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Old 11-24-2011, 08:38 PM   #1
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Questions on registration in Michigan

Hi all, I'm new here and new to bus conversions as well. I live in Michigan and am looking to buy a school bus and convert it for tailgate/party use.

I am specifically interested in a Saf-T-Liner MVP-ER, and have found a few in my price range here in MI as well as Indiana and Ohio.

From reading this forum it looks like I will need to paint it, install cooking facilities, and bed space (and possibly a toilet?) to even get it registered as an RV, but are there other registration option available to me, such as "Personal Bus"?

What are the legalities of buying a bus in another state? Assuming its still titled as commercial, must I have a CDL to drive it home to Michigan? If I'm not mistaken, one can drive a newly purchased car straight home without plates before registering it, can I do the same with a non-repainted school bus?

Are there any other legal such things I should know about?

Thank you all for your insight.

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Old 12-27-2011, 11:44 AM   #2
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Re: Questions on registration in Michigan

The Michigan.gov website says that you can drive a vehicle without plates just to get it home. I doesn't mention anything about insurance and my own insurance agent wasn't able to give me a definitive answer. We just drove our rig the 40 miles home without plates or insurance. I assume that we'd have been in the dog house if stopped without insurance.

To get it re-titled as a Motor Home I brought along reciepts for an RV mattress, a porta-potti, a range and a kitchen sink. I had actually bought some of those and cobbled up the rest of the reciepts on the computer. At the Secretary of State office they copied my reciepts and had me sign a declaration that I'd done the conversion and that the bus was now a motor home. Of course, I'd only had the thing three days and had just begun removing seats but the SOS folks seemed fine with what I'd given them. Re-titling the beast was $15 and, of course I had to pay sales tax on the purchase price.

All in all, it was a breeze.
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Old 08-21-2015, 02:46 PM   #3
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What is a fair price for insurance in Mi ?
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Old 11-07-2015, 10:18 AM   #4
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I think I am paying like $400 a year for liability and like $20000 on the conversion. I have allstate and allready had converted it to a motorhome when I got the policy. "I'd like to insure my '91 International motorhome please" don't bring up the bus thing and they wont ask.
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Old 11-08-2015, 04:43 PM   #5
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idfeiid,
Who are you insured with? State Farm doesn't seem to be interested even though they insure everything else I own (or maybe it's just my local office that won't write me a policy?).
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Old 11-08-2015, 07:58 PM   #6
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I'm insured with National General (formerly GMAC) for $560/yr liability only. I called my Allstate guy and he declined to give me a quote. Seems like who you talk to makes a difference.
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Old 11-08-2015, 08:36 PM   #7
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I have all state I just told them it was a 97 international motor home and they didnt ask any questions.
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Old 11-14-2015, 10:01 AM   #8
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Thanks for the leads guys! Sorry it took me so long to get back on here but I'm trying to get a new workshop closed in before snow falls (and so far the snow is running late this year...)
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