How to immediatEly register your bus as an RV without conversion:

[Bakadev]

Just wanted to share my success as well. I'm in Belmont, NC and successfully registered our bus in Vermont. The tags came through in about 3 weeks but for some reason the registration got lost in the mail. I called the office directly and they resent the registration and stickers. The only part I was confused about was that I thought I would be getting a new title but because the bus was older than 15yrs they didn't re-issue a new title. I did however mail my original and they in turn mailed it back with my tags so if you're worried about sending in the original title vs a copy I would recommend the original to avoid any issues.

[Lizbitz67]

@warewolff yeah, he was into some conspiracy theories, and he did a lot of selling on craigslist. I think he preferred to have the littlest possible paper trail with regard to his money.

@Robin97396 no, I bought it straight from a guy on craigslist. He bought it from the school system's mechanic

@EastCoastCB Good advice on the insurance front! I went to an independent agent close to my house and told them I just bought a bus to haul kayaks and bikes. They called 3 companies: Progressive, Nat General, and one other (Strickland?).
- The guy at Prog. (commercial arm) asked a few different ways if it would be used as or converted to a motorhome. He asked if it would transport for hire. I answered "no" to both questions. He said he was pretty sure they would not insure it but said he would still ask. After a wait, he back and said we were good to go with a policy (he seemed really surprised!)
- Local agent also called NatGen. I knew other skoolie folk have not had much luck with pre-conversions at NG but I did not know why. here is why: Nat Gen does not have "Bus" as an option in their drop-down menu for vehicles, but they do have RV. Thus if it is converted to an RV, they can select that one and insure it.
- The third place would insure but the premium was nowhere near as low as Progressives.

The rate: $228 for 6 months ($440 for one year). I almost took the annual rate until I remembered they will drop me if I begin to convert. Now I will wait for tags....

[CaptSquid]

Originally Posted by Lizbitz67

Well, we just bought a bus! I live in NC and want to register the Vermont way. I have a question about the title. I bought the bus off Craigslist in TN and got the bill of sale notarized. He gave me the title, but he didn't sign it over to me. He said TN does not require the title signed over.

1) Since I have a bill of sale notarized, can I send the title as is?

2) If the back of the title needs to be signed over to me, and I somehow get both signatures on there, do they need to be notarized as well?

Seller is full of fertilizer. TN DOES require the title to be signed over.

[aridgedell]

Originally Posted by aridgedell

I submitted everthing last week some time so hopefully all goes well. I don't remember reading or seeing anything about providing proof of insurance to VT. Are there penalties for not having it insured while its not being driven? or only if one gets caught driving without insurance?

?

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[jay85]

Originally Posted by aridgedell

?

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This is only my personal experience, but as long as it's not being driven you might be all right. Mine has sat for over a year while I tried to figure out registration ( just got my Vermont plates yesterday, about a 3 week turnaround). It was uninsured during that time. I never was ticketed or otherwise bothered about insurance/plates despite complaints to different officials about me staying on-site while doing the conversion.

I'd say it all depends on who lives around where the bus is. If someone is determined to get it removed, then you might have a problem. If know one really cares, you'll probably be fine.

Remember, thus is just my personal experience. Take it for what it's worth.

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[cadillackid]

in most states the minute it is Registered wit ha plate it needs to be insured.. even if you never drive it...

some states to renew your tag you are required to show proof of insurance, other states (Ohio for sure), they can send you a letter in the mail with a date on it.. and you must return proof of insurance that the vehicle was insured on the printed date.. the date will always be within the current registration year..

it seems the TYrick with Progressive is.
1. CALL Commercial division dont go online to the consumer page..
2. alternatively go to a Local indepandent agent as this post-er did
3. with progressive - "are you for hire?" NO!, "is this staying a bus?" YES!.

One of my busses has a motorhome title, one has a Bus title.. I just got renewed in fact last month and all is good, no cancel letters.. both of my busses do still have seats ... the one that has a MH title only has a couple seats, and a few cabinets.. the other is fully seated.. im not sure how an actual accident would be handled.. but so far so good.
-Christopher

[aridgedell]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

in most states the minute it is Registered wit ha plate it needs to be insured.. even if you never drive it...

some states to renew your tag you are required to show proof of insurance, other states (Ohio for sure), they can send you a letter in the mail with a date on it.. and you must return proof of insurance that the vehicle was insured on the printed date.. the date will always be within the current registration year..

it seems the TYrick with Progressive is.
1. CALL Commercial division dont go online to the consumer page..
2. alternatively go to a Local indepandent agent as this post-er did
3. with progressive - "are you for hire?" NO!, "is this staying a bus?" YES!.

One of my busses has a motorhome title, one has a Bus title.. I just got renewed in fact last month and all is good, no cancel letters.. both of my busses do still have seats ... the one that has a MH title only has a couple seats, and a few cabinets.. the other is fully seated.. im not sure how an actual accident would be handled.. but so far so good.
-Christopher

Yeah in my state you have to show proof of insurance to register and if you cancel insurance the state is notified and if you don't turn in your plates you start accruing fines linked to your drivers license. When I lived in Ga nothing happened if you cancled insurance and you never had to turn in plates.
Apparently you don't have to show proof of insurance to register and get plates in VT but I didn't know if I had x amount of days to prove insurance before I get fines. No one around me even knows I have a bus lol. So I don't want to just have it sit and pay insurance on while I'm waiting to finish or start on it.

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[MarkyDee]

I went the Progressive Commercial web site route for a quote. Sat on it for a number of weeks, then my wife got fed up and took over and called Progressive Commercial to purchase. So far everything is good, but my wife did let it slip that the bus was going to be converted. The actual cost of the insurance was about 2/3rds of the website quote (complete shocker). However, I'm now on edge that I'll get the dreaded "sorry we are cancelling your insurance" call/letter. I'll let you all know if/when it happens....

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[cncamacho]

Originally Posted by warewolff

You will receive a transferable registration if your vehicle is older than 15 yrs. if your vehicle is newer, you receive a title. Either way, no, you do not have to be a resident of a Vermont.

I live in Colorado. The bus I'm looking into buying is in Colorado. Can I register it in Vermont?

[warewolff]

Originally Posted by cncamacho

I live in Colorado. The bus I'm looking into buying is in Colorado. Can I register it in Vermont?

Yep, that's what it says.

[Psilicybus]

Hey everyone I said to myself I would post any luck and so here goes,
2000 bluebird, 29k gvwr
I live on the road now, license is Alabama and I'm in Tennessee currently..
I went online to Vermont dmv site and downloaded their form for registration. I opened it and typed in my information, then printed.
I included a bill of sale and title (copies)
Went to post office and got a money order.
Mailed to them certified.
All from Tennessee!
Two weeks from the day they got it, I had two beautiful tags at the local post office in Tennessee ready for my pickup under general delivery!
Stickers mailed separately.
$188.00 two years registration!
Boom.

[warewolff]

Glad to hear it Psilicy!

[BellaBus5]

So thankful I found this forum thread - we've been given a complete dead end with the state of Georgia for getting tags, title, registration, ANYTHING that doesn't say commercial school bus. I guess I'm not the only one having a difficult time with GA. Our city code enforcement has been coming around, telling us we cannot keep the bus in our driveway unless we can get it titled as a personal RV instead of a commercial vehicle, so we've been scrambling to try to get something figured out. If it's not parked in the driveway, there's no way we'll ever finish it! We will try this route and see how it goes.

One question - The body of my bus is a Bluebird, but it's built with an International engine. I see a lot of folks who have posted in this thread use Bluebird as the Model, but our current title has International as the model. Which should I use on the VT form?

[warewolff]

Originally Posted by BellaBus5

One question - The body of my bus is a Bluebird, but it's built with an International engine. I see a lot of folks who have posted in this thread use Bluebird as the Model, but our current title has International as the model. Which should I use on the VT form?

I don't think it'd make a difference but I'd go with Bluebird for the make and International for the model, no? I'd imagine they'd correct it based on your VIN in any case.

[Psilicybus]

It will be inte for model and trk for body type if you're converting bluebird bus to international rv

[aridgedell]

Got my plates a while back. Registration in last week. A check in today because I over paid. Title is supposed to be coming soon. Registration says MH. 😁

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[meteoricide]

Finally. In order to provide some useful intel I sprang for overnight delivery. I will let you know if there is a time bonus or penalty related to it. Thanks to warewolf and all the helpful skoolies that make this thread the skoolie-hack of the century!

[MarkyDee]

Originally Posted by MarkyDee

I went the Progressive Commercial web site route for a quote. Sat on it for a number of weeks, then my wife got fed up and took over and called Progressive Commercial to purchase. So far everything is good, but my wife did let it slip that the bus was going to be converted. The actual cost of the insurance was about 2/3rds of the website quote (complete shocker). However, I'm now on edge that I'll get the dreaded "sorry we are cancelling your insurance" call/letter. I'll let you all know if/when it happens....

So far, so good. No call or letter, and its been almost a month.

[cadillackid]

Originally Posted by MarkyDee

So far, so good. No call or letter, and its been almost a month.

I have one titled as an MH, the other as a Bus and progressive hasnt cancelled me.. in fact just last month I renewed for another year.. full coverage on both busses.. i figured theyd Kick me for the one titled as MH but they havent.. maybe here in the midwest the laws are different.. ohio and indiana are NOT no-fault states.. perhaps that has a bearing on what they will and wont insure in other states..
-Christopher

[Rollbar]

Originally Posted by MarkyDee

I went the Progressive Commercial web site route for a quote. Sat on it for a number of weeks, then my wife got fed up and took over and called Progressive Commercial to purchase. So far everything is good, but my wife did let it slip that the bus was going to be converted. The actual cost of the insurance was about 2/3rds of the website quote (complete shocker). However, I'm now on edge that I'll get the dreaded "sorry we are cancelling your insurance" call/letter. I'll let you all know if/when it happens....

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So what happens if you are quoted as a regular bus and then convert and something happens? Or if they find out you have converted? How are you/people getting around this?
Thanks,