Potential new owner- Questions

[cpaharley2008]

Hi: MyronL... You probably wouldn't see scenery like that along the Interstate!!! Alf
escape artist N.S. of Lake Erie

Very true, how very true....

 

[jennykatz]

tow V

Here is a Newbe Question ? We are getting our 21 escape hopefully before Jan 4th 2017 . We are keeping our fingers crossed for an earlier build ? If so can one rent a truck in Seattle and drive cross country to Naples Fl. ? Does anyone know of a company that rents trucks to tow ? I've called a few car rental companies and no Cigar .Otherwise it's a long drive both ways to Florida . Jim W

 

[tractors1]

Here is a Newbe Question ? We are getting our 21 escape hopefully before Jan 4th 2017 . We are keeping our fingers crossed for an earlier build ? If so can one rent a truck in Seattle and drive cross country to Naples Fl. ? Does anyone know of a company that rents trucks to tow ? I've called a few car rental companies and no Cigar .Otherwise it's a long drive both ways to Florida . Jim W

Might be worth investigating a shared delivery trailer somewhere closer in the USA. Driving to/from Chilliwack in winter over the Rockies is hit & miss on weather/snow conditions.

 

[cpaharley2008]

I tried this search awhile back and there were several issues, one the brake controller, no rental will have that and two, one way rental. That is why I used the Escape share delivery twice now.

 

[Dave Walter]

I tried this search awhile back and there were several issues, one the brake controller, no rental will have that...

Using a Tekonsha Prodigy RF wireless brake controller would solve that issue. Only need to plug in a remote into a 12V outlet in your vehicle and need a 12v charge wire to your 7-pin connector, rest of controller components are mounted on the trailer. I have used this controller for three years and it has performed flawlessly.

 

[Greg A]

We checked into renting a tow vehicle a few years back. Car rental companies prevent any towing in their contracts so they are out. Uhaul might have their vans or small trucks that are rigged out and would allow towing. I have seen the Uhaul trucks towing vehicle trailers.
Home Depot or Lowes also have Van/small truck rentals that might allow towing. Not sure about interstate, but they're everywhere.

 

[BCnomad]

Another option is to get the trailer delivered either by escape or private firm, to a destination somewhere in the middle of the USA.

Edit: ninja'd by Charlie

 

[Brian B-P]

U-Haul certainly does rent trucks for this sort of purpose; I wouldn't expect building centres to allow one-way rentals, but one could ask. The one-way aspect would likely make the rental expensive with U-Haul, and impossible with many companies - it needs to be a national chain which exchanges its equipment between locations.

The brake controller is an issue with rentals, and the Prodigy RF (or one of the few other similar alternatives) is a solution. Fortunately, with built-in trailer brake controllers becoming increasingly common in pickup trucks, and appearing in lighter trucks than when they first appeared, a rental may well have a controller. A friend of mine rented a truck for an annual trip with a large conventional trailer, and found it was suitably equipped; however, he had to rent from a company that normally serves industrial clients (not the usual car rental company), and even they are no longer an option (I can't remember what changed).

I like the "meet in the middle" approach, but there could be timing issues - it can cut the drive down to any degree for which you're willing to pay, but if the delivery is delayed you could be stuck idling somewhere waiting for it to appear. Maybe pick a nice vacation destination...

 

[Brian B-P]

I was curious, so I checked U-Haul rates. It was less expensive than I thought: $1483 (plus fuel, but including 10 days mileage from Seattle to Naples). They do not offer their pickups or vans for this trip (perhaps those vehicles are only allowed to do local rentals), so you would be stuck driving a cube van with 10-foot (empty) box... not the nicest ride. At least it's a narrow-body single-rear-wheel van.

Also, while pickups now routinely have built-in trailer brake controllers, this van would not.

 

[Judy-ESC]

Here is a Newbe Question ? We are getting our 21 escape hopefully before Jan 4th 2017 . We are keeping our fingers crossed for an earlier build ? If so can one rent a truck in Seattle and drive cross country to Naples Fl. ? Does anyone know of a company that rents trucks to tow ? I've called a few car rental companies and no Cigar .Otherwise it's a long drive both ways to Florida . Jim W

My Escape 19 is due for completion around August 27, 2016. I, too, live near Naples, Fl and due to family health issues I will need to get back to Florida fairly quickly after orientation. So I have been looking into the same issues that JennyKatz is asking about.
I sent an inquiry to ETI about delivery costs and received the following information:
Cost for delivery from BC to Goshen, IN is $4000cdn
Cost for delivery to Louisberg, TN would be $4000 cdn
Cost for delivery to Naples, FL would be $6846 cdn
There was no indication that sharing a truck with another party would result in a reduced cost. With those costs in mind, I'm planning to drive the long trip FL-BC-FL and just try to make some fun stops on the way back to break up the long drive. Then when family circumstances change will make a more relaxed trip. If anyone learns of a feasible alternative I would love to hear about it.

 

[Brian B-P]

...
I sent an inquiry to ETI about delivery costs and received the following information:
Cost for delivery from BC to Goshen, IN is $4000cdn
Cost for delivery to Louisberg, TN would be $4000 cdn
Cost for delivery to Naples, FL would be $6846 cdn
...
If anyone learns of a feasible alternative I would love to hear about it.

Without being at all critical of the service used by Escape, my guess is that for the Sumas to Naples distance there are probably suitable carriers who would charge less than CA$6846... but maybe not by much. I would want to consider whether the carrier would put the Escape on a trailer, or tow it on it's own wheels.

 

[fudge_brownie]

I would echo what Brian says. Look into uShip.com, but do so with open eyes and a good deal of research. I would like to point out that there were three of us from the Midwest who first contracted with uShip, and Let It Ride carriers, we shipped to Sault Ste Marie ONT and we were able to share costs. Since then Let It Ride has become the standard carrier for Escape and much has changed.

If you find your own carrier there is nothing to say that you cannot share costs. Particularly if the Escapes are carried on a trailer. Which would be my recommended method.

 

[cpaharley2008]

Both of my prior deliveries were split and Escape will hold your unit until another one can be added, Last split delivery to Pennsylvania was $3300 cn in late 2013.
Remember these are cn prices, do the conversion and also renting a UHaul will give you dismal towing, 8 mpg average and these prices are US.

 

[Brian B-P]

Remember these are cn prices, do the conversion and also renting a UHaul will give you dismal towing, 8 mpg average ...

Poor fuel economy with a rental truck is a good point, but they're not all the same - the little 10-foot van should be much better than the big (wider and heavier) trucks.

If you could get them to allow a one-way, a pickup from U-Haul would likely be even better. The best would probably be a Transit van (also not offered for one-way), but those are probably not setup for towing.

 

[cpaharley2008]

The little vans do not have towing set ups, only the bigger trucks have the hitches, at least that was when I called a couple of years ago. U-Haul has been in business for awhile and there is a reason for that.

 

[Brian B-P]

The little vans do not have towing set ups, only the bigger trucks have the hitches, at least that was when I called a couple of years ago.

The U-Haul web site will happily configure their "10' truck" with any of their trailers - they are capable of towing and obviously configured for it (albeit without an electric brake controller, because U-Haul trailers don't use electric brakes). Their "10' truck" is what I was referring to as a "little 10-foot van", because it's quite small for a commercial van (a van is just a truck with an enclosed cargo space; all of U-Hauls trucks are vans, other than the pickups).

The largest U-Haul enclosed trailer is the 6'x12' (which is about 16' long overall) - it has tandem axles, its overall width is greater than any Escape, and its allowed gross vehicle weight is nearly the same as the maximum allowed for an Escape 21, so although the body is narrower than an Escape, it is a comparable towing experience. The 10' Truck (smallest cube van) can handle it.

As I mentioned, the "9 foot Cargo Van" (they show a Ford Transit) at U-Haul is (unfortunately) not likely set up for towing, and is not offered with a trailer by the U-Haul web site.

U-Haul has been in business for awhile and there is a reason for that.

U-Haul does know what it is doing, and what it can get away with. Part of that is making many towing combinations possible... even ones which are only marginally safe and/or blatantly illegal.

Since we're discussing U-Haul...
One of the ways U-Haul achieves commercial success is by avoiding maintenance expense. They buy good trucks - which are capable and well-equipped for the purpose - then hold their franchisees responsible for maintenance. Whether they refuse to pay for maintenance expenses, or just don't enforce maintenance, the end result is that U-Haul trucks have routinely gone out with customers in unsafe operating condition. Since U-Haul licenses all of their trucks in Arizona (which seems to be to commercial vehicle registration as Panama is to banking) and they are not being operated as commercial trucks, other jurisdictions are unable to force compliance with basic laws - U-Haul just shifts the junk vehicles to another location.

The peak of media and government attention to U-Haul's junk trucks was almost a decade ago, so it is possible that they have fixed their problems. I hope so, but would not bet on it.

If I were going to rent a U-Haul truck for an extended trip, and especially to tow, I would plan to pick it up at least a day ahead of time, and hopefully not on a busy day (like the end of the month or a Saturday), so I could inspect and reject as many trucks as necessary to get a good one. It might also help to rent from a company-owned U-Haul store, rather than a franchise (which might be a convenience store or other business unprepared to manage vehicle maintenance, and without access to U-Haul maintenance funds). Only about 10% of U-Haul locations are company-owned stores. I would look for worn tires, inadequate brakes, loose steering, non-functional parking/emergency brakes, and burned-out or broken lights. If the engine or transmission is about to die, it would be hard to tell... but at least that's more of an inconvenience than a safety hazard.

 

[freespirit]

wonder if one can drive in this example from Seattle to Escape factory for orientation and make sure hitch and everything is ok for towing and then of course back across the border for pick up in Sumus...the question being will Uhaul allow the truck rental to be driven across the border or would one have to make other arrangements for orientation at Escape?
the interesting thing about that 10 ft truck pic you posted is with its box on the back may act as a wind screen for the Escape trailer...not sure if that helps with gas mileage.

 

[gbaglo]

I think if you look into the cost of dropping the UHaul after a one-way trip across the US, you will look for another solution.

 

[Greg A]

Uhaul is showing a 10' truck pu in Seattle WA to Naples FL $1510. Add in gas, etc and you're way ahead of the ETI delivery price quoted. Might take a call to nut down all the particulars but you are four thousand ahead at this point.

 

[Brian B-P]

I think if you look into the cost of dropping the UHaul after a one-way trip across the US, you will look for another solution.

Perhaps, but this quote posted yesterday was for a one-way, specifically from SeaTac to Naples starting on 2017 Jan 04:

I was curious, so I checked U-Haul rates. It was less expensive than I thought: $1483 (plus fuel, but including 10 days [and] mileage from Seattle to Naples).

It would be a little more due to extra mileage on the not-quite direct route through Sumas and possibly Chilliwack... add a hundred bucks.

To see how much of that is the one-way drop charge, I tried to price out 10 days and 3500 miles as a local rental of the same truck from the same pickup location, but they only quote the 10' Truck and larger for up to one day locally, or as a one-way. U-Haul's rates (both daily and mileage) for pickups, 9' Cargo Vans, and 10' Trucks are all the same (US$20/day plus US$0.89/mile), so it would be wildly expensive (over US$3000 of mileage alone)... one-way is the reasonably priced choice for long-distance use of a U-Haul, unlike rental cars.