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bluebirdvision
Top Member
USA
1081 Posts |
 Posted - 10/31/2007 : 10:50:35 AM
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Hi,
I was wondering how the 2008 Visions have been performing for your district. The first 2008 Visions were good, our second batch haven't been that great although they are not terrible either. Not many engine troubles as of yet (knock on wood) |
Edited by - bluebirdvision on 12/01/2007 11:10:38 AM
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bluebirdvision
Top Member
USA
1081 Posts |
Posted - 11/01/2007 : 12:19:27 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by bluebirdvision
Hi,
I was wondering how the 2008 Visions have been performing for your district. The first 2008 Visions were good, our second batch haven't been that great although they are not terrible either. Not many engine troubles as of yet (knock on wood) unless you count an oil leak. One of the gas tanks leaks.
anyone...? |
Facebook Page: Blue Bird Corporation Fans
https://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_212311114614&ap=1
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Wolf0r
Top Member
USA
2181 Posts |
Posted - 11/02/2007 : 2:52:11 PM
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The VISION is a big hit here in Indiana.
http://www.nixbus.com Sorry for the website plug. |
“The good thing about science is that it's true whether or not you believe in it.”
Neil deGrasse Tyson |
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Rich
Top Member
United States
5768 Posts |
Posted - 11/02/2007 : 4:28:10 PM
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The 2008s have been running very well in New York. They drive very nice, and that new Cummins is a slam dunk.
Vision + Cummins = 2008 Conventional of the Year, in my opinion.  |
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bluebirdvision
Top Member
USA
1081 Posts |
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BusBoy
Top Member
USA
2042 Posts |
Posted - 11/06/2007 : 09:32:12 AM
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| We have some 2005 and 2006 Visions and the drivers love driving them! |
Your Child's Safety is Our Business |
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bsaund09
Top Member
USA
609 Posts |
Posted - 11/06/2007 : 10:41:38 AM
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| I am driving a 2007 Vision and the bus has been really good so far and I do hope that continues. The steering on the bus is really good I did not think anyone could match the freightliner steering but this Vision is awesome. The only thing missing on the school board bought Vision is air conditioning maybe on the next one . Unless something changes I will have this bus for a five year rotation and I hope it does good for those five years with about 30,000 miles a year average I will have many miles to enjoy it. |
keep those buses rolling
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/schoolbushistory |
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dem84skeeprollinup
Top Member
USA
888 Posts |
Posted - 11/08/2007 : 9:52:44 PM
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Yeah, the new visions are all over around here. Alot of districts that never bought vision vers 1 are buying version 2's like crazy.
Its looks are as good as its functionality. DEFINATLY GO WITH THE CUMMINS.
Stock Visions are nice, but I would recomend the following upgrades... Air brakes, vandal locks, remote and heated mirrors, the new HD crossviews, and tinted windows and a strobe light. Also 4 pushout windows,2 roof hatches and full reflective tape. Full LED would be nice, but i'm not sure what it costs. For our IC FE, it cost around 1500, but that package was FULL LED, dual stobing led stoparms, all clearance lights are, strobing LED 8 ways...
Bsaund09... Air conditioning can get expencive, but not as bad as it used to be. If you do recomend a/c, you should also recomend getting a higher hp engine to make up for the huge power loss the air conditioner takes to run. |
Do the world a favor and bring back GMC and Ford conventional chassis......
 
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ltrain2001
Senior Member
139 Posts |
Posted - 11/09/2007 : 09:37:15 AM
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| Has anyone seen or known of a Vision with a manual transmission? With the increasing gas prices manuals may offer better fuel economy and I was just curious. |
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Rich
Top Member
United States
5768 Posts |
Posted - 11/09/2007 : 10:20:29 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by ltrain2001
Has anyone seen or known of a Vision with a manual transmission? With the increasing gas prices manuals may offer better fuel economy and I was just curious.
The original Visions were offered with manual transmissions, but very limited numbers were made. I believe they were restricted only to 190 HP Cat C7 motors.
Right now, no manufacturers offer manual transmissions. |
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03CV200
Top Member
United States
740 Posts |
Posted - 11/09/2007 : 12:01:19 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by ltrain2001
Has anyone seen or known of a Vision with a manual transmission? With the increasing gas prices manuals may offer better fuel economy and I was just curious.
With the advent of the 5 and 6 speed auto transmissions, manuals won't get you much better fuel economy in buses. At least thats what Allison claims. |
-Dave |
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BusFreak
Top Member
USA
798 Posts |
Posted - 11/09/2007 : 12:55:28 PM
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| You lose fuel economy during the acceleration with an automatic. It's a quicker take off, but at the cost of a ton of fuel. |
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bsaund09
Top Member
USA
609 Posts |
Posted - 11/09/2007 : 2:34:28 PM
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| automatics when they came around were liked because it allowed the driver to have both hands on the steering wheel adding to the safety factor in pupil transportation but i do agree the shifting would allow for better fuel mileage. Well, the bigger news my Vision started messing up yesterday so it is gone and i am back in the spare i had twice last year but with almost 200,000 miles on Bus 216 and having been around since 1993 it still operates pretty good it is a bit bouncy but most old Internationals without much loving tender care do get a bit bouncy toward there retirement days. |
keep those buses rolling
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/schoolbushistory |
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jjf221fe
Advanced Member
United States
275 Posts |
Posted - 11/09/2007 : 3:02:25 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by Rich
The 2008s have been running very well in New York. They drive very nice, and that new Cummins is a slam dunk.
Vision + Cummins = 2008 Conventional of the Year, in my opinion.
Have the new 07 Cummins perform just as well in the type Ds? Also, I've seen that the ISB's new top torque rating is 750 lb/ft instead as 660 lb/ft as it previously was. Does this make a huge difference in regards to the C7 having 860 lb/ft or torque?
From what I've read from all you guys on here, these new '07 Cummins are performing very well. |
What is this "Hydraulic Brakes" nonsense you speak of? |
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BusFreak
Top Member
USA
798 Posts |
Posted - 11/09/2007 : 11:57:56 PM
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So sad that I hear a vision is in the garage! Blue birds, for as much criticism as they recieve, strike me as extremely reliable buses. To me, the vision was created as a slap in the face to other type C chassis manufacturers, saying that Blue Bird doesn't need them to survive.
Brian, it's good to hear that 216 is in good working order...i rode that bus for a year! |
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bluebirdvision
Top Member
USA
1081 Posts |
Posted - 11/10/2007 : 08:30:06 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by BusFreak
So sad that I hear a vision is in the garage! Blue birds, for as much criticism as they recieve, strike me as extremely reliable buses. To me, the vision was created as a slap in the face to other type C chassis manufacturers, saying that Blue Bird doesn't need them to survive.
Brian, it's good to hear that 216 is in good working order...i rode that bus for a year!
I too love the Vision, I wish that the 2nd gens were working out as good as the 1st gens. |
Facebook Page: Blue Bird Corporation Fans
https://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_212311114614&ap=1
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Nick
Advanced Member
USA
333 Posts |
Posted - 11/10/2007 : 10:20:51 AM
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| I see a few lift Visions around here and they seem to be great. That district switched from All American REs to Thomcrap C2s with Visions for special needs - big mistake. Their spares are seeing more action than ever. But the Visions (and the other Birds they have) are doing fine. |
IC the future, and it is bright. |
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03CV200
Top Member
United States
740 Posts |
Posted - 11/10/2007 : 12:02:43 PM
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| We had one 2005 Vision in my district, it was traded in on a 2008 C2. The dealer kept the 05 Vision as a "loaner", and lets just say the driver of that new C2 has spent just as much if not more time behind the wheel of that 05 Vision this year as the C2. |
-Dave |
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Rich
Top Member
United States
5768 Posts |
Posted - 11/10/2007 : 9:11:54 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by bluebirdvision
quote:
Originally posted by BusFreak
So sad that I hear a vision is in the garage! Blue birds, for as much criticism as they recieve, strike me as extremely reliable buses. To me, the vision was created as a slap in the face to other type C chassis manufacturers, saying that Blue Bird doesn't need them to survive.
Brian, it's good to hear that 216 is in good working order...i rode that bus for a year!
I too love the Vision, I wish that the 2nd gens were working out as good as the 1st gens.
Uhh... the second gens are working out much better than the first Visions. They are reliable, easier on the eyes, and much more ergonomic on the inside. The second gen is selling much more than the first ones, and it will be taking away a lot of market share from IC and Thomas in the coming years. |
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AMTK207
Senior Member
United States
110 Posts |
Posted - 11/11/2007 : 05:33:54 AM
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| A school district in my area had some BB conventionals last school year (2006-07) and reportedly the busses had all sorts of wiring problems. Has anyone had similar problems and were these problems corrected in later models? |
First Student 224933: 2003 Thomas Minotour, T444E/7.3l Powerstroke Diesel engine, white roof/tinted windows, front/rear AC |
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bluebirdvision
Top Member
USA
1081 Posts |
Posted - 11/13/2007 : 10:16:17 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by Rich
quote:
Originally posted by bluebirdvision
quote:
Originally posted by BusFreak
So sad that I hear a vision is in the garage! Blue birds, for as much criticism as they recieve, strike me as extremely reliable buses. To me, the vision was created as a slap in the face to other type C chassis manufacturers, saying that Blue Bird doesn't need them to survive.
Brian, it's good to hear that 216 is in good working order...i rode that bus for a year!
I too love the Vision, I wish that the 2nd gens were working out as good as the 1st gens.
Uhh... the second gens are working out much better than the first Visions. They are reliable, easier on the eyes, and much more ergonomic on the inside. The second gen is selling much more than the first ones, and it will be taking away a lot of market share from IC and Thomas in the coming years.
I understand that Rich, I meant for my district, I am quite disappointed in the new Vision. |
Facebook Page: Blue Bird Corporation Fans
https://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_212311114614&ap=1
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craftent
New Member
United States
1 Posts |
Posted - 11/16/2007 : 7:07:40 PM
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| The Visions hardly ever come back for repair! |
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2006bbvision
Senior Member
USA
107 Posts |
Posted - 11/20/2007 : 08:30:10 AM
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Newport News City Schools in Va has brought two Large orders of the first generation Vision form 2005-2006 school years. This was the first time Blue Birds have been purchased since 1996, the last orders were Tc-2000 RE's and FE's I honestly can say we have never had a lot of problems with Blue Birds period in the past, the main reason why we stop purchasing them was because of the need to increase the fleet size was so major,Blue Birds were just a little to costly to fulfil the districts needs so alternativly the districst decesion was to choose the purchase of transit style amtran FE's and Genies form 1997,1998.1999, 2000,2003 I think personally that think that the district buy visions had been the best decision and switch in a long time, we have not seen any where near as many major problems with the Visions as we have seen with the over 200 some internationals we have. I look forward hopefully that for the 2008 bus purchase we will stop buying the ugly IC- CE'S and switch back to the new generation Visions.
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vabuslover
Advanced Member
United States
246 Posts |
Posted - 11/20/2007 : 10:18:48 AM
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| I would hope that NNPS switches back to Birds when they start buying new buses. They always hold up nicely, and I have never seen where there have been any problems with them. I do not think the IC CEs from 2007 are too ugly, but they do leave something to be desired. |
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bluebirdvision
Top Member
USA
1081 Posts |
Posted - 11/20/2007 : 3:24:23 PM
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| Rethinking what I said... I guess one out of 12 Visions (1st and 2nd generation) isn't such a bad thing. Since I believe that ALL the 365 Internationals have had the injectors replace AT LEAST once. |
Facebook Page: Blue Bird Corporation Fans
https://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_212311114614&ap=1
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Edited by - bluebirdvision on 11/20/2007 3:24:49 PM |
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bluebirdvision
Top Member
USA
1081 Posts |
Posted - 04/15/2008 : 10:20:06 AM
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Just an update,
We've had quite a lot of problems with the 2nd generation Visions. We have 1 that runs perfect, when the driver shuts it down sometimes it refuses to start. We have 2 with leaks at the back door and 1 of the window. I also have a question, when comparing a '08 and '09 for some reason the '09 (same specs with the exception of remote power mirrors) is MUCH quieter ( i like a loud diesel.
bluebirdvision |
Facebook Page: Blue Bird Corporation Fans
https://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_212311114614&ap=1
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78fordwayne
Top Member
USA
2868 Posts |
Posted - 04/15/2008 : 11:08:10 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by bluebirdvision
Just an update,
I also have a question, when comparing a '08 and '09 for some reason the '09 (same specs with the exception of remote power mirrors) is MUCH quieter ( i like a loud diesel.
bluebirdvision
They might have different engines in them . Or the 08's have the pre 07 engines. This was very common for 08s to have 06 engines. |
Robert B.
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ICCEBusLady
Senior Member
United States
97 Posts |
Posted - 04/16/2008 : 3:17:22 PM
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| We've had soooooo much go wrong with our 4 visions (early 05-late 07) The drivers HATE them. Everything from the wiring to engine trouble....they can't stay out of the garage. I remember my driver CRYING when she first got our early 07 BB Vision. |
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bluebirdvision
Top Member
USA
1081 Posts |
Posted - 04/17/2008 : 1:08:33 PM
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Don't get me wrong,
I love our new Visions, they are comfortable riding, and they do run well, when they run. They can't stay out of the garage.... the 1st generation Visions we have are much better than the present ones. |
Facebook Page: Blue Bird Corporation Fans
https://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_212311114614&ap=1
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pbfreak30
Senior Member
USA
171 Posts |
Posted - 04/17/2008 : 3:31:44 PM
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| well i know we wont be gettin any BB's for another year..and i dont see them in the future unless Thomas goes out of business..we always have been and will likley always be Thomas..i know for next yr we are gettin somewhere between 40 and 50 new C2's with the Highest output Cummins in them..which is surprising, because since Thomas has offered the Benz, that is what we have gotten,with the exception of a few FS-65's that for some reason were sent to us with CAT's.. but i guess we will really see how the new cummins are...our drivers have fallen in love with the Benz..b/c they are SOO quiet in the C2.. |
ARROW transportation RP..the best out there! |
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Topic |
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Realiabilty of 2008 Blue Bird Vision
