FINAL WORDS

It would be difficult to understand how you couldn't find the RV of your dreams already in Canada, especially since so many are parked on dealers' lots with big "For Sale" signs pasted all over them. However, there is always a chance that you will find one make or model that isn't available that you've just got to have. Or, as in our case, you have special needs and are having difficulty finding a unit that meets them here in the motherland.

But price is a different matter. Quantity speaks. Volumes! Often, the larger US dealerships can sell more RVs in a month than their smaller Canadian cousins can all year, and therefore they can command lower prices from their suppliers. Which, given a little encouragement, they can pass on to their cross-border shoppers. There are other reasons why a Canadian may be able to buy a unit in the USA for considerably less than in Canada, lower shipping expenses incurred by the dealer being an example. In that case, you (the importer) must pay for bringing it through Customs and an additional 2,000 miles in gas or diesel that you must figure into the final price. But you're not paying someone the big bucks to do it for you, or their return airfare. That alone may save a thousand dollars.

Dealers, while generally being nice guys and gals, are still business people after all is said and done. And, when you walk onto their lot, you can bet they'll use every trick in the book to try to separate you from as much of your cash as possible. If they gave their RVs away, they would have lost all their sales staff within about the first 10 minutes, and be bankrupt by the end of the month. Thus, when you seriously start talking about buying an RV you need as much additional leverage as possible to balance their efforts. All's fair in love, war and RV buying!

Because of the much greater market across the border (Perhaps as much as TEN times larger than the Canadian market!) there is a commensurately larger possibility that you'll find a really exceptional deal, one that will allow you to save a bundle even after you factor in all the peripheral expenses.

There are a few people who are exceptionally shrewd business people, who have the knowledge and experience and who can occasionally find really good deals, import an RV and resell it quickly enough to actually make some money on the deal. When you're dealing with amounts of money equal to two, three or more times your yearly salary it's really risky. One badly thought through deal and you may end up with a white elephant on your hands AND a back-breaking mortgage to boot! DON'T QUIT YOUR DAY JOB!

Why wouldn't you want to try importing an RV from the States? Lots of reasons. Among them are:

• Your requirements are easily met by units that are currently available in Canada.
• You're well heeled enough that you can walk into a local dealership and order exactly what you want without flinching at the price tag.
• A little research revealed that the competition among the dealers back east is severe enough that you can buy the RV of your dreams right here in Canada at competitive prices and not have to worry about Customs or the RIV.
• You're not that good at business things. If this is the case, you're quite wise to let this one pass and go straight to your Canadian RV dealership.
• Importing an RV is an incredibly time consuming procedure. In order to make sure that everything goes off without a hitch you have to do your homework AND all the foot work. And every nick-picking, little detail requires your personal attention. Forget one key item and you might end up sitting in some foreign city trying to figure out how you're going to get your money back and get home. Or, once you factor in the cost of lost time from work, including the precious vacation time you have to consume, you're not saving enough to make it worth the effort.
• There is risk involved. For example, before you actually see the motorhome and a clear Title, you really have little but blind faith to guarantee that someone on the other end isn't a con artist doing his or her level best to separate you from your life's savings. There's also the chance that you've picked an RV that can't be imported into Canada or will require hugely expensive modifications once you get it here. There's also the chance that your chosen RV has some serious, hidden flaw (After all, if it's so great, why's the owner selling it in the first place?) and you're going through all this trouble merely to import one of the world's bigger lemons!
• You don't have the financial means to bail yourself out of a problem if you make a bad decision or the Fates are working against you. DON'T GAMBLE THE GROCERY MONEY!

We were incredibly lucky. Every aspect fell into place, almost with the accuracy of a well built clock. Oh, yes, there were snags, but considering what COULD HAVE gone wrong, they were almost irrelevant.