle.

I suspected a problem with the brakes when I bought the bus, but since I had never experienced failing brakes before I didn’t realize how dangerously bad they were. I got the bus home fine by partially using the engine to brake and making sure I was plenty far behind the cars in front of me. My dad drove the bus the next morning, looked at me with alarm, and said something along the lines of “Do not drive this again until the brakes are looked at!” Apparently 24 years old isn’t too old to be scolded by daddy. It turned out that there was a major leak in one of the brake lines and there was no brake fluid left in the brake system. Oops.

Another thing that was obvious right off the bat, and still persists somewhat, was the smell of exhaust inside the bus. My dad said the odor was way too strong and that there had to be a leak somewhere in the exhaust system. He was right. The mechanic replaced the muffler, tailpipe, and exhaust manifold gaskets. Cha-ching!

Two things the mechanic found were that one of the front shocks was shot and that one of the tires was flat. It may seem crazy that I missed a flat tire, but in my defense there are two wheels on each side of the rear axle so I am guessing it was one of the inside tires. Nevertheless, I probably should have seen that. Let it be a lesson. I also ended up with two new shocks on the front axle, which I was never told about over the phone. I only noticed because I was having a look under the bus to check that the brake fluid problem was really fixed and saw two new shiny black things that were not there before. Since the service at the mechanic was great and seemed fair apart from that, I will chalk it up to an innocent oversight.

All these repairs added up to a bit of a painful total which may have influenced me when buying the bus, if only to motivate me to drive down the price, but since I am not gifted with clairvoyance I ended up finding out the hard way what the true cost of a classic vehicle is. Despite the unexpected costs, I have no regrets and I would buy the same bus again.

It’s hard to put a price on character.