The tiny print on my loan papers

[Joanna]

says "You agree not to remove the vehicle from the U.S. or Canada, or to sell, rent lease or transfer any interest in the vehicle or this contract without our written permission".
I've been happily going to Mexico for diesel at the Pemex station for months now. It's an hour round trip. What do you think? Do all of you who go to Mexico have your vans paid off or get written permission? My loan is from GEMB via Sportsmobile Fresno.

[BroncoHauler]

That sounds like Lease terminology, not Purchase terminology.

Who cares if you take it to Panama, sell it, or decide to drive it into the Rio Grande? You're still responsible for the loan amount.

What made you decide to read the fine print. That much time to kill while you watch the weather channel?


Herb

[adventureduo]

I say as long as you bring it back safely and pay your loan off every month on time, then who cares. Just don't let them know about it.

[msponer]

When I purchased Mexican car insurance there was a notice to check that the bank allows the car to be taken out of the country. It's hard for me to imagine that a Mexican official would ever ask you for this, but I've only taken my own car in Baja California, where we didn't need to do the more formal paperwork for the Temporary Import Permit. I believe you need the temporary import permit if you go further South on the mainland than the border towns.

[Joanna]

Surely you jest, Herb. It looks like Ike is taking a turn to the North, I wonder about Greg in Austin. The surf here on the island is huge though, and it's not supposed to make landfall until early a.m. Saturday.

No, I was perusing the fine print trying to see how making a lump sum payment would affect my loan, ie. could I lower the principal only. The answer after talking to GEMB was yes. I also discovered the farthest in advance I could make regular payments is six months.
When I exit Matamoros with my full tank of diesel, they always check my registration, but don't ask for a pink slip. It'll be a loooong time before I own this van.

[Greg In Austin]

I am going to have to get new glasses befor reading the fine print....
...but if it says not to go to Mexico y'all better not tell them I ever read that !

Ike looks to be headed to the East of Austin, so we will be on the dry side of the storm. We will get some wind and some rain, but it should not be bad. We were actually hoping for some serious rain!

[Joanna]

I have to say, Greg, as a Californian, that this "dry side of the storm" phenomenon is a strange one since to me, a circle is a circle.
But in case this strays too far from all things SMB, would you evacuate your van if there was an insistence from the powers that all RV's move out. Is it a van in that case or an RV?

[Greg In Austin]

J,

That is a very good question.

I have never been in a situation where I had to or was ask to evacuate.
I have however been maroon by storms to the point of not being able to leave home for a few days. We live in an area with one way in and out and it is steep and turning. If we get ice (as we do every few years), there is no getting out. ...and when we get ice we often lose electricity.

We think the SMB helps us be able to stay long with fewer worries.
We have been without electricity for days at times.

We live on a lake, but are lucky enough that the lake itself is not prone to extreme flooding... the creek and pond behind the house though is another story.
We have stuck it out through storms, and I have gone out into the storms in my kayak to rescue neighbors boats that were floating off their lifts and down stream. Those were scary conditions, and in that case I returned home to find an 8 inch limb sticking out of the camper shell of my truck.

....but that is still not the same as knowing I had to leave home....

That is a tough question that and I don't know if I am equiped or experienced enough to know how I would answer or respond in those conditions.

It sounds like you are being asked that question for the second time in a very short period of time.

That is a tough call, and I feel for you.

I know the folks at SMB TX were thinking about you today.

Good luck whatever you decide. You will be in our thoughts and prayers.

[Joanna]

Greg, my mom and I will be OK, your thoughts and prayers have turned the storm significantly North and I am not very worried.

My trip to the beaches and farms in the counties North of here over the Labor Day weekend was instructive. I went to Port Mansfield, which has a modest marina, and I guess is mostly a fishing village (no grocery store but with deer walking around the main streets in broad daylight); the folks there were still clearing debris from the hurricane from more than a month earlier. Now they'll be spared a direct hit, but the storm surge will be significant and this part of Texas is so completely flat and low, you'd have to drive a good while to escape high water. I'm just glad my yacht is a land yacht.

I guess my question re: evacuation of an RV, is that here on the island anyway, they close the bridge when winds get above 55 mph. I've driven vans all my life, but being buffeted in driving rain is no fun. The authorities here require all RV's to leave the island early, since they're so susceptible to being blown around and since most RV'ers are tourists but I am confident of my van's capabilities and my driving, I just wonder where the truth is regarding the designation of the SMB as RV vs. van when safety is the issue or is it just a judgement call.
Oh, and my mother is very stubborn. I need a shoehorn to get her out of her beach-front condo.

[daveb]

Originally Posted by Joanna

I just wonder where the truth is regarding the designation of the SMB as RV vs. van when safety is the issue or is it just a judgement call.

When it comes to insurance I will always call mine a "class B motorhome". Other than that I don't know. If they were to find out everyone was required move out all RV's and it's insured as a class B RV (which I was told it should be), pray nothing happens to it.
Dave