Motor Coach Industries (MCI), a U.S. subsidiary of NFI Group Inc., continues to gain acclaim in the limousine and events transportation business with the good looking, spacious, well-appointed interior and exterior of its 2019 J4500.
That’s exactly what Mike Vaughn, founder of Mike’s Limousine in Tallahassee, Florida, was thinking about when he purchased his first-ever MCI J4500. He and his customers like “the ambiance, the glitz and the glamour,” of his new J4500 delivered just this month.
“It’s the Taj Mahal,” he said.
Vaughn sees great potential for motorcoach charter business within the sedan, classic car, trolley and party bus system he operates. Winning Tallahassee Magazine’s Best of Tallahassee People’s Choice award 12 years in a row as well the Tally Award, Mike’s Limousine has a reputation for up-scale service with an impressive 25-vehicle fleet that includes luxury sedans and SUVs, stretch limos, a pink Hummer, and a convertible Rolls Royce, trolleys, 16- to 36-passenger party buses, and a mix of 15 motorcoaches of various sizes.
“We don’t duplicate; everything in our fleet runs for a specific purpose,” he said.
Vaughn opened his first transportation business, Mike’s Moving, in 1991. That profitable endeavor allowed him to start a secondary business, Mike’s Limousine, formed in 2000 with a top-of-the-line stretch limousine, the very first in Tallahassee. The new business kept growing with three limousine style vehicles, including exotic cars, added each year. By 2007, Vaughn began adding higher-capacity passenger vehicles and 35-foot coaches to the fleet. “We started out with a lot of wedding contracts, which is high-end work, and that’s the way we’ve kept it, growing by going with the flow,” he said. “Before I knew it, we met all the qualifications for a charter bus company, and it made sense to add larger, 45-foot motorcoaches.”
But his specific choice of the MCI J4500 wasn’t just about looks and up-scale luxury — it was about performance, too. Vaughn offered high praise for the model’s automatic braking feature accompanying the optional Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) featured on the coach.
“Our drivers like the coach for its driver-friendly features, but when passengers board they are wowed by the spiral entryway, the lighting and the modern leather seating. No other coach comes close,” he said.
The high-spec J4500 coach model features best-in-class legroom, leather seats with tray tables, and enhanced lighting throughout including the optional programable variable lighting that changes the color of the interior to support client branding and personal requests. Other amenities include power outlets and UBS ports at each seat for passengers who want to connect while they ride.
Today, Mike’s Limousines staff of 48 manages everything from wedding parties to cross-country charter student trips, high school, college and professional athletic teams and cruise transportation. Its coach fleet supports a wide array of group and premier clients in Tallahassee and the surrounding Florida counties, traveling throughout the state and to points beyond, from Louisiana to South and North Carolina and New York.
Vaughn, who often drives for his company, said he wanted this J4500 model because the interior suits the luxury market and it’s ideal for student and athletic trips destinations that travel through the Rockies and other mountainous ranges.
“We all call it the mountain goat, because the J4500 has incredible ground clearance and goes where no other buses will go,” he said.
This release originally appeared on the MCI website. You can view it here.