Queenzlander
Free Member
G'day,
Our trip this summer, starts in Leeds where we will pick up our Vantage Neo Campervan. As Australian’s we purchased the Neo as a Personal Export, therefore saving the VAT. We have 12 months to Export it out of the UK / EU and took advantage of that with 3 months touring the UK in 2014.
Import into Australia is by the SEVS (Specialist and Enthusiast Scheme) where certain approved vehicles can be issued a Vehicle Import Certificate (VIC). A number of Motorhomes are on the SEVS list including Swifts, Burstner and Autotrail. Once in Australia vehicles need to comply (similar to EU standards) and Vantage has been a great help in this regard. They had a kilometre speedometer fitted and made sure 240v wiring was up to Australian standards, even fitting the Australian sockets, although this can be done in Australia.
From Leeds we’ll be traveling down to Southampton to place the Van on a Roll On Roll Off Ferry to Halifax in Canada. There we overland for three months to Los Angeles, then put the Van on another RO/RO ship to Brisbane.
While the Van is in it’s 9 day trip to Halifax we will fly to New York, for a look see, then up to Halifax to pick up the Neo. The Fiat Ducato is marketed as the Dodge Promaster Ram in the US/Canada, although it’s only the petrol version. Winnebago sell a camper version called Travato, although dearer than the Vantage at US$86,000, it is not up to the standard of UK manufacturers.
From Halifax our plans are: Niagara Falls, Mount Rushmore, Yellowstone Park, Banff National Park, Yosemite, Death Valley, Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, Los Angeles. We have three months to do this (90 day visa). Cities don’t interest us much, National Parks do.
We hope to do as much free camping as possible and hopefully the Vantage will not require electrical hookup (110v), the Van has 180w solar and two aux. batteries. Everything on the Neo is battery powered and hopefully the Van’s charger will keep the laptop and camera’s charged.
Three questions:
Our trip this summer, starts in Leeds where we will pick up our Vantage Neo Campervan. As Australian’s we purchased the Neo as a Personal Export, therefore saving the VAT. We have 12 months to Export it out of the UK / EU and took advantage of that with 3 months touring the UK in 2014.
Import into Australia is by the SEVS (Specialist and Enthusiast Scheme) where certain approved vehicles can be issued a Vehicle Import Certificate (VIC). A number of Motorhomes are on the SEVS list including Swifts, Burstner and Autotrail. Once in Australia vehicles need to comply (similar to EU standards) and Vantage has been a great help in this regard. They had a kilometre speedometer fitted and made sure 240v wiring was up to Australian standards, even fitting the Australian sockets, although this can be done in Australia.
From Leeds we’ll be traveling down to Southampton to place the Van on a Roll On Roll Off Ferry to Halifax in Canada. There we overland for three months to Los Angeles, then put the Van on another RO/RO ship to Brisbane.
While the Van is in it’s 9 day trip to Halifax we will fly to New York, for a look see, then up to Halifax to pick up the Neo. The Fiat Ducato is marketed as the Dodge Promaster Ram in the US/Canada, although it’s only the petrol version. Winnebago sell a camper version called Travato, although dearer than the Vantage at US$86,000, it is not up to the standard of UK manufacturers.
From Halifax our plans are: Niagara Falls, Mount Rushmore, Yellowstone Park, Banff National Park, Yosemite, Death Valley, Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, Los Angeles. We have three months to do this (90 day visa). Cities don’t interest us much, National Parks do.
We hope to do as much free camping as possible and hopefully the Vantage will not require electrical hookup (110v), the Van has 180w solar and two aux. batteries. Everything on the Neo is battery powered and hopefully the Van’s charger will keep the laptop and camera’s charged.
Three questions:
- Will the electric hookup on 110v charge the aux batteries at a slower rate? Saving the need for a power up transformer to 240v!
- Is the Diesel in the USA a dirtier fuel and will this present problems?
- Is Autogas, used for cooking as we have a fixed tank, available at Service Stations throughout Canada and USA and what adaptor is needed?