Ohio title and registration

[Bus Driver]

Just wanted to share my experience for anyone in Ohio.

I bought my bus out of state. I was worried because I did some research into OH laws and from what I found retired school buses cannot remain national school bus yellow, and I did not want to paint my bus, at least not yet.

My temp tags from AZ were good for three months, so I procrastinated for a good long time while I gutted the inside. Ended up driving down to the BMV four days after they may or may not have expired. Was worried about how it would go but everything worked out. Here was the process:

At each step they take some of your money; can't remember how much exactly.

1) Take a number at the license & registration desk. Wait. Get out-of-state inspection, which is the clerk walking outside and basically saying "yup, that's a bus" and writing down the VIN#.

2) Take a number at the title desk. Wait. According to the title office this is indeed a bus and titled thusly. No sweat. They tell me to come back when it has sleeping, cooking, pooping, and refrigeration, and they'll change the title to RV.

3) Take a number at the license & registration desk. Again. Wait. I learned no vanity plates allowed for busses . Now it gets interesting; remember the folks at the title counter have asserted that this is a bus. The gal behind the registration counter has become perplexed. She told the computer that it's a bus, and the computer wants to know how many seats it has (she's the one that did the inspection mind you). She looks at me and comments that there are no seats. "Well there's is one seat" I say. She says "yeah, but it won't let me do that because busses have more than one seat." I guess she was right about that. Also, although it is titled as a bus, if it is registered as a bus then I need to go get some pain-in-the-ass commercial safety inspection that takes a few hours because God knows a bus can't be owned for non-commercial purposes. So, after fighting with the computer, asking a supervisor, and the calling Columbus (the capitol) she gets an exception to register it as an RV. Go figure. But great! Okay so you say it's an RV so how about that vanity plate? "I can't do that," she says, "It's a bus."

All told I was in and out in about 90 minutes and now my bus, with all its yellow and lights and everything, is titled as a bus and registered as an RV. I'm a little over a hundred bucks lighter and good to go.

[cadillackid]

you had a tougher time than me...

for one.. you dont need Pooping to re-tiutle and register as an RV.... simply put.. sleeping (can be a fold down permanently installed seat..

refrigeration (can be an ice-box wit ha screw into the wall ofthe bus.. (yes thats permanently installed)..

Cooking (can be a microwave with a screw through a bracket into the side of the bus... permanently installed)...

the inspection to re-title is nothing more than you said.. they look at the VIN and make sure it matches the title.. thats it..

they dont even inspect it when registering as an RV.. you just get the plates and go..

to register as a bus... it CAN have 1 seat... when I did the second one, they asked number seats I said 14 total.. they said OK and its under 26k GVWR.. i said yes. they said OK.. and it caused a bit of confusion as to whether to license it as a van or a club wagon / ride share... as you mentioend theres no private bus category.. however the only time a commercial inspection is required is if its a CDL bus.. which means its over 26k GVWR.. then in ohio it must be inspected and the driver have a CDL to operate it..

bit its easy in ohio to get it registered as an RV negatig any of that need...

my second bus is under CDL so it was a no brainer.. it just stays a little bus..

yellow... i was confused at first about yellow until it was explained to me.. that the requirementrs for not being yellow are written in the laws under the requirements for a Church bus.. it says nothung about a private bus... it also states a church bus has to have the flashers covered / removed.. but again doesnt say anything about a priovate bus..

makes sense that there are so many Buckeye busses running around C-bus that still have their flashers intact.. and even yellow busses in the country being used by farmers and construction workers as trucks...

when you go for title and DMV work in ohio dont go to the private owned deputy registrar.. they are CLUELESS.. go to the actual DMV license agencies and title locations... im in C-bus so maybe its just easier?

-Christopher

[oredigger]

Hey Bus Driver. We're in West Chester. You're a bit ahead of us in the build. Not all of our seats are out yet. I was chuckling at your description.

I got our bus from a local school district in an auction. Got it titled easy enough as a bus. Then had to go to two different BMV locations. The first wouldn't register it as anything other than a bus. She kept saying "it's a bus". When I pushed, she called Columbus, told them "I have a customer who wants to register a bus", then "no, it's a bus", then to me she says "they say a bus has to be registered as a bus". She was a really joyful person.

Went to another location who had me sign an affidavit saying I had sleeping, refrigeration and cooking installed and registered it as an rv. I threw a sleeping bag, small fridge, cooktop and inverter in there. No problem. I just needed to get it home to work on anyway.

Cadillac, I didn't know that about yellow in ohio. I thought I had to paint it before driving. That's great to know. Now just got to work on my insurance...

[leadsled01]

My local title agency/license bureau said that I needed to install cooking, pooper, bed, table, sink. I went back after 2 weeks told them its done. Had to sign a document that's stated I have made all modifications for RV conversion and was issued a "body change" . Then I got the rv title. They did not inspect my bus at all. Just had to sign the paper and pay my fees.

[cadillackid]

I think yellow is a "gray" area.. my Guess is the law was written when the only people buying used school busses were generally churches.. both of my busses are painted.. and of course police may not like "technicalities"..

that said, I also drive my bluebird around all over the place before it was painted.. downtown columbus, on the freeways, had friends in it to go out to eat, drove it to starbucks, etc and never got anything more than a thumbs up and "cool bus" and "what are your plans for it" from people.. the cops and DOT people never glanced or said a word..
-Christopher

[Bus Driver]

Hmmm, the GVWR on my bus is 36,000 lbs yet I still got by with no inspection, though I was informed that to re-title (not re-register) it from bus to RV would require an inspection. I guess the gubment is nothing if not inconsistent. I do have a CDL so I'm not worried about it one way or the other, besides as cadillckid pointed out LEOs hardly seem to even look at me anyway.

Honestly, I'm not sure why I need to be in a hurry to get it retitled anyway. I have a title, I have plates, I have insurance, so I'm all legal to drive. Does it really matter if the little piece of paper says bus or RV?

I was confused about the yellow as well, especially when I saw other still-yellow retired school busses driving around. I do intend to paint it, it's just that I will be doing work that will affect the exterior and I only want to paint it once.

[Bus Driver]

Originally Posted by oredigger

Hey Bus Driver. We're in West Chester. You're a bit ahead of us in the build. Not all of our seats are out yet. I was chuckling at your description.

Small world! I work in West Chester. My bus is all tucked away for the winter, but maybe we'll have to compare work sometime next year.

If you haven't yet check out Fasttrack Auctions online. Good deals to be found for bus stuff there if you have the time and patience. I picked up two dometic AC units for about $120 each, a 3000 pure sine wave watt inverter for $350, as well as an nice sink, maple countertop, and lots of other stuff.

And on the insurance just call Progressive Commercial, which is a different entity from Progressive, and tell them what you have and that you want a commercial policy for personal use. I think mine was 300 something for the year.

[leadsled01]

Usually insurance for an RV is cheap, that's why I changed my title/registration.

Originally Posted by Bus Driver

Hmmm, the GVWR on my bus is 36,000 lbs yet I still got by with no inspection, though I was informed that to re-title (not re-register) it from bus to RV would require an inspection. I guess the gubment is nothing if not inconsistent. I do have a CDL so I'm not worried about it one way or the other, besides as cadillckid pointed out LEOs hardly seem to even look at me anyway.

Honestly, I'm not sure why I need to be in a hurry to get it retitled anyway. I have a title, I have plates, I have insurance, so I'm all legal to drive. Does it really matter if the little piece of paper says bus or RV?

I was confused about the yellow as well, especially when I saw other still-yellow retired school busses driving around. I do intend to paint it, it's just that I will be doing work that will affect the exterior and I only want to paint it once.

[oredigger]

Originally Posted by Bus Driver

If you haven't yet check out Fasttrack Auctions online. Good deals to be found for bus stuff there if you have the time and patience. I picked up two dometic AC units for about $120 each, a 3000 pure sine wave watt inverter for $350, as well as an nice sink, maple countertop, and lots of other stuff.

And on the insurance just call Progressive Commercial, which is a different entity from Progressive, and tell them what you have and that you want a commercial policy for personal use. I think mine was 300 something for the year.

Funny, Fastrack is where we got the bus. I saw it on there and said I wonder if anyone ever converts those to an RV. Haha, I had no idea how large of a community this is. Once I get some funds, I'll definitely be checking out those auctions.

Thanks for the tip for Progressive Commercial. I went through Progressive and got the cancellation letter. Covered me enough to get it home though.

[Wkheathjr]

Ok so I won th bus no one including myself wanted, but I won it. The situation is that it originally said 65 passengers so I bid on it then after few people inquired about it, the place updated with correct info that it has 20 passengers chair, wheelchair lifter, ans no air conditioner It is 28' bus. No way to retract my bid but no one else bid on it so it was sold to me for $1500 plus 10% auction fee. I just paid for it. I'll just turn lemon into lemonade so I'm going to make best of it.

Here is the situation. I am from eastern NC and the bus is in Cincinnati (NW District). I do not have CDL license. But I have a good friend in SE Cincinnati (Georgetown OH). I was thinking that maybe I can get bus converted and re-titled in Ohio using my friend's name. My friend said that he don't think he has a room in his lot to park the bus but he would ask around if anyone has CDL to drive it from bus garage and he would ask around about parking the bus. It seems like a good plan to try and get bus re-titled into RV in OH and then drive it home without CDL license if the bus is under 26,000lbs?

And who did you insure your bus with? Any recommend or advice I should keep in mind before doing anything?? I have never done this so I am newbie and new to all of this.

If my plan sounds good, I'm heading up to Cincy next week with my truck and trailer. I'm gonna bring microwave, dorm size refrigerator, small poop (that I salvage from abandoned camper on my campground), and I'll figure out on bed when I'm in Cincy. Maybe a Goodwill or secondhand store. Get bus re-titled and leave bus in OH. I'm bringing chairs back with me to NC so I can put it outside for people to sit at the stage when the band is playing during the event weekend on my campground. My friend is bringing his family to NC for vacation last 2 weeks of July then I'll ride with them to Cincy to get the bus and drive it to NC.

Thanks in advance for any helpful tip.

[o1marc]

Originally Posted by Wkheathjr

Ok so I won th bus no one including myself wanted, but I won it. The situation is that it originally said 65 passengers so I bid on it then after few people inquired about it, the place updated with correct info that it has 20 passengers chair, wheelchair lifter, ans no air conditioner It is 28' bus. No way to retract my bid but no one else bid on it so it was sold to me for $1500 plus 10% auction fee. I just paid for it. I'll just turn lemon into lemonade so I'm going to make best of it.

Here is the situation. I am from eastern NC and the bus is in Cincinnati (NW District). I do not have CDL license. But I have a good friend in SE Cincinnati (Georgetown OH). I was thinking that maybe I can get bus converted and re-titled in Ohio using my friend's name. My friend said that he don't think he has a room in his lot to park the bus but he would ask around if anyone has CDL to drive it from bus garage and he would ask around about parking the bus. It seems like a good plan to try and get bus re-titled into RV in OH and then drive it home without CDL license if the bus is under 26,000lbs?

And who did you insure your bus with? Any recommend or advice I should keep in mind before doing anything?? I have never done this so I am newbie and new to all of this.

If my plan sounds good, I'm heading up to Cincy next week with my truck and trailer. I'm gonna bring microwave, dorm size refrigerator, small poop (that I salvage from abandoned camper on my campground), and I'll figure out on bed when I'm in Cincy. Maybe a Goodwill or secondhand store. Get bus re-titled and leave bus in OH. I'm bringing chairs back with me to NC so I can put it outside for people to sit at the stage when the band is playing during the event weekend on my campground. My friend is bringing his family to NC for vacation last 2 weeks of July then I'll ride with them to Cincy to get the bus and drive it to NC.

Thanks in advance for any helpful tip.

You don't need a CDL to drive a decommissioned school bus. Nor can you register your bus as an RV just because you say it is. There are 6 criteria to make it an RV and 4 of the 6 are required to consider it a MH/RV. Most get a "commercial for private use" policy from an independent agent and then RV coverage once it's converted.
Most buses have legs only on one end of the seat, it's not like you can remove them and immediately use them as bench seats.
Pay my expenses and $500 and I'll drive it to NC.

[Wkheathjr]

Originally Posted by o1marc

You don't need a CDL to drive a decommissioned school bus. Nor can you register your bus as an RV just because you say it is. There are 6 criteria to make it an RV and 4 of the 6 are required to consider it a MH/RV. Most get a "commercial for private use" policy from an independent agent and then RV coverage once it's converted.
Most buses have legs only on one end of the seat, it's not like you can remove them and immediately use them as bench seats.
Pay my expenses and $500 and I'll drive it to NC.

Hi 01Marc,

if what you said is true then I might as well fly to Cinciy and get the temp tag from DMV of Ohio then drive it home! But is there a source that state this? I'd like to get it printed off from a legitimate government website in case I get pulled over then I can show it to LEO.

And sorry to hijack the thread since it is not related to OH Title/Registration anymore..

[CaptSquid]

Usually, the dealer provides you with a drive-off tag good for about 30 days.

[Wkheathjr]

Originally Posted by CaptSquid

Usually, the dealer provides you with a drive-off tag good for about 30 days.

Not from dealer, from School via online auction at Public Surplus. I doubt they deal with that?

https://www.publicsurplus.com/sms/au...ew?auc=2111635

[o1marc]

Originally Posted by CaptSquid

Usually, the dealer provides you with a drive-off tag good for about 30 days.

Dealer , yes, auction house, no

[o1marc]

Originally Posted by Wkheathjr

Hi 01Marc,

if what you said is true then I might as well fly to Cinciy and get the temp tag from DMV of Ohio then drive it home! But is there a source that state this? I'd like to get it printed off from a legitimate government website in case I get pulled over then I can show it to LEO.

And sorry to hijack the thread since it is not related to OH Title/Registration anymore..

Can't argue that plan, easiest way to go. You can get a 45 day temp tag for $18.50. I see where dealers can access tag on line, but not sure if we can privately.
When was the last time you saw a school bus get pulled over by LEO. When I was pulled over in Tn. and the cop showed upI asked if I would have been invisible to him had I not been pulled over already. He said he would have pulled me over for no tag. I don't believe him as he would have no cause to even look at me.

[Mateochris]

How your bus doing

[Honeydipped]

Just wanted to share my experience in Ohio. My bus is officially titled as a motor home as of today, and it took about an hour. Since I am relatively new to the whole title transfer from out of state/registration thing I figured I would outline what I did to help anyone else who is/will be in a similar situation. The general process went like this (for Ohio of course):

Win an auction or buy a bus from a private party or dealer. Fill out the title and/or bill of sale and get insurance and some way to legally drive it home (temp tags or transit permit). My bus was from Utah so I went the transit permit route.

Once your maiden voyage is completed, go to a deputy registrar in Ohio to get the bus inspected for an out of state inspection. Literally just walk with an employee out to your bus and they write down the make, model, odometer, and VIN on a sheet of paper. This doesn’t apply if your bus is already titled in Ohio.

Take that out of state vehicle inspection paper, your ID, and original title to a title office and tell them you’d like to change the title to reflect that your bus is a motor home and get the title transferred over to you officially. You get your new Ohio title and sign a piece of paper that says you have cold storage (ice box or refrigerator), a place to sit and eat, a way cook food (range or oven), and a place to sleep. There is no physical inspection or required proof needed! The form looks like this: https://publicsafety.ohio.gov/static/bmv3804.pdf

Now that your bus is officially a motor home, you take the new Ohio title and your ID to a registration office. Just say you’d like to register and get plates for your new motor home. They have you sign a financial responsibility statement and another form that assures that it is indeed a motor home. Again, no physical inspection necessary. That form looks like this: https://publicsafety.ohio.gov/static/bmv5712.pdf

Congrats you now have a new title, plates, and registration that says your bus a motor home. The process in Ohio was very simple. Obviously you can do this before conversion, since no physical inspection is necessary (other than out of state vehicle inspection) but if you are out and about driving around and get pulled over you’d probably want to have the minimum requirements in the bus which classified it as a motor home, if the cop is not playing nice.

Hope this helps!

[Gcstiteler]

Thanks for all the information. I just purchased a bus in florida and have to transport it up to ohio. You guys provided a lot of information on getting it titled.

[o1marc]

Originally Posted by Honeydipped

Just wanted to share my experience in Ohio. My bus is officially titled as a motor home as of today, and it took about an hour. Since I am relatively new to the whole title transfer from out of state/registration thing I figured I would outline what I did to help anyone else who is/will be in a similar situation. The general process went like this (for Ohio of course):

Win an auction or buy a bus from a private party or dealer. Fill out the title and/or bill of sale and get insurance and some way to legally drive it home (temp tags or transit permit). My bus was from Utah so I went the transit permit route.

Once your maiden voyage is completed, go to a deputy registrar in Ohio to get the bus inspected for an out of state inspection. Literally just walk with an employee out to your bus and they write down the make, model, odometer, and VIN on a sheet of paper. This doesn’t apply if your bus is already titled in Ohio.

Take that out of state vehicle inspection paper, your ID, and original title to a title office and tell them you’d like to change the title to reflect that your bus is a motor home and get the title transferred over to you officially. You get your new Ohio title and sign a piece of paper that says you have cold storage (ice box or refrigerator), a place to sit and eat, a way cook food (range or oven), and a place to sleep. There is no physical inspection or required proof needed! The form looks like this: https://publicsafety.ohio.gov/static/bmv3804.pdf

Now that your bus is officially a motor home, you take the new Ohio title and your ID to a registration office. Just say you’d like to register and get plates for your new motor home. They have you sign a financial responsibility statement and another form that assures that it is indeed a motor home. Again, no physical inspection necessary. That form looks like this: https://publicsafety.ohio.gov/static/bmv5712.pdf

Congrats you now have a new title, plates, and registration that says your bus a motor home. The process in Ohio was very simple. Obviously you can do this before conversion, since no physical inspection is necessary (other than out of state vehicle inspection) but if you are out and about driving around and get pulled over you’d probably want to have the minimum requirements in the bus which classified it as a motor home, if the cop is not playing nice.

Hope this helps!

There are few places that will just take your word for it that it's been converted to RV/MH status. While you have committed fraud with the DMV, good luck getting insurance for your MH because they will surely want an inspection.

There is no physical inspection or required proof needed! But there's probably another sentence on that form that says "Making false statements is subject to the penalty of perjury" when you sign that form. Don't do any of this, it gives the community a bad name.

Wait, it's right on the form you want to commit fraud on:
NOTICE: Falsifying an affidavit is punishable by fine and imprisonment (R.C. 2913.42).