The European hub for pre-owned buses and coaches
The Neu-Ulm site takes a central position in the pan-European BusStore network.
The BusStore Center staff in Neu-Ulm have extensive experience and competence in the pre-owned bus and coach business – and they work closely with the European-wide BusStore network.
It is not only its central geographical location that makes the BusStore Center in Neu-Ulm into something of a European hub for Daimler Buses’ pre-owned bus and coach trade. The Neu-Ulm site is also the largest in terms of square metres and also the best equipped – additional reasons why it is assigned a central role in the BusStore network.
Collaboration with other locations.
“We work very closely together with other BusStore sites,” relates Alexander Dockenwadel, head of the BusStore Center Neu-Ulm. The site is close to the Daimler Buses factory and Daimler Buses Service Center in Neu-Ulm. The premises are generously proportioned, with several vehicle halls, a large workshop, an in-house paintshop and office buildings alongside a large open parking area. A total of 18 employees work at the German BusStore site. It has space for around 250 pre-owned buses, Dockenwadel reports. In normal times, 130 to 150 vehicles are parked here. These include models from every manufacturer sold and in demand on the European market, though the Mercedes-Benz and Setra brands clearly dominate the range in Neu-Ulm.
Support with formalities and financing.
Across a single year, more than 500 pre-owned vehicles are sold through the BusStore Center Neu-Ulm. Naturally, the focus is on coaches, but the Center also covers the full range of city and intercity buses. “On the one hand, buses come through that a customer has passed on after the purchase of a new vehicle,” Dockenwadel says, describing day-to-day business in the pre-owned bus trade. “But depending on customer requirements, we also search for specific vehicles. Of course, we benefit in this from our Europe-wide BusStore Network.” In cases where a pre-owned bus is bought outside Europe, BusStore will handle the entire transfer for the customer. This also means carrying out all the necessary formalities, such as obtaining customs documentation. Where financing is concerned, customers have access to Daimler Truck Financial Services, with which BusStore also collaborates closely. Including in the field of leasing, which is enjoying ever greater popularity in the pre-owned bus business. “This has just kept developing and is now firmly established,” says Alexander Dockenwadel, indicating lively customer demand.
“Depending on our customers’ needs, we carry out a targeted search for vehicles across our European-wide BusStore network.”
Quality check and classification.
Every used vehicle that arrives in Neu-Ulm in this way undergoes a complete quality check by BusStore. In this expertly carried out check, the bus or coach is uncompromisingly checked and can then - if it meets certain criteria - be awarded BusStore Premium. Dockwadel: "Every vehicle offered for sale has undergone this extensive quality inspection. Thanks to this classification, customers can always be absolutely sure that you are buying a bus that fully meets their expectations and is worth its price." A warranty for the complete drivetrain is optionally offered for premium vehicles.
Vast amounts of expertise and experience.
If buses and coaches need to be worked on, only original parts are incorporated. In every regard, the Neu-Ulm BusStore Center is very well equipped. For example, it has the ability to rearrange the seating in a vehicle or carry out large-scale paint jobs in-house. If desired, the workshop can also fit the vehicles with active filters which, with their functional antiviral layer, filter out even the finest aerosol particles and thus increase protection against infection on board. “We have real bus and coach professionals on site,” says Dockenwadel. “Our workshop is manned by highly experienced and truly skilled craftspeople. People who know the business and the vehicles and also have plenty of expertise with older models – so they really know what’s going on.” In fact, there is nothing the BusStore Center in Neu-Ulm can’t repair or restore.
“We have real bus and coach professionals on site.”
The long-term perspective as a philosophy.
Where long-term services are concerned, we are talking not just about the workshop but about the underlying philosophy that has been taken on board across the entire BusStore Neu-Ulm site. Just as buses and coaches are conceived for long-term use, so the customer relationship is marked with an eye on the distant future and mutual trust, as Alexander Dockenwadel concludes: “We have long-term relationships with our customers, we know them and they us, and we rely on each other.”
