Payin_Bills
Member
Hey all, no one responded to my last post about needing help getting my bus registered in NJ, so I figure I'd help anyone who has to go through the same headache I did. It wasn't so bad in the end, but I was so stressed until it finally got titled because of everything I had to go through.
To preface, here are the conditions I was working with:
Holy **** this is probably the biggest gray-area in the entire NJ government. I spoke to ~6 different DMV agents who gave me varying answers that left me with more questions after I was done. I'm going to tell you what to do, to save you some time and effort.
The process is very simple. You pretty much do a normal vehicle title transfer by following this page from the NJMVC site, and filling out whatever forms are necessary for your purchase conditions.
If you're like me and purchased a vehicle from a state that issues titles, a "purchase order" can just be a mockup bill-of-sale signed by you and the buyer. If the bus was previously owned by a company or organization, make sure you have an official letterheaded document from said company authorizing the person who is conducting the sale.
I didn't mention that my bus was a former school bus at the DMV (I just said it was a bus), but they sniffed that out anyway. Because of this, they needed photo evidence that the bus was no longer painted yellow. You may not need to do this, but I would say it would save your time if you bring a printed photo anyway. I didn't have a photo on me, so the receptionist gave me a return slip and I had to go back the next day. The clerk I spoke to showed mine to her supervisor who barely looked at it before giving her the go-ahead. This was never mentioned on any website I looked at, nor was it mentioned on the phone.
Okay, DMV location played a HUGE role in this. If you aren't aware, since 2020 you now have to make an appointment to visit a DMV, which can be done using the NJMVC booking tool and following the title registration prompts. I cannot stress this enough: AVOID THE CHERRY HILL SITE. Not only does that place just generally suck, the clerks turned me down instantly after I had already gone through reception and waited for 30 minutes. I don't how the other locations are but the one in Marlton was the best DMV I've ever been to, and if you're nearby that location or don't mind the drive (I was around 30 minutes out) I recommend going there. Everyone was friendly, and I had a very nice conversation with the clerk while she was going through my paperwork. She even wished me luck with the project at the end! The difference between the two places was night and day.
My clerk got a bit confused as to what to register the vehicle as (I don't blame her!) and had to ask around. Luckily, there was a clerk nearby who had recently worked on a similar transfer. If you don't get this lucky, however, I was told that the bus was being registered as a passenger vehicle with "reg code" as bus. I have no idea what that means, but if you mention that to your clerk you might have better luck.
The GVWR of the bus or me not having a CDL never came into question during my DMV visit. The GVWR wasn't listed on the title and I was only asked for the current weight on the OS/SS-UTA. I honestly just looked up the empty weight for my model and wrote that down. I don't know if this is something they're supposed to check, so you might have an issue with this. Just keep that in mind.
Here's the limited information on how to title a bus titled as a "school bus" Again, I thankfully did not have to go this route, but I'll just tell you what I know. You'll probably have to do more research for this route:
From what I read on another post here, the OP was turned down by the DMV because they wouldn't touch a vehicle titled as a school bus. You'll either have to register it as a van (there's a post on here that covers this, you should be able to search for it) or you'll have to get the vehicle "reconstructed" through the Foreign Titles Unit. For that, you have to call them at (609) 292-6500 ext. 5064 and they'll email you a packet. If you don't feel like calling, I've provided said packet here. This covers everything you'll need to do to get it re-registered. It honestly doesn't seem like the worst process in the world, but I wanted to avoid it as much as I could for budget and time reasons. Also afaik, if you want to convert a bus to an RV (already registered or not,) you'll have to go through this process.
That's pretty much all you need to know! If you have any questions, please ask! I'll try to get answers for you.
To preface, here are the conditions I was working with:
- I have no CDL (I was really worried about this being a problem)
- The GVWR of my bus is over 26,001
- My bus is a 1999 international 3800 (standard chassis)
- The bus was already titled as a "Bus" and not a "School Bus" by the previous owner (if yours is titled as a "School Bus," this won't work for you. There's a whole different set of hoops you have to jump through that I was thankful I didn't have to deal with. I'll expand on this further down in the post)
- My bus is currently painted white
- I don't have the funds to convert my bus yet, so I wanted to still title it as a bus and not a van or RV. I figured it'd be funny to take my friends on road trips or something
- The bus was originally purchased in PA and had a PA title, however notarizing is not required by NJ so it was only signed by the seller and myself
Holy **** this is probably the biggest gray-area in the entire NJ government. I spoke to ~6 different DMV agents who gave me varying answers that left me with more questions after I was done. I'm going to tell you what to do, to save you some time and effort.
The process is very simple. You pretty much do a normal vehicle title transfer by following this page from the NJMVC site, and filling out whatever forms are necessary for your purchase conditions.
If you're like me and purchased a vehicle from a state that issues titles, a "purchase order" can just be a mockup bill-of-sale signed by you and the buyer. If the bus was previously owned by a company or organization, make sure you have an official letterheaded document from said company authorizing the person who is conducting the sale.
I didn't mention that my bus was a former school bus at the DMV (I just said it was a bus), but they sniffed that out anyway. Because of this, they needed photo evidence that the bus was no longer painted yellow. You may not need to do this, but I would say it would save your time if you bring a printed photo anyway. I didn't have a photo on me, so the receptionist gave me a return slip and I had to go back the next day. The clerk I spoke to showed mine to her supervisor who barely looked at it before giving her the go-ahead. This was never mentioned on any website I looked at, nor was it mentioned on the phone.
Okay, DMV location played a HUGE role in this. If you aren't aware, since 2020 you now have to make an appointment to visit a DMV, which can be done using the NJMVC booking tool and following the title registration prompts. I cannot stress this enough: AVOID THE CHERRY HILL SITE. Not only does that place just generally suck, the clerks turned me down instantly after I had already gone through reception and waited for 30 minutes. I don't how the other locations are but the one in Marlton was the best DMV I've ever been to, and if you're nearby that location or don't mind the drive (I was around 30 minutes out) I recommend going there. Everyone was friendly, and I had a very nice conversation with the clerk while she was going through my paperwork. She even wished me luck with the project at the end! The difference between the two places was night and day.
My clerk got a bit confused as to what to register the vehicle as (I don't blame her!) and had to ask around. Luckily, there was a clerk nearby who had recently worked on a similar transfer. If you don't get this lucky, however, I was told that the bus was being registered as a passenger vehicle with "reg code" as bus. I have no idea what that means, but if you mention that to your clerk you might have better luck.
The GVWR of the bus or me not having a CDL never came into question during my DMV visit. The GVWR wasn't listed on the title and I was only asked for the current weight on the OS/SS-UTA. I honestly just looked up the empty weight for my model and wrote that down. I don't know if this is something they're supposed to check, so you might have an issue with this. Just keep that in mind.
Here's the limited information on how to title a bus titled as a "school bus" Again, I thankfully did not have to go this route, but I'll just tell you what I know. You'll probably have to do more research for this route:
From what I read on another post here, the OP was turned down by the DMV because they wouldn't touch a vehicle titled as a school bus. You'll either have to register it as a van (there's a post on here that covers this, you should be able to search for it) or you'll have to get the vehicle "reconstructed" through the Foreign Titles Unit. For that, you have to call them at (609) 292-6500 ext. 5064 and they'll email you a packet. If you don't feel like calling, I've provided said packet here. This covers everything you'll need to do to get it re-registered. It honestly doesn't seem like the worst process in the world, but I wanted to avoid it as much as I could for budget and time reasons. Also afaik, if you want to convert a bus to an RV (already registered or not,) you'll have to go through this process.
That's pretty much all you need to know! If you have any questions, please ask! I'll try to get answers for you.
