[benu9714]

I work (volunteer basis) with a pan-India NGO which provides free accommodation, food rations, teaching, counselling etc to cancer-afflicted children (and their parents) from poor families who are undergoing extended treatment in cancer hospitals. We care for over 300 children in centers in Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi, Jaipur, Hyderabad and are shortly opening Centers in Guwahati and Vellore.

For our upcoming Vellore Center we need to buy a 25-30 seater bus (with AC and preferably seat-belts) for transporting children and parents between Center and hospital daily. Distance will be short (+/- 10 Km) but there will be many trips daily through crowded roads.

I have been asked to opine on whether to buy a Tata bus or an Isuzu bus, and if so which model. Capital cost is secondary (donor will provide) but running cost (fuel + maintenance) and reliability (breakdowns (unacceptable with kids inside) and dealer support) are important. Location (and dealer reputation) of Tata/Isuzu is also a factor.

Please can anybody guide me on this? Thanks in advance.

[condor]

You can also consider Bharath Benz. Have seen buses of this capacity.

[aditya.86]

In my opinion, Tata should give you a better after sales experience and lower cost/km compared to Isuzu.

Why don't you also look at the Eicher Skyline series? We purchased 4 of these for our company back in 2015 after considering TATA, Ashok Leyland and Isuzu and they have been running trouble free considering a daily running of approximately 150 kms a day.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by benu9714

I work (volunteer basis) with a pan-India NGO which provides free accommodation, food rations, teaching, counselling etc to cancer-afflicted children (and their parents) from poor families who are undergoing extended treatment in cancer hospitals.

Hat's off, man .

running cost (fuel + maintenance) and reliability (breakdowns (unacceptable with kids inside) and dealer support) are important.

It's a no-brainer then. Tata & Ashok Leyland are the two main options you should be looking at. They are the Maruti & Hyundai of the commercial vehicle segment.

Please also go through this similar thread.

[aadya]

I would say Ashok Leyland is the best option, if serviceability is the main concern. Vellore is bang in the middle of very busy Chennai-Bengaluru highway. If serviced regularly Leyland vehicle would run trouble free for decades. Get a good comfortable coach with passenger safety as priority, lots of customisation available in this front.

Though Donor would be contributing, Getting two buses rather than one bus for the same cost would touch more lives.

PS : We had a Leyland truck for 20years without much trouble.

[silversteed]

Originally Posted by benu9714

For our upcoming Vellore Center we need to buy a 25-30 seater bus (with AC and preferably seat-belts) for transporting children and parents between Center and hospital daily.

Vellore is closer to Chennai, the hub of Ashok Leyland and Bharat Benz. You can check the Sunshine from AL, or the BB 917 staff bus/tourist bus as per your need.

And, kudos to you for your effort

[blackwasp]

Originally Posted by benu9714

I work (volunteer basis) with a pan-India NGO which provides free accommodation, food rations, teaching, counselling etc to cancer-afflicted children (and their parents) from poor families who are undergoing extended treatment in cancer hospitals. We care for over 300 children in centers in Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi, Jaipur, Hyderabad and are shortly opening Centers in Guwahati and Vellore.

First of all, kudos to your great work.

For our upcoming Vellore Center we need to buy a 25-30 seater bus (with AC and preferably seat-belts) for transporting children and parents between Center and hospital daily. Distance will be short (+/- 10 Km) but there will be many trips daily through crowded roads.

Coming to the selection of buses, I would recommend you with the Tata Starbus series. They are available in CNG and Diesel with factory fitted AC (brochures - CNG, diesel). Seating capacities range from 32-36 seats. Since you have mentioned the seatbelt, the Starbus Skool (brochure) series comes with armrests and individual lap belts for all seats. The are available in 26 - 50 seat options.

Tata offers a 36-month / 3,00,000 km warranty on its buses. Further, if I may suggest, you can also approach Tata to give you a discounted price on their buses.

EDIT - AS per the suggestions of other members, both Tata and AL have service centres in Vellore. So serviceability should not be a concern. Both companies offer various levels of AMCs as well which should keep the buses going on for ages. The key to longevity of any machine is the proper maintenance. You could visit the any Tata / AL dealer and get details the AMC. Since the daily usage will be on the lower side (compared to city / interstate buses), the maintenance package should not cost much as well.

[Geo_Ipe]

Originally Posted by benu9714

For our upcoming Vellore Center we need to buy a 25-30 seater bus (with AC and preferably seat-belts) for transporting children and parents between Center and hospital daily. Distance will be short (+/- 10 Km) but there will be many trips daily through crowded roads.

I have been asked to opine on whether to buy a Tata bus or an Isuzu bus, and if so which model.

As a BHPian from Vellore, I would say a 30 seater would be too big for a town with narrow streets and very congested traffic, especially around the hospital area. I'd suggest you reconsider if you really need such a big vehicle. I've seen centers run by NGOs using something smaller like a Tempo Traveller successfully for purposes similar to the ones you've mentioned.

To answer your query - Tata, AL, Bharat Benz, SML Isuzu all have dealers and service centres in Vellore. For short runs over mostly flat surfaces, I would say any brand would suffice. But you'll need to do some ground work regarding quality of local service before making the purchase.