We Bought a Skoolie and Broke it Immediately
How Our Skoolie Life Began
After months of searching for our perfect school bus – we found it! We bought a Skoolie! A nice couple was selling a used 1998 International 3800 Midsize School Bus in West Virginia! We had a Zoom call with them to look at the bus – safe to say it checked all of our boxes! Less than 100,000 miles, minimal rust (mostly surface except for the back emergency exit door), and the interior already had all of the seats removed, among other great things.
It had even already been painted white which was a project we were hoping to avoid by buying something that was already painted. Come to find out later the paint job was no bueno and we will have to do it again anyways.
Because this bus checked all of the boxes but was states away, we were apprehensive about trusting what we’d seen through video calls. So, we hired a mechanic to go out to the property to do a full inspection of the bus to double-check what we had already seen and loved.
He gave us a full report that indicated minor issues (windshield wipers don’t work, small coolant leak, rust on the back door, etc) but all things that Tyler felt okay about. Ultimately, the bus passed the test and we began to plan our trip!
We planned on splitting the eleven-hour drive into two days and making it a four-day trip there and back. Tyler and I packed our bags and left Friday afternoon after work!
Spending the first night at a sweet Airbnb in the heart of Indianapolis, was a treat. Got up early Saturday morning, bought some walkie-talkies at Walmart for easy communication between vehicles, and 6 uneventful hours later, and we had ARRIVED!
We Bought A Skoolie!
The couple was very sweet and walked us through the whole bus. Tyler, obviously, wanted to do a test drive to feel the way it drives, listen to the engine, and make sure there aren’t any issues while driving. Because we were buying this bus from out of state, we had to do a very short test drive because we did not have plates for the bus.
I followed behind in our car while Tyler drove a few miles down the road in the bus with one of the owners riding with him. When we got back, Tyler gave the all-clear and we did the thing! Got the cash out of our jar and signed the bill of sale and title. They even prayed over us and our journey before we left. There you have it! End of story – uneventful and easy!
Or so we thought…
Tyler was nervous to drive the bus (she’s a big girl) but nonetheless, he took the bull by the horns and jumped in! After securing the deal, we drove 12 minutes to an Airbnb to get some rest for the evening.
Tyler began pulling into their driveway and was focused on not scratching the bus on a tree that borders their driveway. Unbeknownst to us, a low-hanging cable line hooked onto the emergency exit on the top of the bus and ripped the entire rooftop emergency exit door off, sending it flying across the driveway almost hitting our other car.
The emergency alarm starts blaring as we scramble to get the emergency exit door back on top of the bus and get it secured. Meanwhile, the cable was pulled down and was now hanging too low for the bus to safely pass back underneath it the next morning. This was our first, “Oh shit” moment.
That night as we lay in bed, Tyler and I felt unsettling anxiety about the big leap we took on this bus. We felt as though we should be excited and happy having done the damn thing but we felt exhausted, anxious, and like there was some impending doom.
But why? We could not put our finger on it – little did we know that it was real-life foreshadowing as to our day Sunday…DUN DUN DUN.
Stay tuned for Part 2 of Retrieving Regina coming next week.
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