Well, the title pretty much says it all! We (me, sister, sister’s partner) are thinking about renting an RV for an upcoming trip. I would love to hear from people who’ve done this. What was the experience like? Positives? Negatives? Do you think that you saved money over staying in hotels? (Sorry, but I’m just not doing winter camping in Oregon in December…) Overall, would you do it again? All opinions welcome! 
Not a General Question. Calls for opinions. Moved to IMHO.
samclem, moderator
We rented on from Cruise America for a trip to Death Valley. It was rated to sleep 6 but it was just big enough for the three of us. We took it on a few roads that it probably shouldn’t have gone on but it did a pretty good job.
Read the contracts carefully, there were some issues with our understanding of the terms and conditions that ended up with us paying more than we expected to.
I don’t think think it saved us money over just the hotel room but since we also didn’t rent a car it netted out a little lower. It’s going to be more expensive in the winter since you pay for the fuel that runs the heater but it’s still nice to have more options about where you’re staying.
I was waiting for this to start after the other thread.
Me and the family rented one for our holiday in NZ (I am a Kiwi).
We loved it fantastically. Would totally recommend it to anyone.
Not really cheaper than a car and hotels, but the convenience was just awesome.
There were five of us travelling - Myself and wife, our two kids aged 7 and 18 months and our mother in law.
What I liked most was the pure comfort and convenience for them while I drove, could watch TV, get a cold drink, and do whatever. With the baby as well it made life really easy, and there is plenty of space in the back that we wouldn’t have had in a car.
The cautions I would say -
We had to pile the bags in the cab when we slept at night (but depending on size this might not be an issue)
Most of New Zealand is dual carriageway, and the RV moves slow so always had to be careful of following vehicles and be sure to let them pass.
In cities they can be a challenge, but having said that I didn’t have any problems - people were very understanding and courteous and I wasn’t in a hurry.
Would do it again in a heartbeat.
We also travelled in the middle winter, so the nights were around freezing point - it was warmed by a gas heater, we used less than half a bottle (about $10 worth of LPG) in 11 or 12 days.
Wow, thanks! Well, I’m not in New Zealand, but we’re driving to Death Valley. I did read the part about how they want you to run the heater if it’s been winterized-- I doubt the temperature will go below freezing (Oregon and California, not going up to higher elevations), but of course we would do it if we had to.
Two questions:
Was it required to run the heater 24/7, or just at night?
And what exactly were the non-obvious costs? I THINK I’ve found them all, but that certainly doesn’t guarantee anything-- I would much rather read about it from someone who actually had that experience.
I have a question - how do you handle the poop thing? Is the tank big enough that you don’t have to empty it? Or did you have to deal with that?
I don’t think I would be able to…
We only used the heater at night. The model we had, you were supposed to have the gas bottle shut off while you were driving, but I don’t see much danger in having it running. Of course on the move there was the vehicle heater as well, but that’s hardly enough to warm such a big area.
Non obvious costs?
Hmmm…fuel would be one, but the model we had ran on diesel, it was 7.2m long. It cost us about 20% more in fuel than a car would have, but that will be variable depending upon what you have, the size difference etc etc.
Perhaps the next thing would be disposal costs (if any) of the waste water / toilet tank (ours were all free, but where you are I dunno). Also the toilet treatment, but that should be minor. (like $2-5 every two days? )
What stung me the worst was insurance - this cost me almost as much as the actual rental (if I recall it was of the order of $30 a day for comprehensive insurance) - which is kinda understandable when you think that most people who drive an RV (we call them campervans in NZ) jump out of their subcompact in a different country into what is basically a small truck on unfamiliar roads (many driving on the wrong side)
You will save a bit on meals (remembering that you have a mini kitchen with you) but do be prepared that if you want to go to a city centre for shopping the maneourverbility is not that good. Mind you, we just parked in the back corner of malls and it wasn’t a worry.
If you’re going for any length of time, you will want the occasional night in a hotel / motel.
I emptied the tank two or three times - it is not a worry. Again, speaking of my experience, you drop a “tablet” (about the size of a hockey puck) into the tank, then it basically “dissolves” everything. I just had to dump out the tank at authorised places occasionally.
Again, I’d imagine that for ones bigger than what we had, (and for the squeamish) there is probably some sort of auto dumping mechanism.
Well, I’d have the heater running all night anyway! 
I’m just not sure what to think about the insurance question yet… in the U.S., Cruise America has free supplemental liability insurance, but although that looks good, it’s always hard to say what it means until actually talking to someone there.
And as for emptying the holding tanks-- who cares? Anything is better than the nightmarish experience of going outside into the cold in the middle of the night! (Can y’all tell that I can’t stand the cold?
Perhaps one thing to pay particular attention to, if you’re the sightseeing type, is any roads where the RV can’t / shouldn’t / isn’t allowed to go.
I don’t know what it’s like in the US, but in NZ all of the tourist traps are set up to accomodate Campers - most have dedicated parking areas etc etc as it’s a very common and popular way to holiday for those “damned yanks” that drive on the wrong side of the road or the blardy trashy Euros. :D:D
We rented one about 20 years ago, as a brief experiment. We were curious whether we wanted to buy one. It was from an RV dealer (not a chain like CruiseAmerica).
Our experience was pretty unpleasant, as the contract held us responsible for any and all possible damages. There was a minor repair incident due to the dealer’s maintenance, not any action of ours. This led to a literal shouting match and almost to court. (I lost this round and had to pay)
We had a similar experience when renting a large houseboat for a week (essentially an RV that floats). A small dock bumper fell off (their knot, not mine) and we ended up in a hostile noisy argument over who should pay. (Won this one)
Personally, I’ve had pretty bad luck renting large expensive vehicles. The rental companies hold you responsible for *anything *that occurs, no matter whether the fault is yours or theirs. And when a repair or replacement is needed, they charge insanely inflated prices for it.
I’ve rented a variety of airplanes for our family trips and never encountered problems like this. It seems to be only RVs and boats.
I wish you luck in your trip, but I’d recommend reading the contract in its entirety.
Just some random IMO advice. And this probably goes even more for RV owners than occasional renters.
IMO the problem with RV people (and the fifth wheelers and the pop up camperers) is they usually sucumb to the temptation to treat the place like small house. And, lets face it, in todays age most peoples house have too much crap in them. Well, that disease easily carries over into your RV experience. And the fact its a small space just make the disease all the more apparent and aggravating.
So, most of time IME people have TOO much crap in those things.
My theory is if you approach them from the point of view of being large tents rather than small houses you’ll be much happier.
Yes, you can bring and use more stuff. But still ask yourself, do I REALLY need this? Will I often USE this? Why are we EVEN bringing this? This goes for pretty much everything you might put in there. Clothes, food, toys, electronic stuff, camping gear, outdoor cooking gear, lawn funiture, utensils, pots and pans, spices, towels, pillows, sheets, plates and silverware, cups…blah blah blah
If you bring as much as you can cram into one (and you can cram alot in there), you’ll be amazed at how aggrating it is to dig stuff out, even find stuff, and repack it back in there.
When ever little thing you need to find, use, and put back becomes like the task of finding your car keys when you can’t quite find em, the amount of time you waste really adds up.
A little over three years ago, I accepted a new job in Baltimore- we were, at that time, living in Seattle. Normally we would have had the company fly us out and ship our stuff, but we had three dogs- so we rented an RV and made a vacation of it. I think it took us about 8 days to drive from Seattle to Baltimore, and we had a blast. We’d love to do it again.
We spent the first night in a rest stop, but the rest of the time we camped in KOAs.
You might check with your car insurance company to see what a temporary rider on your policy would cost.
Dumping tanks is unpleasant, but not difficult. Buy a box of disposable rubber gloves; you’ll thank me. Do NOT forget to put the waste tank tablet in your black water tank after you dump the tanks (the gray water tank doesn’t require one). If you do, the smell will remind you. Dump the black water tank first, the gray second. Reason: the gray water (sink water) will help flush your drain pipe and your dump hose. Rinse out the hose after you’re done; dump stations have a standpipe and hose for that purpose.
Be aware that the propane heaters in RVs are noisy bastards. I challenge anybody to sleep through the night with one running. If you’re staying at campgrounds with “full” hookups, i.e., electrical connection, I’d really recommend that you buy a small electric heater/fan. It will keep the chill off and won’t keep you awake.
Driving along the coastal areas can be tricky. RVs don’t do well in crosswinds. Reduce your speed, and if you’re still having trouble keeping it under control, pull over.
Most rentals don’t have awnings, but if it does, leave it alone.
I’d suggest a “wheels up/wheels down” list, if you’ve never used an RV before. This would include things like turning the gas on or off, closing roof vents, doing a walk around, adding tank chemicals when needed, securing cabinet and storage doors, etc. whenever you arrive or depart a campground.
I suppose about ten years ago I got dragged on a mission trip to Wounded Knee, SD, and my dad didn’t want to have to ride there with everybody else (plus I had to be back to college right afterwards) so we flew into Rapid City, rented an RV, and picked up the supplies they’d ordered at Sam’s and drove down in the RV. So we also didn’t have to sleep in the bunkhouse.
It was okay. Smelled like feet. Not really to my taste.