Colorado Registration questions and insurance.

[charles_m]

I think some of your questions have been answered on this thread already. But here are some quick facts for you.

To drive a newly purchased vehicle home, all you need is the bill of sale and title and insurance and you can drive a vehicle that day, temporarily.

If you are going to continue driving the vehicle after that day, you will need to get temporary tags. To do so, you will need the VIN number and proof of insurance. Present those two items at the DMV for your county of residence, and you will be able to get temporary tags for the bus.

If the bus has a gross vehicle weight rating of over 26 thousand pounds, you will need a CDL to drive legally, no matter if it has the seats or not, until you have successfully converted the bus to a motor home and had it retitled as such.

You will only need an emissions test if you are registering the bus in a county that required them.

You will also need a VIN inspection if the bus was purchased out of state, or if you are attempting to alter the designation on the title of the bus from bus to Motorhome.

If you are altering the designation on the title of the bus from bus to motor home, you will also need a weight slip from a certified scale, like the kind you would find at a truck stop.

A lot of people, myself included, do not worry about having a CDL for the purposes of driving a bus home and just pray to the good Lord above that things will work out alright. Generally they do

At all times, it is strongly advised to have insurance coverage of some sort.

If you can call the clerk and recorders office or DMV office in your county of residence It's what we pay our tax money for

[Destroymix]

I can vouch for all the above. Just got my custom plates last month and also I'm in arapahoe county.

I did change my title to a motor home, the only additional thing you WILL need is the statement of fact listing 4 of the 6 items needed to consider the vehicle an RV. Keep that form as basic and simple as possible, do not go into detail and KISS!

Cost me about 600 bucks. The emissions was a pain in my a$$ because I could not find a heavy duty diesel emissions place 1) big enough for the bus and 2) open on the weekends. Ended up talking a day off.

When u get your weight slip it must be from a certified scale. Sante FE sand and gravel will do it for $10 if I remember right, but their lot can get tight. If your closer to the Rock you can go to the landscape place by murdochs on Sante FE and highlands ranch pkwy.

I know the insurance thing is always tricky...we have progressive commercial and once it's complete we will look into actual RV insurance. I remember talking to GMAC insurance and they wanted proof the conversion was done "professionally", so we plan to use our LLC. [emoji3]

Other than that, it really blows having to license it the way we do with all the steps. I wish I could get one of the Montana lifetime plates...no emissions, no weight, no, well, registration again.

Btw, curb weight was 19k lbs....f'ing excise tax. They charge me more because I will wear the roads more....the only thing this bus is wearing down is the ground its parked on!

[Mash]

Originally Posted by turf

the rules are vague but its easier than it looks.

i forget exactly, but you need to sign an affidavit stating that you have converted to a rv. it needed to have like ~~ 5 of 8 things on a list they have... i dont remember exactly.
they vehicle likely needs a vin check but no one checks the vehicle for the rv modifications, you just swear that its done.
find the rules.....
then go apply for plates, fill out the affidavit with your rv modifications and pay the fee.
State farm insured mine with out issue

Are you also in colorado ?

[turf]

yes, Sterling, CO

[Mash]

Originally Posted by turf

yes, Sterling, CO

Ok, I sent you a PM

[Arjalon]

I live in northern Colorado in Weld County. The area around Greeley does require emissions. I live just outside that area.

Just bought a 1992 Ward. I am starting the process now. Anyone have a good insurance lead? My car is on Progressive and that was a non-starter.

[Mash]

I have mine insured as a bus and once it is complete we will get AIS insurance.

[Arjalon]

Originally Posted by Mash

I have mine insured as a bus and once it is complete we will get AIS insurance.

I ended up going with AIS for bus and will switch it to RV when the conversion completes.

[Shawna]

Originally Posted by SOCO84

Just bought my skoolie and I'm seeking info on getting it registered. The dmv website is crap and some of the stuff on here for colorado is almost a decade old. Anyone have any recent experience with this. On a side note if anyone has insurance questions I have the number for a guy at National general insurance. They were very helpful and got my policy set up right away, just message me for the info.

Do you have insurance info for colorado to insure a short school bus for personal use?

[Garrison]

Originally Posted by SOCO84

Just bought my skoolie and I'm seeking info on getting it registered. The dmv website is crap and some of the stuff on here for colorado is almost a decade old. Anyone have any recent experience with this. On a side note if anyone has insurance questions I have the number for a guy at National general insurance. They were very helpful and got my policy set up right away, just message me for the info.

I already tried to insure with national general, and they turned me down.

Maybe your guy there can help me?
Thanks for any help.

-Jere Sandberg.

[chev49]

i have insured with national general for many yrs..... maybe you told them TOO much... just saying

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by chev49

i have insured with national general for many yrs..... maybe you told them TOO much... just saying

Loose lips sink ships.

[XeonPeaceMaker]

I think I've talked to all the companies I could talk to. I'm stumped. I haven't started the conversion yet. What do I and don't I need to say to places like good sam and national insurance? Do I need to get it re-registered first?

I just need a direction.

Thanks
Xeon
No trees were destroyed in the sending of this message, however, a significant number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced

[turf]

read the thread from the beginning!

[XeonPeaceMaker]

Originally Posted by turf

read the thread from the beginning!

I have, and no luck.

[turf]

Tell us about your motorhome...... you haven't stated a problem.

1. get insurance
2. get a weight slip
3. get VIN verified
4. get emissions if needed
5. fill out Form DR2444 statement of fact, listing your changes to qualify as a motorhome.
6. get plates and registered


Please read the following posts

http://www.skoolie.net/forums/f13/co...html#post86094

emissions
http://www.skoolie.net/forums/f13/co...tml#post117539

more tips
http://www.skoolie.net/forums/f13/co...tml#post125437

http://www.skoolie.net/forums/f13/co...tml#post130759

the word "bus" to an insurance agent or a county registrar means transporting passengers for money. do not use that word. you bought a "motorhome" and you need to use the right words.

its all in here

[turf]

your Bill of Sale is adequate registration for 60 days. at least it was in my county. by day 60, i filled out the DR2444,l with my modifcations and got my plates.
if you are taking longer to convert..... it gets sketchy... legally.

the less you say the better

[Tigerman67]

Just wanted to update this old thread and mention that it is still accurate concerning what it took to convert to a Motorhome (I think the CO code is MT)

I made the mistake of going to the DMV on the second to last day of the month, so it was an all afternoon task. There was a momentary hickup because the person helping me was in training, she thought I might need receipts for the conversion items (for home built titles they require this), but she checked with the supervisor and the statement of fact with items from the list that speedwagon posted on page 2 of the this thread was all that was needed.

The person helping me was a bit concerned because my bill of sale said International Amtrans, and the old WA title said GENES, so took a minute to work out the correct values for the CO title. I think my damage coming out of the DMV was $300 including sales tax (I am in an unincorporated part of the county so lower than most).

The bummer is that the front range DIESEL exhaust test (which is a much wider area than the gasoline emission tests) will be required yearly for any diesel older than 10 years old, and that is a $75 a year hit every time.

The emission guys were able to do my VIN verification at the same time, and the local truck stop did the weight slip for $10. I put a bunch of my camping gear in the bus, along with my beer fridge from the garage, and I actually was very truthful in my Statement of fact. But of course I immediately started taking the stuff back out so I could start working on my floor removal.

Also, CO gives you 72 hours to return to your house or place of storage without a license plate, but I felt better about buying a 3 day trip permit online from WA state where I bought the bus so I had something official looking in the back window. I bought a second 3 day trip permit from WA to go around and get my emissions and weight slip as I took 2.5 days to get back to Co with the bus. Make sure you have insurance as well as CO requires it unless you want to sign a certificate of non-use.

[karrlot]

What is the reason for changing the title from a bus to a motor home? Does your insurance drop? Cheaper tags?

[o1marc]

Originally Posted by karrlot

What is the reason for changing the title from a bus to a motor home? Does your insurance drop? Cheaper tags?

State Farm and many others will not insure a bus until it has gone through a minimum conversion process. Once it's converted it becomes a Motor Home or RV and then they will insure.