Buying a B in Canada

After our experience with the Canadian mfr., we attended the big RV show in Hershey, PA last year. The big Class B outfits (PleasureWay, Leisure Time, and Roadtrek) all had multiple units there, as well as Winnebago. I think Airstream was there too, but we didn't get that far. The Canadian units (which were being sold through US Dealers) were all marked down from their advertised list prices to "show prices", which were still much higher than you would expect from the exchange rate. The Winnebagos at "show prices" were generally a bit cheaper than the Canadian models. After looking at the customization available from Sportsmobile and pricing what we would pay for a unit designed to our specs, we decided against any of the mass produced models. (Big Whitey, I replied to your pm).

Mechmike10 you have a pm.

the couple of big CDN manufacturers sell through US dealers- so you can get what you want and probably for a lesser cost.

as discussed previous there are dot/emissions and other regs ( like fuelcompatibility) which vary from Country to Country.
Add in taxes and import duties and it is far more complicated than just an exchange rate.
for a manufacturer exchange rate is not calculated on the day you call them, but perhaps on the day they bought the chassis and/or other complicated factors.

all these point to...buy at a dealer in the US and a happy friendly dealer will take care of you & warranty- no matter which brand you choose

Mike

About a year ago, we were traveling through Canada and met a couple with a new Sprinter Class B. They were Canadian and their RV was of Canadian manufacturer. They gave us a short tour and we were impressed. We have a travel trailer now and had been thinking about a Sprinter Class B. It was from one of the major Canadian manufacturers. From our conversation, I inferred they had bought it from the factory.

I looked up the company on the Internet and browsed the website. The Canadian list price of the model we saw was around $130,000 CAD or 125,000 USD (these aren't exact, but they illustrate the general difference). Now, at an exchange rate of about 77%, 130,000 CAD should be $100,100 USD. SO, I fired off an email to the company and I asked them why the US price was higher, and they replied that it wasn't higher, but lower. Now, nobody like a smart donkey, so I wrote back again and noted that while the CAD price was higher if you just looked at the raw numbers, when the exchange rate was taken into account, it was much lower. I also asked whether I could come up to Canada with the appropriate amount of US cash, change it into CAD and buy the van and return to the US. The answer was: "if you do that neither we nor Mercedes will honor our warranties." Needless to say, we didn't pursue that any further. I don't get it; what difference does it make what currency the payment is in as long as it is equivalent to the CAD sales price. Subsequent research leads me to believe that all of the Canadian Class B outfits do likewise. In any event, after doing more research, we wound up buying a Sprinter from Mercedes for delivery to Sportsmobile in Indiana, where it will soon be done at a price more to our liking.

vehicles imported by PW or RT for conversion are not dutiable for vehicles returning to th eUS after conversion- this is all figured out in advanced and the vin assigned to show the destination market ( ie CA or US).
they will pay which ever duty on vehicles which will remain in CA -

all this stuff is so complicated it makes your head spin.

I know that DRL's are one aspect and that is how they deal with it on that one model- some other models may need the ecm re-programed--- or others like my 2013 Prius V doesn;t even have the DRL's...just depressions in the bumper shroud where they should be ( and i am pissed at toyota about this- the brochure says DRL's on my model...)
On my PW a coupleo f the US market changes are labeling to mark the rear seats as "not for use.." and also the latches on the rear windows are secured shut...well, they were.

Mike

One would think prices would be the same for North American vehicles given the North American Free Trade Agreement, but in fact prices are substantially higher in Canada even on vehicles manufactured in Canada. I would sure like to know why. It is ridiculous to say, for example, that the market in Toronto is much smaller than that in Buffalo. It would be interesting to know if the Saskatoon factory can bring in vans without paying the mysterious markup that applies to individuals.

We have a Toyota Sienna, manufactured in USA. I am told by Canadians who bought in the US that the modification necessary to bring it into Canada is putting a fuse in the driving lights fuse slot - and it costs more than $100. Saving is thousands of dollars.

I have yet to see a lower price on any RV sold in canada ,even considering the exchange.We live in canada and bought in the US to save money. Getting an RV into Canada is a real process AND you will pay sales tax again so I don't know how it would work in reverse.

mkguitar wrote:
This question comes up once in a while- the CDN version des not meet US DOT standards and needs some modifications to the lighting, safty equipment and possibly the emissions depending on the vehicle.
AFAIK the Cdn manufacturers will not sell a US spec version within Canada

there are also tax obligations on self importing a vehicle, for that you would need the specific everything and run it past ICE.

Myself and my Family have been crossing the border with vehicles since the 60's it has not gotten any easier.



Mike

Thanks for actually reading the questions Mike. The info you shared was enough to keep me from pursuing this option further. Exactly what i needed to know albeit not what i was hoping for. Thanks again for taking the time.

JupiterRT wrote:

big whitey wrote:
Hey folks not trying to be a smart a** but please reread the question . Thanks .

Good luck getting help with that attitude!

No problem with the attitude. The problem is reading comprehension.