What to do about my motorhome?
Discussion
Motorholme have an "interesting" reputation....
There is another big downside of renting the van out: taking ALL your personal stuff out of it when you have finished using it so it is ready for its next rental. It also means you have to think carefully about any changes you make: I would have fitted a LPG system and an awning to ours but was advised against both for the rental market.
Renting works for us as we don't have anywhere to store it and the agreement with FTC means that they keep it and service it as part of the rental process. Also, as it is more than covering its costs, we don't mind if we don't use it for a while as it is not costing us anything.
There is another big downside of renting the van out: taking ALL your personal stuff out of it when you have finished using it so it is ready for its next rental. It also means you have to think carefully about any changes you make: I would have fitted a LPG system and an awning to ours but was advised against both for the rental market.
Renting works for us as we don't have anywhere to store it and the agreement with FTC means that they keep it and service it as part of the rental process. Also, as it is more than covering its costs, we don't mind if we don't use it for a while as it is not costing us anything.
Cotty said:
Fishtigua said:
Many yachts are chartered out, and yes, some do get damaged. Most of the charterers are enthusiasts to start with, I think it would be the same with a motorhome too. [b]Many renters would be experienced but just don't have the time/money to warrant ownership of one[b].
Or might be complete novices with no experience of driving such a large vehicle. nagsheadwarrior said:
f
k me thats not so good is it,we get lots of people asking for rental but with no proper companies in Preston i just tell them to try Motorholme,wont be doing that again!
k me thats not so good is it,we get lots of people asking for rental but with no proper companies in Preston i just tell them to try Motorholme,wont be doing that again!
I have had a good experience as a customer of Hirebuddies.com although it was a few years ago.
We have a motorhome which we bought with the intention of renting out to cover the cost of the vehicle itself.
While we found that there was a pretty good market for rentals, through Motorholme and motorhomegroup.com, it didn't really suit our situation.
My wife is not too technical, and I work away from home six months a year. This meant that the majority of the rentals were happening at inopportune time for us - i.e., when I was away and unable to do the handovers, or when I was home and we were wanting to use the thing ourselves.
One thing we noticed was that, contrary to what the rental companies told us, hirers would tend to use our motorhome getting to/from the other end of the country rather than renting the unit for local use. This meant that each rental could bring 1,000 miles of usage on the machine.
The biggest problem I had though was the lack of time to properly assess any damage to the motorhome following it's return.
When I hire something to someone for their use for recreation, I don't want to keep them there for more than 30 minutes while I check for damage otherwise it looks like I am trying to screw them out of their deposit.
Given a 30 minute window, it is impossible top check everything properly. For example, one renter brought the motorhome back dirty. I was allowed to charge them £25 for cleaning it, but then I found some damaged paintwork, which was small, but could have been large and expensive. In addition, they had obviously been off-road as they'd pulled the waste pipe out of the tank. Under one of the cushions in the living area, I found they'd spilt some red wine which had cleaned up but still left a mark. In addition to these faults, they'd driven with the TV aerial up and the gas bottles open!
At the end of the day, all these issues were very easily fixed but they could have been major issues. The only way you can make rentals work is to be absolutely mercenary when the unit comes back from rental, and for me, that took away from the enjoyment of sharing the motorhoming experience.
Just to add, both hire companies mentioned took care of bookings and insurance, we had no problems with either, but others may have different experiences of these companies.
While we found that there was a pretty good market for rentals, through Motorholme and motorhomegroup.com, it didn't really suit our situation.
My wife is not too technical, and I work away from home six months a year. This meant that the majority of the rentals were happening at inopportune time for us - i.e., when I was away and unable to do the handovers, or when I was home and we were wanting to use the thing ourselves.
One thing we noticed was that, contrary to what the rental companies told us, hirers would tend to use our motorhome getting to/from the other end of the country rather than renting the unit for local use. This meant that each rental could bring 1,000 miles of usage on the machine.
The biggest problem I had though was the lack of time to properly assess any damage to the motorhome following it's return.
When I hire something to someone for their use for recreation, I don't want to keep them there for more than 30 minutes while I check for damage otherwise it looks like I am trying to screw them out of their deposit.
Given a 30 minute window, it is impossible top check everything properly. For example, one renter brought the motorhome back dirty. I was allowed to charge them £25 for cleaning it, but then I found some damaged paintwork, which was small, but could have been large and expensive. In addition, they had obviously been off-road as they'd pulled the waste pipe out of the tank. Under one of the cushions in the living area, I found they'd spilt some red wine which had cleaned up but still left a mark. In addition to these faults, they'd driven with the TV aerial up and the gas bottles open!
At the end of the day, all these issues were very easily fixed but they could have been major issues. The only way you can make rentals work is to be absolutely mercenary when the unit comes back from rental, and for me, that took away from the enjoyment of sharing the motorhoming experience.
Just to add, both hire companies mentioned took care of bookings and insurance, we had no problems with either, but others may have different experiences of these companies.
Edited by slf2012 on Sunday 18th August 23:07
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