Why we bought a retired school bus

In this blog, we discuss the major reasons why we bought a retired school bus to convert into our dream tiny home on wheels for our family of five during a global pandemic.

Table of Contents

This blog talks about what first got us hooked on the idea of doing a school bus conversion. If you want to see the end result of 7 months of work and how much we put into the HildeBus, then read this blog.

Deciding against buying an RV

In September 2020, my husband and I sat in the parking lot of a used RV lot to discuss the pros & cons of the dated RV that we toured. This RV offered state-of-the-art technology and finishes from 2005, and formerly retailed at the hefty price tag of $200,000. Now, 15 years older and 1 foreclosure sale later, the salesman was trying to pass this “land yacht” on to us for only $20,000. What a steal, right? We were crazy not to take it, right?

As we sat in the car, checkbook laid out beside us, I did an online search for how to safely secure children into an RV while moving. As it turns out, there are sadly few passenger & child safety restraints required for RVs.

Many states require children to be secured while driving a passenger vehicle; however, what are the rules for an RV?

1. What are the seatbelts secured to in an RV? The comparatively (to a school bus) lesser strength vehicle frame.
2. Are child seat latches built into RVs? They usually must be retrofitted if you need more than one car seat.
3. How many seatbelts are available [we have 3 kids in carseats], or are any seatbelts available? Usually no additional passenger seat belts other than the captain chair, accompanying passenger and (optional) jump seat.
4. Are RVs crash-rated? If you’ve ever seen RV crashes compared to school bus crashes, it’s easy to see which one fares much better in an accident.

The answers we found didn’t make us feel confident about our family’s safety while driving in a traditional RV.

Why we converted a school bus

Later that night, my husband woke me up to tell me hear him out. At 2am in the morning, that’s the last thing I intended to do, but he sounded so hopeful.

Why don’t we buy a school bus and convert it into an RV? They are made for transporting children and made of steel.

Eric Hildebrand

We researched and it turns out that purchasing a retired school bus “was a thing.” There is an entire sect of the tiny home community that own converted school buses — lovingly called “Skoolies.” Once we went down the rabbit hole of safety, costs, and ease of construction. We were hooked on building a school bus conversion.

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School buses are safe and solid construction

School buses are made for protecting children in case of impact. School buses are made of metal: typically, a steel frame & ribs, aluminum sheet metal body. A “traditional” RV or other motorhome is usually constructed on a steel frame, framed with wood and wrapped with a fiberglass shell.

As such, the quality of construction of a school bus is far superior to that of a Class A RV. A simple google search will show you which vehicle or motorhome fares better in an accident.

A motorhome is not recommended to carry passengers while driving, besides those passengers found in the cockpit (driver & passenger seats with seatbelts).

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Bidding on a retired school bus

Fast forward to one week later , we were bidding on our first school bus at government auction.

We purchased our bus for about $4,250. We estimated the renovation will cost $25,000 in repairs and vehicle maintenance over a six month period. We will install solar panels on the roof, and a composting toilet.

My husband will do the work predominantly on his own. He has no construction background. YouTube will be his teacher. I will help out when I can.

Update: We spent between $45,000 to $50,000 on our renovation and repairs. Check at the breakdown of our skoolie features and upgrades in this blog.

Moving through the pandemic

2020 took a toll on all of us, but made us stronger as a family because we were forced to be around each other all the time. With job security and other factors being a concern in this strange world, what better way to stay close to your loved ones (literally in 280 sq.ft.), save money, and see the world?

We’re going to change our lives for the better in 2021 and document the entire journey.

THIS JOURNEY is our life by design.

You can find our YouTube Channel “Destination Unknown” below. Thanks for watching & reading why we bought a school bus. – Ingrid & the HildeFam