New Buses or Re-Manufactured Buses?

New buses or re-manufactured buses? That was the question that needed answering once we determined that we needed at least 11 transit buses when Ark Encounter opens in the summer of 2016. These buses will be used to shuttle visitors from the parking lot to the Ark site.

Obviously, re-manufactured buses are not as expensive as new buses, but surprisingly the warranties were as good or better on the re-manufactured buses that we decided to purchase from Complete Coach Works (CCW) of Riverside, California. On a recent trip to their facility, we were really impressed with the quality of work. But what was even more impressive was everyone was so friendly and happy to meet us—many of them had been to our website and knew a little bit about us and were eager to learn more! Now you might think that this is a no-brainer since we were a customer buying 11 buses from them, but this company does business all over the country with universities and municipalities.

All 11 buses are the same make and model of New Flyer, and CCW is about to strip them completely down to the frame and rebuild them for us. It was great to meet and talk with the actual supervisors that will oversee the project. Here is a picture of one of the buses that will be re-manufactured for us, and some pictures taken around the facility.