Selecting & Buying 12 volt Fridge for 3 month road trip

[Oz_Traveller]

Hi Everyone
Have just found this site and love the information here. WE are an Australian couple planning a three month road trip around
US May- Aug 2015. We camp a lot in Australia and own two Engels here and would never travel without a good fridge now. We will not be camping on this trip, staying at hotels and private vacation rentals so the fridge is for breakfasts, healthy lunches, drinks etc. To save money and avoid unhealthy food.

We already own an AWD SUV which is in British Columbia so we will start from there. Have been trying to find info, pricing etc on getting a smallish fridge to take in the car. Looking at something like the Waeco(Dometic) 35liter or TravelBox 31 litre. Not sure about the quality of the cheaper ones, Whynter/EdgeStar.
So I am looking for reccomendations. The problem that I have is that I want to either have a fridge shipped to relatives in BC so will have when we get there or pick one up as soon as we cross the border in Washington. As I do not have a US address I think we would need to pick one up at a national store , such as CAmping World.
If there is anyone who can reccomend a retailer in WAshington or a online place either in Canada or who ships to Canada I would love to hear you advice on how to go about this.
Thanks
Oz_Traveller

 

[Mushin_Noshin]

Home Depot has Whynter fridges on their website. They ship all over. Or you can pick it up in any of their stores. I like mine and have had no problems at all with it.

 

[VanIsle_Greg]

Kakadu Camping in Richmond sells a number of 12v fridges.

http://www.kakaducamping.com/collections/refrigeration

Great guy to deal with too. Not as cheap as some of the stuff out of the US, but not far off. I have seen a Dometic in action, and it is a very nice unit. I have also seen the Edgestar units and they are also VERY nice. You could pre-order one in the US and have it shipped to a pick up spot in WA close to where you cross into the US. There may be some retailers in WA that sell them too?

Have a great trip!

 

[cruiseroutfit]

Fwiw there are shipping depots in any of the major US/Canada border towns that will receive a shipment from anywhere else in the US and let you drive over and pick it up. Very common for Canadians to have it shipped to said places and they drive down & pick it up. That way you don't have to feel cornered into a model that isn't appropriate for your needs. Seeing as you're familiar with Engel offerings, their full lineup is available here in the US as well. We've sold a handful of the MT17 units for smaller applications with great results.

 

[LandCruiserPhil]

I ordered my Waeco from American RV several years ago. They were the best price at the time

http://www.americanrvcompany.com/Do...efPDZCMfSdpgUrOKifQcbvnRxSR-MGC28RxoCohXw_wcB

 

[Oz_Traveller]

Home Depot has Whynter fridges on their website. They ship all over. Or you can pick it up in any of their stores. I like mine and have had no problems at all with it.

Yes, I can see that and also Walmart has them listed but the Canadian site for both of these has nothing at all. Is this something that Canadians have problems with, from what I can find, it seems that the range is very limited in Canada and pricing also much more expensive.
We have a chain here that is similar to Home Depot and sells the cheaper end products. The main advantage that they offer is an excellent return policy, so if you have a problem you can just return it to the nearest store, no need to go to where you purchased and get refund/exchange. Does Home Depot or Walmart offer this?
cheers
OZ Traveller

 

[Oz_Traveller]

Kakadu Camping in Richmond sells a number of 12v fridges.

http://www.kakaducamping.com/collections/refrigeration

Great guy to deal with too. Not as cheap as some of the stuff out of the US, but not far off. I have seen a Dometic in action, and it is a very nice unit. I have also seen the Edgestar units and they are also VERY nice.

Have a great trip!

Thanks for that, not so fussed about brand except that if we decide to bring it back here an Engel or a WAeco we can easily get a 240volt lead for it and use it here. I do know that with the Engel we have no trouble running off a standard cigarette light plug. I would like to buy in Canada but it seems they get a pretty raw deal deal there compared to US. We Australians are used to that as well but with these fridges the prices seem to actually be higher than we pay, firsts time I have ever seen that.
Probably because they are very common over here, seems that more of a specialty item over there.
But probably no great advantage to bring it back, assuming we can offload it on Ebay or similar before we leave.

 

[FJR Colorado]

Maybe buy it in Oregon and save the sales tax

 

[dennismc]

You might try contacting Mule Expedition Outfitters in Seattle Wa. The carry ARB and also rent some products. I've had several dealings with them and they are great people to deal with.

 

[Oz_Traveller]

Maybe buy it in Oregon and save the sales tax

I didn' realise would be so comlicated, what is the tax difference between your states? I have also been looking for 2nd hand and found this one in British Columbia. I enquired and it is 100 litre which is way too big for what we want but maybe someone on here would be interested.
http://www.kijiji.ca/v-freezer/pent...portable-refrigerator-freezer-ac-d/1036256367

Thanks everyone for all your input and I will be back with more questions, I am sure.
cheers
Oz_Travelleor

 

[toyotech]

Home Depot has Whynter fridges on their website. They ship all over. Or you can pick it up in any of their stores. I like mine and have had no problems at all with it.

my Home Depot doesnt sell these at the store. only online. Does some have them in the store?

 

[TomOwen]

ARBUSA just outside of Seattle. Pick up there and go... (I did nit study thread to see if/why arb is not an option so if this is redundant, my apologies)

 

[Martinjmpr]

I'm very happy with my Indel B Travelbox 41 a/k/a Truckfridge TF-41. I mail ordered mine but there are places you can pick them up. I would certainly try to get it in a no-tax state as that can save you some money (sales tax can be as high as 8% depending on which state you're talking about.) Besides Oregon, Montana has no sales tax.

 

[Oz_Traveller]

I'm very happy with my Indel B Travelbox 41 a/k/a Truckfridge TF-41. I mail ordered mine but there are places you can pick them up. I would certainly try to get it in a no-tax state as that can save you some money (sales tax can be as high as 8% depending on which state you're talking about.) Besides Oregon, Montana has no sales tax.

Hi everyone.
I ended up buying that fridge, the Truckfridge from a Canadian reseller , I decided that a bit more money worth it to have it ready when we get to Canada and not have to source one in a rush. Also our dollar is going down every day so if that keeps up I would have ended up paying a lot more by the time we arrive.
Now I need to decide if we need to install a second battery, or a battery pack. We will not be camping on this trip, using a mix of vacation rentals and hotels. Can anyone recommend a battery pack that is not too expensive. What do you guys mostly use over there.
Thanks
Oz_Traveller

 

[jeep-N-montero]

Will you be leaving the fridge turned on in the vehicle 24/7 or bring it inside the rental each night? You could use a 120 to 12v wall adapter if needed.