MysteryNick
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Re: UK citizen- Wants to buy an RV in Canada & sell on in USA..?
Sorry, just noticed we're onto page 2 of the thread... Bsinmich- Thanks for the info. Afraid it's way too late to change the direction of our route. We're going to Canada in a couple of weeks to stay for the ski season. Have been battling to get a visa for best part of 2 years, so we've got our hearts set on doing it this way round now! Whilst in Canada, we'll be renting a flat for 6 months over the ski season. Definitely can't afford to rent a vehicle for that long. Probably won't even use it that much. Would just be nice to have it as a run around. Also, I'm in the building trade, so was planning on possibly using it for shifting building materials during the ski season if I can find building work. Smkettner- too late to land in the USA. Flights already booked to Vancouver. I should have done this research months ago. Wasn't anticipating such issues with importing a vehicle. Never done it before. Hindsight's a wonderful thing!362Views0likes0CommentsRe: UK citizen- Wants to buy an RV in Canada & sell on in USA..?
Thanks WSFurrie. IIt's a good idea, but I think kaydeejay might have a point. I wouldn't have a fixed address in USA. Our flights are already booked to Vancouver too, so we'd need to dip out of Canada briefly into USA, buy the camper and then drive it into Canada, which would probably raise suspicion at the border! I'm now thinking that it might just be simpler to buy a cheap crappy camper in Canada and drive it right the way through USA, Mexico and central America and maybe sell it in Panama! I doubt they're too strict on import rules there... I should imagine it would lose a lot of value between Canada and Panama (as their currency's not as strong), but if it was a cheap old van to start with, it might not be so bad. I could probably justify the loss if it means that we can live and travel in it for months and we get to avoid a load of red tape RE importing it to the USA. Any glaring errors with that plan? Other than it might break down on us, given it'll be a cheap crappy RV to start with..! Will we easily be able to get insurance in Canada that will cover us to travel through Canada, USA, Mexico and Central America?326Views0likes0CommentsRe: UK citizen- Wants to buy an RV in Canada & sell on in USA..?
Thanks so much for all your comments. Very helpful! Kaydeejay-will the letter from the manufacturer be good enough if I've bought the vehicle second hand (and old!). Or will I need to take it to a garage and get them to sign off the emissions? Do you think that maybe if I made a couple of clever phone calls to the correct authorities and/or to the manufacturer prior to buying the camper, I might be able to ensure that I got one that was good to import to the US? Also, will I need to take a test to get a Canadian license? Or would I just need to buy one? Are they expensive? I will have a fixed address for 6 months whilst in Whistler, so that won't be an issue. What does up to 26000 mean Kaydeejay? And is that class A, B or C? I suspect it would be prohibitively expensive shipping my van to and fro. My Sprinter camper conversion in the UK isn't amazing anyway. It's old and unreliable! Smkettner- I think you might be right. It might be worth me just buying and selling in the USA. A bit frustrating though, because it would be nice to have a motor whilst in Canada too. I could maybe buy one and sell it on in Canada and then do the same in USA...328Views0likes0CommentsUK citizen- Wants to buy an RV in Canada & sell on in USA..?
Hi, I'm new to the forum. Was after a bit of advice please? My girlfriend and I are flying from the UK to Canada in a couple of weeks to do a ski season in Whistler. We've got a 6 month working holiday visa. Does anyone know what class of campervan I can legally drive with my regular UK car license? In England, I drive my Mercedes sprinter which I've converted into a camper, and can drive anything up to 3.5 tonnes... We're planning on buying a second hand camper (in either Vancouver or Whistler) and driving it down the West Coast of USA (between April 2015-June 2015). the plan is to then sell it on in San Diego (before then travelling through Mexico and Central America by bus and plane). I have considered driving the full way, but my girlfriend's worried it might not be safe, and I worry we'd lose loads of money on the van if we sold it on in central america... Is it likely to hold its value just between Vancouver and San Diego? Am I legally allowed to import it like that? Any legal or other issues I might encounter? Can I get North American insurance which covers me to drive freely between Canada and USA? Is insurance expensive in Canada? And do you have to pay road tax? If the answer to both these questions is 'No', I might buy the camper as soon as we arrive in Canada at the end of this month (rather than at the end of the season in April 2015). That way I'll have it as a run around during the ski season and can use it for work if needs be... Sorry for all the questions! Answers to any of them would be helpful! :) Thanks Nick8.4KViews0likes27Comments
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