Purchasing a Rental? Opinions please

[ellenw]

I've been pondering the pros and cons of the rental RVs I see for sale. The obvious con is the high mileage, but what I'm seeing is that even with those miles, the asking prices are within NADA's pricing range. The other con is the industrial type upholstery and flooring, appearance wise - at least I'm guessing. I have yet to even see for myself. But those are replaceable, or at least the upholstery is.

So my question is, what are the pros? Has anyone here taken that leap of faith and actually bought a rental motor home? I like the floor plan of the Four Winds M23-A and most of those available on the resale sites are Majestics, which are exclusively the Cruise America rentals. The ones being sold by Cruise America come with a 12-month/12,000-mile limited warranty and have already been fully detailed.

So what are the other cons ladies? Do I need to have someone in my life who's mechanically inclined?

And lastly, what would you say is the tipping point for "too many miles"?

Thanks for any of your thoughts! {{hugs}}

[Carolinagal]

I'm sure I won't be much help on this, but what came to my mind when reading it was.....1- Would the paint job for cruise America stay? 2- What yr ? How many miles? And the biggy ,How many different drivers??

With all that I would want the price lower then NADA. This business will make out on selling these units .

If you like a floor plan I would just keep looking. There are wiser ladies on here so let's see what they say, this is just my gut feeling on " 1 " cup of coffee this morning

Good Luck in your search,
CArol

[ellenw]

Lol! I wondered about the paint job too. Echhh! Thanks, CArol.

[retiredhappy]

Personally, I'd be afraid to buy a former rental. In my travels I've seen some rental RVs where no RV should go and they've been driven pretty hard. People don't know how to care for them and because they don't own it, they don't care how its used. If it was high mileage but only one or two owners I wouldn't be as concerned. I just bought a Roadtrek with 100,000 miles BUT i'm the second owner.

[OregonLuvr]

I too would never buy a rental unless it was dang near free AND I was mechanically inclined HA HA which as everyone who knows me knows I AM NOT. I travel for my job and live in RV parks a good part of the time for 3 months at a time and I see them come and go frequently and how some are treated. There is a huge difference between owning and loving your MH and just having it for a week or two. I bought mine new and have treated it with lots of TLC but I would not hesitate to buy used even with higher miles (like Karens) if it was treated like I treat mine. I would keep looking too, lots of floorplans out there you could fall in love with also.

Just out of curiosity, who honors their 1 year warranty????

Karen

[longdog2]

I'm with both Karens on this one. Rented by lots of people who know nothing about RVs and don't really care because they don't own it. I'm thinking of the old expression "rode hard and put away wet". You would do better with one that was privately owned and used. An older RV with low mileage and little use is no guarantee of a good one either as they tend to get neglected if not used.

[Bethers]

Laughing because Colleen used the phrase that I was thinking "rode hard and put away wet". I've had friends purchase cars that were from rental fleets - but an rv? I hate to say it - but even so-called good rv owners don't always do the necessary (like run genies each month, etc) and while the rv rental places might take better maintenance,the people renting don't care- it's not theirs - and I've seen it and heard them say it.

As to the upholstery - I believe they buy them the same as we do - so the same pretty much inside. They usually buy the basic models. Although there are some fancy rentals out there, also.

[Acadianmom]

I bought my previous class c with 45,000 miles on it. It was owned by a small clothing mfg and was driven from Louisiana to the Dallas market many times. They had taken out the sofa and twin beds and put in clothes racks. When they put it on the market they put the furniture back in. I don't think it had ever been camped in. The inside was like new. I kept it about 10 years and didn't have too many problems until it got about 14 years old.

Just keep looking and be ready to grab one when you run across a good deal. It has been said many times that you will know when you see it and it's so true. One will just speak to you.

Martha

[ellenw]

I love all the advice. You've been able to artculate my nagging doubts and give me a reality check. Thanks, ladies! Perfect!