In the market for a NEW Ambulance

[pcfpr1 11]

So a group that I am part of has been tasked to purchase a new ambulance we have give or take 132, 000 to work with and perfer a Type-1... any suggestions for chasis and mod?

[antiquefirelt 994]

So a group that I am part of has been tasked to purchase a new ambulance we have give or take 132, 000 to work with and perfer a Type-1... any suggestions for chasis and mod?

Find some more money? Joking aside we run Type I's and the last few have been right around $150k with 4wd (which is about an $7k option). We use the Ford F-450 which is what we've been told is the cheapest chassis? You may be able to save some money on the module is you use an off the rack style, our have become pretty customized, thus you may be closer to the right price? Good luck.

[JM15 386]

What kind of group?

[karl4700 1]

$132,000 is a tough one. The department I work for purchased a Horton on a Ford E350 chassis in 2006 and it was $125,000, not nearly loaded. Looking into a Floor model or demo may be an option if you are able to adapt to an already built rig. When it comes to apparatus, I personally believe you get what you pay for. So make sure you do your homework.

[pcfpr1 11]

To reply to all its mamaroneck village ems and the last two vehicles have given us great service but one needs to be replaced.. were looking at road rescue.. anyone have feedback regarding their type 1's

[x635 4,066]

You may want to look at demos. With all the trade shows going on, a lot of manufacturers offer discounted prices on stock and demo ambulances.

Also, have you considered remounting the module onto a new chassis? IMO, that's the most cost efficient route, especially if you like the current box that you work in.

Another consideration is buying an ambulance from a VAC that has low mileage and responded to very few calls.

Some manufacturers also let you tack on to large city contracts as great savings as possible.

[sympathomedic 383]

Please DO NOT buy a 4 wheel drive unit. Your area is pretty flat, (hell, one area in Mamaroneck is called 'the flats!'), and your PD and FD have about, what, 6 4 WD SUV's you can use in the rare heavy snow incident that your DPW has not cleared. It will be $7000, plus way more wear on front end, brakes, tranny every time you start and stop. I know you do not pay for maintnence, but it will be your down time. If you can document 4 incidents of stuck ambulances in MEM's 40+ year Hx, I would be surprised. (Yea, I know it was MFD Rescue for some of those years.)

Are you allowed to count trade in $$$ from your old truck, or is the Amb Dist/Town laying claim to that money. You may get $10 to $20,000 trade value on your old unit.

You do NOT need a HUGE model. Don't get box envy with the neighbors. Better a real good small truck than a stripped big one. Small trucks= easier to train drivers, less intimidating to the soccer moms that squads should be courting= more drivers, fewer dings, smaller blind spots, shorter stopping distance.

Gas versus diesel, eh. Both have good and bad. Chevy VS Ford, same deal. All being =, go with the cheapest.

As for modifier, I don't think PL custombody can be beat in customer service. My vol squad (Somers) and the squad I work at a lot (Yorktown) has had good customer service, etc. BTW If Somers and Yorktown, in the NW Hills don't get 4WD, you don't need it either.

Bill (one of your medics, case you wern't sure)

[SRS131EMTFF 471]

Please DO NOT buy a 4 wheel drive unit. Your area is pretty flat, (hell, one area in Mamaroneck is called 'the flats!'), and your PD and FD have about, what, 6 4 WD SUV's you can use in the rare heavy snow incident that your DPW has not cleared. It will be $7000, plus way more wear on front end, brakes, tranny every time you start and stop. I know you do not pay for maintnence, but it will be your down time. If you can document 4 incidents of stuck ambulances in MEM's 40+ year Hx, I would be surprised. (Yea, I know it was MFD Rescue for some of those years.)

Are you allowed to count trade in $$$ from your old truck, or is the Amb Dist/Town laying claim to that money. You may get $10 to $20,000 trade value on your old unit.

You do NOT need a HUGE model. Don't get box envy with the neighbors. Better a real good small truck than a stripped big one. Small trucks= easier to train drivers, less intimidating to the soccer moms that squads should be courting= more drivers, fewer dings, smaller blind spots, shorter stopping distance.

Gas versus diesel, eh. Both have good and bad. Chevy VS Ford, same deal. All being =, go with the cheapest.

As for modifier, I don't think PL custombody can be beat in customer service. My vol squad (Somers) and the squad I work at a lot (Yorktown) has had good customer service, etc. BTW If Somers and Yorktown, in the NW Hills don't get 4WD, you don't need it either.

Bill (one of your medics, case you wern't sure)

Agreed 100% with everything you have said except about PL custom. Every PL custom I have served in has been worse than the one before it. It is not a spec issue, its a shoddy workmanship and wiring issue. Maybe that is why their customer service is so good, they spend so much time running around repairing the ones that break.

Road Rescue, Braun and Osage, Osage especially, are some of the best ambulances I have ever served on. The Osage we have at work is a bulletproof tank that despite being over 4 years old is essentially like new (minus a few scrapes) and its out of service time we have been able to count in tens of hours, not days. I will note that we rotate our ambulances so no ambulance receives too many hours, miles or calls.

Edited June 15, 2013 by SRS131EMTFF

[antiquefirelt 994]

Please DO NOT buy a 4 wheel drive unit. Your area is pretty flat, (hell, one area in Mamaroneck is called 'the flats!'), and your PD and FD have about, what, 6 4 WD SUV's you can use in the rare heavy snow incident that your DPW has not cleared. It will be $7000, plus way more wear on front end, brakes, tranny every time you start and stop. I know you do not pay for maintnence, but it will be your down time. If you can document 4 incidents of stuck ambulances in MEM's 40+ year Hx, I would be surprised. (Yea, I know it was MFD Rescue for some of those years.)

While I agree wholeheartedly that buying 4wd needs to make sense, we have yet to see the issues you speak of with any regularity. Our buses go down for Ford motor issues and lately some A/C issues but I can't remember one transmission or a front end problem. Even brakes don't seem to be a significant issue. Now of course mileage may vary significantly. Our trucks run about 5-600 calls each a year and are kept for 8.5 years rotating monthly between 1st, 2nd and 3rd due. Our average run is about 10 miles round trip, so the mileage is fairly low. To your original pint though: Do we need them? Need is kinda subjective, we've not been without 4wd on any ambulance since the early 90's so we're set in our ways. I know we've not got one stuck and have sent units to places where an ambulance couldn't make it, but se still get some decent snow every few years. Every replacement the "need" comes up and since we keep bringing them in under budget with the 4 wd. it stays, the day we can't it'll go away and we probably won't see much of a difference.

[sympathomedic 383]

I think that just like our own cars, everyone has good and bad experiences with similar models. For every Ford lover, there is a Chevy lover. I am kinda shooting from the hip and guessing here, but I bet the fact that lots of smaller places spec custom everything, the trucks are hell on wheels to wire up. Whearas a place that orders 2 or 3-10 identical units at a clip becomes less of a disaster. Kind of blaming the victim. If you pay the price, they should deliver.

I have never heard of Osage. Peekskill VAC and Cortland VAC just bought trucks made by a Canadian place. Thier thing is the trucks have a green (environmental green) aspect. When you park they shut down, then self re-start as needed. They seem OK. Thing is, coming from Canada, the decal on the hood says, "AMBULANCE, A".

Last thing. As you look at rigs, look where your head will strike if you crash. Try to have padding on these "hostile surfaces". The only folks who die in their work units more than EMS guys are the NASCAR guys. Majority of EMS LODD's are in the truck, in the back, unrestrained, and head injured.

[SRS131EMTFF 471]

I think that just like our own cars, everyone has good and bad experiences with similar models. For every Ford lover, there is a Chevy lover. I am kinda shooting from the hip and guessing here, but I bet the fact that lots of smaller places spec custom everything, the trucks are hell on wheels to wire up. Whearas a place that orders 2 or 3-10 identical units at a clip becomes less of a disaster. Kind of blaming the victim. If you pay the price, they should deliver.

I have never heard of Osage. Peekskill VAC and Cortland VAC just bought trucks made by a Canadian place. Thier thing is the trucks have a green (environmental green) aspect. When you park they shut down, then self re-start as needed. They seem OK. Thing is, coming from Canada, the decal on the hood says, "AMBULANCE, A".

Last thing. As you look at rigs, look where your head will strike if you crash. Try to have padding on these "hostile surfaces". The only folks who die in their work units more than EMS guys are the NASCAR guys. Majority of EMS LODD's are in the truck, in the back, unrestrained, and head injured.

Osage is based out of MN (http://www.osageambulances.com). Their dealer for our region is Cromwell Emergency Vehicles (http://cromwellemergency.com).

Capital District Ambulance, Maimonides Medical Ctr Nunda, Morrisonville, Monroe, Middletown, Oneonta, Fillmore, Warwick and Ballston Lake, NY have all received an Osage Unit recently.

[RWC130 594]

[MoFire390 118]

Tom Walters from northeastern is who sold Cortlandt vac and Peekskill their Demers ambulances. All 3 where demos and sold for around 145,000. All 3 are on F350 chassis and are 4x4. Pl will on,u waste your time and won't allow you to build on a smaller chassis. I know went though this with them. Vist the Demers website or northeastern's will help you out a bunch. And will even help you out with your pricing issue. Stay safe

Ken

[Remember585 815]

Maybe some of the agencies in the county running 2, 3 or 4 rigs that they can't staff is looking to offload something for a decent price...

[antiquefirelt 994]

Tom Walters from northeastern is who sold Cortlandt vac and Peekskill their Demers ambulances. All 3 where demos and sold for around 145,000. All 3 are on F350 chassis and are 4x4. Pl will on,u waste your time and won't allow you to build on a smaller chassis. I know went though this with them. Vist the Demers website or northeastern's will help you out a bunch. And will even help you out with your pricing issue. Stay safe

Ken

Interestingly, we had been buying F-350 4x4 ambulances until the last two. They were markedly cheaper then, the first one (2010-1 every 3 yrs or so) about half the bidders said they would no longer build the same box on the F350 due to how close it came to max weight for the chassis. The first F450 was more money, taller, required load/lift air ride system and some other items that really drove up the price on top of the chassis costs. This last bus not one bidder would build on an F350 citing the same things as the half were last time. I'm not sure how long ago you bought F350's but it may change or your boxes and equipment may be less weight enough not to crowd the margin. Apparently ours is too close or over. That being said, having just had our annual dirver recert course yesterday, the talk amongst the ambualance crews was that the F450 chassis's (2010,2012) seem to be more responsive, handle better, ride better, and turn much tighter than the single remaining F350 (2006). All three have identically sized boxes with very similar features all from AEV (not a recommendation of any sort by me!). Of course Ford has made some changes since 2006 I'm sure.

[antiquefirelt 994]

Interestingly, we had been buying F-350 4x4 ambulances until the last two. They were markedly cheaper then, the first one (2010-1 every 3 yrs or so) about half the bidders said they would no longer build the same box on the F350 due to how close it came to max weight for the chassis. The first F450 was more money, taller, required load/lift air ride system and some other items that really drove up the price on top of the chassis costs. This last bus not one bidder would build on an F350 citing the same things as the half were last time and the same cost increases were just part of the bids. I'm not sure how long ago you bought F350's but it may change or your boxes and equipment may be less weight enough not to crowd the margin. Apparently ours is too close or over. That being said, having just had our annual driver recert course yesterday, the talk amongst the ambualance crews was that the F450 chassis's (2010,2012) seem to be more responsive, handle better, ride better, and turn much tighter than the single remaining F350 (2006). All three have identically sized boxes with very similar features all from AEV (not a recommendation of any sort by me!). Of course Ford has made some changes since 2006 I'm sure.

[houlidsa 76]

While the subject is on ambulances. If anyone is aware a used larger Type I ambulance for sale or donation please PM me. My buddy's tiny upstate FD is looking to replace their 1990 Ford ambulance that they use for EMS, rope rescue and accidents. They got it on its last leg from a commercial provider almost 15 years ago but now its shot. Thank you in advance.

[Arff17 1]

Would you consider a remount? If so call me at 315.403.9689

Dennis Aguayo

Adirondack Fire

[pd125 0]

Look into MEDIX They had a type 3 at the Chiefs show for 129k

[MoFire390 118]

Interestingly, we had been buying F-350 4x4 ambulances until the last two. They were markedly cheaper then, the first one (2010-1 every 3 yrs or so) about half the bidders said they would no longer build the same box on the F350 due to how close it came to max weight for the chassis. The first F450 was more money, taller, required load/lift air ride system and some other items that really drove up the price on top of the chassis costs. This last bus not one bidder would build on an F350 citing the same things as the half were last time. I'm not sure how long ago you bought F350's but it may change or your boxes and equipment may be less weight enough not to crowd the margin. Apparently ours is too close or over. That being said, having just had our annual dirver recert course yesterday, the talk amongst the ambualance crews was that the F450 chassis's (2010,2012) seem to be more responsive, handle better, ride better, and turn much tighter than the single remaining F350 (2006). All three have identically sized boxes with very similar features all from AEV (not a recommendation of any sort by me!). Of course Ford has made some changes since 2006 I'm sure.

The 2 new trucks that were purchased are full aluminum boxes. Tubular construction making it lighter. We did test a 450 and hated it. I, sure one of the members would be happy to show you if your ever down this way. Any more questions please feel free to pm me ill answer them the best that I can.