Importing 2006 Monaco Camelot 42DSQ to Canada

[bjbear]

I am thinking of buying a 2006 Monaco Camelot 42DSQ from a friend here in Arizona and importing it into Canada.

Has anyone done this and have any advice? One of the things I see it will need is a metric spedometer. Is this a difficult installation? ... or a hard to find item?

I am aware of the process as I have imported a car before. Just wondering if there is anything unique to a motorhome that I should be aware of?

[michelb]

Just to add a bit of information to the thread (even if it's been buried for almost a year), one of the requirements to import into Canada is that you need a Recall Clearance Letter from the chassis manufacturer. For most Class As, that's Spartan or Freightliner so it's not an issue but you have to be careful as some coaches use custom chassis (E.g. CC, Monaco / Holiday Rambler, some National RVs, Western RV / Alpine, etc) - if you can't get the Recall Clearance letter, you can't import the RV to Canada. Monaco is still around after being bought out a few times but I'm not sure if they issue Recall Letters for Roadmaster chassis so you'd want to confirm that before purchasing (I thought I had read somewhere that they do not).

On a related note, there's a debate on whether you need it from just the chassis manufacturer or both the chassis manufacturer and the coach builder. I've imported 4 class A's since around 2006. For the first one I had recall letters from both but since then, I've only had the one from the chassis manufacturer and it's never been a problem (including importing a National Tradewinds on a Freightliner chassis from a manufacturer (National RV) that was no longer in business).

[bjbear]

JaxDad wrote:

bjbear wrote:
Good information. However, I checked on the Alberta Transportation website and I discovered that a few years ago, they enacted legislation to make the RVIA certification equal to the CSA. Either will do.

Absolutely correct, the US standard was tightened up a little so both are the same now. Note I said "now". However, it is NOT retroactive. That change was in November 2009, and was then ONLY to the Alberta Vehicle Equipment Regulation, Alta Reg. 122 / 2009. The Life Safety Reg's didn't change until about 2016.

What year is the unit you are talking about importing?

2006

[JaxDad]

bjbear wrote:
Good information. However, I checked on the Alberta Transportation website and I discovered that a few years ago, they enacted legislation to make the RVIA certification equal to the CSA. Either will do.

Absolutely correct, the US standard was tightened up a little so both are the same now. Note I said "now". However, it is NOT retroactive. That change was in November 2009, and was then ONLY to the Alberta Vehicle Equipment Regulation, Alta Reg. 122 / 2009. The Life Safety Reg's didn't change until about 2016.

What year is the unit you are talking about importing?

[bjbear]

JaxDad wrote:

moisheh wrote:
Do not listen to that CSA nonsense. Most of that post is just scare tactics. None of the info is first hand. Just hearsay.

Moisheh

Here's the "hearsay" on the CSA 'nonsense' straight from the government of Manitobas website.

Government of Manitoba hearsay on CSA nonsense.

This is probably the 6th or 7th time my friend has raised this issue. I've yet to see a factual rebuttal.

Good information. However, I checked on the Alberta Transportation website and I discovered that a few years ago, they enacted legislation to make the RVIA certification equal to the CSA. Either will do.

Also, someone had told me that the odometer had to be in kilometers. Looks like that is not true. As long as there is a km scale on the speedometer that is satisfactory.

[JaxDad]

moisheh wrote:
Do not listen to that CSA nonsense. Most of that post is just scare tactics. None of the info is first hand. Just hearsay.

Moisheh

Here's the "hearsay" on the CSA 'nonsense' straight from the government of Manitobas (his home Province, although he's changed his location now to "North America") website.

Government of Manitoba hearsay on CSA nonsense.

This is probably the 6th or 7th time my friend has raised this issue. I've yet to see a factual rebuttal.

[moisheh]

Do not listen to that CSA nonsense. Most of that post is just scare tactics. None of the info is first hand. Just hearsay.

Moisheh

[moisheh]

post deleted

[JaxDad]

I've done several, in both directions as a matter of fact.

The one bit of advice I can offer is; Don't forget the required safety items. Prior to about 2016 the safety standards were not the same on both sides of the border.

Despite what a LOT of people will tell you, the RVIA certificate / seal by the door is NOT good enough. Canadian law requires compliance with, and proof of, CSA Z-240 safety standard.

The problem is, even though compliance is mandatory, nobody checks for it.

When a buddy of mine imported his unit he was pretty surprised when the insurance company refused to insure it because it didn't meet Canadian standards.

In some provinces it's not even legal to offer for sale or rent an RV that isn't CSA Z-240 compliant.

[GREGORYJ]

You will need to get a letter from the RV chassis manufacturer that there are no re-calls, or if there are , proof that they have been completed. Be sure the RVIA sticker is on the body. When Canadian Tire did the RIV check for daytime running lights,etc on mine, they looked at this sticker which indicated it meet electrical and plumbing standards. Our speedometer was in both miles and kilometers. Since the RV is being exported from the US, a new procedure for exporting vehicles from US to Canada started the the fall of 2014. You need someone in the US certified to file the AES documents for you. see: https://www.cbp.gov/trade/basic-import-export/export-docs/motor-vehicle
These services can be found at many border crossing points, here is one
at a border crossing into Manitoba as an example : http://www.mvpautoexport.com/

[Beverley_Ken]

I don't see any need to change the speedometer, our 06 was purchased new in Ontario and the speedometer, primary dial is MPH, odometer is in miles.
I just think 50 kmh is about 30, 80 is about 50 and so on, no issues since 2007. As someone else suggested, use the gps for more accurate speeds.

Ken

[cvbdsl]

"Also, how difficult and/or expensive it might be to change the speedometer/odometer to a metric unit. "

Ok, if you are sure it is onlyonly in MPH you may have an issue as replacing the speedometer/odometer could involve some hoops as you will be/could be changing the mileage on the coach. This could be flagged at vehicle registration or flagged on any future car reports(eg CarFax).
I had a coach where there was an electrical issue and the odometer had been reset to zero under the previous owner.
I had to provide signed statements to vehicle registration saying why the mileage was now 40K less than the previous registration.
Not a great big deal, but it was an issue.It still showed up as an issue in CarFax when I sold the coach.

My current 2003 DSDP has both miles and kph. KPH is in small print - I use my GPS as my primary speedometer in Canada. When in the US, everything is good.

If you go that route get everything documented just to be safe.

Chris

[Ava]

When I brought my older motorhome over the border I was expecting a federal and provincial inspection. I put a set of driving lights on it and the speedo had both km and mph. Got to the border paid the taxes, got my licence plates, insurance and nothing else was needed. Because of the age of mine, it was exempt from any inspection. The age makes a big difference in what is required.

[doxiemom11]

Our Monaco has both mph and metric on it. Maybe take a look at that speedometer again. Outer numbers larger - mph - inner smaller less bold numbers metric.

[bjbear]

Jarvis1 wrote:
Better have a look at the CCRA website. There is a list acceptable vehicles, taxes and paper work requirements

I have imported a vehicle all ready so am aware of the process. Was hoping that someone would be able to tell me if there was anythng not on the variuos websites dedicated to importing vehicles that I needed to know to avoid any surprises.

Also, how difficult and/or expensive it might be to change the speedometer/odometer to a metric unit.