How to Rent an RV

In this article, I’m going to teach you how to rent an RV. Be sure to stay tuned until the end of this, so you can learn the best place to find your next RV and the best RV for your next vacation. Ok let’s get started.

There are two different types of RVs that you can rent; one is going to be a motorized unit which is like the one that we’re in. So you can either drive up here. You can see I’m sitting on the couch or we can go to the bathroom back there. I have my fridge right here. There’s a stove. If you haven’t seen the tour of my RV you can check it out in the description below this video. This is a Class B RV and what you call a motorized RV. There’s two types of RVs and one is going to be a motorized driveable unit and the second type is going to be a towable unit which means that you actually have to have a tow car. In the driveable unit you can drive and live and the towable RV you can only live but you can bring a tow car and the advantage of having something like that means that when you get to say an RV park or campground you already have a car to be able to drive so you can just unhook and go.

For the most part, these are the most basic types that you’re going to see are the most common types of RVs that you’re going to see motorized units or motor homes as you might hear them called more often. There’s three classes that you’re going to hear about when you’re trying to rent an RV or buy an RV. The three classes that you want to know: there’s Class A which are those really big buses that you see and they can sleep anywhere from four six ten people or more depending on how big of rig it is every RV is gonna be different. So that’s gonna be your largest RV and obviously the larger the bigger more luxurious the more expensive. Then you’re going to have your class B. We’re in the Class B right now it’s more of a van. you can have anywhere from two to four sometimes you’ll have people say six but it really depends on the layout and there’s so many different floor plans. The one I’m in is made for two people specifically. and the last type of RV or motorized RV motorhome is the How to Rent an RV so the Class C believe it or not is actually in between the Class A and B which is a little weird but it’s the typical RV that you see which is that big overhang and you say oh my gosh that’s an RV over there.

You could probably sleep anywhere in there from I would say four to maybe even ten people but six to eight comfortably probably. but it really depends on what unit you get it like I said this motorhome drivable unit here is a Class B made for two people but a Class C could also just be made for two people they keep in mind just because it’s a bigger RV doesn’t mean that you can sleep more people. and just because it says it sleeps say six people doesn’t really mean that I can sleep six people. I would say four if it says six, assume four, because you don’t know how the beds are set up. it may have bunk beds it may not. It really just depends.

How do you choose the right type and size of RV for your vacation or next trip? you’re gonna ask yourself some questions: where are you going? How big is your group? And what is your budget? Now you’re gonna need to do some pre-planning. Always plan ahead otherwise it can get really costly or you can leave you feeling frustrated and definitely not having fun on your next trip. Well first you need to plan your drive. Second you want to plan for when you arrive. When it comes to planning your drive you need to remember that RV’s are tall and heavy and they can’t necessarily go everywhere a car can go. There may be restricted roads narrow streets or low bridges. and when it comes to planning your trip you also want to consider how many miles you’re gonna be driving and the amount of days that you’re gonna be gone. Next you need to make sure that you plan for when you arrive now that includes things like parking and sleeping, where are you gonna sleep or you couldn’t go to an RV park. If it’s your first time renting an RV, I would suggest you go to an RV park maybe somewhere like a KOA campground because they’re very resortlike and they usually have staff. They have full hookups. You want to understand what hookups are made a bunch of tutorials about that you can check those out in the description below. what and your hookups will include: things like your water, electricity, sewer. They may also include things like Wi-Fi cable but those are the basics .

if you plan on going to a campground or RV park make sure you plan on paying that additional expense because it’s gonna cost you. Probably somewhere between 25 up to even a hundred dollars a day at these places. and keep in mind if you go weekly or monthly you get a much deeper discount even if you’re not gonna stay there entire time it might be cheaper to do one of those rates or at least reserve it for that amount of time. Now if you don’t want to hook up you can always go the boondocking route or dry camping as they call it. If you haven’t heard about that essentially you are camping without hookups and camping.

The next thing that we need to do is actually pick an RV. First you want to think about things like your amenity so how much room, you want do on slide outs in your kitchen, do you want a stove or maybe a microwave. Do you want a full fridge. This is a I would say fuller size fridge. you can get a standard one for the house do you also want to check and see do you have a full freezer. This has plenty of shelving but some of them only have a small freezer or no freezer at all so that’s something to keep in mind. And then is your bedroom and this is kind of weird. My bedroom is essentially here in this slide. You can see this slides out so when we talk about slide outs, this slides out of the RV and this turns into a bed so right now it’s a couch but you can see my bed linens up here cuz this folds down into a bed. Some RVs also have bunk beds so if you have children that might be something to consider. You can also choose the option to have a full bathroom, full shower. In here I have a sink and a toilet. Sometimes your shower and your toilet are together and your sink they’re all like one thing and that’s just not me, but for some people that works and when it comes to picking an RV it really depends on the number of people that are gonna be traveling with you and the number of seats, the number of beds, how much room are you really going to need. You may have a budget.

Now how much does it cost to rent an RV? It depends on the type of RV, how old it is and how long you’re going to be renting it for. Now the prices can be a lot cheaper if you rent them for say a week. I would rent an RV for a week or a month if I wanted to get a better discount and you can get anywhere from 10 to even 50% off of what the daily rate is if you rent it for a longer period of time. Flipside: there’s actually a minimum for most of the RV rentals that you have to rent them for say 2 to 3 days and of course another thing to think about is when you’re renting if you’re renting in July or August that’s peak season for people to be traveling and going on vacations so it’s probably going to cost you a heck of a lot more to rent an RV. Some other things that you can expect to pay in the cost of your RV rentals are things like a deposit, insurance, taxes. As far as a deposit goes they’re gonna probably ask you for a card to put for your reservation to actually reserve the RV and then whenever you rent the RV they’re going to want something like a liability and damages type deposit. This can be anywhere from three, five hundred on the low range up to a thousand dollars or more. They’re gonna want to hold on your card in case something happens. Now this will normally be refunded to you.

Next you’re gonna think about insurance. So usually what happens is you check with your car insurance company and say hey will you cover me if something happens whenever I rent this RV. You probably want to call and find out and ask them a couple questions and find out  all that they cover and then whenever it comes time to rent the RV they might ask you to sign some type of liability waiver saying yes I have my own insurance. But if your car insurance company doesn’t cover that you’re gonna want to pick up insurance from the RV facility where you’re renting and they will usually provide this somewhere between I’d say 25 to 45 dollars a day on top of the cost of your RV and then you’re gonna have things like taxes. So don’t forget everywhere there are taxes so that’s gonna have to be factored in. It’s maybe something that they can tell you upfront or it may be something you’re just gonna have to think okay well I’m probably gonna have to pay a percentage of taxes. This is a big line obviously if they have to give you some type of mileage limit. Typically they give you about a hundred to 150 miles a day when you rent the RV and then if you go over that you have to pay excess fees for the additional mileage.

This is big, you’re gonna need fuel for driving and fuel for fun. Your fuel for driving is gonna be your gas or diesel that you actually put into the RV. If you have a motorized unit to take from one place or another just like you would your car or if you’re towing an RV you’re still gonna have to pay for your fuel so you want to think about the fuel that you need in the cost of renting. Can’t really drive this thing as fast as a car. It’s kind of deadly and heavy so I’m going to do that I would probably stick around 55 miles an hour to 60 if you want to get the best gas mileage and just so you know you’re probably gonna get really shitty gas mileage anyways so just expect to pay a lot at the pump.

If you’re not plugged up at an RV park you have to bring your resources with you. That means you’re going to have to run your generator. In my case my generator takes LP or you might hear it referred to as propane gas. It’s something that I have to buy in addition to the gas and diesel that I use in the RV to get from place to place. Those actual propane tanks like you would have at a gas grill at your house, but it’s underneath the RV. This would power things like my AC or my microwave and then if you say oh well I’m not going to use those well you might also want to consider that if you’re not plugged up in an RV park you might want some hot water or you might want to heat the RV and those things are probably also going to require some propane or you’re gonna need gas to cook. Of course if you use all of the propane gas you’re probably gonna have to refill the propane gas or at least pay for refilling it so that’s something to consider. And then back to talking about the generator.

Now the generator itself is gonna need fuel to run but they look at the hours that are on your generator. For mine you can see that there’s not a lot of hours, so mine there’s thirty seven point four hours. Next you’re gonna want to think about your water and your waste. If you decide to hook up at an RV park you’re gonna want some water. To be able to wash your hands or maybe take a shower and to be able to do that you’re gonna need some water so you can either fill your freshwater tank before you leave or you can get water when you get to the RV park or campground. That’s what you call hooking up so that you can have all of your amenities. What goes in must come out so after taking a shower, wash your hands use the bathroom eventually you’re going to have to empty your holding tanks no way that I know this are from my gauges so I come and check these every once in a while and I say here’s my freshwater and this is the clean water that I have on board and then this is my gray tank which shows that it’s empty and my black tank shows that it’s empty so that lets me know.

The same thing it tells me about my battery and the propane as well but this lets me know whether I need to actually empty my holding tank and you want to keep a eye on the gauges because if not it’s gonna back up you’re gonna see it and it’s really not as bad as you think. If you decide not to empty your tanks and bring it back full they’re probably gonna charge you something because nobody wants to enter your poop.

Some other costs to think about when renting an RV are the number of people that you’re bringing and if you have pets. They may or may not allow pets either in the RV. Or say you’re going to a campground you might want to consider they might have a pet fee as well as a people fee. In some places charge you by the number of people and RVs are just like houses so are you gonna be bringing your own utensils and towels or are you going to be renting them as well as a cleaning thing. A lot of times, especially if you rent from a private individual, they’re gonna have some type of cleaning fee to be able to clean the RV whenever you’re done and prep it and get it ready for the next person. Cleaning fees oftentimes range anywhere from a hundred dollars to 150 dollars it really just depends on how big the RV is and what that owner says in their rental policy. But here’s a few tips.

Not all RVs are made alike. Another tip is to make sure and plan your meals ahead and like I said bring your utensils, your linens, your towels, all of that stuff with you is going to save you money on top of the cost of renting the RV and all of the other expenses that come along with it. Last but not least you want to find a reputable RV dealer to rent from because one you want to think about safety and how they upkeep the RV, do they check the tire pressure and the engine. Something you want to consider is do they also offer any kind of emergency roadside assistance and what’s deemed an emergency so if the TV goes out or the fridge or something like that are you going to get your money back or is that just part of the RV experience. T

These are all things to think about when you’re renting an RV if you’re renting from a private person versus it’s a major dealership or a favored major corporation rental agency. They might have more RVs available should something happen versus an individual if they cancel a reservation or something happens to the RV at the last minute. So now you know how to rent an RV.