Buying a Skoolie Need help!

[mikemac2001]

OKay so i am buying an already converted skoolie and i couldnt find any real answers online and not sure if this guy is giving me correct information

You could drive this bus to work if you wanted to, or drive your whole office, or even better it can be your office. Best of all, you dont need any special license to drive this Bus, it has a regular motor vehicle title, meaning it can be driven, registered, and insured like a regular truck or Suburban body style vehicle

this is what he states in the ad, and that the title says suburban style vehicle

gmac already said they would insure the bus for me but worried if the insurance states bus and the title says suburban would i have to get a special license to drive it. its a 48 passenger bus and would be in NY

if anyone has any information it would help out great trying to purchase this by next week.

[mikemac2001]

Ya he has been using without any special license

i did a vin search shows up as a chevy but doesnt state bus

i havent seen the title but he said it says 1983 chevy suburban and is registered and insured that way.

he also said i could insure it as a bus and still have the title and registration say chevy suburban which kinda through me off guard.

[bus-ted]

Smells fishy, UNLESS it was/is a suburban that was manufactured to be a school bus. I haven't seen any that recent in year, but it wasn't uncommon. In fact, there's one being advertised on CL right now:http://kansascity.craigslist.org/bar/1848620462.html
I'd pay real close attention to the fine print.

[mikemac2001]

its def a bus he said weight is around 10000 also

it was a 40 passenger bus but he gutted it my buddy who is a cop said if title and insurance say suburban i should be fine but like the previous post said seems fishy

[M1031]

Originally Posted by Smitty

Ask the seller how he feels about the police doing a VIN check (at the vehicle, not just by running the numbers).....see how he reacts. I could put a Yugo VIN # on my bus, go plate it & buy insurance via the VIN number (since that's all they go by, no vehicle/visual involved).....doesn't make a bit of it legal, and sooner or later would end-up losing the bus to impound.

Smitty

That's how they do it in Gibson County, Indiana. They had some big issues with stolen Illinois vehicles coming over and getting re-registered with different numbers, then back to Illinios to be sold as another vehicle......

Gibson County has an officer run the VIN off the vehicle. If numbers don't compute to the vehicle, person is busted, and vehicle is impounded and a deeper investigation begins.

[mikemac2001]

Originally Posted by Smitty

Ask the seller how he feels about the police doing a VIN check (at the vehicle, not just by running the numbers).....see how he reacts. I could put a Yugo VIN # on my bus, go plate it & buy insurance via the VIN number (since that's all they go by, no vehicle/visual involved).....doesn't make a bit of it legal, and sooner or later would end-up losing the bus to impound.

Smitty

Question though

so what if the vin does show up as a chevy suburban then everything would be legal?

i know he could have switch it on the title or it could have been switched at one point but i am still trying to figure out if it does match up i should be ok right

[mikemac2001]

also when i run a vin check i get this

1983 CHEVROLET S6000 B6P042

looks like the 2 ending numbers all are link to buses

[Redbear]

If the gross weight is 10,000 pounds, you can drive it. Your run-of-the-mill Class D passenger car license is good for 26,000 pounds gross. (If you haven't renewed in several years, the card in your pocket might say 18,000 on the back, but the law changed.) If you drive it for hire, and it really has 48 seats, you will need a CDL with passenger endorsement.

The old half-ton Dodge van where I used to work was 6,000 pounds. If the 'suburban' (NYS for "station wagon") is only 10,000 lbs, it doesn't sound like it is a real bus. NYS law makes school districts transport students registered in schools outside the district in many cases, and so there are some station wagons and Chevy suburbans in School bus clothes that take one to eight students on runs to distant schools every day. It could be a real "suburban."

On the other hand, if it once was a real school bus, and weighs 10,000 pounds empty with the seats out, look at the data plate before you buy. If the gross weight is stamped 26,000 pounds or less, you are good to go. If it is 26,001 or more, you will need a Class B CDL until it is officially an RV. Then you will need an "R" endorsement on your Class D car license if you don't have a CDL B.

The license required in NYS is determined by the heaviest of:
1) the registered gross weight;
2)the chassis manufacturer's design gross weight; or
3) the actual loaded weight as seen on a scale.

Reference:
http://www.nysdmv.com/forms/cdl101.pdf