Common myths about RV renting

1. RV’s are like your home or a hotel on wheels.
   • False.  While RVs do have many of the features homes and hotels do, these features are smaller and have less capacity.  RVing is more like luxury camping than hoteling.
2. Renting an RV is more expensive than a hotel room
   • Mostly false.  In general there are many hotels in cities that are cheaper than a night’s rate in a rented RV.  However, there are 2 situations where RV nightly rental rates are cheaper than the hotels nearby:
     1. in or near national parks and state parks hotels are extremely expensive, almost always more than an RV night’s rate;
     2. families of more than 4 people often will need at least 2 hotel rooms, while one Rv can sleep up to 10 people.  That single Rv is quite less expensive than 2 or 3 hotel rooms.  In addition, hotels that allow pets often charge and extra nightly fee that makes the room more expensive than a pet friendly RV.
3. I can camp just about anywhere.  I have everything in the RV.
   • Often false.  Because you are self contained you are able to camp just about anywhere, but many places like mall parking lots and rest stops either prohibit you or are not safe.  National and state parks only allow camping in official camp sites.
4. Driving an RV is very difficult, especially for short or older people.
   • False.  Millions of people of all ages and sizes frequently drive even the largest RVs.  It take a bit of training, and a few minutes of practice.  Then anyone can do it.  A good rental company will offer you training and a test drive.
5. RV stands for Ruined Vacation!
   • False.  The wrong RV can ruin you vacation however.  A good rental company will help you select the right RV for your needs and abilities.  They will also train you, support you 24/7 during your trip, and treat you fairly if you accidentally cause damage.
6. I can figure out how to operate an RV.  I don’t need any training.
   • Generally false.  You may be able to figure out how to operate systems in an RV, sure.  But with out training you wont always know when or why to operate the systems.  For example you wont know how to recharge the batteries, or what capacity the water tanks have.
7. RV’s are gas guzzlers.
   • Sometimes true.  But in general people are often amazed that even the largest ones get better gas mileage than they thought.  To be honest fuel economy is more directly related to your driving habits, load weight and the terrain of where you are driving.  For example, driving at 70mph rather than 60mph reduces your fuel efficiency by about 15%.
8. All RVs and rental dealers are alike
   • Big fat FALSE.  Good rental dealers are difficult to find.  Generally good rentals dealers have been in business full time for more than 3 years, have an actual physical location, have a “4” or better online review rating with over 25 reviews.  They are almost always current members of RVDA, RVIA or RVRD, and have been trained by the RV Rental School.  If the person or company you are considering does not meet these standards, beware.  You may want to keep looking.
9. Rented RVs are trashed and abused.  So I won’t rent one.
   • False.  Most rental units are less than 2 or 3 years old and have been maintained well.  Rental operators for the most part do maintenance regularly.  They don’t want you to break down either.  Its very expensive for them to rectify.  If you are not sure, go to the rental company and walk through their lot and fleet.  If its organized and clean and then they probably are fine.  If you see damaged units, dirty units or oil stains on the ground you might keep looking.
10. Hidden charges drive up the real cost of renting an RV.
    • True.  Some rental operators and individuals deliberately price their RV’s low up front to get the rental, and add additional charges at the end when you get back.  So read you contracts carefully.  Look for common additional fees like: prep fee, insurance fees, cleaning fee, additional miles fee, damage repair hourly rates, fuel fill fee and dump fee.  Bes sure to ask for an “out the door” price up front when you place the reservation, and get a written itemized list of what that price includes.  They may are be very justified fee, you just want to know beforehand.
11. Renters often get charged for damage they didn’t do.
    • Sometimes true.  This happens often not because the rental operator is trying to rip you off, but because there is no good record of the condition of the RV when you picked it up.  Its hard to document all the damage if the operator doesn’t repair everyone of them as they come up.  To avoid this problem video or take lots of pictures of the motor home inside and out, and ask the operator to do the same.  Keep your own record, don’t rely solely on theirs.  The more videos or pictures the better.  RV damage repairs are very expensive.