import flx into canada

[jimsflx]

hi guys maybe some one knows if a 69 flxliner title as a motor home finished conversion can be brought into canada and titled there ?thanks jim

[Timkar]

Hi Jim,
Yes, any bus which has been converted, and was built before January 1, 1971 can be imported....

http://www.tc.gc.ca/roadsafety/safevehicles/importation/usa/vafus/list2/Section2_0.htm

HTH...Tim

[jimsflx]

tim thankyou very much jim

[la chiva]

hey Jim

be carefull do your homework carefully to  import bus before 71 is not really an issue
they let you import it no problem but the problem is when you go to plate it they don't let you
do it for safety issue if the bus was not built to canada safety standard i gave up on a old flx because of that  Daniel

[belfert]

Canadian provinces sometimes want proof from the manufacturer that all recall work has been done on a vehicle before it can be registered.  If the company is no longer in business you can't get that letter.  IAN from BNO imported a GM bus into Canada, but was unable to register it as he couldn't get a recall letter from GM.  He ended up scrapping the bus.

[akroyaleagle]

Banish the word bus from your vocabulary!

You do not have a bus.

You have a motorhome.

When Government officials hear "bus", suddenly all rules applicable to commercial operations arise.
Think "motorhome, mh, mh, mh". Never think of your coach as a "bus".

Jim provided you with the reference. I haven't been on it for several years but I think the date "1971" may possibly be amended to a later year. There is something like "older than 25 years" which may change the status to something like antique, collecter, etc.

Also, remember, you do not have a bus so make sure to ferret out the appropriate sections of the regs.

I got interested in this subject the other way when I imported a "motorhome" from Canada to Alaska, USA. This was a Western Flyer, made in Winnepeg. If it was sold in the US it would have been called a AM General. So it's possible, if I had known all that then, I could just have had the Auction people put AM General on the BOS.

Calling this vehicle a mh was a real stretch! It had a old kitchen from a house and a house toilet and bathtub in it. That's all! It was also flaming pink. The first time my 4 yr old Grandaughters saw it,  they said "Oh, Grandpa bought a Barbie Bus", it became known as that until I sold it seveal years later. That is another story.

I never could get straight answers. In Alberta, there is no title. Vehicles are apparently sold on a "Bill of Sale".

I sent the Canadian BOS to my daughter in Alaska and got a temporary (90 days as I remember) registration, A Alaska Title pending importation, and Alaska plates virtually overnight. The reason for the temp registration was because the vehicle was a diesel and exempt from the "Calif type" emission program in Anchorage. I had to physically present the rig to a certified IM shop, in Anchorage, so someone could say "Yep, looks like a diesel to me". I paid for the certificate and went to DMV and got a two year registration. In Anchorage, the first time any diesel engine is registered, it must have that inspection. Once it's in the record as a diesel, it's always there. So you later can just pay for the window exemption decal.

I arrived at US Customs on the Alcan not at all sure what I was going to experience and prepared to abandon the "bus" motorhome. What ensued was one of the most painless transactions I have ever had with Government "Officials". The whole thing took less than 15 minutes. This was 2000. The rig was a 74 model. Therefore, it met the 25 yr rule as an antique and NO customs duties were assessed. The Customs Supervisor handled this and never entered the outfit. The data plate was just inside the front door and he simply verified the VIN from outside on the ground.

Always research any dealings with "Officials" and find out what they want to hear and tell them that.

I have no printable suggestions on how to deal with the TSA. So I just don't fly until and if we get our country back!