Rental/RoadTrip Question

El Monte RV also rents motorhomes form Class c up to Class A pushers

Thanks! I'll check them out. I'm a total Newby at this type stuff... I'm a usual Tent Camper, but too long of a trip for a tent... Lol!

Wow, had no idea they were that expensive!
I plugged in Alabama for 2 weeks for a 25' rv and 3000 mi is over $2500 before insurance and all the extras.
If you can weasel out of sales tax on private party deals, maybe just buy a RV for the trip.
Quick CL search by me shows a bunch of nice condition low mile Cs for $10-15k and even the $10 k ones were really nice.
If you know what you're looking for, strike a deal on one. If you don't have the cash, you could probably turn it back around and sell it before you make the second payment.
Should be easy enough to find one that you can sell for what you bought it for or close to it.
That's what I did with my last camper and actually made about 3 grand on the deal, but I took it to AK for 2 years and then sold it up there before moving back. Wouldn't expect to turn much profit though in the same market you bought it in, but a couple weeks use and a couple thousand miles doesn't deprecate the RV. Plus you stand a good chance of scoring one all ready to go, fully stocked. That's how I bought and sold ours, pretty much ready to camp. I think that swayed the buyers (wife), since all it needed was food in the fridge and a tank of water.

This is the first post I've seen where someone actually made money on an RV! Most say it a hobby that costs a lot.

I don't want to set unrealistic expectations for the OP.

Do your research, and possibly get a buyer before you leave.

You can also check some local dealers. The first time we went we rented a 34' class A from a local dealer that only rented a few RVs instead of that being their main source of income.

not cost effective to rent. either hotel it or buy a used setup.

for what its worth the setup in my sig AFTER taxes, new tires and serviced bearing and brakes was only 3k Canadian (so like 50 bucks to you) the WJ to tow it could be had for another 3 ish.

Renting an RV is not inexpensive on my end either and the butt kicker certainly is the cost per mile. I suppose it's an effort(sounds successful to me) to get past the sharp depreciation. Local RV stores this way tend to have 1 of 2 business plans: they only rent within a certain mile radius or will tow the rv to a specific group of campgrounds also w/i their region.

This leaves longer distance rentals to the national companies who have to keep a continent wide network of mechanics and such on retainer. Not to mention their higher insurance costs.

jdlowndes wrote:

What rental company?
Is this even possible?

Absolutely its possible. I haven't done it, but I looked into it and--if I remember correctly--the big companies like CA allow you to rent in one area an drop it off in another, allowing you to skip some of the long tedious miles (if you don't care for that), and just fly to and from those points. Very popular in California.

Also, if you have a capable tow vehicle, you can even rent a trailer and skip the mileage cost. I did that last summer for two weeks for about $800 per week, but I had a big one...if you have a smaller family (or one more willing to double up on beds) they have cheaper, smaller models for rent. This was from a local RV dealer, not Cruise America, but you may have other rental options in your area.

jdlowndes wrote:
I want to take my family on a road trip out west (from Alabama) on Route 66,and through Yellowstone, while traveling/staying in an RV. However, we don't own an RV or Travel Trailer and would need to rent one. I don't want to spend a small fortune to Cruise America for mileage (.35 per mile). I am looking for input from others

I was in the same situation. My wife and I have been planning for about 10 years to do something similar. After looking hard at my options and the costs, I felt it was a better choice to just buy a new TT and become an RVer on a regular basis.

So now I'm a new owner of a 29' "lite" travel trailer, and in addition to driving out to the Grand Canyon in about two weeks from Arkansas, we go camping nearby about once a month.

If camping is something you enjoy, I encourage you to consider that option. You can get a nice TT for less than the cost of new motorcycle. And because they can spread the payments out over 12-15 years since it's considered a 2nd domicile, it ends up being a reasonable alternative to renting once or hoteling it.