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1.
Importing a Motorhome - Dave O'Hara
This
is how one person purchased and imported an American motorhome Copyright
1999 Dave O'Hara
History
Back
in the 80's we had an XD Falcon ute with a Millard slide on, this was
used on a number of occasions for trips from Sydney, to various
locations within NSW, long weekends away from the stink of the city,
and one major trip around Victoria.
All
very well but we didn't like the cab over bed all that much, and as
time went on Gloria's back injury, from a serious car accident some
years before, started to limit use of this setup. So a new unit was
needed.
I
was a few years away from my planned retirement at 55, Gloria wasn't
working but we wanted to see lots more of our wide brown land. I had
travelled extensivly overseas, and as a youth in the 60's had travelled
around Aus for 3 months with a couple of mates in a FE Holden, Gloria
had done the same and almost at the same time, with a pair of
girlfriends, in a Volkswagen .... we were both closet wanderers waiting
to break out.
Critera
We
had to decide the critera , and importance of same in our choice of a
new Motorhome. We discounted a caravan because both of us hated towing
the things, we were not as nimble as we once were so pop-ups and
trailer style were out as well, we liked the slide on concept, but
wanted a bigger unit with the same one vehicle concept. A Motorhome was
the answer, we wanted low bed that didn't need to be setup and stowed
every day. We hired a Maui unit in NZ a couple of years ago, that had
this setup, having to dismantle your bed to use your lounge, wasn't
what we wanted.
A
lifetime ago I raced motorcycles, and went to England to race at the
Isle of Man, and various european meets, the short story is I wasn't
that good and eventually ran out of sponsorship and funds. I took up
managing a motorcycle shop in Blackpool Lancashire. This lasted 4 years
and in that time my younger brother came to visit with his campervan,
as did various old mates from home, seeing and experiencing the setup
of these vehicles tought me a lot about what I didn't want in a
motorhome. I'd worked as a mechanic for many years, and the last thing
a mechanic wants to do in time off is fix things.
So
our list went like this: Low bed. Separate lounge. Enough room for dog
(corgi), Dual fuel or deisel. Shower separate from the toilet. Fixed
dinette or similar, walk through from cab to rear without a major
hillclimb, no "how many does she sleep" type compromises, this vehicle
was just for us, Gen set on board, good sized fluid tanks, Annexe, a
minimum of having to do mechanical fix it's, as we travel around.
Shopping
We
started looking and pretty quickly discovered a Winnebago was about the
only choice, (Swagman weren't around much then) the 28ft Alpine was
real nice, but so was the price, 135k and considering the low power
unit it's built on we thought, (well, I thought anyway) we could do
better, a second hand classic would set us back 200k a new one 300k,
way outta our reach. So we looked at a some Bus conversions, they were
mainly discounted due to age (most being 25 to 35 yrs old with 500,000
plus k's) and poor mechanical condition, although some were well
modified with good living room, we could see that going down this road
was leading to never ending expense and constant fixing of problems.
Unless
we built one from scratch, which I baulked at, I'm no spring chicken,
and already having a slight back problem plus the fear that I wouldn't
be able to finish something I started. This was also to be ruled out.
We
thought we'd be just buying trouble, in getting a used bus conversion,
mind you this is not saying all rigs were like this, just the ones we
saw.
We
(read I) decided to look at RV's I'd seen in the USA a few years ago.
Computer
What
we did next was impossible 5 years ago, and it's all due to computers
and the internet. First I gathered all the data regarding importing
vehicles, e-mailing the various people and getting hard copies of regs
and laws. NSW RTA, NRTC in Melbourne, FORS in Canberra, ADR's Canberra,
and the Customs and Quarantine office.
Then
an evaluation of what we would need to look for in respect to fitting
within the framework of this overegulated system, (how else do
beauracrats justify their jobs, unless they make more and more
meaningless rules :-)
Once
we worked out our max width, length, height, overhang, axle loadings,
tyre ratings, exit provisions, (must have door on left side or rear),
LP gas laws, electric code, and others I can't remember right now, we
started looking at various internet sites, rvsearch, rvamerica, and a
dozen others.
It
became clear rather early that 95% of American RV's were never going to
get on the road here, overhang being the number one culprit in older
units (5-15 yrs) and width in almost anything made in the last 5 yrs,
the wide body was here to stay. In the USA 102 inch (2.6 m) is the
standard, (even though it's still illegal in 14 States).
Searching
Months
of searching followed, I boiled it down to wheelbase, as a percentage
of overall length, many were found in the 34 Ft Length that would fit
but most were lower level price models and as such didn't have a left
side access door. Or the ones that had access doors had too short a
wheelbase, resulting in being too long in the overhang department.
Eventually
I bit the bullet and decided to restrict my search to rear engine
diesel, medium-long 33- 37 ft, mid 90's, second hand units, these were
the only ones that had most of the criteria, ie: rv's in this pusher
range had left doors, good weight distrubution and width of 96 in. And
the Cummins engine presented few EPA problems.
But
even these bigger units had short wheelbases, most 218 in to 225 in,
occasionally I'd find a 34ft rig but enquires would show the thing had
218 in w/base instead of a 225 in, a 218 in would be line ball on a 34
ft unit, it would depend on front length, and actual measured total
length.
Paydirt
After
7 months of frustration, I found a unit that sounded too good to be
true, a 1994 Allegro Bay??? , never heard of them before, Allegro to me
was a music term "to play louder". I e-mailed the owner for a check on
if it was still for sale and some more specs, back came a set of
figures I didn't believe so I asked the owner if he'd mind measuring up
the figures personally, no problem he said, and back came almost
identical figures, but the main one was 252 in wheelbase on a 36'10"
unit, a quick calculation showed an overhang of 11ft 4in or 3.44m well
under the 3.7m legal limit, the percentage of wheelbase was even better
giving 151 in at 60% and 11ft 4in is only 142 in (sorry about all old
style fig's).
It
had all legal specs, and as far as I can tell, is a one-off. The guy I
purchased it from had it built to order, by Tiffin Motor Homes Red Bay
Alabama, who are one of 45 US motor home builders, and produce 30 plus
units per week. His main reason for special build was he didn't want a
lazy axle.
It's
an Allegro Bus (next model up) chassis with the Bay body, the Bus is
usually 39 to 42 ft long and used the XC Oshkosh chassis, -part of
Freightliner -, now sold as their X-Line chassis. Some features are
12ft Slide out, HWH computer leveling (4 hydraulic Jacks) 7.5 KW onan
diesel Gen set, (dual Voltage) 250hp (mod) Cummins B5.9 turbo diesel, 6
speed Allison MD2060 Auto ranging tranny, and all the other usual
features.
Silver
Linings
Well
now the ball was well and truly in our court, we had to be sure that if
we went there, we would not find some ommited item that threw the whole
deal on the scrap heap. The seller wasn't retiring until next year, so
this gave us plenty of time to raise the money, I suggested a thousand
dollars as a refundable deposit, he agreed.
At
the time I was running my business in Sydney.
These
were also the blackest days of my life.I was trying to deal with a
wheelchair bound mum with cancer, in a nursing home. (Look at all
alternatives before taking this step, it's a daily heartbreak).
My
young brother had gassed himself in his car, over a romance gone wrong.
And my father had a stroke and passed away just after that.
Gloria's
young brother had a heart attack and died while waiting for an
ambulance.
I
was heading for oblivion - fast. I found it very difficult to cope and
the business was suffering. I needed a Holiday..., it never came.... I
had by now developed asthma.
In
Sept 97 mum finally succumbed to cancer.
If
it wasn't for Gloria and my sister in Kangaroo Valley, well ...who
knows.
On
the Move
That
Christmas I asked my head mechanic if he was interested in buying the
business, which he was. Gloria and I booked a 3 week holiday to the US,
March saw us flying north to Los Angeles, then by rental car we drove
to Huntsville Texas.
First
sight of the Allegro was awesome. I hadn't realised it was so high,
3.8m, you can look eye to eye with Kenworth drivers, and it looked like
the XPT (NSW train), we measured it all again, I handed over the
deposit and we all retired to a Texas steakhouse.
Money-Money-Money
(apologies to Abba)
Well
now we had to find the money, and I won't disclose the price paid, as
it was by private negotiation between the buyer and seller, however it
was well within our budget of $ 60,000. and to date we are on track for
a total costing of under $140,000 aussie dollars.
In
1979 I returned from England , stone cold broke. This bit of the tale
is not meant to be in any way a put down, or me being a smart ass.
By
working 7 days for several years I managed to build a successful
business, to the point that I invested heavily in real estate, I owned
two good houses, a shop and self contained flat above the shop, this
was in August 98 less than 20 years since coming back. It simply proves
what we all know, this is the greatest country in the world to get
ahead, if you are prepared to work hard, and don't listen to the fast
buck or doomsday merchants.
I
sold both houses, and invested in a pension fund, then used most of the
rest to pay up debts, as well as funds for purchase of the RV. Still
holding the shop and flat, (both rented out).
On
the money side some may say I was lucky, I disagree, I worked hard
invested wisely and never married, ask anyone over 45 with no kids what
they would like most....
But
still, I had fantastic highs, and terrible lows. Now I count many
unseen motorhomers out there as friends and riches, fellow travellers,
all enjoying, in their own unique way our fantastic land. The more we
travel and put faces to names the richer we get.
Back
to the Future
Well
it's back to the USA, and our future motorhome, on my own this time for
four months. Part of the deal if you want to bring a vehicle into
Australia as a personal import is that you must have owned and used the
vehicle for 3 months outside Australia.
The
trick is, if you go to the USA you can go without a visa for periods up
to 3 months, for longer stays you need a visa, and that's fun to get,
armed guards outside the consular office and metal detectors at the
door, you need to allow six weeks and about $150 for this whole process.
Don't
imagine that because your visa says you have 12 months, that's what
you'll get. When you go through US immigration, it's up to the person
there to evaluate you on the spot, one smart or uncertain answer and
you get 3 months only, then your up the creek without a paddle, you
can't comply with our 3 month rule if you can only stay there 3 months.
Only a reasonable story and lots of smiles will get you 6 months.
Once
in the US don't use their inter city coach system, that is unless you
want to run the risk of getting mugged; air travel and car hire are
cheap and plentyful.
Rules
...Rules ...and more Rules
It
takes quite a while to get paperwork through the US DMV system, they
are about as efficent as our RTA was 15 years ago, you have to get the
registration changed to your name, allow at least 2 months if you have
to post to another state or 2 to 3 weeks if local, also don't forget
they have transfer fees just like here, and some states are as high as
6.5% of purchase price, if they suspect you have given a dud price they
determine the value by trade blue book, top retail value, plus a
penalty. And forget tax free states, you have to produce a income tax
statement and a current US drivers licence.
Like
here you've got to have insurance, our ctp is not known there, you get
liability insurance. Farm & City is good for RV's. if you don't
have this type of insurance and you injure someone, you firstly go to
gaol, then if you have insurance you get released on bail, and your
passport is confiscated until insurance is settled, (not paid, just
settled) then you pay your fine and away you go. Don't get caught for
any traffic violations, they issue on the spot fines where you can pay
by mail, but not if you are driving on a non US licence, you are taken
from wherever you were stopped to the police station, and must pay the
fine with cash or if you are lucky a credit card, this was by way of
advice, not personal experience.
You
don't want to think about not having insurance, besides you can't
register your RV without insurance in some states.
Now
you head off and enjoy driving a big RV on the US interstate system ...
Okay
you've had your fun, 3 months has gone and it's time to go.
Find
a customs export firm such as AFS long beach CA, do your export out of
US paperwork and wait 21 days for your export approval, Oh! don't
forget your Australian Federal Office of Road Saftey, (FORS) import
document, that can take a month to six weeks to get Australian approval
to import the vehicle into Australia, this is where you will need your
proof of overseas stay, (Passport pages), proof of ownership and use
overseas for 3 months, (Rego; 3 months only counts from date reg; in
your name, and don't forget that could have been two months after you
arrived) you may also need reciepts for fuel RV parks etc.
My
head is starting to hurt with all this, so I'll go back to what I did.
Alaska
Air
On
arrival at San Francisco International, I went to the domestic section
and bought a ticket on Alaska Air to Portland Oregon, and then on to
Redmond , where I would be picked up and taken to Bend, a city a bit
bigger than Taree NSW.
The
owners of the A-Bay had been transfered there from Texas.
The
flight was on a 767 and took 2 hrs, it was the most informal flight
I've ever been on, the classic was in the safety talk, pointing to
where the air masks would drop from, the stewardess said "place the
mask on your face and if you have a small child next to you, or someone
who is acting like a small child".
On
the Road
After
a month of waiting, the paperwork and insurance cover note (Binder)
came through and I was on the road, driving a 9 tonne left hand drive
RV down the other side of the road, to say I was a little nervous would
be an understatement.
Most
of what happens for the next few months is pretty straightforward
tourist stuff, a few things to note, when making a right turn at
lights, if they are red you MUST turn, if safe to do so. Buy a Rand
McNally road atlas at Wal-Mart, about 6 dollars, has a wealth of info
re; rest areas that you can and can't overnight at, as well as where
all the Wal-Mart stores are, (free 1 night stop, in car park).
Interstate numbers have a system, even numbers go east-west, odd
numbers go north-south, Exit numbers are equal to mileage from the
state line, comes in handy for pre planning. And forget any old ideas
about 55 speed limits most I/S's are around 75 mph (120 K). 80 to 85
(130-140K) was not difficult to maintain in desert areas, just keep the
CB on ch-19, radar detectors are legal. And yes the A-Bay easily does
140, at 2450rpm, (max 2800 rpm) nothing like doing 140 and an 18
wheeler thunders past at 160 plus causing air turbulance that drags
your 9 tons off line.
Telephones
are hopeless, there are about 10 different main carriers and dozens of
minor companies, you buy a telephone card say at&t, and you can
only use the card in that company's phones, you have wander around
looking at the phones to find one that's at&t, in the end you
carry a sack of quarters and dimes, local calls are 35c, mobile
(cellular) forget it ours are incompatable with the US system, besides
you pay for air time (incoming and outgoing calls) plus daily rate and
long distance extra charges.
Side
lights
I
forgot to mention that Gloria joined me at Christmas, I met her in LA
and we were supposed to go to New York, but they had the worst blizzard
in 10 years right through the north, and many roads were closed, I
didn't feel like buying snow chains at $350 a set for just one long
trip, so we went back to Oregon, to try once more at getting the rig
registered, in my name in Oregon -we failed- and it was 16 below as
well.
She
flew back home at the end of January, and I headed back to Texas to
visit my cousin in Houston, a hot humid city very similar in climate to
Sydney: 8th biggest city, at around 8 million people.
I
also spent a month at the Tiffin factory in Red Bay Alabama, over
thanksgiving 98, and you wouldn't want to know it, Red Bay is in
Franklin county Alabama, one of only a handfull of counties that are
dry, no alcohol whatsoever, so even though I learned a lot about how
Motorhomes are built and repaired, and got stacks of spares, it was a
dry old time.
On
the Homeward Trail
Well
it's time to head to Long Beach CA, part of the Los Angeles County, but
a city in itself. All the export permits had been obtained, and import
approval was granted, next was to Terminal Island and load the unit on
a 40ft container, main awning and rear view mirrors had to come off,
fuel level no more than quarter tank, no propane, and batteries
disconnected. It was lifted by two forklifts acting together, tynes
under the wheels, I couldn't watch as it went way up in the air and
lowered onto the container that was already on a semi flatbed, a
perfect job, spot on the right place. I climbed a ladder and opened the
door to get in and lower the hydraulic jacks, then lifted bonnet and
shut down the batteries, locked her up and caught a cab to the Tasman
Motel Palo Verde, just acros the bay from Long Beach.
It
felt strange to have so much room to move around in, after months of
living in the A-Bay, I wasn't sure I liked it any more, the RV was much
quieter, (50mm foam filled walls). It didn't take long to acclimatise.
See a couple of movies $1 mid-day sessions, Mel Gibson "Payback" which
when I saw it here on release (not my choice) was censored to the US
version.
Home
After
a long flight, I was home, and although I enjoyed my time there I can
truly say there is no place like home, especially if it's Australia, I
could not live in the USA full time. It's a close call, but we've got a
better lifestyle, less pressure day to day, and a scone is a scone, not
a biscuit.
28
Days later on the "Direct Jabriu" the A-Bay sailed past the opera
house, under the harbour bridge and like millions of immigrants, docked
at Darling Harbour.
Due
to my poor choice of a customs agent, things got a bit messy, by this
time I knew more about importing a M/H than the agent, he got the duty
wrong by thousands of dollars, caused delays because of his inability
to process the correct customs clearances, etc etc..... There was a
funny up side to this, prior to clearing customs, it had to be
transferred to bond storage, but the container it was sitting on had to
stay at the wharf. I had to go down to the wharf and raise the jacks.
There I am, on my own hooking up the batteries, starting the engine and
raising the jacks, all without another soul around, if I'd had anything
illegal on board I could have pocketed it there and then. This happened
three times for various reasons, then when the A-Bay was in bond
storage, the customs flying squad pounced and I had to go to the bond
store and deal with the "supprise" inspection, it was all I could do
not to burst out laughing. Probably if customs find out by someone
reading this they may change their procedures, but I doubt it.
The
A-Bay cleared inspection, I paid the duty, 47.5% of purchase price,
quarantine cleaned the wheel wells, and all the "contaminated" water
formed puddles on the ground at Mascot and trucks splashed through it
carrying whatever to all parts of Australia. I watched on and shook my
head. Fitted the mirrors and drove out to a mate's place not far away.
2am I headed out with A-Bay and made it to Ingleburn, and that's where
she still is, looking very sad with all the front end off (except
windscreens) and I'm into the big conversion. Nobody was interested in
doing it as a paid job, too big for our factory was most common story,
although now I see an ad in the Wanderer .....all too late.