Another European with a plan

Dear RV lovers,

I am sure I am not the first one with this question, but we are a Dutch couple with a young babygirl and we have plans...

My girlfriend got a job in Montreal next year and therefore we will move next year from the Netherlands to Canada. Before this we are planning to travel towards Montreal in a motorhome for about three months, starting early March next year (we are considering a class C or truck camper). We are currently looking at all sorts of scenarios and I find it quite hard to oversee it all. Hopefully you can help me a little bit further. I've listed the main questions below:

1. Canadian or US title? Since we will live in Canada for some time it seems that we would need a Canadian title or is there a way around this?
2. By the time we would buy one, we don't have an address (yet), because we will arrive in Montreal in the end. How to solve this?
3. Can we get a reasonable insurance, being European? What would we require?
4. Suggestions where to buy an RV?
5. Most important of all: What trip would you make in three months, knowing the end is Montreal and the start will be early March?

Thank very much for your tips!

heppie said:

1. Canadian or US title? Since we will live in Canada for some time it seems that we would need a Canadian title or is there a way around this?

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The only way to go Canadian would be to buy the RV, drive to Canada and register it. You probably have 30 after you buy it to get it registered. Personally I would register it in the state I buy it in and then re-register it once I got to Canada.

2. By the time we would buy one, we don't have an address (yet), because we will arrive in Montreal in the end. How to solve this?

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You have to have an address so you can register the RV. If you buy it in the states and register it here you will need an address in the state you register it in. I think that in most states you can rent a PO box for registering. But you will need to find one that is a mail box/mail forwarding service like http://www.maillinkplus.com/.

3. Can we get a reasonable insurance, being European? What would we require?

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I don't know what you would call reasonable, but you can get insurance, and you will have to have it, it is required in just about every state.

4. Suggestions where to buy an RV?

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I would start by reading the ads on Craigslist and eBay, those are the two largest sources of used RVs on the Internet.

5. Most important of all: What trip would you make in three months, knowing the end is Montreal and the start will be early March?

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I am going to guess you have never been to the US and so have not seen anything here. This is a gigantic country compared to what you are probably used to. I would completely rule out anything west of the Mississippi or you are going to be spending too much time driving. I would recommend flying to Miami. Florida is a great state to find used RVs and Florida is a friendly state for RVs to "live" in. Then take a long slow drive up the eastern seaboard, the right coast. You will have a zillion things to see and do along the way. Kennedy Space Center, Cape Hatteras National Seashore, Washington DC, New York City, and Boston to name a few. It is about 2000 miles. Here is a quick and dirty map I made to show you approximately what I am talking about:

http://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=Miami,+FL&daddr=34.41806,-77.64834+to:35.89959,-76.00383+to:38.86567,-77.05529+to:40.76963,-74.02585+to:42.17678,-70.75067+to:Montreal,+QC,+Canada&hl=en&sll=36.456636,-75.322266&sspn=20.83116,41.879883&geocode=FSmCiQEdedc3-ykRwcgOorDZiDFlT63dcfKW_w%3BFYwtDQIdLC5f-ynPzaNo-ZmpiTHI5dyRvdUC0w%3BFcbIIwIdCkZ4-yn3GCjAOwyliTGOVywj0vQwFw%3BFQYLUQIdxjpo-ykxOPlxILe3iTEchaeJsZdBhA%3BFV4YbgIdhnSW-ymN1fQFKFjCiTENllvgcDWp5A%3BFQyRgwIdMm7I-yknR32RGl_jiTG8NlMhvz1uig%3BFT5otgIduKed-ykNt2QcVBrJTDHv7x8hODFOZQ&vpsrc=0&mra=dpe&mrsp=5&sz=5&via=1,2,3,4,5&t=m&z=5

Weather will be an issue in the North in March but it will be great in the south. As you travel north the weather will warm up and you should have pretty good weather all the way.

Thanks very much for the quick reply. Let me respond just as quickly:

1 & 2. If I understand correctly I can buy an American titled RV and register it in the state where I buy it. This can be done with a postbox which I would rent for 3-6 months (thanks for the link). After entering Canada I would need to re-register it in Quebec such that I will get a Canadian title. This sounds a bit tricky to me. How can I be sure that this is possible and how do I do this? Probably this will cost something as well...

3. Agree about the insurance. I read that it might be wise to get an US driver's license, but sounds solvable.

4. Addresses are known. If I would buy an RV in the states the choice is much larger of course!

5. Thanks for the route. Maybe we'll add something to it by coming from the West. In 3 months we can do quite some miles I guess.

I anyone has more information about registration and the transfer from US to Canadian title please let me know. Thanks again.

If you come in from the west you will be doing way too much driving and not enough seeing and doing. I drove from Miami to Las Vegas last January, a 2500 mile drive. It took me 8 solid days of driving 300+ miles per day.

Three months is more than enough time to do a tour of the Western US.  Early March is the end of Snowbird Season in Arizona and it's a good time to make a deal.  The Snowbirds are returning home, some have bought new RVs and traded in their old units, and some just can't or don't want to bring their RVs home with them.

Phoenix, Tucson and Yuma are the major RV centers.  I'd suggest flying into Phoenix, set yourself up with a motel room and a rental car and do some exploring.  Craigslist is a good listing source, as is RV Trader (online or print versions).

Once you're set up, your options are almost limitless.  Take a week or two to explore California, then head east with your route determined by the weather (south if there's still snow up north).

Ok. Let's assume we would buy a US titled RV as Lou proposes (since the trip is very tempting). We would drive towards Canada, but than...

1. Is it possible to drive less than 6 months in Canada and than store it in the US?
2. If we decide to switch number plates, how much trouble will I get and how much does this cost?

Thanks!