Hi!
I bought my
Trillium in Surrey B.C. four years ago and brought it home to Seattle. It was overall a fairly simple and painless process. I had great communication with the seller (it helped that they were nice, knowledgeable and organized) before I went. Lots of emails, photos and a phone call or two. I knew in advance what kind of currency they preferred, what were my towing needs to bring it home that day (ball size needed, height from ground to coupler,
electrical wiring type plug, all
lights working, tire condition). Since I was pretty certain I was going to buy it before I went (unless of course they had really misrepresented it), the seller (at my request) had contacted their equivalent of the DMV/DOL and knew what to expect. They are open on Sundays BTW. Anyway, once I made the decision to purchase, she and I went to the Canadian DMV with a bill of sale,
registration and my check book!!! It took about 30 minutes or so. They did charge me $25 or so for a one day permit. Can't exactly remember what that was for. Could have been the tags were expired. Went back, hooked up the trailer, checked all systems and headed out for the border.
My best piece of advice is to MAKE SURE YOU STOP AT THE LOO BEFORE GETTING IN LINE!!!! You may be there a while and there is no public restroom.
I admitted immediately that I had puchased the trailer, they orange carded me and sent me over to the office. They asked me a bunch of expected questions, went out and examined the trailer, couldn't find any sort of ID number and that seemed to bother them. They finally gave up, stamped my papers in triplicate and I was on my way. They are VERY SERIOUS at the border, no nice chat it up, it's all business. Overall, I would do it again and wouldn't be nearly as nervous the second time....oh, and I would stop at the potty before hand!!
Good Luck!