Hi All,
New to the Barth family with a 1989 38 footer. I live in Alberta, Canada and have imported this unit from Kentucky. Red tape requires that I get proof of recall clearance documentation for the vehicle. My understanding is that Barth as a manufacturer is no longer in operation and so I am looking for insight as to who to contact to find out if there have been any recalls on this unit. Can anyone help?

BTW, this site is unreal. It has already become one of my favorites . . . will post some pics and tale of my recent journey up to Lethbridge from Kentucky.

Thanks,
Ian

Hi Ian,

Welcome to the site. We have several Canadians who frequent the site. I think the expert on Canadian laws concerning motorhomes is Jim Nother jimnother@hotmail.com Jim bought an awesome '98 38XL and finally had to resell it before ever successfully getting it registered in Canada. Unfortunately Barth did not value their sales numbers in Canada therefore did not do there homework. But contact Jim he knows what years need what and how to get it.

Best of luck and send them pictures.



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Opportunity always knocks at the least opportune moment.

1985 28 foot Regal
Dave and Deb Bowers

Do you mean he had to sell his newly purchased Barth just because of PAPERWORK?!!!

Thanks Dave, I have sent off an email and will wait for his insight. Apparently any Barth newer than 1995 or 1996 is inadmissable for registration in Canada so it seems that he would not have been able to register his unit. As to why the newer ones are indadmissable, who knows. Maybe it's just a ploy by a U.S. lobby group of Barth owners to keep these beauties from leaving the country!

Bill, that is exactly the case. Barth never did the DOT paperwork required to sell in Canada. I talked with Jim about this several times and it's hard to believe but he kind of laughed about it and took it in stride. I would be having panic attacts and wanting to sue someone. But he ended up selling it after puting $9K of paint and body fixes.

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Opportunity always knocks at the least opportune moment.

1985 28 foot Regal
Dave and Deb Bowers

I was all excited about that 1988 33foot down in California. Thought I might move up 10 years from my 78 34 foot until I looked up the vehicle regulations on the Government of Canada site. It says quite specifically under Barth that only 1992 to 1996 are admissiable and all other years are not admissiable. That was clear enought for me as I have had dealings with the Feds on other matters.

Hi Big Bear,

However, one thing I think I know for sure is that there is another earlier cutoff like 1983. (don't quote me on that date) but if it is earlier than what ever date that is you can do it.

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Opportunity always knocks at the least opportune moment.

1985 28 foot Regal
Dave and Deb Bowers

I read the Cdn regs on importing vehicles and it indicates (in Section 2)that "all vehicles 15 years or older are admissible" providing you can prove it by the date of manufacture. At the top of Section 5 (RV section) it indicates this and refers you back to Section 2 - even though in the Barth section it says only the 93-96 are admissable. So - I the way I read it is that you can import 1992-1996 PLUS those 15 years or older so that includes any Barth mfg up to and including 1988 and if you wait til January you could bring in a 1989...but I would email them for clarification (info@riv.ca). "The vehicle must be certified by the final stage manufacturer as meeting all Federal US Motor Vehicle Safety Standards by either a compliance label affixed to the vehicle at the time of assembly, or, a letter from the original manufacturer and the final stage manufacturer indicating the same information as would have been on the compliance label. "


[This message has been edited by Linda (edited November 27, 2003).]

[This message has been edited by Linda (edited November 27, 2003).]

Whenever I am in a hissy fit about the Feddul Gummint, I will think of this and realize some folks have it worse. At least in some ways.

No worries, got all the paperwork and inspections finished off today. The real "skinny" on the admissable/not admissable question is that all Class A motorhomes built prior to 1991 are admissable, regardless of manufacturer. For those built after, admissability varies for each manufacturer, i.e. Barth 1992-96 are o.k. but anything later is not admissable. If your motorhome is more than 15 years old then you don't even have to register it with the Registrar of Imported Vehicles (RIV) and thus don't have to pay the registration fee of several hundred dollars.

As for the recall declaration they require, they will accept a written declaration from the importer (me!) that the manufacturer is no longer in business and that to the best of my knowledge, there are no outstanding recalls on the vehicle. A quick trip to the NHTSA web-site confirmed no recalls are listed.

Trust me, even the people are RIV were confused about the admissablility dates but we've got them all straightened out. In summary, if a motorhome is more than 15 years old, you can import any make or model without restriction and you do not have to register with RIV. If it is less than 15 years old but built prior to 1991, once again you can import any Class A you want but you must pay a registration fee to RIV and have their out of country inspection done at Canadian Tire. That inspection will determine if you have to modify your vehicle with metric speedo labels or have daytime running lights installed or have your airbags inspected. From 1992 onward you better check the admissability list at WWW.RIV.CA to see if there is any chance at all that you can import and register your vehicle.

Here's the kicker . . . since mine has a manufacture date of NOV. 1988, I was only 6 weeks away from that 15 year deadline and had I simply parked it in Cut Bank or Great Falls, MT for 6 weeks I could have avoided all of this. Anyhow, she's all free and clear now and has been winterized and now just the open road awaits . . . it's opening week-end at Castle Mountain with the best snow in 20 years. I am going to sleep very well.

Cheers,
Ian

Congrats to you Ian for wading through all the red tape successfully....I am wondering what percentage duty the Canada Customs charge for importing an rv? I am sure they got their cut right up front.

Linda