Buying RV with rental in mind
- Thread starter jsm1847
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If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
catblaster
Well-known member
SeilerBird said:
Not me!! It's too easy to throw a rod in them !
jymbee
Well-known member
jsm1847 said:
Admittedly I don't know a lot about it beyond our one aborted attempt to rent, but there may not be a downside to also running a listing on a site like Outdoorsy where owners offer their RV's for rent. They did at least do a driver's license check, provide insurance and an option for roadside assistance.
WILDEBILL308
Well-known member
GO FOR IT!!!! Keep us informed about all your experiences. You can be the leader to point to when the next one comes on and wants to do it. 
)
Bill
)Bill
Hey thanks Bill!!! I think I am going to go for it. I think i have decided on a class A. I saw a 15 Coachman Pursuit I liked. Now, I'll have to work out all the kinks before I pull the trigger. To be continued...WILDEBILL308 said:GO FOR IT!!!! Keep us informed about all your experiences. You can be the leader to point to when the next one comes on and wants to do it.
Bill
Isaac-1
Well-known member
As I see it there are just too many things that are easy to break on a class A motorhome and and cause thousands of dollars worth of damage. A typical non RV owner will need several hours worth of instruction in operating common RV systems in order to prevent damage from ocuring, and I doubt most people looking for a long weekend motorhome rental would be willing to watch 8-10 hours worth of detailed how to operate videos, plus do a multi hour walk through of the coach.
On driving a gas class A, this may include concepts like watching out for tail swing, and tail dragging, off tracking, watching for overhanging limbs in addition to general handling, and driving techniques. Even after nearly 10,000 miles in my current coach, I still managed to lightly drag the tail pulling into a Buc-ees giant gas station in Texas a few weeks ago, I looked at that entrance, and thought, yeah I think I can make that, and guess what I was wrong and the trailer hitch dragged the concrete. It could have been worse, I scuffed the bottom of one of my rear cargo compartment doors turning onto a side street in Wyoming last summer.
On non driving stuff, you have things like operation of leveling jacks, some of which can twist the frame so as to pop a windshield out if operated incorrectly. Insuring the coach is level before operating slides, make sure nothing is blocking slide operation going in or out. (I just saw a photo the other day where a cargo door under a slide was left open when it was retracted, catching the cargo door and mangling the side of the RV). Then there is stuff like the fresh, gray and black tank operation, someone recently recounted an incident where an RV renter hooked the water hose up to the black tank flush instead of the water tank inlet, turned the water on and left. After a few minutes the black tank filled up with water, and backflowed up through the toilet flooding the RV. The list goes on and on, the need to be level to operate rv refrigerators, or else they can fail in such a way as to be a fire hazard, ....
On driving a gas class A, this may include concepts like watching out for tail swing, and tail dragging, off tracking, watching for overhanging limbs in addition to general handling, and driving techniques. Even after nearly 10,000 miles in my current coach, I still managed to lightly drag the tail pulling into a Buc-ees giant gas station in Texas a few weeks ago, I looked at that entrance, and thought, yeah I think I can make that, and guess what I was wrong and the trailer hitch dragged the concrete. It could have been worse, I scuffed the bottom of one of my rear cargo compartment doors turning onto a side street in Wyoming last summer.
On non driving stuff, you have things like operation of leveling jacks, some of which can twist the frame so as to pop a windshield out if operated incorrectly. Insuring the coach is level before operating slides, make sure nothing is blocking slide operation going in or out. (I just saw a photo the other day where a cargo door under a slide was left open when it was retracted, catching the cargo door and mangling the side of the RV). Then there is stuff like the fresh, gray and black tank operation, someone recently recounted an incident where an RV renter hooked the water hose up to the black tank flush instead of the water tank inlet, turned the water on and left. After a few minutes the black tank filled up with water, and backflowed up through the toilet flooding the RV. The list goes on and on, the need to be level to operate rv refrigerators, or else they can fail in such a way as to be a fire hazard, ....
Your points have been noted. Thanks for your input! Let me ask this question though....these problems would exist on class c's as well correct? Tail swing, rear end scrape, slider, black/grey tanks with flush. I'm sure you are saying this is for RVs in general? Thanks!Isaac-1 said:
cadee2c
Well-known member
I did not read all the replies, but if no one has said it, I can tell you this... People do rent class As. Before I got our own rig, I wanted to rent a motorhome for a particular week on two occasions. I went on Craigslist and contacted 3 private owners. All 3 of them were booked up for most of the summer. This was about 4 or 5 years ago. Good luck.
Isaac-1
Well-known member
jsm1847 said:
They would to a degree, though many class C's tend to be shorter, so tend to have less off tracking, with less rear overhang they tend to have less tail swing, many have higher rear departure angles so potentially less tail dragging as well. Class C's also tend not have have leveling jacks (some lower end class A's don't either), no leveling jacks, then less chance of frame twisting. Here is where any potential RV rental operation should take some guidance from Cruise America, having barebone coaches has advantages, not only is it less stuff to break, it is less stuff to have to train the renters how to use. No slides, then no worry about being level before operating slides, no chance of slide getting stuck, ... Also their standard length coach is 25 ft long, and their large coach is 30 ft, by comparison anything under 30-32 ft is considered a small class A. Those shorter vehicles with their lower seating position are going to drive and feel much more like an SUV or pickup truck, than a larger class A will. Those extra feet of length do make a big difference, I own a crew cab F250 pickup that is just over 20 ft long, as well as a small class A motorhome that is just under 30 ft bumper to bumper, and the motorhome feels WAY bigger than the F250, particularly in gas station parking lots and other tight settings.
RedandSilver
Well-known member
- Joined
- Aug 25, 2016
- Posts
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Well it seems like you are going to go for it. Thing is, I doubt that it will be much of a money making thing or even paying for the RV.
Since no one else mentioned it I will. Speed. It's true that RV's are not trucks so the truck speed limits don't apply.
That means many people that drive cars will get in a MH and drive it at 70-75mph. That is a lot of weight to be moving that fast
and stopping distance is much longer which most people won't think about if all they have driven is car's and/or pickup truck's.
Then there is the Wind - that doesn't mean much to cars but in a high profile vehicle it's subject to it a lot and the wind can move it around.
So can passing semi's - what I'm saying is there is a learning curve to driving a RV as it's different from a car.
You almost have to buy a gas unit because I could see people putting gas in a diesel coach because they forgot they were in a diesel.
Then like stated they are going to use regular gas stations and the possibility of damage to the station, the RV or another vehicle is high.
There are no rear view mirrors in a RV only outside mirrors which can't show you what is directly behind you.
My advice would be to buy an older unit, say between $20-$50K and see how it goes. That way your not out so much if something goes
way wrong and it won't cost you an arm and a leg if it doesn't get rented as much as you thought it would or you decide the rental
idea was not working out the way you hoped it would have, so you stop renting it.
Since no one else mentioned it I will. Speed. It's true that RV's are not trucks so the truck speed limits don't apply.
That means many people that drive cars will get in a MH and drive it at 70-75mph. That is a lot of weight to be moving that fast
and stopping distance is much longer which most people won't think about if all they have driven is car's and/or pickup truck's.
Then there is the Wind - that doesn't mean much to cars but in a high profile vehicle it's subject to it a lot and the wind can move it around.
So can passing semi's - what I'm saying is there is a learning curve to driving a RV as it's different from a car.
You almost have to buy a gas unit because I could see people putting gas in a diesel coach because they forgot they were in a diesel.
Then like stated they are going to use regular gas stations and the possibility of damage to the station, the RV or another vehicle is high.
There are no rear view mirrors in a RV only outside mirrors which can't show you what is directly behind you.
My advice would be to buy an older unit, say between $20-$50K and see how it goes. That way your not out so much if something goes
way wrong and it won't cost you an arm and a leg if it doesn't get rented as much as you thought it would or you decide the rental
idea was not working out the way you hoped it would have, so you stop renting it.
That's actually pretty close to my plan. I originally thought I'd go for 20k, but then I want to travel a little nicer and newer means to me a little more dependable. If renting goes south, yes, I will pay out of pocket. My good friend, another businessman, actually really liked the idea, researched the pros and cons on his own, and then asked if I wanted to cut him in on the deal 1/2 ways. I'm considering this and obviously it would cut everything in half....payment, repairs if necessary, upgrades (safe t steer, sumo shocks)....We will seeRedandSilver said:
I will say this though...say the most horrible damage happens, insurance would either total unit out or repair the damage. I think I'm ok with that, maybe
Isaac-1
Well-known member
My suggestion is if you are going to do this, before you buy go out and rent a class A from some rv rental company (I know B&B RV in Denver rents class A's not sure about others) vs some random individual that may rent theirs out through some web broker. From the point of view of a non RV owner, see what they do right and what they do wrong when it comes to customer service, orientation, etc. Rent it for at least 4 or 5 days, long enough to get to know the specific RV and ask yourself as a renter was this specific coach the right mix of options. Bearing in mind that renters and owners may have a different set of needs, with owners perhaps being more concerned with cargo carrying capacity, storage spaces, accessibility, etc. As owners will tend to want to keep their stuff more organized, and will likely carry more junk around with them (bbq grills, canopy tents, camp chairs, pots pans, sun screens, tools, spare parts, etc.). The fact that I carry all those sorts of things is yet another reason why I would not want to rent out my personal RV, as I would not want to have to pull all that stuff out of and put it back into the RV each time it was rented out. In my case I live in a potential hurricane evacuation area, so the motorhome is also the emergency evacuation option, so the cabinets are kept stocked with a couple of days worth of food, canned goods, bottled water, etc year round.
Sounds like you definitely have a very smart plan. In your case, it does not makes sense to rent out and I can see that same thing with a full timer. I do plan to rent next weekend and as you said, am looking for things done right as far as rental is concerned. Thank you for the suggestions!Isaac-1 said:
