Mike Kadletz of Bus Conversions Magazine

Moose Creek MotorCabins
BusConversions.com
GoBusing.com

My bus purchase nightmare

June 2006 Update: I won my court case against Mike!

Aug 2006 Update: Mike has decided to ignore the court order to pay me, wasting my time and costing him more money in the long run.

Aug 2006 Update: BBB has downgraded Mike from a "D" rating to an "F"

Sep 2006 Update: I get my money back! It's finally over!

Jul 2009 Update: Allegedly BusConversions and GoBusing is no longer owned by Mike, though I have no way to verify this.

For alternatives, see Buying A Bus

When looking to buy a bus to convert to an RV, I came across Mike Kadletz of Bus Conversions Magazine, and on August 18th, 2005 I purchased my bus from Mike Kadletz.

Mike Kadletz is a bus seller down near Los Angeles, he is also the owner of Bus Conversions Magazine and Moose Creek MotorCabins.

Bus Conversions Magazine is a monthly publication about converting a bus into an RV. Moose Creek MotorCabins is his conversion company that creates a specific coach conversions out of buses.

Furthermore, he also runs the "Proud Americans" "Thank You Soldier" program which is allegedly a non-profit to aid returning soldiers. I don't have more info about this program yet.

I paid Mike Kadletz to:

  1. Remove bathroom & luggage racks ($1000)
  2. Cut holes for rooftop A/C so I could open the emergency exits ($200)
  3. Remove all seats except the front 6.
  4. Register the vehicle as a motorhome ($100)
The tag axle has a bearing that needs to be replaced, he says that I can bring it back to get it fixed or pay someone else to do it and he'll reimburse me.

Furthermore, when he found out I was going to need a genset, he tried to sell me one. I told him I hadn't done enough research on this yet and didn't even know what I needed or what they were worth. He was "convinced that he had the right genset for me" and he wasn't using it, so he let me use it for a refundable deposit of $2700 with the agreement that I could return it if it didn't work.

As it turned out, he failed on every count of our agreement.

The most important issues:

  1. He refused to return the $2700
  2. He refused to pay for the tag axle repair: $700

All in all, Mike Kadletz and Bus Conversions Magazine owes me over $4000 according to our original contract, which he has since told me he is not interested in following. When I asked him to stick to our original contract he said, "let's move past that" as if I would happily discount it.

Here are some specifics:

  1. He failed to completely remove the bathroom
  2. He cut the holes for the rooftop A/C so they were directly in the way of the exits. Furthermore they can't be seated properly on the roof so the front leaks. The holes need to be sealed so new ones can be cut. [photos 1, 2]
  3. He didn't leave the front 6 seats, putting my first trip in jeopardy. When he later installed 6 seats, he skipped over the seats that were in perfect condition and installed the seats that were broken and ripped. [photos 1, 2, 3]
  4. He never registered the vehicle, thereby also putting my first trip in jeopardy.
  5. He refuses to pay for the tag axle repair which cost $700 [photo]
  6. The genset he gave me was garbage, it broke after about 12 hours of use. When I had a mechanic look at it the insides, it had literally fallen apart. He refuses to take it back and he refuses to honor the warranty. He claims that I didn't return the unit within 30 days which is amusing because A) that was because he refused to return my calls for weeks and B) we never had any such 30 day agreement. [photos 1, 2]

If you're thinking about purchasing a bus, especially from Mike Kadletz of Bus Conversions Magazine, this will be useful information for you!

As far as I'm concerned, if you are looking for a bus, stay away from Mike Kadletz and Bus Conversions Magazine unless you are prepared to deal with fraud and filing lawsuits. He has demonstrated, time and time again, over every point of my contract that once he has your money, you basically don't exist.

In May of 2006 I took Mike to court. He lied extensively in court, but I told the truth and still managed to win!

His main business is "Bus Conversions Magazine" but he also sells buses and motor cabins on ebay as proudamericans and proud_americans and off the net as MAKConversions. His business phone is 562-972-2158. He also owns the following websites:

Buyer beware!

Number of buyers diverted from Mike:

So far, ELEVEN buyers have told me they've seen my site and have decided to not deal with Mike [5/2007]! Hopefully others have been warned away that I haven't heard from - feel free to drop me a line to let me know you've been saved.

The Better Business Bureau gives Bus Conversions a solid "F" rating due to refusing to answer BBB complaints (such as mine).

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