Rent or buy RV

[WhyMe]

thinking of taking the family on 4-6 week trip to see the south west US next year. i have been looking at RV rentals and they are 1k or more a week. i have been looking at older RV's for sale and there seem to be plenty in the 4-6k $ range. yeah they are older ,but most have low mileage.

thinking of buying one of these instead of renting. after done i can try to sell it of donate it to a charity. i do have a space to park it.

So what so you guys think of this?

 

[hatt]

Unless you're going to use it several times a year I'd rent. Doesn't seem like you'd get too much for $5000ish that you'd want to trust on long trips.

 

[Mr Nice]

Rent.

 

[spasm3]

Pull behind or motorhome?

 

[Chris142]

Rent. A $6k motorhome will break down and ruin your vacation.

 

[hemitruck]

I would rent. Cheaper in the long run.

 

[Kira]

Rent. Those things are never a sellers market.

Neighbors had a beauty on a cutaway van chassis which was in VERY good shape.

Only the occasional plastic piece was aged to yellow due to type of plastic.

He got NOTHIN' for it due to its 8 to 10 years of age.

 

[Jimzz]

As said and I agree, to high a chance of failure/break down. Unless you are a mechanic and can do you own repairs then rent.

A RV is just a land boat. Sounds great and so happy when you buy. Also so happy and great when you are able to dump it off on someone else.

 

[mbacfp]

What Chris142 said. Rent and have a nice trip. You will get what you pay for with that. Have a great trip.

 

[Kira]

Also, that donation route is bogus. You only get "credit" for what the thing sells for at auction. It'd be insulting.

THE thing to do with an older RV (if you have one) is sell it to someone who wants to park it behind their house so family or "illegal residents".

And before anyone wants to scold me for political news reasons...illegal means anyone in violation of residence ordinances. A cousin from out-of-state can go to school at your state university while not being underfoot in your small house, for example.

Ha-Ha, thought you had me, didn't you?

 

[Donald]

An RV is almost like a mini house or boat. You have many systems like heat, AC, refrig, stove, micro, cold and hot water, sewer, roof leaks and then there are all the parts a car or truck has like the drive train. A refrig for an RV can be as much one for a house. Some can run on 12v or 110 or LP gas.

One brand used in boats and RV is nich-named Nevercold.

If you buy one get it months ahead and take it on weekend trips to check the systems out.

You may hate RVs.

Rent first.

 

[Wolf359]

Doesn't it depend on the risk/reward factor that you're willing to take? Sounds like you're saying it's going to cost you $4-6 thousand to rent an RV. Or you could buy one for about the same price. Can't you also sell it for about the same price or at a small discount? That would make it much cheaper, but you run the risks of it breaking down. I guess if you got it earlier enough and had a mechanic check it out to make sure it will survive 4-6 weeks without service, it might be worth it. I think people do this all the time, it's just called flipping. Buy something, use it for a few weeks/month, sell for the same or slightly less than you paid for it. Cheaper than a rental. If you buy it cheap, you can sell it cheap. Just depends if the risk is worth it or not.

 

[KD0AXS]

If you can, find a good deal on a newer slightly used RV and buy it. If you don't want it anymore after your trip, you can probably sell it for what you paid for it.

 

[OneEyeJack]

They break down and fall apart to frequently to consider owning. You can walk away from a rental and get home with your bank account intact.

 

[fdcg27]

Think of an old RV as an old ton van with a wooden-floored house on its back.
Think of how miserable a tiny aluminum or fiberglass house without functioning AC might be.
You can pick these things up in pretty decent shape for cheap and you could probably unload it for about what you'd have in it.
If that's your plan, buy one this year and drive it some.
Use it as a commuter and weekend errand driver in an effort to see what's going to break on the vehicle part.
Take some weekend trips this summer and fall to see how the various systems for HVAC, cooking, refrigeration, power genration and plumbing hold up.
I think you have a good plan, but I also think that you have to recognize that there are systems that make these things livable that are prone to failure that may need some attention.
Better to find out on a two or three day weekend trip than one lasting a month and a half.

 

[BrocLuno]

OK, older motor homes have sat a lot. So the tires are dry rotted. Just went through this with a bud. Two flats on two trips. Now a full set of new, but that's an expense and it interrupted the trip(s)...

Ditto with built-in plumbing. Sometimes the plug wires are burnt and it needs a major tune-up. Sometimes the cooling system is marginal and after 10 years of scale build-up, it may not cool that well - especially in the desert SW.

Then you have to store it ...

One big trip - I'd rent, and make them eat any failures or tow bills

 

[double vanos]

Rent. If you think a car looses value over the years, an RV will rip your heart out.

 

[Chris142]

Even with low milage it will likely need $1500 worth of tires. If it's a gm p30 chassis it will likely need a radiator. We get $700 to recore that one,plus about $500 labor to pull it in and put it back in through than little access hole,plus you might as well do a water pump,fan clutch,belts and hoses while it's apart . Your $6k motorhome will be 10k before you know it.

 

[skyactiv]

4-6 WEEKS? I hope you don't have teenagers.
If you have a truck, trailers are cheap, even new ones. Under $14K new.

https://rv.campingworld.com/rvdetails/ne...-10k-RIC1478987

In case you have even more kids:
https://rv.campingworld.com/rvdetails/ne...-10k-RIC1505724

 

[Nick1994]

Has anyone looked up the price of renting an RV?

I went to Cruise America's website, and for their "standard" size RV from 6/15/2019 until 7/22/2019 (5 weeks) it's almost $9,000 for rental. Yes, 9 THOUSAND. Not including gas or campground fees...

If you've got the money available, I'd try to bump your budget up to $20k if you can, try to find a good deal on a halfway decent RV and then sell it when you're done with your vacation. Insurance is super cheap on RVs, so if it takes you a year to sell it, no big deal. Even if you lost $2k on selling it that would be what it cost you. Plus you'd have it for weekend runs in the meantime.