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Think most people probably do the same now to be fair 😂it's still awful and worst if there's ever any roadworks there's no easy way round it

No that's OK I'll keep well away from Cornwall with this 🤣

TomTom 6250 Professional, designed for HGV's

Jeez 15 meter ones that's just hell 🤣One of out newish drivers is ex-Nat Ex, he said the camera Levante 3A's aren't bad but the view is strange, otherwise usually he does get allocated to our Levante, I told him he's welcome to it 😂😂

@james143611 yes they can be a bit weird, but ounce you get use to them they are quite good, some draw back are, in the rain on the motorway they can be obscured by the water rushing past them. Also they don't have a front blind spot camera or mirror, but they are fast, they have a power setting for going up hills, but they are heavy coaches compared to the volvo variants so swings and roundabouts. They have great hill decent control and the adaptive cruise control works really well. The seating position is in an odd place so you sit further to the left from the window due to them having a Scania dashboard in them instead of the custom Levante Dashboad. This reduces the leg room for your left foot also. So swings and roundabouts. 👍🏽😀👊🏾

@robertp.wainman4094 Yes built differently to how they used to, not hand crafted anymore built by machines and more plastic and other light and cheap materials, many new service buses have rattles probably more noisier than new coaches, but not necessarily suspension parts, in buses grab handles rattle, plastic on side panels, seats etc rattle though state of the roads really don't help

Yes I heard about that's how it started no non-NX partner could buy one, so until they got 5 years old they flogged them off, and now already an operator in Birmingham has become the first to have an ex-NX Levante 3, I knew they'd appear on the second hand market one day, but hadn't realised it's already started

@@james143611 Caetano have put all their eggs in one basket here and if NX ever pull out that basket (or more likely, succumb to Flix) then Caetano UK is finished. Some interesting videos you have there, James. I miss my days with coaches. Give me a couple of weeks around Europe with a Shearings contract or even a Eurolines to Spain (RIP)... now it's just to the town's end and back.

That answer could go on for a long post, each day can be different same with rest, but there's working time and driving time which have their own sets of rules, like you can drive for 9 hours, which can go to 10 hours but twice a week, but you can have a 13 hour shift overall, but you could have a 12 hour day that only involves 4 hours worth of driving, an hour or two cleaning in between wherever you are, and 6 hours rest, or you could have 12 hour shift but you are doing rail replacement maybe and driving for 10 hours with just 15 mins and 30 min breaks in between Usually a school day shift would be 10 hours, and if there's jobs inbetween then you'll have about an hour or two break in the day

@@james143611 I’m a bus driver for a living and can work anywhere from 3am - 1:30am the following day. So I was curious if the hours are better or not 😁

Do you mean when did it become second hand and left the National Express service?

@@james143611 yeah

Thank you! Thinking of using this view for manual coach driving ones

@@james143611 hello you are welcome. Good who drives the yellow mini bus because I love that vehicle if I could buy one I have

Absolutely right about local knowledge wins! Just had to look to see what you mean, I see now, never knew that! Thank you!

Doesn't seem bad I was later told the grey button below the selector is a mode switch, which changes from Eco to Power mode, the idea is on hills you can press power mode to get you rolling on a hill start and get you up then on flat/downhill change back to Eco mode, didn't know that might be a later addition

@@james143611 we had the first ever ones back in 06 and they were pretty rough tbh. Can't believe they are nearly 20 years old now lol.

@@james143611 I must admit that to this day I've never driven anything with those "auto controlled manual boxes" such as I shift etc. When I started Nat Ex, most of our coaches had gearsticks... then came the B10/Premiere... Luxury (as long as you didn't want to look left at a junction)

Yes discovered that later on wish I had recorded that bit! To be honest didn't even know of it, even my quick streetview reccy I missed that area! I got to the bridge and genuinely thought I did something wrong and missed a turning somewhere I was thinking 'This ain't right I've gone the wrong way!' went over bridge, turned out I was on right road 😄

@@james143611 haha ,its not my fav part i have to say ,i was asked to take my old short ass coach up there once (when i had it) but i chickened out haha think i was bit also i didn't trust my small Bedford brakes on way down ..:P

@@nigelbus5919 Ohhh yes it is a long slope down! Even with the engine braking, wasn't quite enough still had to use the pedal and press it down somewhat as well!

Absolutely! Ever seen them at the crossroads by the main passenger entrance where they turn left or right, and narrowly skim past the railings and traffic lights, I've seen the odd one clout the traffic island or just touch the fence, I'm not at all surprised with all this street furniture close to the road edge with no thought to the size of vehicles coming round!

Amazingly, watching National Express and Megabus, I’ve never seen any mistakes.. I’ve only done it a couple of times myself, on relief from Brighton in a 9m Leyland Swift ( 1990). That was easy!

I don't know how, I've seen some 2022 plate Levante 3's even some of those already have dings and dents around the back grill, not really surprised to be honest with the way the street furniture is placed in London it's like it's designed with cars in mind and nothing else, bollards and railings are the enemy! Yes the I-Drive is very good, and the rattles I believe are common in a majority of Levante's over time, as mentioned the wheelchair lift/system is all in by the front step, so that's rattling away inside, along with other things but the state of the roads certainly don't help it

😂 If that ever appears on a daytrip, which is unlikely, at least you'll have your own area there!

@@james143611 it's just the toilet compartment, isn't it?

I know! 🤣I stopped recording and took the hat off then thought shame if I knew of the bridge coming up you could see me struggling round there, tight isn't it!

Some of the second hand ones have over a million miles on the clock! Any NatEx vehicle that's worked Victoria - Edinburgh day in day out will rack up the miles no end!