Register and title a skoolie as a motorhome in Florida easily

Registering your skoolie and updating your school bus title from a bus to motorhome is such a profound step in the bus conversion process! This blog walks you through the truly simple steps to get it done in Florida in about 10 minutes at your local DMV or tax office.

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How to register a school bus as a motorhome in Florida

Registering a school bus in Florida is simple. An important thing to note is that registering your school bus will not automatically update your title type from bus to motorhome so pay attention to the list below.

School bus conversions are sometimes unknown at your local DMV or tax authority. When speaking to the staff make sure to communicate that this is a motorhome (or will be), not a transport vehicle. If they just don’t see to get it, ask for a manager.

You can also print the supporting references within this article to bring with you to your appointment.

To register your school bus in Florida, fill out and bring the following to your DMV or tax authority:

• For registration:
  • Florida Driver’s license (or other official documentation)
  • Application for Certificate of Title with/without Registration (HSMV Form 82040)
  • Proof of insurance
• For title change from bus to motorhome:
  • General affidavit for motor vehicles (to re-title bus to motorhome)

See the official instructions on the Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicle website for initial vehicle registration.

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How to title a school bus as a motorhome in Florida

Holding the title of “motorhome” instead of “bus” really legitimizes your school bus conversion, and to re-title your skoolie to a motorhome is stupidly easy in Florida!

Either at the time that you register your school bus in Florida or at a later date, you fill out the General Affidavit for Motor Vehicles, which calls for a personal attestation that you have installed at least one of three items in your school bus conversion:

• 110 volt electrical wiring
• LP gas piping
• Plumbing system

Do you need to install 110 volt wiring, LP gas piping and plumbing in your school bus in order to title it as a motorhome in Florida?

You are only obligated to install one of the three, though most commonly you hear of people installing electrical and plumbing, as a basic necessity. Depending on your rig design, LP gas can be beneficial. When we filled out the general affidavit form, we selected all three boxes since we installed all three items in our school bus conversion.

As the owner of the above vehicle, I request the vehicle be classified as a recreational vehicle as the following has been installed:
-110 volt electrical wiring
-LP gas piping
-Plumbing system

www.hillstax.org/assets/uploads/2019/02/General-Affidavit-for-MV-1.pdf

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Can I re-title a school bus to a motorhome anytime in Florida?

Yes. If a bus is titled as a bus in another state or in Florida, you can register your school bus in Florida as a “bus” first and then “motorhome” later if you don’t want to do it at the time you initially register your vehicle. Below are two scenarios that explain the choices in further detail.

Scenario 1 – do it at the time of initial registration

If your end goal is to title your bus as a motorhome, just register and title it as a motorhome from a school bus at the time of registration to save yourself the headache of doing it later.

In Florida, to re-title your school bus conversion from “bus” to “motorhome,” you follow the Florida vehicle registration steps and also submit the General Affidavit for Motor Vehicles form.

No inspection is needed to confirm the requirements are met on the general affidavit for motor vehicles form. You only need a personal attestation that the motorhome requirements have been met.

Scenario 2 – register your bus first and then update the title to motorhome later

You can definitely keep your bus type on the title the same when you register it initially in Florida (think “bus” type in Tennessee to “bus” type in Florida), and register it as a motorhome later, like when your conversion is complete and you’ve installed one of the three requirements needed to title your school bus as a motorhome.

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Is vehicle insurance needed to register a school bus conversion in Florida?

Yes, you absolutely need automobile insurance to register any vehicle in Florida, especially a school bus conversion or skoolie. You will also need to maintain that vehicle insurance after registration in order to legally operate the vehicle. The minimum requirements in Florida for skoolie insurance are to have:

• $10,000 personal injury protection (PIP)
• $10,000 personal damage liability (PDL)

Check out this blog on easily insuring your skoolie in Florida if you would like the name of who we used and what she required us to submit in order to bind a policy.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do you need to paint your skoolie to title it as a motorhome in Florida?

No! You do not need to paint your skoolie in order to title it as a motorhome in Florida. If your skoolie is already registered in Florida as a “bus” and you are updating the title to a “motorhome,” you need to select one of three choices on the General Affidavit for Motor Vehicle form.

Do I need to weigh my school bus conversion in order to register it in Florida?

No; however, it depends on the DMV that you visit – sometimes they require it and sometimes they don’t. In our situation, we were not required to have weighed our school bus conversion but others were told they needed to weigh their bus.

Check out this blog here on where to find a skoolie weigh station prior to registering your school bus in Florida.

Do I need to alter the title on my school bus conversion if it is already titled as a motorhome when registering it in Florida?

Nope! If your skoolie is already titled as a motorhome then you don’t need to alter the title from bus to motorhome. You simply register your vehicle as normal and pay any associated fees.

What is a skoolie classified as?

A skoolie, otherwise known as a school bus conversion, is classified as motorhome or recreational vehicle, depending on the state and its rules. Due to the growing popularity of skoolies, they are becoming more widely recognized as a motorhome than in recent years. Though there may be similarities to a class A, class B or class C motorhome, a school bus conversion is a modified vehicle and different rig completely.

If you are curious if you need a CDL to drive your skoolie in Florida, read this blog which dives deep on that topic.

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Conclusion

This blog will guide you easily to register your skoolie and re-title it from a “bus” to a motorhome in the state of Florida, while also answering those frequently asked questions that arise along the way. Leave a comment if you found this blog helpful or share it with someone that it would help!

Thanks for following our adventure. – Ingrid & the HildeFam