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Originally Posted by Alfresco The Trax school van is targeted towards rural areas.
Stay away from Winger. It's very high maintenance and even the dealers have a problem procuring parts. |
Noted with Thanks
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Originally Posted by Alfresco For school, you can get a 9 seater Traveller. It can be registered in 'T' category and does not require per seat tax on a quarterly basis that a vehicle registered in 'P' category does. |
The 9 seater traveller may be a bit too much of an overkill for us, and the dealer did not recommend (probably slow moving from his end).
"P" category is something that we havent inquired as yet. Need to figure our whether the RTO rules affect any.
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Originally Posted by Alfresco For schools, Bal Vahini rules allow you to have 1.5 times the registered capacity of the vehicle. Check in your state. So a 9 seater allows you to carry 13 students. |
Sure. Thanks so much for the constructive info Alfresco - Noted them all down
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Originally Posted by dicor Of-course after meeting basic requirements like seating capacity, the next objective is to minimize the down time.
The bus will need to go to the garage sometimes, if not for accidental repairs yet periodic maintenance will be there.
If ASS is close to you, you can get it serviced on weekend and get it same day. Also watch out for popularity of other buses in your vicinity. If there are plenty of Force Travellers in your area, then the availability of parts will also be easy.
As a school bus, you can not afford bus to be off duty for long period unless you have a back-up plan. |
Rightly said. Infact ASS are all in reach - closest one being a large Force ASS and Body shop in about 5 mins from our school. Another 3 KM radius - we will find all the other Mahindra, Tata, Eicher and Suzuki
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Originally Posted by PrasannaDhana I have Eicher, Force traveller, Tata, Mahindra and Ashok Leyland in my school. I would rate Eicher and Mahindra best among the lot.
If you need a small carrier, nothing beats Force traveller, specially the 120 bhp version. It's very fuel efficient and pretty easy to drive.
One more tip, you can bargain on ex showroom prices for buses unlike cars. They would quote 19 lakhs, but you can close the deal at 16, even 15.5 if you can bargain.
Please avoid eeco. It's unsafe. And more the seating capacity, more is the insurance you will have to pay. I pay 80k insurance for a 60 seater bus every year, and also be prepared to spend for annual FC(we have to repaint and replace stickers and fire extinguisher every year before FC) if you are planning a school bus. Or else you can just buy a 15 seater Traveller and register it as T board. |
Thanks so much PrasannaDhana - never got into the bargaining side with the dealer as yet - but shall surely keep that in mind.
Now I have "P" board and "T" board learn about.
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Originally Posted by narayans80 Being a pre-school, the attendance year on year may not be constant unlike a regular school. So this is something you might have to think about. |
Thanks
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Originally Posted by autohead666 Tempo Traveller is your best option.Lot of international schools in Bangalore use them,and of course they are fitted with AC as well . |
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Originally Posted by satishv1987 A noob question to the van owners/experts here- do the TT/Winger have variants which have seat belts? I often see school children being ferried in these vans without seat belts. Is there a reason why buyers dont prefer the variant with seat belts? Are they prohibitively expensive? |
There are versions with Seat Belts for Traveller. I am sure the Winder with independent bucket seats might have as well.
The Eeco has seat belts but impractical to use - that too for small kids.
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Originally Posted by satishv1987 My humble request to OP. If you are buying a van, please pick one with seat belts and please enforce their usage. |
Hi Satish - it would be tough to fit in ones with Seatbelts - but lap belts would be practical, given that I am talking about kids between 2-4 years of age. But your opinion is duly noted - and I shall enforce the same.
Thanks, everyone for the insights - my quest for the vehicles have been hit by delay due to the situation in the state and our efforts are directed at something else. However, while things are calming down - sharing the pic of the latest 17 seater Force I quickly inspected and some quick update.
Nothing beats the looks and the best angle
The version starts with non-reclinable standard seats, with anti-skid flooring. Nice grab handles - like large buses are there right close to the front door - would really help kids in climbing the low steps and would also help maids in supporting them alight the bus
Seats are quite neat, but storing the bags would be the challenge, they said the storages could be added. Didn't spend ample time to discuss the configurations and additional accessories. Everything including the reclining seats is all available - as factory fitment - or with the dealer.
Attachment 1904598
These wiper blades were a shocker to me - while I couldn't digest the wiper blade that my Ecosport had off the showroom.
A quick pic to show the variety and configurations of the Force Traveller range in one shot - this pic has almost all the configurations (even though - it ain't a great pic)