I didn't actually consider driving it home once I won the auction

[JDSquared]

Price was right. So I bought a bus in New Jersey. I live in Georgia.


Bluebird tc2000 I'm pretty sure it's over 26000 pounds gvwr.


My license is only good for under that. I guess with the seats and everything in it anyway it's probably illegal to drive home.


Did y'all just go for it? Or should I figure something else out

[JDSquared]

As a follow-up, guess what I was thinking is that it doesn't weigh that much yet. That's just the maximum allowable correct? So legally I should be able to drive it. But I'm not sure

[o1marc]

Technically you would need a CDL, but with less than seating for 16 it is no longer a commercial vehicle. As far as getting it home, no one here has been pulled over bring home a freshly purchased bus. Drive like a sane person and you will have no isuues. The most important thing to have is insurance on it. That and a signed title and Bill of Sale and law enforcement will not bother you. I wish you had come here first, we would surely have talked you out of buying a bus from N.J., it will me a rust magnet with much work ahead of you, canceling any money you saved up front on the cheap sale price.
Once converted to an RV your Ga. licenese allows driving it regardless of weight or braking system.

[mrpincher]

Drove my medium sized bus home from San Antonio after I had a mobile mechanic give it a look over.



Had purchased a 3 day temp tag, had insurance, drove cautiously.



However, as I drove down the interstate highway at 11:30 pm, a State Patrol cruiser passes me just as all my lights short and go out. I had been having issues with them flickering on-off-on-off. My slurry of cuss words and yanking action on the light switch brought them back to full on. I waited for the cruiser to turn on the flashers and pull me over. He must have already had his daily quota of highway adventures.



Good luck!


Mike

[JDSquared]

Originally Posted by o1marc

Technically you would need a CDL, but with less than seating for 16 it is no longer a commercial vehicle. As far as getting it home, no one here has been pulled over bring home a freshly purchased bus. Drive like a sane person and you will have no isuues. The most important thing to have is insurance on it. That and a signed title and Bill of Sale and law enforcement will not bother you. I wish you had come here first, we would surely have talked you out of buying a bus from N.J., it will me a rust magnet with much work ahead of you, canceling any money you saved up front on the cheap sale price.
Once converted to an RV your Ga. licenese allows driving it regardless of weight or braking system.

Yeah I think my insurance agent is a bit crazy. I mentioned her the other day in a post. But I know worst comes to worst she would write me up a commercial policy to get the bus home then I could cancel it. but we're not sure how much am I deposit they're going to try to keep if I do that.


I went and looked at a good 80% of the buses here in Georgia. Literally. I'm worried about rust when I haven't seen this bus in person. The price was half or less of what people are trying to get for the buses around here. If I drive it home and changed my mind there's no way I can't sell it for the $1,200 I spent at auction. I could be completely wrong, but I'm willing pull up some seats and look at the wheel wells and dump it if needed. It's only $130 ta fly up there.



I keep hearing that about the Georgia license but I cannot find anything that said that on the DDS site today. They have a class b which is non-commercial or something. I actually walked into the office earlier, but it was too crowded I didn't wait to ask anybody.


In any case let the adventure begin now huh?

[o1marc]

Originally Posted by JDSquared

Yeah I think my insurance agent is a bit crazy. I mentioned her the other day in a post. But I know worst comes to worst she would write me up a commercial policy to get the bus home then I could cancel it. but we're not sure how much am I deposit they're going to try to keep if I do that.


I went and looked at a good 80% of the buses here in Georgia. Literally. I'm worried about rust when I haven't seen this bus in person. The price was half or less of what people are trying to get for the buses around here. If I drive it home and changed my mind there's no way I can't sell it for the $1,200 I spent at auction. I could be completely wrong, but I'm willing pull up some seats and look at the wheel wells and dump it if needed. It's only $130 ta fly up there.



I keep hearing that about the Georgia license but I cannot find anything that said that on the DDS site today. They have a class b which is non-commercial or something. I actually walked into the office earlier, but it was too crowded I didn't wait to ask anybody.


In any case let the adventure begin now huh?

Look at the back of your drivers license and see that it allows you to drive "All Recreation Vehicles", once converted you can get RV insurance and drive it legally on your license. Who is your current insurance carrier? State Farm automatically insures anything I buy for 7 days under my existing policy. If getting a policy just to get it home, get a commercial policy on a monthly plan. Normally they only charge a bit more than a monthly payment for the first payment. Once you get iut home, cancel the insurance if you don't plan on driving it. Let your insurance company know you only need a polcy to get it home so you can convert and get an RV policy.

[gs1949]

Sometimes it's best to just jump in. Sometimes that don't work out. Just be careful not to bang your head too hard.

[JDSquared]

Originally Posted by o1marc

Look at the back of your drivers license and see that it allows you to drive "All Recreation Vehicles", once converted you can get RV insurance and drive it legally on your license. Who is your current insurance carrier? State Farm automatically insures anything I buy for 7 days under my existing policy. If getting a policy just to get it home, get a commercial policy on a monthly plan. Normally they only charge a bit more than a monthly payment for the first payment. Once you get it home, cancel the insurance if you don't plan on driving it. Let your insurance company know you only need a policy to get it home so you can convert and get an RV policy.

I could swear I looked earlier and it wasn't there. But it is now.
I have Progressive. You replied about it in another thread I started (I looked at a Genesis, in pretty bad shape). She was working on it last week with me, without knowing exactly what I needed. Progressive was looking for like a 300.00 deposit for the Commercial. She was worried about how much they would refund if I cancelled it in one day.

But, it has seats, there's no way to bring it home without a commercial policy right? I mean. I could not crash and have no problems. But if I am stopped, or do have an accident, I am pretty sure Progressive would deny the claim if I tried to call it an RV for this trip home.

[JDSquared]

Originally Posted by gs1949

Sometimes it's best to just jump in. Sometimes that don't work out. Just be careful not to bang your head too hard.

There must be some sort of concussion protocol for Skoolies.

[JDSquared]

Originally Posted by o1marc

Look at the back of your drivers license and see that it allows you to drive "All Recreation Vehicles", once converted you can get RV insurance and drive it legally on your license. Who is your current insurance carrier? State Farm automatically insures anything I buy for 7 days under my existing policy. If getting a policy just to get it home, get a commercial policy on a monthly plan. Normally they only charge a bit more than a monthly payment for the first payment. Once you get iut home, cancel the insurance if you don't plan on driving it. Let your insurance company know you only need a polcy to get it home so you can convert and get an RV policy.

One more question for you, since you're here in GA. I get different answers but it seems they don't really ask about the conversion, do they? Once I take the seats out, I want to call it an RV. They don't need pictures or anything here. That's the impression I get asking around.

[mrpincher]

Originally Posted by o1marc

Look at the back of your drivers license and see that it allows you to drive "All Recreation Vehicles", once converted you can get RV insurance and drive it legally on your license. Who is your current insurance carrier? State Farm automatically insures anything I buy for 7 days under my existing policy. If getting a policy just to get it home, get a commercial policy on a monthly plan. Normally they only charge a bit more than a monthly payment for the first payment. Once you get iut home, cancel the insurance if you don't plan on driving it. Let your insurance company know you only need a polcy to get it home so you can convert and get an RV policy.

I'm with Allstate and they said I'm insured on any vehicle I purchase for X number of days. I went a head and got a quote and started the policy in advance anyway.


Like you, I allowed myself the option to walk away from the transaction/bus at anytime it didn't seem safe or reasonable to continue.

[o1marc]

Originally Posted by JDSquared

One more question for you, since you're here in GA. I get different answers but it seems they don't really ask about the conversion, do they? Once I take the seats out, I want to call it an RV. They don't need pictures or anything here. That's the impression I get asking around.

It's easy to convince DMV it's an RV without documentation. Your insurance will be a completely different animal and will require all kinds of documentation. Surprisingly, State Farm has asked for none of that. If you happen to shade the insurance company and get an RV policy without conversion, you will find yourself without coverage when you need it.
Pincher: the only reason I didn't get a policy to get it home is I knew SF would cover me getting it home and it would sit in the driveway while converting and not be on the road. I did end up getting a MH policy for $170 for the year, so I went ahead and got it. Bus never hit the road while it was insured by Progressive. Progressive now is not insuring converted school buses.

[wrenchtech]

I think this idea that your insurance company is going to insure you while driving a school bus, under your existing policy is wrong. I have a hard time believing that they would insure a vehicle under your automotive policy that they would never write a policy for in the first place. State Farm won’t insure a school bus if you ask them to so why would they do it under your auto policy?And I certainly wouldn’t want to be in the position of having to explain to some state trooper why you think this theory is valid.

[o1marc]

Originally Posted by wrenchtech

I think this idea that your insurance company is going to insure you while driving a school bus, under your existing policy is wrong. I have a hard time believing that they would insure a vehicle under your automotive policy that they would never write a policy for in the first place. State Farm won’t insure a school bus if you ask them to so why would they do it under your auto policy?And I certainly wouldn’t want to be in the position of having to explain to some state trooper why you think this theory is valid.

You are completely wrong. State Farm will not write a policy for my bus , as a bus, but will as an RV. They will however cover me for 7 days in any motor vehicle I purchase. I hit a light pole on my first gas stop in Id. when I purchased my bus. By the time the police showed up I had my agent on the phone. I showed the cop the cell screen that said STATE FARM. Handed it to the cop, he asked one question, "Is he covered at this time?" The reply was "yes he is". Cop handed the phone back and handed me his card with the case number and said "Have a nice day" as I drove off. We ended up denying the claim, after initailly saying they would pay.

[PNW_Steve]

Originally Posted by wrenchtech

I think this idea that your insurance company is going to insure you while driving a school bus, under your existing policy is wrong. I have a hard time believing that they would insure a vehicle under your automotive policy that they would never write a policy for in the first place. State Farm won’t insure a school bus if you ask them to so why would they do it under your auto policy?And I certainly wouldn’t want to be in the position of having to explain to some state trooper why you think this theory is valid.

When I purchased my buses I emailed the VIN to my agent and asked "is this vehicle covered under my new purchase extension ?"

She replied "yes it is"

That is binding.

I printed out the email and carried it along with my insurance card for the trip home.

[Sehnsucht]

My State Farm agent said no I wouldn't be covered under the automatic blanket coverage because the intent is to provide immediate coverage for a new car purchase under the assumption that the new car is comparable in class to my current car and a bus is in no respect equal in class to a personal passenger vehicle. By all means one can take a calculated risk and avoid an overt disqualification by neglecting to inform their insurance underwriter of their intentions but by the same measure if you're an otherwise inexperienced driver of large commercial class vehicles and subsequently kill a van full of kids they don't be the least bit surprised when your insurance company throws you under the bus (pun intended) and refuses any claims as well as cancels your other policies.

[o1marc]

Originally Posted by Sehnsucht

My State Farm agent said no I wouldn't be covered under the automatic blanket coverage because the intent is to provide immediate coverage for a new car purchase under the assumption that the new car is comparable in class to my current car and a bus is in no respect equal in class to a personal passenger vehicle. By all means one can take a calculated risk and avoid an overt disqualification by neglecting to inform their insurance underwriter of their intentions but by the same measure if you're an otherwise inexperienced driver of large commercial class vehicles and subsequently kill a van full of kids they don't be the least bit surprised when your insurance company throws you under the bus (pun intended) and refuses any claims as well as cancels your other policies.

Doesn't seem your agent wants your business. State Farm was well aware of exactly what I bought, they had the VIN. They covered me during that period and were willing to pay the claim, till I told them not to.
I would ask your agent to show you the definition, what blanket coverage actually says. It's because of these type coverages that I have been with State Farm for over 30 years.

[musigenesis]

Originally Posted by JDSquared

There must be some sort of concussion protocol for Skoolies.

No need - if you have a skoolie, you have brain damage.

If your bus is near Philly, I wouldn't mind checking out the rust for you and letting you know if it's even worth the effort of claiming. Check out my build thread for a hint of what might await you as far as rust is concerned.

[JDSquared]

Originally Posted by musigenesis

No need - if you have a skoolie, you have brain damage.

If your bus is near Philly, I wouldn't mind checking out the rust for you and letting you know if it's even worth the effort of claiming. Check out my build thread for a hint of what might await you as far as rust is concerned.

The bus is in ocean township NJ. I almost go straight into Philly to drive it home tomorrow. Somewhere around 1pm it looks like I would be there. If you want to meet up tomorrow afternoon message me a phone number. I'll text you later tonight

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by Sehnsucht

My State Farm agent said no I wouldn't be covered under the automatic blanket coverage because the intent is to provide immediate coverage for a new car purchase under the assumption that the new car is comparable in class to my current car and a bus is in no respect equal in class to a personal passenger vehicle. By all means one can take a calculated risk and avoid an overt disqualification by neglecting to inform their insurance underwriter of their intentions but by the same measure if you're an otherwise inexperienced driver of large commercial class vehicles and subsequently kill a van full of kids they don't be the least bit surprised when your insurance company throws you under the bus (pun intended) and refuses any claims as well as cancels your other policies.

USAA told me I was covered and then when I got into a fender bender ten mins later they were like "eff you pal talk to our legal team lol". I ended up getting sued and paying for the restoration of an 83 landcruiser.