Diamond bus reviews

[Trident 4194]

Meaning there is nowhere too put reviews on diamond vehicles, thought it was a good idea to start a topic for diamond vehicles

30813- this bus reminds me of 30832 before it got branded for the 301 and haven't seen it since

30813 has a very loud roar and is very quick at picking up speed, also nice looking interior, however I do prefer the ex midland classic interiors, and the top of the bus needs a repaint as it is red, looking very odd indeed

8/10

[the trainbasher]

20913 - The Smoking Bandit. Engine so loud you can hear it and see the smoke a mile away. Ride quality is terrible with massive squeals when doing under 10Mph (and that's most of the time!). legroom is ok if you're a dwarf

0/10

[Trident 4194]

20913 - The Smoking Bandit. Engine so loud you can hear it and see the smoke a mile away. Ride quality is terrible with massive squeals when doing under 10Mph (and that's most of the time!). legroom is ok if you're a dwarf

0/10

You really don't like solos do you? From what I recall 20913 was one of the better solos, certainly better than 2053* series. However I have not been on an optare solo recently unfortunately so not very up to date with solos

[the trainbasher]

You really don't like solos do you? From what I recall 20913 was one of the better solos, certainly better than 2053* series. However I have not been on an optare solo recently unfortunately so not very up to date with solos

I like SR solos...but not solos which are as terrible as 20533x/4x or 20913!

[the trainbasher]

30408 - Best Optare in the Tividale fleet! Had it once or twice when on Canterbury Park and Ride and a few times at diamond. needs a bit of a clean where the stickers were but it's a powerful bus, and makes me esteemed to ride it everytime i do!

10/10

(yes, I'm praising a diamond bus...am I ill or something? hopefully normal service will resume soon...)

[Trident 4194]

Totally agree with 30408 a bit weird looking and weird setup but great bus, however I used to like the noice it produced when it first started service at diamond as it was very loud. I like to sit at the second from back seat as it has acres of legroom.

[the trainbasher]

20852 - a credit to the diamond fleet. An absolute gem. Can't fault it!

Rating is off the scale

:) 

[Liberator9]

The Solo SRs:

20014 YJ10MFY - Odd bus - cooling fan usually running, and is not great at getting up hills. Rattling is minimal, but interior panels need a clean - probably blackened after smoke got in there! Suspension is variable - after being attended to it is very good - it can be poor however if the tyres need inflating. Externally still looks smart. 7/10

20015 YJ10MFX - Performance of this bus getting worse and worse - can't get up hills - drivers having to resort to using the manual gears to try and get up now most of the time. This can cause a horrible jolt at times. Interior and exterior still in good condition - although the rear lights now have a pink background as they've replaced the old set. Not too much rattling inside in terms of Solos - suspension is not too bad. 7/10


20016 YJ10MFV - Well when this one was out and running it was a good bus - engine was good and the suspension good as well. Not much rattling either. Except at the moment it has been out of service for ages, which is a shame. Was 9/10


20027 YJ10MFZ - Currently the best SR running, depending on how MFV is after its return. Suspension and engine are decent - engine actually sounds like it should. Not much rattling, although the two panels on the rear bulkhead are now - they need tightening up. Not too bad at getting up the hills in comparison to MFY and MFX. Interior and exterior in good condition.    8/10


The reliability of these buses is not great, and certainly MFY and MFX struggle to get up any sort of incline. After the tyres have been inflated the suspension is good and smooth. The engines/gearbox on MFZ and MFV sound like they should, and run fairly smooth. I always compare these to the equivalent age NX Scanias - and I have to say the Scanias have performed much better over the last 5 years in comparison.

[Trident 4194]

30861- where do I start? It used to be one of my favourite ex redditch ones, however yesterday it was an absolute disgrace. There were cigarette burns on the seat backs and some yellow stuff, which didn't look to nice. Exterior needs a paint, fairly quick off the mark.
5/10

Why te have to get redditch cast offs I'm not quite sure, redditch seem to be the garage that get the best buses which is a shame

[StourportSam]

30861- where do I start? It used to be one of my favourite ex redditch ones, however yesterday it was an absolute disgrace. There were cigarette burns on the seat backs and some yellow stuff, which didn't look to nice. Exterior needs a paint, fairly quick off the mark.
5/10

Why te have to get redditch cast offs I'm not quite sure, redditch seem to be the garage that get the best buses which is a shame

Cigarette burns are the fault of your fellow passengers, not Diamond!

[iamwilljh92]

20849 - well where do I start its appauling to say the least!! It has no power whatsoever it struggles to get up any hill especially Station Hill and the hill out of Hagley towards Halesowen it also struggles to pull out of junctions near enough all of the Kidderminster drivers hate driving it because of the issues it has they don't bother writing on the VCR card about the lack of power as nothing gets done about it by the engineers other than that the seats aren't in too bad of condition unfortunately that's the only good thing that can be said about it!

[Metrorider]

20849 - well where do I start its appauling to say the least!! It has no power whatsoever it struggles to get up any hill especially Station Hill and the hill out of Hagley towards Halesowen it also struggles to pull out of junctions near enough all of the Kidderminster drivers hate driving it because of the issues it has they don't bother writing on the VCR card about the lack of power as nothing gets done about it by the engineers other than that the seats aren't in too bad of condition unfortunately that's the only good thing that can be said about it!

It was the same at Tividale when it was there, just before the 202 was passed over to Kidderminster it was allocated to the 202 daily at Tividale, 8mph going up Rose Hill and it was doing well. To be honest though from what I remember from a drivers point of view it wasn't actually a bad bus to drive apart from the lack of power on hills. Sounds like it's acquired more issues since being a Kidderminster?

[Metrorider]

20913 - The Smoking Bandit. Engine so loud you can hear it and see the smoke a mile away. Ride quality is terrible with massive squeals when doing under 10Mph (and that's most of the time!). legroom is ok if you're a dwarf

0/10

20913 really is a poor bus, I'm not into the habit of knocking Diamond for the hell of it but 0/10 is being generous. I passed it on Balmoral Road last week and the amount of thick black smoke it was kicking out was unreal. It's got a habit of burning through hub seals on a regular basis as well. It was always considered a poor bus by the drivers when I worked there.

[the trainbasher]

30808 - At least it works now!! I remember this thing well before it had a whole year off in 2013 (I should know, it broke down just departing halesowen when I was in a major rush to get from Weoley to Russells Hall - But I won't go into that!)

It's better now than what it was and that can be down to diamonds wizards in the maintenance department (or some outside company).

back then I would have said 0/10 but now I can give it a better judgement of 8.3/10

[iamwilljh92]

It was the same at Tividale when it was there, just before the 202 was passed over to Kidderminster it was allocated to the 202 daily at Tividale, 8mph going up Rose Hill and it was doing well. To be honest though from what I remember from a drivers point of view it wasn't actually a bad bus to drive apart from the lack of power on hills. Sounds like it's acquired more issues since being a Kidderminster?

Not to my knowledge no but by what you've said it sounds as if it's been like it for a long time well it's getting worse