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Old 08-25-2017, 06:01 PM   #1
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Title bus as truck or van?

I have a 1993 Ford B600 school bus which I'm wanting to get titled and insured properly. I know most people here do RV conversions and seek to title the vehicle as an RV, but from some reading I've done here it looks like the insurance can be somewhat difficult.

I have removed all the seats from my bus except the drivers seat. Functionality wise it is not a "bus" anymore because it cannot safely carry passengers. I will not be doing an RV conversion, I just want to be able to drive the bus on public roads and occasionally transport some cargo.

Has anyone tried to re-title the bus as a truck or van? My hopes would be that this takes the passenger liability out of the equation so that insurance companies will see it more like a box truck, moving van, etc. I expect that it would still be a commercial policy, but hopefully at a low rate.

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Old 08-25-2017, 06:18 PM   #2
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Mine is titled as a bus, I got commercial insurance.In Florida, my understanding is that they'll title it as whatever an insurance agency will call it.
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Old 08-25-2017, 06:53 PM   #3
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I live in GA and did not bother trying to change the title at all. It still has the seats and is pretty much in "as-built" condition.

Registration in GA is sort of separate from titling and I had no difficulty in simply registering it as a personal vehicle. They collect 7% (varies by county, depending on sales tax rate) of the purchase price, plus title & tag fees. After that, it's only $20 per year.
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Old 08-25-2017, 08:07 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by brokedown View Post
Mine is titled as a bus, I got commercial insurance.In Florida, my understanding is that they'll title it as whatever an insurance agency will call it.
In FL they'll title it as BU or MH, depending on what you want.
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Old 08-25-2017, 10:02 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Brad_SwiftFur View Post
I live in GA and did not bother trying to change the title at all. It still has the seats and is pretty much in "as-built" condition.

Registration in GA is sort of separate from titling and I had no difficulty in simply registering it as a personal vehicle. They collect 7% (varies by county, depending on sales tax rate) of the purchase price, plus title & tag fees. After that, it's only $20 per year.
I'm in GA & they are charging me $50 a year for "road impact" plus the $20 tag. Its registered as a RV but it just has a.c. & a futon. Steel tent on wheels.
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Old 08-25-2017, 10:17 PM   #6
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I'm in GA & they are charging me $50 a year for "road impact" plus the $20 tag. Its registered as a RV but it just has a.c. & a futon. Steel tent on wheels.
Maybe because mine is under 26,000 GVWR (I think?) It's a shorty, so it's not as heavy as a full length bus.
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Old 08-28-2017, 11:37 PM   #7
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In Wisconsin you would have no problem licensing as a truck. Vans are generally cargo or passenger (16 or less) . RV's are less for registration by weight. Call your DMV, they will be helpfull.
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Old 08-29-2017, 06:20 PM   #8
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Originally Posted by Brad_SwiftFur View Post
Maybe because mine is under 26,000 GVWR (I think?) It's a shorty, so it's not as heavy as a full length bus.
I mistakenly told them it was 18500 gvwr. Its really a tad more.
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