I'll throw in my two cents. We imported a 2011 Rockwood Roo 19 in August 2010. We were nervous as well, and the price difference seemed too good to be true (being from Atlantic Canada, we don't get the volume discounts that some from larger cities would get, making importing an even more worthwhile option. We bought our camper for $13,500+/- US, but locally, the best price we could get was $1000 off of the MSRP of $24,999. We bought from RV Direct (aka Albany RV) and picked it up in Elkhart, Indiana. RV Wholesalers were pretty much the same price, but we were leaning towards the Jayco 19H at the time we decided on RV Direct, so when we decided on the Roo, we stuck with RV Direct. If I had to do it again, I would have likely gone with RV Wholesalers, as they have a certified warranty centre about a half hour drive from my house, but no bad experience with RV Direct either.
For us, it was a 2300km trek each way...close to 5000km when all was said and done, but we still saved plenty, even factoring in the $1500 in gas and hotels, plus got to see parts of the US that we have never seen before.
Crossing the border was very simple. One thing with RVDirect and RVWholesalers (and likely others) is that they are very familiar with the requirements of importing as they have many Canadian customers who they sell to. They had all the paperwork ready when I picked up the camper. We told the border guard at the gate that we were importing a trailer, and he gave us a slip of paper, told us to pull ahead, park, and go in the building and give them the slip of paper. We did this at around noon on a Saturday at the St. Stephen, New Brunswick border crossing, as we knew it would be quiet, and it was. The border agent was familiar with the process, as there have been many others importing that year, and we were in and out of there in about half an hour. We paid our RIV fee of $195 plus GST, as well as the GST portion of the HST on the unit (we paid the rest of the HST when we went to register the camper at the DMV). We had all of our paperwork, including the recall letter, and just handed it to the border agent.
In total, we saved between $7000 and $8000, factoring everything in. Keep in Ming to that if you save $8000 off of the unit, there are additional savings since you do not need to pay taxes on that. I would import again in a heartbeed. Just be sure to do your homework.
We are now looking at our next camper, which is a couple years away. One we are considering is the Sabre 34TBOK, which would be around $35K from RVW, or over $50K at home. I am all for supporting local business, but.... And as soon as you mention to them how much you can get it in the US and if they can work with you on the price, they shut right down. I'd be willing to pay more to buy local, even beyond travel expenses, but even with their best price, the gap is too large.
