Joined Nov 2005
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Forum Thread
Anyone have experience renting an RV?
August 3, 2021 at
09:17 AM
Title basically says it all.... looking for people to give first-hand input on experience in renting an RV, e.g. things you'd do differently, stuff you didn't anticipate, etc.
I've been thinking of doing a road trip with the family in an RV for a few years, the kids are getting old enough they'll tolerate it better. One of the issues is that renting an RV is relatively expensive, certainly more than you'd anticipate, so splitting between a couple families would make sense. Also, if it were just our family, I'd be the one that would not only be driving it 95% of the time but also logistics (setup/pumping/etc).
I'm looking at involving the IL's (insert IL joke here) since they are now both retired, but that would give me someone else to drive (FIL, loves to drive) and also someone to split the bill with. The largest RV I can find to rent is "7 people" (we'd be 8 but 2 of those are toddlers) and for 5k miles it's around $5k total for 2 weeks. Not too bad considering the RV is transportation and hotel.
I've been thinking of doing a road trip with the family in an RV for a few years, the kids are getting old enough they'll tolerate it better. One of the issues is that renting an RV is relatively expensive, certainly more than you'd anticipate, so splitting between a couple families would make sense. Also, if it were just our family, I'd be the one that would not only be driving it 95% of the time but also logistics (setup/pumping/etc).
I'm looking at involving the IL's (insert IL joke here) since they are now both retired, but that would give me someone else to drive (FIL, loves to drive) and also someone to split the bill with. The largest RV I can find to rent is "7 people" (we'd be 8 but 2 of those are toddlers) and for 5k miles it's around $5k total for 2 weeks. Not too bad considering the RV is transportation and hotel.
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Were you looking at a
Class A (Greyhound bus sized).
Class C/Drivable RV
or a Trailer you'd Tow?
I grew up with the RV lifestyle when it was much cheaper and much less crowded. These days with all thats involved it would make me too agrivated what i would have to put up with to just drink beer around some campfire around people who are gonna be just as agrivated as me by the whole mess.....
Another option is to just air bnb some rustic cabin somewhere....
You would save a bundle.
I grew up with the RV lifestyle when it was much cheaper and much less crowded. These days with all thats involved it would make me too agrivated what i would have to put up with to just drink beer around some campfire around people who are gonna be just as agrivated as me by the whole mess.....
Another option is to just air bnb some rustic cabin somewhere....
You would save a bundle.
So beware of the age of the RV you are renting.
Were you looking at a
Class A (Greyhound bus sized).
Class C/Drivable RV
or a Trailer you'd Tow?
I grew up with the RV lifestyle when it was much cheaper and much less crowded. These days with all thats involved it would make me too agrivated what i would have to put up with to just drink beer around some campfire around people who are gonna be just as agrivated as me by the whole mess.....
Another option is to just air bnb some rustic cabin somewhere....
You would save a bundle.
So beware of the age of the RV you are renting.
I've also told my wife that yes, you really need to plan your route ahead of time to make sure stops are driveable and have the utilities needed, it's not really something you just drive until you're tired and find a place.
What I am getting at is, if I were renting an RV, I wouldn't just be taking it on a 2 hour drive and parking it (what would be the point in that?), I'd be driving cross-country and stopping a few times likely, that would mean if we wanted to rent someplace, we'd have to fly there whereas the RV is built-in transportation. That probably would cost upwards of $3k just for airfare for us all, that makes the airbnb option much less attractive.
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1) While it would lower the costs down and help with driving, I can't imagine co-renting one with friends or extended family unless you really get along with them in tight spaces. Even the largest RV is about the size of a family room. Imagine living, sleeping, shitting, etc. all together for days or weeks. It could strain even the best of relationships with immediate family members, let alone people you rarely spend limited time with. I'm sure you've already taken it into account, but it is worth mentioning.
2) If you are new to RV'ing, you may want to look at doing a local 'weekend' type trip first. Not only will this help you get familiar with RV'ing in general, but it will also see if you actually like it. If not, oh well, it cost you a few hundred bucks and now you know. And if you do like it, you at least have familiarity with how everything works and can more readily take on those challenges for the long haul. You probably don't want to sign up for an expensive 14-day trip only to find out on Day 1 that you hate it, don't know how to do anything, and are hundreds of miles away from home.
If you go through one of the owner-rental sites (outdoorsy, rvshare, etc) you can find bigger RVs than what the big commercial rental companies offer, including some that will sleep 8-10 plus have slides to give you more living space. Downside of an owner-rental is that they can cancel which can leave you scrambling to make other plans. You could look specifically for a bunkhouse model (usually rated to sleep 10) and conceivably not all hate eachother by the end of the trip. Maybe.
A couple other things to keep in mind:
Most RVs can sleep more than they have seatbelts for. Most people don't wear belts in the back anyway, but if you did happen to get pulled over and had more people than seatbelts, that might not go over well.
Everything takes longer in a RV. Packing up takes longer because you've got all your camping stuff, plus all the RV hoses/cables/etc, and you've got to stow everything so it won't go flying the first time you turn a corner. Getting gas takes longer because the tanks are bigger and you have to find a station that you can fit in. You have to drive slower or risk blowing tires which you don't have a spare for. And you still have to get to your next campground, find your site and hook everything back up, potentially in the dark and without any help from the campground office if you get there after office hours.
Don't get me wrong, it can be fun. But you need to be prepared.
If you go through one of the owner-rental sites (outdoorsy, rvshare, etc) you can find bigger RVs than what the big commercial rental companies offer, including some that will sleep 8-10 plus have slides to give you more living space. Downside of an owner-rental is that they can cancel which can leave you scrambling to make other plans. You could look specifically for a bunkhouse model (usually rated to sleep 10) and conceivably not all hate eachother by the end of the trip. Maybe.
A couple other things to keep in mind:
Most RVs can sleep more than they have seatbelts for. Most people don't wear belts in the back anyway, but if you did happen to get pulled over and had more people than seatbelts, that might not go over well.
Everything takes longer in a RV. Packing up takes longer because you've got all your camping stuff, plus all the RV hoses/cables/etc, and you've got to stow everything so it won't go flying the first time you turn a corner. Getting gas takes longer because the tanks are bigger and you have to find a station that you can fit in. You have to drive slower or risk blowing tires which you don't have a spare for. And you still have to get to your next campground, find your site and hook everything back up, potentially in the dark and without any help from the campground office if you get there after office hours.
Don't get me wrong, it can be fun. But you need to be prepared.
I have my coach set up with lots of solar and batteries, so we boondocked the ENTIRE time, not a single campsite, and a different spot EVERY night. We went through CA, NV, UT, CO,, NM, and AZ and pretty much hit a different national park every day or two. Depending on where you go, BLM or USFS land can be totally awesome -- free, no reservations, and few if any neighbors. Highly recommended, though perhaps tricky to plan. We used an app FreeRoam that gave you maps with overlays and some reviews which helped a lot. Staying in campgrounds (at least for me) is generally awful. Vacationing in a trailer park is not my idea of a good time, and at hotel prices, you might as well just drive a car and *stay* in one. Plus, as mentioned, they book way in advance and as such completely negate the type of flexibility an RV provides.
As for jamming 8 people in a 30x8' box for weeks, I can't say I'd recommend that. Our two kids were homesick and everyone was a little crabby and short tempered at times. While it was well worth it for us, twice the confinement sounds like a recipe for disaster. While yes, some sleep 10, I think you'd find that your home's kitchen could probably sleep 10 too but no one would want to.
The previous poster's recommendation to rent one for a long weekend and try it first is a HIGHLY recommended idea. Working out the kinks in RVing is a practiced process. We go all the time and still, there's a lot to learn every time. Going on a big trip first will likely yield a miserable time. Practice makes perfect (or least might prevent everyone from killing each other).
Good luck!
I enjoyed it, but it was expensive. We used either RVShare or Outdoorsy (don't remember which, as I looked on both extensively). Private owners often aren't keen on long distance travel. Since the trip in 2019, I've looked into a rental for a cross-country trip, and most didn't want us putting that many miles on the vehicle (even though we'd be paying for the excess mileage). That would leave us with Cruise America, and they have a very limited selection of types of motorhomes.
We picked the specific model to rent because it's what I would expect us to buy if/when we buy a motorhome. The most valuable thing I learned is that I don't want a model with a corner bed, where you person sleeping against the wall has to climb over the other person to get out of bed. Bathroom breaks, etc.
We considered buying early 2020, but missed out before the market got crazy. I still look pretty much every week, watch YouTube videos, etc.