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Old 11-19-2014, 03:13 PM   #1
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RV Rentals

I have just heard of an American RV rental agency that puts private RV owners in touch with prospective renters. It is called RV Share and does not seem to be operating in Canada. It is modelled after Airbnb. Does anybody know anything about this agency? Link: www.rvshare.com
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Old 11-19-2014, 03:38 PM   #2
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Your post sounds like a ploy to have people visit your website. No thanks.

Edit - Maybe I was wrong. Seemed a bit suspicious though.
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Old 11-19-2014, 03:42 PM   #3
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I vetted this post. Given RB5511 joined the forum in Aug. 2010, I give him the benefit of the doubt.
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Old 11-19-2014, 03:45 PM   #4
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When I bought what was to be my last sailboat many years ago, I toyed with the idea of chartering it out locally to defray some costs. In discussing it with the dealer, his sage advice was, "That's a good way to make a new boat old in a hurry". I took his advice! And didn't charter...
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Old 11-19-2014, 04:28 PM   #5
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I've been reading rv forums since 06, this is the first I've heard of them. I wouldn't mind being a renter, but no way a landlord. Now if I had an old junker on it's last legs I'd consider it.
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Old 11-19-2014, 04:32 PM   #6
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And then there are the insurance and liability concerns. Huge jump in insurance premiums ( if you can get insurance ), for those who would rent their trailer out.
Also, do you want to get a call from a customer who is stranded in the Grand Canyon with a flat tire?
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Old 11-19-2014, 04:53 PM   #7
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When I bought what was to be my last sailboat many years ago, I toyed with the idea of chartering it out locally to defray some costs. In discussing it with the dealer, his sage advice was, "That's a good way to make a new boat old in a hurry". I took his advice! And didn't charter...
That makes sense. On the other hand, most of the worlds megayachts are available for charter, because that's the only way even a multi-billionaire will find the cost of ownership tolerable. An asset which is used by the owner very infrequently and is wanted by others for brief periods is a logical target for renting out. Of course, those charter boats have a staff...

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I've been reading rv forums since 06, this is the first I've heard of them.
This topic - of renting a trailer to use, or renting out one's own trailer - has been discussed several times over the years on FiberglassRV. Since Escapes are all relatively new, I'm not surprised the idea is less popular here.

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And then there are the insurance and liability concerns. Huge jump in insurance premiums ( if you can get insurance ), for those who would rent their trailer out.
Also, do you want to get a call from a customer who is stranded in the Grand Canyon with a flat tire?
All great points, and the sort of stuff that stops people who consider renting out their RVs.

There have been both rental companies with a small fleet of moulded fiberglass travel trailers (some built by restoring old units, some entirely purchased for the purpose of rental), as well as individuals who have rented out their trailers.
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Old 11-19-2014, 06:00 PM   #8
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I rented a Scamp once

Before we bought our first trailer, we found a fellow who lives in Forest Lake (just north of St. Paul), who was willing to rent out his 16' scamp trailer, so we rented it for the weekend. We needed a $300.00 cash damage deposit (refundable if no damage) and an upfront payment of $250 for the period from Friday morning to Sunday evening.

It turns out that the fellow had bought the scamp because he didn't want to take his nice class A motor home to Alaska given the conditions of the roads etc. He paid $5000.00 for the trailer. So he did that in 2010, and in 2011 started renting the trailer out. The fellow told me that the rentals had paid for the trailer. We returned the trailer on a Sunday evening, and it would be rented out again in the morning. A few weeks later we found out that he had purchased another Scamp (I think a 13) and was now renting that out as well.

He handed me the envelope with our cash security deposit, and i stuffed it in my pocket. He said that all the time he had been renting these, he had never opened the envelope, nor had he ever seen anyone count the money in the envelope when he returned it.

The ironic thing is that it was a very windy weekend, and we had to drive across North Dakota for a small family reunion. We were pulling the trailer with our Sienna van, without a WDH, and the tongue weight was probably more than it should have been. It was a hard drive into the wind. I think we got maybe 10 MPG going and about 22mpg coming back. The van didn't handle well with this combination. I am not sure the trailer brakes worked. It was also cold, and the furnace in the scamp was very loud. So, when we got home, we said "nope -- the trailering stuff is not for us". But we kept on thinking about it, and 3 months later put down our deposit on The Lark.

I think that if one could vet the people renting the trailer, It could be done with a minimum of risk, and lots of prospective buyers would find it useful. But I am not willing to do that with the Skylark just yet.
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Old 11-19-2014, 07:29 PM   #9
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In the mid 80's I worked briefly for a company that rented out motorhomes that were privately owned. That was kind of a disaster and I wonder how many owners regretted it. An innocent accident is one thing, usually from lack of experience, but trashing campers from wild parties was another. From reading this forum, it sounds like everyone's trailer becomes a member of the family and no one will take care of your trailer like you will. If you ever want to do something that you will regret, rent or loan out your Escape. Loren
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Old 11-19-2014, 09:13 PM   #10
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Me rent out Ten Forward?

YMMV
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Old 11-19-2014, 09:17 PM   #11
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I guess none of you has heard of this company. I got the name from a website run by RV Business, so I assumed that it was legitimate. I guess you don't think it is a good idea.
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Old 11-19-2014, 09:18 PM   #12
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Me rent out Ten Forward?

YMMV
You'd probably use silicone before you did that

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Old 11-19-2014, 09:28 PM   #13
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I guess none of you has heard of this company. I got the name from a website run by RV Business, so I assumed that it was legitimate. I guess you don't think it is a good idea.
It may be legitimate but from what I have seen first hand, renting out your RV is not a good idea. A small book could be written on what went wrong. For starters, the canopies over the gas pumps were a lot lower than they are today. Get the idea? Loren
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Old 11-19-2014, 11:29 PM   #14
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I guess none of you has heard of this company. I got the name from a website run by RV Business, so I assumed that it was legitimate.
I haven't heard of this one, but I did rent a tent trailer from a very small company (one guy, a handful of trailers) and it worked out fine; a rental company doesn't have to be big or known to any of us to be legitimate.

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I guess you don't think it is a good idea.
If you are thinking of getting an Escape and renting it out part-time, I think that the consensus is that there are problems with the idea. If you are thinking of renting one to try it out, I'm not seeing a lot of issues with that. RV rental is very common, just not usually from individual owners.
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Old 11-20-2014, 12:10 PM   #15
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I haven't heard of this one, but I did rent a tent trailer from a very small company (one guy, a handful of trailers) and it worked out fine; a rental company doesn't have to be big or known to any of us to be legitimate.


If you are thinking of getting an Escape and renting it out part-time, I think that the consensus is that there are problems with the idea. If you are thinking of renting one to try it out, I'm not seeing a lot of issues with that. RV rental is very common, just not usually from individual owners.
Excellent points Brian. There are many reasons why a person might choose to rent out their RV. They may no longer be able to travel and can't sell the RV. They may need the money. They may own more than one RV.
Back in 1991 out truck and camper was totaled at the start of our vacation. I was able to locate several people who would rent an RV for the rest of the holiday. Unfortunately the Insurance Company for the other party that caused the accident would not pay for the rental and the trip was cancelled.
Obviously people who purchase a new trailer, after spending hours researching options that suit their own personal tastes, spend countless more time customizing the vehicle are unlikely to consider renting to strangers.
There are several companies just down the road from me in Delta that rent out hundreds of RV's every summer. I seem to recall that Reace rented and repaired Trilliums before he stated building Escapes. My wife has a friend who paid for their Class A motor home by renting it out.
My main concern would be whether this company is legitimate and reputable or not (which is what the OP was alluding to when this thread was started). I myself may have a 5.0 to rent out come May.
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Old 11-20-2014, 02:24 PM   #16
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I believe the difference between being in the rental business and being an individual owner, is emotions. If I knew I was purchasing something to rent, I certainly wouldn't be as attached as I am to my Escape. While not all renters are bad apples, it only takes one to ruin an asset. Look at the Casitas that were made available to military service personnel and check out how they look when the gov't puts them up for auction. Too, there's a reason U-Haul got out of the small, molded towable, camping trailer business.
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Old 11-20-2014, 02:55 PM   #17
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I believe the difference between being in the rental business and being an individual owner, is emotions. If I knew I was purchasing something to rent, I certainly wouldn't be as attached as I am to my Escape. While not all renters are bad apples, it only takes one to ruin an asset. Look at the Casitas that were made available to military service personnel and check out how they look when the gov't puts them up for auction. Too, there's a reason U-Haul got out of the small, molded towable, camping trailer business.
There certainly is no 'pride of ownership' in a rental. That holds true in anything that's rented, not just trailers. One of the reasons our neighborhood dreads any house that come up for rent instead of sale is that they often get run down. There are exceptions of course based on the renter, but how do you know if your renter is a good one?
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Old 11-20-2014, 05:53 PM   #18
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I think RV complexity is a factor: the more complex the RV, the more potential (and potentially expensive) problems might occur due to the renter's lack of understanding (or perhaps lack of respect for others' property). The U-Haul travel trailers were relatively simple, but still more complex than a cargo trailer, so they had more issues. The tent trailer which I rented had an icebox (no refrigerator) and no water heater or toilet; the owner said he did not have problems with damage by renters. On the other hand, the motorhome rental businesses rent fully-equipped units, so this can be managed, at a price.

I note that rental cars are very common and there are few problems with them; my parents bought three ex-rentals (over a 20-year span) and none had any problems due to their rental service. Perhaps the key is that cars are familiar, while RV renters are often not familiar with operating an RV.
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Old 11-20-2014, 07:21 PM   #19
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Here in Oregon, there are a couple of classic trailer rental places. THEY tow the trailer to the park and wait for the renters to show up where they then go through the uses of the trailer. When the week/weekend/month is over.. they meet the renters and go through the trailer once again. It's not considered a "towable."
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Old 11-20-2014, 08:37 PM   #20
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Here in Oregon, there are a couple of classic trailer rental places. THEY tow the trailer to the park and wait for the renters to show up where they then go through the uses of the trailer. When the week/weekend/month is over.. they meet the renters and go through the trailer once again. It's not considered a "towable."
Smart way to do it. And I wonder if they also take a good-sized deposit.
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