BusTalk Forum Index BusTalk
A Community Discussing Buses and Bus Operations Worldwide!
 
 BusTalk MainBusTalk Main FAQFAQ   SearchSearch   MemberlistMemberlist   UsergroupsUsergroups BusTalk GalleriesBusTalk Galleries   RegisterRegister 
 ProfileProfile   Log in to check your private messagesLog in to check your private messages   Log inLog in 

Who is your favorite bus manufacturer in North America?
Goto page 1, 2, 3, 4  Next
 
Post new topic   Reply to topic    BusTalk Forum Index -> Transit Bus Manufacturers
View previous topic :: View next topic  

Who is your favorite bus manufacturer in North America?
New Flyer
17%
 17%  [ 5 ]
Gillig
20%
 20%  [ 6 ]
Orion
6%
 6%  [ 2 ]
NABI
17%
 17%  [ 5 ]
Nova Bus
20%
 20%  [ 6 ]
ElDorado
3%
 3%  [ 1 ]
Millennium
0%
 0%  [ 0 ]
Blue Bird
3%
 3%  [ 1 ]
Optima
0%
 0%  [ 0 ]
Other (specify)
10%
 10%  [ 3 ]
Total Votes : 29

Author Message
DE60LF




Joined: 03 Oct 2007
Posts: 142
Location: Albuquerque, NM

PostPosted: Mon Feb 18, 2008 10:20 pm    Post subject: Who is your favorite bus manufacturer in North America? Reply with quote

Who is your favorite bus manufacturer in North America?

Last edited by DE60LF on Fri Apr 23, 2010 7:59 am; edited 2 times in total
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
The Port of Authority




Joined: 16 Apr 2007
Posts: 118
Location: Hong Kong

PostPosted: Mon Feb 18, 2008 10:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

My favorite used to be New Flyer, but I'm leaning towards NABI now.

As far as innovative exterior designs for buses go, NABI is the nation's leader. The 45-foot CompoBus is my favorite of NABI's products and it's a shame they discontinued it.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
Mr. Linsky
BusTalk's Offical Welcoming Committee



Joined: 16 Apr 2007
Posts: 5071
Location: BRENTWOOD, CA. - WOODMERE, N.Y.

PostPosted: Tue Feb 19, 2008 12:10 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Looks like The Port and I are in agreement - I also voted for NABI for the following reasons;

I think they're an up and coming company what with their latest order of over 1100 buses for trend setting New Jersey Transit!

I also think the NABI's (and particularly the 45C's and 60 BRT's) have a little of the old time character about them with their more sculptured lines.

I know they've had their problems, but what bus manufacturer hasn't at one time or another - I think they may be heading for number one on the Hit Parade!

Mr. Linsky - Green Bus Lines, Inc., Jamaica, NY
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Mr. Transit




Joined: 17 Feb 2008
Posts: 23

PostPosted: Tue Feb 19, 2008 12:20 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

El Dorado National. It's a shame they can't sell their 40ft. Axess bus here in North America but their EZ-Rider II does the opposite. Go figure.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
The Don of All Buses



Age: 36
Joined: 30 Aug 2007
Posts: 113
Location: Yonkers, NY

PostPosted: Tue Apr 29, 2008 4:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well, I'm a diehard Flxible Metro-B fan but Flx is no longer in production. My choice is NABI. I'm loving the redesigned NABI 416, and my other favorites are Chicago's NABI artics.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
novabuslfsafan




Joined: 24 Oct 2009
Posts: 19

PostPosted: Sat Oct 24, 2009 1:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

My favorite is NOVABus and Orion mainly now a days,they make better buses then other bus Manufacturers.

New Flyer used to be my most favorite but now they don't make great buses anymore,but they look good but now I'm tierd of NFI, but i like them still but bored of it now, the best model New Flyer made was the 30LF, 35LF, 40LF and 60LF and looks better then any other model they have/had produce.

NABI- I really was never a fan of their buses, but i did like some NABI40LFW, NABI BRT 60 and NABI 45C they have ,but now all their they buses they make are ugly and crap expect for NABI 45C. NABI 45C is the only good model they make now a days while all the others are ugly and/or crap like i said before.

Gillig- I use to like Gillig when they made the phantom model,but ever since the Gillig Phantom has been discontinued on September 2008 they have no love no more since I hate their LF buses, all they offer is crappy buses, Gillig really don't know how to make real LF buses. All Gillig buses are worst buses built ever expect the gillig phantom.

Orion- They make good buses now a days. The good buses that were made very good was the Orion I, Orion IV, Orion V, and Orion VII NG.
The worst buses the Orion ever built was the Orion II, Orion III, Orion VI, and Orion VII OG.

NOVABus- Their RTS model and their Classic model was very good model. As for the LFS- The 1st generation of the LFS wasn't that great but was ok,but the 2nd generation improved a little bit, but ever since the 3rd generation of the LFS was made, it made NOVABus LFS (3rd generation) have more seating but still less then HF, but the 3rd gen. of the LFS looks better then NFI,and NABI and NOVABus became #1 favorite right along with Orion (since they make good bus currently which is the NG).
NOVABus LFS always have looks better then Neoplan,Bluebird, Thomas, Eldorado and Gillig buses and it alway will.

Eldorado All their buses are worst buses expect for the Eldorado Axess and the cutaways they make are ok.

Millennium- Their RTS model looks good but the RTS LF they made wasn't great, well mainly from the inside the bus.

Bluebird- Well some of them are ok but some are crap and/or poorly designed and/or ugly.

Thomas- same reasons same as bluebird

Optima- i never rode them so no opinion.

Neoplan USA- they produce nothing but crappy buses,all their buses are worst buses built ever. The day any TAs get rid of Neoplans buses, i'll be happy. hopefully Neoplan never comes back to the USA market, let them stay in Germany. I'm gald there is NO Neoplan buses in Canada at least, and there will never be a Neoplan in Canada, that's the good part.

MCI- very good buses they make.

Prevost Car- Some of their bus model make is good such as the X3-45, Prevost Car LeMirage Series like LeMirage XL-II.

some other bus model they make kinda look ugly such as Prevost Car H5-60 and H3 Series, Panoramique,and Prestige.

TMC- They made great buses such as the RTS but the NOVABus RTS is still the bus.

GMC- they made good buses, but the best one was the RTS.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
timecruncher



Age: 73
Joined: 23 Dec 2008
Posts: 456
Location: Louisville, Kentucky

PostPosted: Tue Oct 27, 2009 8:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

My my my. Some of you never worked on or drove these buses!

The RTS was hands-down one of the worst buses ever built for city operation. Yes, they were nice-looking, solid (as a rock), but overbuilt to a fault. Under-powered and overweight from the git-go, and GM made no excuses about problems with HVAC, trannies and engine overheating. Slow to accelerate (see "overweight" above), rear door took half a minute to open and close, and both doors squeaked incessantly due to bad bearing design. Come on -- GM could do better.

By the time NOVA was building the RTS, most of the bugs had been designed out, but they were/are still too heavy and the last versions looked goofy with the headlight cowling.

Only slightly better was the Grumman/Flx 870 - Metro. Was one of these ever built that didn't leak like the Titanic when it rained? The dash was cheesy-looking, and all of the indicator lights were hidden behind the steering column. WTF? The Flx was durable, and some are still running today, but they rattled on smooth streets and were awful on rain or ice-slick streets.

Orion is okay, but their record precedes them. Maybe they're doing better now, but their warranty and parts availability has always been sub-par. Oh, and any property that ever owned the 02 model wishes they had never heard of the outfit. First thing Diamler did when they bought the company was to discontinue that red herring of a bus!

New Flyer is much the same. Plain and cheap-looking from the driver's seat, bad ride quality, iffy quality control and the company is always in financial trouble (ditto for Orion). They are not terribly good to deal with from an RFP standpoint due to their frail financial situation either. They're always trying to weasel out of something in the specs.

Gillig -- great company to deal with on many fronts, but the Phantom was never a driver's bus. You sit on the floor, visibility is poor, ride quality is worse, and the wind noise from under the front of the bus with a lift is like being in the Chicago subway! Gillig's low floor is a much better bus to drive, although that first step is too far off of the ground so you end up kneeling the bus at every stop. Plus, that silly little door lever is annoying. They do have excellent warranty coverage and if you call their parts room today by 4:30pm, the part will be on your freight dock the second morning by 10:00am. If it is a warranty part and the bus is down - it will be shipped 1st day air and will be there the next morning when your shop crew shows up. Believe it! Their bus is plain-vanilla stuff, though. Nothing to make people want to jump on board to try it out...

All of you NABI fans out there seem to forget that by any other name, NABI is Crown-Ikarus. Crown built great classic school buses, Ikarus built crappy transit buses in eastern Europe. The combination was a horrible piece of equipment to drive and parts were pretty much unavailable. And mechanical problems? What do you call CTA having to yank 250 $700,000 diesel articulateds off of the street after only a couple of years of service? The NABI high floor bus that Las Vegas and NJT are getting looks like something from outer space and I still wouldn't touch it with a book of transfers!

As a driver, since the demise of the new-look GM, I was most impressed with the ride and handling of the Neoplan AN440. Too bad the buses rusted through the body after maybe 6 months up here in the snow belt. Great bus to drive, passengers liked 'em, and the suspension was tops. Bad customer service and the above-mentioned rust problem killed them off.

So what is left? No, not Optima or Thomas-Dennis or El Dorado. Its NOVA. They are making a big push south of the border for US orders. The LFS in its current iteration is not bad to drive, mechanically sound (they finally fitted it with a T-drive powerplant), they moved the radiator up to the roof away from the hot engine (wow, why didn't anyone else figure that out?) rides good and is far quieter than anything Gillig, New Flyer or Orion produces. From a driver's or passenger's standpoint they are a good bus. Time will tell if they can handle parts distribution and warranty issues. Biggest problem with the LFS is their home-built wheelchair ramp. Get a Lift-U product under there and the bus may be the best offering in North America today.

Got to drive their 62-foot artic a couple of weeks back, and that was a suprisingly good experience as well...

One more thing: NOVA actually has a separate a/c unit under the dash for the driver and for serious defrosting. Up until now, only MCI and Prevost cruisers had this nifty feature.

timecruncher
Remember, schedulers give you the runs!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message AIM Address
daimlerbuses



Age: 31
Joined: 22 Jul 2009
Posts: 30

PostPosted: Tue Oct 27, 2009 10:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The Orion II isn't THAT bad of a bus if you keep up with regular maintenance.

Orion have major improved on the VII model since their first production build in 2001. The parts and warranty are much better now as well. And the only time Orion was in financial trouble was in the 90's, by the way. It seems the only Orion models you seem to hear negative things about is the Orion II and Orion VI (and perhaps early Orion VII's). However, I'll say that their build quality is pretty solid. The Orion V was a great bus.

Ditto with NFI - they've gotten to a point here building their garbage up here in Canada that almost nobody buys from them anymore, in what was once a sea of dominance of Canadian customers! Nova seems to be doing pretty decent these days, especially in Western Canada. However, what screws them over sometimes is the build quality and short wheelbase - most evident in Brampton, Ontario's units.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
timecruncher



Age: 73
Joined: 23 Dec 2008
Posts: 456
Location: Louisville, Kentucky

PostPosted: Wed Oct 28, 2009 7:16 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I can agree that Orion seems to have gotten its act together, after the Province of Ontario bailed it out several times. But the 02 model was a good idea that was poorly executed - period!

I drove them at an agency that does a good job of maintenance, and these buses still failed every time they were on the road. It is the only bus model in recent years I know of that could break down while parked in the garage overnight!

'Nuff said...

timecruncher
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message AIM Address
Rick




Joined: 08 May 2008
Posts: 14

PostPosted: Thu Oct 29, 2009 7:36 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

You're right on with the RTS, timecruncher - I'd add that replacement parts such as panels and windshields are expensive and the wheelchair lifts are balky.

We've had good luck with Orion products (currently run V's and VII's) except for the Orion II - we operated three for a while. Towards the end they smoked like an ALCO locomotive.

We're new to Gillig, but so far so good. They were great to work with during the procurement/manufacturing phase.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
daimlerbuses



Age: 31
Joined: 22 Jul 2009
Posts: 30

PostPosted: Thu Oct 29, 2009 8:01 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hey Rick if I'm not wrong HART only has one Orion VII? Along with 10 2001 Orion V's? How are you guys liking them, especially the VII since it's a early one (2002)?
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Rick




Joined: 08 May 2008
Posts: 14

PostPosted: Thu Oct 29, 2009 10:36 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Mechanics and drivers love the Orion's at our place. The Orion VII is especially coveted -- it has a kind of unique paint scheme. We ran some of our Orion I's for over 15 years.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
Bill D




Joined: 17 Apr 2007
Posts: 332
Location: Waterbury, CT

PostPosted: Thu Oct 29, 2009 11:21 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

In Waterbury, we have had good luck with our 1996 RTS fleet, and most drivers and mechanics prefer them over the 2004 New Flyer D40LF's. Although we do have wheelchair lift issues (mainly step locks not latching), they have generally have been pretty reliable. Even though they are starting to show their age, we will hate to see them go when they are retired in a year or two.

The other bus that gave us many good years of service was the Flxible new look. Most of them lasted 18 years without a midlife rebuild and served us well.

Bill
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
novabuslfsafan




Joined: 24 Oct 2009
Posts: 19

PostPosted: Fri Oct 30, 2009 11:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

daimlerbuses wrote:
The Orion II isn't THAT bad of a bus if you keep up with regular maintenance.

Orion have major improved on the VII model since their first production build in 2001. The parts and warranty are much better now as well. And the only time Orion was in financial trouble was in the 90's, by the way. It seems the only Orion models you seem to hear negative things about is the Orion II and Orion VI (and perhaps early Orion VII's). However, I'll say that their build quality is pretty solid. The Orion V was a great bus.

Ditto with NFI - they've gotten to a point here building their garbage up here in Canada that almost nobody buys from them anymore, in what was once a sea of dominance of Canadian customers! Nova seems to be doing pretty decent these days, especially in Western Canada. However, what screws them over sometimes is the build quality and short wheelbase - most evident in Brampton, Ontario's units.


In my opinion the Orion II were cramped and did not have that much room, I didn't like the way the bus look, it was more likely poorly designed.

Also the Orion V was great. The only Orion VII OG that was good made was a diesel version of the VII OG unlike the HEV and CNG ones.
Also the VII NGs Diesel, HEV and CNG are very great.

As for NFI, yes NFI is starting to making crappy buses,they used to make good buses but now there becoming crap.


timecruncher wrote:
All of you NABI fans out there seem to forget that by any other name, NABI is Crown-Ikarus. Crown built great classic school buses, Ikarus built crappy transit buses in eastern Europe. The combination was a horrible piece of equipment to drive and parts were pretty much unavailable. And mechanical problems? What do you call CTA having to yank 250 $700,000 diesel articulateds off of the street after only a couple of years of service? The NABI high floor bus that Las Vegas and NJT are getting looks like something from outer space and I still wouldn't touch it with a book of transfers!


Crown Coach Corporation did NOT really built great school buses,I hate all Crown buses, they were ugly buses ever built, I'm gald There out of business. there buses were unsafe. As for NABI buses, Most of there buses were crap, the only good bus models they made was the NABI 45C, NABI BRT60, and certain NABI40LFW (old design only).

As for vegas, they Got NABI 40LFW (LOW FLOOR) NOT High Floor and Vegas's New design NABI 40LFW looks great but other TAs ABI 40LFW Restyle look ugly.
As for NJT''s new NABI 416 (40SFW), they look ugly and are just CRAP!

CTA's NABI 60LFW did get pulled out of service after the cracking issues they had, those NABI 60LFW were more likely poorly made.

I'm gald NABI is NOT in Canada because they suck more then NFI.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
novabuslfsafan




Joined: 24 Oct 2009
Posts: 19

PostPosted: Fri Oct 30, 2009 11:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Rick wrote:
Mechanics and drivers love the Orion's at our place. The Orion VII is especially coveted -- it has a kind of unique paint scheme. We ran some of our Orion I's for over 15 years.

that's good.

Hopefully more TAs starting ordering Orion and NOVABus and has more buyers then Eldorado Notional, New Flyer, NABI and others.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic   Reply to topic    BusTalk Forum Index -> Transit Bus Manufacturers All times are GMT - 5 Hours
Goto page 1, 2, 3, 4  Next
Page 1 of 4

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
You can attach files in this forum
You can download files in this forum


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group