BCM Community
Bus Discussion => Bus Topics ( click here for quick start! ) => Topic started by: roxnadz on October 13, 2011, 11:11:52 AM
Yes, I was crazy enough to buy a bus that still had a commercial title on it.
Once I convert it, I'm gonna have to have it retitled - in California. I know about the forms you need (256A I believe) but what else is required? Can I just say what I did on the form or do they actually inspect now?
Any ideas welcome.
My understanding is that the DMV wants to see some tangible signs of conversion if it will be re-registered as a House Car (or whatever the DMV calls RVs these days). The general concensus is that a working toilet, a working cooker, a bed, and some sort of heating/cooling system will keep them happy. However, a friend of mine drove his Gillig all the way to Twenty Nine Palms because it has a reputation as an easy DMV office to get things like this done, and they didn't even bother to come outside to look at his handiwork. (Mind you, his toilet wasn't actually connected to anything, so it's just as well the DMV didn't want to try it out for real!)
I'm thinking of going to my local DMV office at 4:15 on a Friday afternoon with this form completed, and naively ask them to change my bus from Auto to House Car. If they say they want to see it, I'll say it won't fit in their parking lot (which it certainly won't without blocking everybody else), so I'll come back another day. . . The two DMV offices near here that handle large vehicles such as trucks and buses are still quite a way away, and they may want to see my Class B license if I drive my bus there. I don't have a Class B; an Auto over 26,000 GVWR theoretically should need more than a Class C license. So, instead of footling around with the DMV to get a Non-Commercial Class B, I'll just try to get my bus re-registered as a House Car.
When I bought my bus we tried the 4:25-on-a-Friday tactic to get our invalid Pink Slip from the school district changed to a legal registration, and it worked! One of us flirted with the (pretty) girl at the counter, while my friend made the necessary changes (ahem) to the Pink Slip out of her sight. It worked - in less than ten minutes I had two new plates in my hand.
John