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Old 01-08-2019, 12:40 PM   #1
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Hauling Home with a Rental?

Has anyone ever flown up, picked up their new Escape, and towed their trailer back home (to the states) using a rental vehicle?

I'm struggling to find a long enough window of time in which I can go pick up our trailer, so I'm exploring all options, especially ones that may allow me to not have to drive both there and back. Shipping our tow vehicle out there in order to fly out and drive it back is pretty costly.

Does anyone have experience with any of these options?


Thanks,

Ronna
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Old 01-08-2019, 01:17 PM   #2
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The closest airport to Escape is Abbotsford. If you can land there it will save you an hour or so in Vancouver area traffic.

Don’t rule out Bugget rent a truck as they mostly deal in one way rentals at no extra charge. Cross boarder rental transport is their business. They usually deal in cube trucks but they also have pickups and vans. Their smallest, cheapest vehicle with a hitch will tow a 17 with just a ball. Just make sure the rental is set up with an electric brake controller inside the vehicle.

Might even be cheaper to fly into Bellingham Washington and rent a Bugget truck there. Drive back east a short distance to the US pickup point that Escape delivers to. You may not even have to come to Canada and do all that explaining at the boarder.

Of course Escape does deliver...but it is not cheap!

Good luck
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Old 01-08-2019, 01:22 PM   #3
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We were planning to have our E21 shipped to us, but the cost of shipping from ETI's shipping contractor when way up in Sept or October. We did not consider it a reasonably cost effective option after the price increase. We considered other shipping options but in the end, we decided we just have to bite the bullet and drive to Sumas and Chilliwack to pick up. We leave tomorrow morning for the 1200 mile drive north from NM.
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Old 01-08-2019, 01:41 PM   #4
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Problem with rental trucks are the brakes, there is no brake controller set up.
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Old 01-08-2019, 02:17 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cpaharley2008 View Post
Problem with rental trucks are the brakes, there is no brake controller set up.
Do you have someone (relative, friend) who might want to drive your vehicle and fly back? Then you could fly in, meet the ETI folks and bring it back yourself.
I know I have grandchildren who would love a trip like that especially if they could take their time and see some of the country.
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Old 01-08-2019, 02:26 PM   #6
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You can do it within 2 weekends with another driver or if possible, 9 days with camping on return trip and 5 days going out.
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Old 01-08-2019, 02:30 PM   #7
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Most rental places like Budget and Avis will not let you tow a trailer with their pickups, at least when I was looking for one to rent when my truck was stolen. Budget was the only one that did, and they actually never had pickups, just cargo vans.
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Old 01-08-2019, 02:44 PM   #8
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I think a rental that allows towing and one way is a long shot. Some allow either, but not both. Even if they did it is unlikely with an electric brake controller with a travel trailer in tow. They want to rent you a cargo trailer or car hauler with hydraulic surge brakes.
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Old 01-08-2019, 02:45 PM   #9
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What about ETI shipping halfway and you meeting the driver somewhere like Boise Idaho or Salt Lake City. Cost for shipping to Boise or other location may be cheaper and allow you a shorter window to pickup and return home.

Just a thought.
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Old 01-08-2019, 03:02 PM   #10
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Thanks for your replies. I just talked with Budget and they say they do not allow camper towing. So I guess that option is out. We could ship our tow vehicle up there, fly up there and then drive it back with our trailer. But that looks like it would cost at least $1600 to ship our truck out there.

It's looking like it will probably be me and my 13 year old son making the trip during his Spring Break, so I would be doing all the driving..... My husband would stay home with the other two younger kids who don't have Spring Break until April. There is just no ideal solution. We are far from being retired, so we have to coordinate everything with our work and school schedules which feels a little nuts and there just isn't any ideal option. I wish we could just take several weeks off to enjoy the whole process.
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Old 01-08-2019, 03:42 PM   #11
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Why not wait until summer, when all the kids are out, Escape will store your trailer free for 90 days, that way you can make it into a family vacation.
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Old 01-08-2019, 04:11 PM   #12
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Originally Posted by cpaharley2008 View Post
Problem with rental trucks are the brakes, there is no brake controller set up.
That's certainly an issue, but some rental trucks do have factory integrated brake controllers, probably as much because they equipped for resale as to keep rental customers happy. This would only be pickups, of course, not cargo trucks. A concern for me would be confirming that the specific truck I would get would have a controller, since you can only reserve by vehicle class, not by individual vehicle.

Another solution is to use one of the controllers which is not wired into the tow vehicle, such as the Prodigy RF. The truck (or SUV) would still need a 7-pin connector with power, but that's pretty common factory equipment in full-size trucks and SUVs sharing a platform with those trucks.
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Old 01-08-2019, 04:21 PM   #13
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Originally Posted by Jim Bennett View Post
Most rental places like Budget and Avis will not let you tow a trailer with their pickups, at least when I was looking for one to rent when my truck was stolen. Budget was the only one that did, and they actually never had pickups, just cargo vans.
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Thanks for your replies. I just talked with Budget and they say they do not allow camper towing.
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Originally Posted by rubicon327 View Post
I think a rental that allows towing and one way is a long shot. Some allow either, but not both.
This is certainly a challenge. There are other rental companies, but the best-known (which mostly rent cars) are the least likely to have a suitable truck and to allow one-way.

A friend of mine has a large travel trailer and has never owned a tow vehicle for it. They mostly use it like a cabin, left at an RV resort, but have taken occasional trips with a rented pickup. At one point there was only a single company in Alberta with suitably equipped trucks allowed to tow... and he didn't do one-way.
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Old 01-08-2019, 05:40 PM   #14
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What about placing an ad on Escapees Forum or FMCA seeking someone to tow your trailer for you? I have seen ads on both forums for that request that. Many of those people are used to towing a 16,000 pound trailer so hauling your Escape would not be a challenge for them. The disadvantage is that your trailer would be pulled behind a vehicle across the country not towed on a trailer like Escape's contractor does and you are dealing with a private individual and not a company. Of course, if you picked it up, you would be towing it behind a vehicle also. Just a thought.
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Old 01-08-2019, 05:59 PM   #15
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Some times one has to bite the bullet and use delivery, like me.
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Old 01-08-2019, 06:12 PM   #16
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You can look into getting a third party doing the trailer delivery, it might be cheaper than what Escape charges for delivery.. you have to do your own vetting tho. I remembered someone on this forum go with that option..
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Old 01-08-2019, 07:09 PM   #17
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You can look into getting a third party doing the trailer delivery, it might be cheaper than what Escape charges for delivery.. you have to do your own vetting tho. I remembered someone on this forum go with that option..

Escape uses a third party.
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Old 01-08-2019, 08:32 PM   #18
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When we picked up our 2016 Escape 19 we just lost the engine in our pickup. I rented a Uhaul pickup and I installed a brake controller in the truck in a parking lot. I am a mechanic so it wasn’t too hard. Uhaul pickups have a 4 pin trailer conector so I had to temporarily hook up a 7 pin connector but e-trailer had one that plugged into the 4 pin. I just took a wire harness for a Ford and a harness for a Chevy. I took my Protigy P 3 controller and screwed it under the dashboard. I towed for 2500 miles. Worked like a champ.
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Old 01-08-2019, 09:06 PM   #19
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We had a 21 shipped to Chicago area and we drove up from Florida and drove home it took a week and I think it was $3000 I have to look at my paperwork Jim
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Old 01-08-2019, 09:14 PM   #20
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Escape uses a third party.

OK. sorry about the wording. How about "non-official" delivery party.


Edit - This is the post I was remembering

http://www.escapeforum.org/forums/f1...ved-13315.html
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