Krystal POS Midsize Bus

[RR]

Coming soon, a sad, sordid tale of my experience buying a $120k bus from Krystal.

[Wade Randolph]

Originally posted by RR:
Coming soon, a sad, sordid tale of my experience buying a $120k bus from Krystal.

You have my attention because I am looking to purchase one. I did want to find a model that was a year or two old to keep from getting hammered on the price.

[Marcus]

Originally posted by RR:
Coming soon, a sad, sordid tale of my experience buying a $120k bus from Krystal.

RR,

Not fair, details please.

Marcus

[RR]

Contact me directly at russ@go5star.com for now. I'll be posting the details soon for all but I'll give you the rundown in the meantime.


You have my attention because I am looking to purchase one. I did want to find a model that was a year or two old to keep from getting hammered on the price.[/QUOTE]

[RR]

Originally posted by RR:
Contact me directly at russ@go5star.com for now. I'll be posting the details soon for all but I'll give you the rundown in the meantime. I was actually approved for 2 but I am already considering selling the one I have.


You have my attention because I am looking to purchase one. I did want to find a model that was a year or two old to keep from getting hammered on the price. [/QUOTE]

[RR]

1. Bus wasn't ready on time when I went to pick it up, last week in December 2004.

2. Bus blew a turbo less than a mile from the Krystal factory. I went to pick it up but to their credit they offered to ship it to me.

3. After receiving bus, on first day of use we had bus in the Park City area, tire stem sheared off. Didn't see it until we got back from Park City, about a 40 mile trip. Had to pay for new tire.

4. 2nd day in use. Door stops opening automatically. Had to open and close door by hand for shopping shuttle. Door hardware was loose and had to be fixed at International dealer.

5. 4th day in use. Horrible snowstorm in Park City/Deer Valley. Belt snaps at 10:00 pm. Called Krystal, no one home after 5:00 pm PST. Called International dealer for help. They called two tow companies who were to busy to help until Saturday. On Saturday, tow company takes vehicle to International. I get a call telling me that the repair is not covered under warranty because the belt that broke was an aftermarket modification by Krystal. I had to pay $1200.00 for an airconditioning belt and tow. Krystal takes a week to decide whether to reimburse me. Because it was just an air conditioning belt the vehicle could have been driven to the dealer. Of course with Park City's worst snowstorm in 20 years and snow blowing sideways at 60 mph all I saw was a belt wrapped around the fan and various other parts of the engine. They finally decide to cover the repair and they tell me they will expedite me a check but it takes 30 days to get a check. I would hate to see a non-expedited check.

6. I have been bugging Krystal to get setup with the only International Dealer in Utah but they made no real effort to do so until a couple of weeks ago. I'm now being told by Krystal that the dealer won't accept credit applications from any new accounts. Maybe it is true, maybe not. I have not had time to verify with the dealer yet.

7. Check brake light came on after two weeks of operation.

8. Rear door open light continually comes on even after checking numerous times that rear door is completely shut.

9. Anti-slip material on rear steps already coming off.

10. Bolts to hold on hub caps only held on with three threads. One gets stripped while fixing tire.

11. Did I mention there is not a single cupholder for the driver. 125K and no cupholder?

12. There is a power outlet (only one)to charge your cell phone but nowhere to put the phone. It just has to dangle from the charger.

13. So far no option for an exhaust brake or jake brake on the VT365 model. I assumed there would be one available because of the commercial nature of the International chassis. I know, I know don't ever assume but it is still a negative.

14. Did I mention that it took Krystal/Edson (their financing arm) over 30 days to get me the registration for my vehicle. Yup. It took them 2 weeks just to figure out that I needed a VIN inspection but the service they farm their registration materials out to (Lexus) couldn't give me any details other than to tell me that any cop could do one. I asked very specifically is there any other paperwork I need to take with me. The answer was NO. It sounded fishy but I went to the Highway Patrol office and asked for a VIN inspection. They told me I couldn't do it with a the "request for title" document from the DMV which happened to be 20 minutes away. More wasted time. Finally overnighted it to them and it still took almost two weeks to finally get the registration.

15. Pointed out to my sales guy that it was hard to justify paying a payment for a bus I couldn't legally operate for a month because of Krystal/Edson/Lexus' incompetence. He said he thought he could get Edson to defer the first month payment so I could actually start making some money. Never happened. I do still like my salesperson. I do, I just don't think most of this is his fault, mostly the organization he works for.

16. Noticed after the first week that the bus was leaning to the left because the air suspension needed to be adjusted. At first International refused because it was outside of the 90 day in service date. Yeah I know it had only been a couple of weeks since I had the bus but according to their computer the in service date was when Krystal received the chassis. It took a week to sort that one out.

17. The rear tv monitors have noise lines through them and the audio doesn't sound grounded properly.

18. One of the brackets holding the exhaust pipe broke. Again, I assumed that it was an International warranty issue. Nope. The exhaust is on the driver's side and the International computer shows the original exhaust on the passenger side. When it broke it allowed the exhaust pipe to bounce and crack the fiberglass above it. Nice huh.

19. Did I mention that the warranty on the chassis is only for 12 months. Krystal didn't mention it to me.

20. I'm sure that I'm forgetting a couple of things but I hope you get the general idea. I really wish Daimler Chrysler would release their CL300. One company standing behind their product with real support would be a welcome breath of fresh air.

To Krystal's credit, once they pulled their head out they have been willing to overnight or 2nd day parts to me. However that is about the only thing that I can really appreciate.

[TxLimoGuy]

That's a bummer...It's always disappointing to see that many issues on something that expensive. I have had several issues on my new Excursion SUV Limo but Krystal has been good about honoring warranty claims.

All I can hope is that with a company the size and caliber of Krystal that the factory and design folks get a chance to review defects being reported in the field and put in place some corrective actions in their design and mfg processes.

One of my Excursion's defects was a clear design issue (rear backup warning beeper was moved by Krystal to a location where water could infiltrate it). The others were manufacturing defects mostly related to the tightness of fittings on the AC system (it has lost coolant once and refrigerant twice).

That being said though, with coming up on almost a year in service on that particular vehicle I would still rate myself as 'satisfied' and the customers love it.

[franicfred]

How can I find out how much a 97 Krystal coach is worth?