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Dogslow

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Joined
Oct 3, 2017
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5
Hello,
      We live in England uk.We are looking into buying a 1997 HOLIDAY RAMBLER ENDEAVOR 37WDS ,for an 11 month tour of the USA.I notice California has strict emissions laws would we be allowed to travel thru california with this older diesel  rv. We are totally brand new to this any help would be appreciated.Forgot to mention  a close relative from Vancouver BC would be the registered keeper I would be insured to drive

Regards
Steve
 
Hi and welcome. Yes you will be fine as long as the vehicle is legal where ever it is registered. 97' is not that old, and there are lots of vehicles on the road that are that old or older, especially in CA where the winters are mild and don't need road salt applied. 
 
Adding to Marty's reply ... since it appears the motorhome will not be registered in California (i.e. it will be registered in BC), there is no requirement to conduct or pass a California smog test. In any event, 1997 and older diesel cars and trucks registered in California do not require smog testing/certification.

Oh, and welcome to The RV Forum boyo, from an ex-pat Taff  :)
 
As an added note...you don't have to pull into the truck scales that are on every major highway in the U.S.

RV's are exempt from them.

Who are you buying the RV from?  How do you know what condition it is in? Touring the U.S. in a 20 year old RV could be......interesting.
 
I spent 35 years as a truck driver 44 ton articulated ,I owned my own Volvo FM12 380 hp truck I can use spanners and know what to look out for.I have had motorhomes and travel trailers in England .I like to take my time when looking and not afraid to put on overalls and get underneath.You are quite right of course more things will go wrong with something that is 20 years old,I never wear rose tinted glass's  always ask to see the service history(no history then just walk away as nice as it looks).In fact I would expect things to go wrong.I always think what do I need to do to sort this.Can I fix it myself if not then who and where.
  I never rely on keeping my fingers crossed.I tried that in my younger days  it didn't work.As for where would I look to buy  well maybe PPL Houston  seems to have a lot of stock and reasonable customer reviews online.
I just seen this advert.https://www.rvtrader.com/listing/2000-Tiffin-Motorhomes-ALLEGRO-BUS-39-BUSDSL-122642977
that looks tidy and when you convert that to our currency it knocks 10  grand off
 
Sounds like you're well equipped to check out and maintain a coach. Meanwhile, if they're of any use, our forum Library has checklists of things to look for when inspecting a used RV. The Library button is in the menu above.

Tiffin has a good reputation, although some of that comes from customer experience of their factory repair service (fixing things that broke). Some (online) shopping around at various dealers will give you a better handle on comparative prices. For various reasons, private sellers can have an inflated sense of what their rig is worth.
 
It sounds like you will be buying in the USA and registering it in Canada (British Columbia). This will require importing the vehicle into Canada and thus it will be subject to the HST tax system here. Better have that Cousin check out the implications of importing, taxes, inspections required etc. Here is a good place to start:

https://www.riv.ca/ImportingAVehicle.aspx
 
Good catch on the HST Stu, and thanks for the link. I defer to you and our Northern cousins in these matters. Meanwhile, we have a brief article in our forum library on importing a US-purchased RV into Canada. The article was originally written in the context of Canadian residents returning home with a US-purchased RV. I'm not clear on whether Steve's relative will be that returning Canadian resident, or if Steve will be crossing the border with his purchase.
 
I think if it is Steve (the OP) himself, it will very likely lead to border complications that even I would not want to tackle. The dealer in question has to be knowledgeable too in order to furnish the appropriate documentation required.

I think the easiest way to handle this is through a  Customs broker with all actions initiated by the Cousin. It costs, but no hassles. The registration of the vehicle itself is not usually a problem once the safety inspection and any additions/corrections required are carried out at Canadian Tire (as mentioned by Steve Pally).

Who actually drives it to the border should not matter but once there the Cousin should have the appropriate license etc as required in BC. (There may not be any special requirements!!). But all this has to be verified before undertaking the project. IMHO, handling the purchase this way is unnecessarily complicated as there are many other "Brits" who have purchased RV's in USA without the additional complications that vehicle importations and registration by a third party may invoke. I suggest that the OP get in contact with staffer Jackie Mackenzie for starters.

The OP also mentioned an 11 month tour which brings into question the usual 6 month maximum stay the US immigration folks will allow without some kind of extension. I understood that the "ducking out and then back in" extension method used by some in the past was now being disallowed.
 
The OP also mentioned an 11 month tour which brings into question the usual 6 month maximum stay the US immigration folks will allow without some kind of extension. I understood that the "ducking out and then back in" extension method used by some in the past was now being disallowed.
Click to expand...

Aye Stu, I'd normally bring this up, but figured Steve needed to get beyond the other issues related to importing, certifying and registering the RV. There are (legal) ways of extending their stay in the US beyond 6 months; I'd advise reading the sticky messages at the top of our Visitors to the USA board, and following the links in those messages, as the rules are somewhat dynamic. We have one message specifically discussing extending your stay (beyond the 6 months).
 
Given the apparent obstacles to buying in the USA and registering in BC, I have to ask why not register in the US under Steve's name?
 
Learning all the time thank you,I have just found this very good forum that is answering a lot of my questions.And what I initially thought I could do I can't and what I thought was impossible is. Ultimately I would like to buy a used a class pusher from a dealer and try and arrange a buy back a number of months later.
 
Sounds like a much better plan.... I seem to  remember that others have been able to do just that.

I still suggest that you try and contact Jackie Mackenzie, a staffer here on this forum. She and her partner from Scotland have been touring America in 6 month intervals for some time now after buying an RV over here. They have probably faced many of the issues you are contemplating now. (Her Screen Name is jackiemac  and they are currently traveling in USA until the end of Oct.!!)
 
Steve, if you haven't already seen it, we have an article in our Library entitled Guide for buying an RV in the USA. Written by this ex-pat Brit with an eye to the differences between the UK and USA process, it might give you some tips.
 
You're welcome Steve. Hope we're not drowning you with too much info  ???
 
This one is for amusement only... We were reading lots of reports of the DVLA refusing to register RVs imported into the UK from the USA, so I tried to lighten up the discussion with this file on Overcoming UK registration problems. I doubt it helped anyone, and hopefully nobody took it serious  ???

My better half worked at DVLA, and lived down the road, just around the corner from where I worked and where we met.
 
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