New from NM

[SteveInNewMexico]

Greetings to all! I've been reading forums here for several months. Now we have an '02 Tacoma v6 and have begun the search for a compatible 5th wheel.

I feel there won't a question that can't be answered by FiberglassRV members.

Here is a question: is it hard to import an RV from Canada?

[Bob Miller]

Importing is fairly easy if it is 25 or more years old. Those less than that run into a few complication having to do with them being US DOT certified or not. There is a good write up on this at the site <<<fiberglass-rv-4sale.com>>> as well as a number of US and Canadian listings of FGRV's for sale.


Did you have an existing trailer that's for sale in Canada in mind. Tell us the make and year and you should get some suggestions.


Also search this site for "Importing" as there were several recent discussions that will help.

[Jon in AZ]

If you do a search, or look in the Money Matters section of the forum, you'll find a number of threads on the topic. The short answer is... maybe.

Trailers over 25 years old are no problem, as they are considered antiques and don't require a U.S. DOT certification. That covers quite a few- all the old Bolers and Trilliums and older BIgfoots.

Newer than 25 years depends on the manufacturer. Either the trailer must already have a DOT compliance sticker affixed, or the manufacturer must be willing to supply a letter indicating same. The main problem seems to be with pre-bankruptcy Bigfoots, as the new owner will not issue compliance letters. Not sure exactly what year that happened.

[SteveInNewMexico]

Thanks for the answers! (Need to find my way around this site.)

Have been looking at a Bigfoot, '84 I believe, on classifieds here, or on Kijiji(?). Certainly old enough not to need DOT certification. Thought paperwork could be a problem.

[Fran L]

We bought a 2008 Escape trailer from a seller in British Columbia. The Escape company helped out with the paperwork and it worked out fine. We could NOT get a NM tag ahead of time to bring up to BC with us for the return trip, but we took the tag off the previous trailer we owned and stuck it on there for the return trip and then registered it when we got home. We figured we would be less likely to be pulled over if we had a tag on it. We planned to just show the sales and import paperwork if we got stopped.
The NM DMV initially had some difficulty with the way trailers are titled in Canada but we got it worked out. The local AAA office in Albuquerque was very helpful.