(02 Sep 2021, 7:16 pm)streetdeckfan wrote I personally don't mind an older vehicle (say 15 years old) as long as it meets the specification promised on the route.
If I'm getting the X21, I expect to get a bus with high-back seats, WiFi, USB ports and tables as that is what is advertised. Anything less I consider to be false advertising.
If you go to McDonalds and order a Big Mac, and get given a saver menu hamburger, you wouldn't be happy. If they turn around and say "well, it's still food", you'd tell them to shove it. So why is it alright for an operator to turn around and says "it's still a bus" and that's the end of it?
As for the likes of the Olympians, the reason they're still 'solid as a rock' is because people will have spent far more than the vehicle is worth restoring them, and keeping them on the road!
I understand what you are saying about the specification of a bus matching the expectations of a route and getting what's advertised and I never said anything to suggest otherwise! However, some people seem to be a bit obsessed with saying "this service needs new buses because it's currently using buses that are 10 or 11 years old etc". And I'm sure people on here have said stuff like the Versas need withdrawing because the are 09 plates. That's just ridculous! Those buses have plenty of life in them and cost a lot of money to buy in the first place so theres nothing wrong at all with them being in service for around 20 years or so. Of course every bus company needs to upgrade it's vehicles every so often, but not as often as some people suggest.
Not trying to be funny here but going off your second point most GNE buses have high backed seats, WiFi, USB ports etc. Even the older buses have had upgrades to accomodate such things, such as the Versas that have gone onto the Sunderland District Berries.! So what does the age matter and why are people so obsessed whether a bus is new or not? Go North East have always looked after their fleet very well with regular repainting (as we all know!), regular refurbishments and regular maintainence etc. As well as the stuff you already mentioned, as long as the buses provided are clean, tidy, smart, well maintained, safe, warm and comfortable what does the bus's age matter? Buses that do tend to look untidy in the fleet tend to be the ones they are planning on withdrawing very soon and rarely turn up on the major routes from what I can see.
As for your point about the Olympians, some of them were still in service with the likes of Refearn Travel and Herbert's travel as recently as 2018 so they must be solid!