Importing a bus to Canada

[lloyd&pamela]

The following are a few suggestions for anyone importing a bus to Canada.

1. Use a local RV dealer to to the financing and importing. We used Fraserway, one of the largest dealers in Canada.

2. All the financing was arranged before hand and we were able to wire funds the moments we made a decision to buy.

3. We used Fraserway dealer tags to drive the bus back.

4. Their customs agent handled all the border issues.

5. Because we were using a customs agent and it was a dealer purchase, the importing at the border was all a formality.

6. They never even checked our passports and never looked at the bus.

7. 15 year old busses are exempt from the inspection process.

8. I have several files you might find of interest and will be happy to share those with you. Make sure that you check the List of Vehicles Admissible from the United States here http://www.tc.gc.ca/roadsafety/importation/impusae.htm before you sign the dotted line. There are many new coaches that are not importable because the companies did not go through the additional process required.

I will be happy to share any information I have.

[Judi Brown]

We imported ours into Canada with no problem at all. Just give US customs
72 hrs. notice before bring to border in Blaine. Took 10 minites at US customs
and 2hrs at Canadian custom convincing them that we had paid the price that
was on the receipt and Prevosts are made in Canada. Then paid them the GST.
Judi B

[Judi Brown]

Lloyd
One thing I forgot to mention, is ours is all electric. No propane or it would need a CSA sticker to go on ferry. Where are you headed, we live in Langley
BC and are headed across Canada June 1st. Ours is a 91 H3 by Liberty.
Judi B

[lloyd&pamela]

We are going to the POG rally in TN in April and will leave in June and head toward the CC rally in Amana, Iowa and then the FMCA rally in St. Paul. Then to Edmonton to see Pamela's family and then to Jasper and BC. Then down the coast over the fall and winter in the SW.

[lloyd&pamela]

We have propane, what is a CSA sticker?

[Jon Wehrenberg]

Canadian Standards Assn. It is the Canadian equivalent of UL.

[Judi Brown]

Maybe it is different out there, But here if registered in B.C. and they check you at ferry and know CSA sticker you can't get on ferry. It is no big deal to get the propane checked and they put the sticker on it. ON other motor homes we had my husband would get it checked every couple years. $85
Judi B

[lloyd&pamela]

I will ask about that this week. We are getting the MVI inspection this week.

[Ray Davis]

You have propane on your coach? So few of these coaches do, that it's a bit of a surprise!

Ray

[dalej]

Ray, it seems that a lot of the early Country Coach bus's had dual cook tops 2 gas and 2 electric then a three way fridge 12vdc/gas/120vac. We have always like the setup but you don't see it anymore.

[Ray Davis]

Yeah, my 93 was all electric CC. I've heard of some busses with propane, but never owned one. Haven't seen many (or any?) either!

Ray

[Joe Cannarozzi]

Ray we converted our bus that was originally an all electric over to propane.

The electric cook top was broke and Deb always preferred cooking with gas and it needed shore or generator power to use it anyway, (was too big a draw for the 2500W inverter)

The Original fridge was 2-way a/c-d/c. It also was broke when we bought the bus. Switched it to a two way propane-A/C. It was not originally that large residential size fridge to start and the rv fridge replacement was a perfect fit. Could not have put a bigger one without major changes. I see it as an additional option or choice. We also park across the street in a vacant lot and we keep it full and cold all summer without any electric.

Dig this: when running on A/C power the fridge uses 1.5 amps:p what does yours pull with the compressor running?

It IS often FULL on a long trip. The flexibility and energy efficiency it provides IMO makes it a compromise worth making.

Who else has gas, Bill and Jody and JPJ that I know of.

Gives us the ability to utilize ONE smaller inverter (2500W), less expensive batteries, and probably get just as much camp time out of the set up as the more exotic and costly set-ups, if not longer.

When drycamping if not for the U-line ice maker we could actually shut the inverter off accept when kitchen appliances or something in the entertainment center is required.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

We had a propane coach with our 87 Liberty.

I would trade the propane furnaces for the Webasto any day of the week. They were quiet, they were trouble free, and they used almost no power, unlike the Webasto that is a constant power draw. The outside portion of the Webasto sounds like a jet, and the blower motors inside the coach for circulating air are only slightly quieter. The propane furnace blowers were half the annoyance level.

Our refrigerator was a 3 way, propane, 120 V or 12V. When running on propane it used very little propane or battery power. The downside was it frosted up the fins quickly and lacked the space we now have in our current one.

The only downside to propane was having to fill it occasionally, but that was not as inconvenient as it sounds. Over time we learned that some campgrounds had very well placed propane filling stations so whenever we were in one of them we just made it a point to fill up. We held 51 gallons so fill-ups were not that frequent.

[lloyd&pamela]

We have a two burner gas stove and 3 way refrig. I like that is automatically switches between the three or can be set to which ever you like.

[Joe Cannarozzi]

The industry has addressed the shortfalls of the gas fridge.

I have recently seen at the RV shows large 4 door models for size and 12 volt circulating fans to help keep the frost down.

Jon, can't beat the Webasto/E-spar for preheating the engine when no shore power is available though, would not be without it.

Around what year did the gas option disappear? What fridge does Newel use?

Lloyd Campingworld sells a little dc circulating fan that you put on a inside shelf and we have seen a noticable difference when using it when the fridge is very full.

[merle&louise]

Joe,

My 99 Newell has an Amana s/s electric refrigerator. The same as in the Prevosts that I have seen. My 1993 Newell had the same style Amana s/s with water/ice in the door. My 1987 Newell had the 12v/gas/120V Dometic. I like the Amana s/s 22 cu.ft. model the best. It recovers quickly when the door is opened. The propane unit took hours to recover to 40 degrees.:eek:

[Joe Cannarozzi]

Notice the fridge that Teschner Coach has chosen for theirs:rolleyes:

It's the 07 listed in the used section of the free side.

Those clever Germans. Then when you think you got it all figured out they go and scrap the E-Spar for the Webasto.