Cross Border Warranty ?

lucey

Member
So what is the consensus as far as getting warranty if you buy a unit from the US and bring it into Canada ? Should Heartland step up and have their dealers warranty a unit if it is not bought from a local dealer ? I would like to hear your thoughts.
 

GOTTOYS

Well-known member
So what is the consensus as far as getting warranty if you buy a unit from the US and bring it into Canada ? Should Heartland step up and have their dealers warranty a unit if it is not bought from a local dealer ? I would like to hear your thoughts.
I'm thinking it's not going to be covered. I don't think cars or trucks bought in the States new and brought into Canada are covered under warranty either. Don't believe it's just a manufacturers thing. I believe the government has a say in it. Several years ago people were buying new cars in Canada and bringing them into the States for resale. I worked for a GM dealer at that time. GM wouldn't honor the warranty on any of them. Called them "Grey Market" cars. Had to bring them back to Canada for any warranty repairs...Don
 

SJH

Past Washington Chapter Leaders
We just had our WA rally last week and a Canadian guest who purchased in WA can't get any dealer to work on his new rig. He mentioned it also has something to do with the fact that US trailers have a RVIA sticker and trailers manufactured for Canada have their own equivalent sticker which is a result of different manufacturing standards with wiring, plumbing etc. I don't know the particulars simply repeating what was told to me.
 

ILH

Well-known member
Actually it's a bit of both - and neither. I looked into this extensively about a year ago when I started shopping for a new 5ver and a TV.

Let me start with cars... all three major manufacturers have reciprocal warranty agreements on vehicles purchased in the US and brought into Canada. Makes sense if you think about it it - many of the vehicles are actually built here in Canada. You MUST dig deeply to find this info on their warranty disclaimers on their websites.

Regarding importing RVs - not a problem doing so from the standloint of Canadian standards. You are required to obtain some documentation and a certification from the manufacturer. A bit of paperwork - but not difficult. Check out the Registrar of Imported Vehicles web site (www.riv.ca).

Tbe difficulty is in the RV dealership industry. Unlike the tightly controlled automotive dealerships (i.e. GM or Ford), there is no requirement to service an RV that was purchase from another location - even though it is of the same brand. It does not matter that it is within the same town, state, province or country. I have been told boldly by dealers that they will not service a new RV that was purchased from any dealer other than themselves.

This attitude by RV dealers blows me away because anybody with half a brain knows that automotive dealerships make their bread and butter off of service, not sales. You would think tbat the RV industry would have matured enough after all these years (and with the advent of the internet) to move closer to the automotive dealership model of sales and service.

Just my two cents worth...
 

jbeletti

Well-known member
Great feedback Ian.

Heartland's warranty is good in Canada if purchased in the US. Your commentary about what some Canadian dealers told you about not servicing an RV not bought from them is prevalent from what I read. And not just in Canada. Over the years, I've read dozens of forum posts about US RV dealers refusing to service RVs not purchased from them. I agree with you - it's crazy!
 

noobee

Well-known member
Let me start with cars... all three major manufacturers have reciprocal warranty agreements on vehicles purchased in the US and brought into Canada. Makes sense if you think about it it - many of the vehicles are actually built here in Canada. You MUST dig deeply to find this info on their warranty disclaimers on their websites.

I believe that this is mis-information. Most vehicle manufacturers WILL NOT honor the warranty in Canada for NEW vehicles purchased in the U.S.
 

jmgratz

Original Owners Club Member
I don't know about another country but another location in the US is what I have experience in. I have not had any difficulty with that as long as I understand up front the dealer will give priority to their own sales customers first. As far as automobile service is concerned we have not had any problems with getting warranty service at a non-selling dealer however our selling dealer will give us specials on routine maintenance (i.e. oil changes, tire rotation and such).
 

Lynn1130

Well-known member
I can't say how this might work in Canada but I use a RV repair shop that does not sell RVs'. I contacted Heartland customer service and got permission to use this shop for warranty repairs. I did this simply because it was an hour drive in freeway traffic to the nearest Heartland dealer and this shop, which I trust, was 15 minutes away. I have to pay up-front for the repairs but Heartland has been quick with the refund and will send parts, in advance to the shop.

I really do not see why this would not work for those owners in Canada but then who knows.
 

brianharrison

Well-known member
I believe that this is mis-information. Most vehicle manufacturers WILL NOT honor the warranty in Canada for NEW vehicles purchased in the U.S.

Ford will.
GM - if you meet certain criteria.
Chrysler will not.

Other manufacturers - all over the map.

Here is a link to some online information summarizing US warranties in Canada. I do not know if it is completely up to date, nor have I confirmed it is completely accurate.

Brian
 

ILH

Well-known member
Ford will.
GM - if you meet certain criteria.
Chrysler will not.

Other manufacturers - all over the map.

Here is a link to some online information summarizing US warranties in Canada. I do not know if it is completely up to date, nor have I confirmed it is completely accurate.

Brian

I know that when I researched it a year or more ago the automobile manufacturers were modifying their rules due to the changing exchange rates and cross-border shopping that was taking place. To this day the price disparities are still huge, with Canadian automobile manufacturers offering discount incentives, rather than reducing their base prices to bring the US/Canadian prices closer together. This only goes to show that the manufacturers still don't trust the market to remain where it is. It is far easier to remove an incentive than raise a price.

Of course, this takes us off topic... bottom line, you can import an RV into Canada - provided you obtain proper paperwork (see www.riv.ca), and apparently the Heartland warranty is transferrable to Canada, but you may experience some issues with getting local dealers to provide warranty work on your rig. Its not so much a US vs Canada thing - more of a "you didn't buy it from us" issue.

In the end, that's what stopped me from looking at dealers in the US (despite better selection and prices). I really wish I had a larger Heartland dealer nearby that sold Cyclones.
 

wonka

Active Member
Lucey
We purchased our Heartland last April from south of the border, talked with a rep prior to buying and was told that any authorized Heartland service dealer would be able to do the work here in the great white north. He also informed me that it might be a painful process as the dealer would not be in a great deal of a rush to complete the work on our purchased elsewhere unit. That being said, we have not had an issue that I couldn't solve myself with help from this awesome forum, and the $$$$ we saved made the decision a no brainer.
 

Birchwood

Well-known member
I am sure Heartland will provide warranty for any of their RV's anywhere in the world.
Don't be missinformed by dealers
 

lucey

Member
Yes you get warranty ! Heartland has been very good to deal with. We do have to pay up front and we used a very good mobile guy here in the Calgary area ! Total bill for the warranty will be in the thousands and will have to see how Heartland coughs up the money. They say 2 week chq cycle. I do have to give credit to Heartland because they are awesome on the phone and get **** done ! Having said that i will NOT pay one single cent to any Calgary Heartland dealer ! I actually had a douch saleman in Red Deer tell me that it was absolutely wrong to buy in the US and that this was Alberta and if you can afford 60,000 you can afford 80,000 !!! This is the kind of mentality that makes my blood boil ! Not everyone is in oil money in Alberta ! Why the **** would i pay 17,000 more ???
 
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