Will renting a MH help me get a feel for RVing with trailer?

[AnneM]

Here's the situation.
A family addicted to US/Canada travel. A year and a half on the road in total (spread across the last decade). 45 states and 4 Canadian provinces. Never RV'ed but always were fascinated by it and thinking of buying an RV in a few years for another long road trip.

I've been doing TONS of research and I think a pickup towing a TT will be more of our thing. Since we'll be traveling slowly (no rush to see any specific sights as we've pretty much seen them all), I'm thinking staying at a campground for 2-3 weeks, exploring around, hiking etc. with a truck is what we're looking for.

What I'd like to do during the next few years, until we actually retire and buy, is rent for a few weeks at a time to experience RV'ing.

The problem is - renting a pickup/trailer combo seems very complicated and expensive. Renting a truck would cost us around $600 a week when insurance is factored in. Renting a trailer or 5th wheel would be $100-$200 a night. We're talking about $300 a night for the entire setup and that's off-season. If we were to do this for a month, it would cost us around $8K-$9K - before factoring in campgrounds and utilities.

That's pretty expensive but what's worse is the hassle. The only place that rents out trailers is RVShare.com. Which means renting from a person you don't know.

Renting a motorhome seems so much easier. There are 2-3 large chains where you can just reserve any motorhome type you like and voila - hit the road. They have their standards and you know what you're getting. That will cost us around $200 a night (possibly less off-season, depending on the size of MH).

I just wonder how much will we be able to learn from the experience. In terms of hook-ups, driving, camping - anything else that I can't think of now - how would you say RV'ing in a rented motorhome will be like owning our own truck+towable setup?

[zcookiemonstar]

If you just want to try out staying in a camper/rv there are campgrounds that have travel trailers all set up on a site for rent. You would not get the travel down the road experience but you would know what it is like to stay in a travel trailer.

[Grit_dog]

That's a bummer about not being able to get the experience over there. No friends or relatives who could help you get the feel for towing on a "private road" or something?

Either way, it's not a monumental task to tow a trailer if you have a decent understanding of vehicle dynamics and good spacial awareness. Just take it slow and the learning curve will be pretty quick.

[doxiemom11]

RV parks or private individuals have RV's all set up for rent. I have seen them listed under vacation properties on craigslist, or the campground website will state they have rv rentals. That would be a lot cheaper than renting a truck and trailer. Try to find something like that where you can reserve for a weekend/week and actually live in it. I think if you try a motorhome, you won't want a trailer after that.

[2edgesword]

My wife and I rented a class C RV when we first got interested in RVing. Of course we got no experience with towing be we did gain some experience in preparation for a trip, some of the set-up and breakdown process when you’re camping, road limitations like restricted parkway usage, restrictions on using bridges and tunnels, height clearance requirements, thinking ahead before you pull into an area (gas station, fast food restaurant, etc.) to judge if I get in can I get out, cost of traveling (extra for gas and tools can be significant) and other unique aspects of traveling in an RV.

So I would say there is some benefit and useful experience gained by renting a class C even if your long term plan is buying a travel trailer.

[SpeakEasy]

I think you've thought this through really well, and your thinking is going in the right direction for your goals.

Before we bought a travel trailer and truck, we rented a motorhome a couple of times. Each time was for about 10 days. The first time was in Colorado, and the second time was in Alaska.

You will absolutely learn a ton of relevant RV-living stuff by renting a motorhome. No doubt about it. You'll be able to learn about the plumbing systems (pretty similar in motorhomes and travel trailers), electrical (pretty similar in both), refrigeration (pretty similar). You'll be able to experience what life is like in different types of campgrounds (state parks, national parks, rv resorts, local parks, boondocking - if that's your thing).

The similarities way outweigh the differences between motorhomes and travel trailers.

Do it!!

-Speak

[AnneM]

Thanks for the additional info!

No, over here you need a special driver's license to tow just about anything. Not only that, a regular driver's license isn't enough even to drive a full size pickup truck. With my specific license I can drive an F-150 here but not a 3/4 truck, let alone tow anything. Obviously, any motorhome wouldn't be an option here - not with a regular driver's license.

There will be a learning curve, for sure, either way. I promise to watch a lot of videos and be extra careful 😄 I know many fellow Israelis who rented or bought large RV's and managed them just fine, so I think we will as well.

I'm pretty sure renting means you can't tow anything though. So a small toad is not something we could experiment with.

[Grit_dog]

Comment on the buy/sell/rent thing. If you have a trusted friend or relative in the US or Canada that would be the easiest/ best way to buy something if not full time and may sell or shortly after.
Regarding Moho vs TT, yes a class c is directly comparable to a TT for amenities and space for a similar size "box".
Big difference is if you're comfortable towing a trailer. Concept is the same here or there. Do you have experience, or at least aptitude, or the ability to try towing a trailer over there?
Otherwise I think your plan of TT over Moho is solid for the use you're thinking about.
Unhook "home base " for a while and have a comfortable vehicle to use for day to day travels.
You can also accomplish the same thing with a Moho and a tow behind vehicle as well though.
I could make a case for the Moho and toad to have 2 "vehicles" available in the event of whatever. Mechanical breakdown, separate activities, vehicle accident, general peace of mind, etc.
Personal preference, I'd have a nice pickup truck and a TT or 5th wheel if choosing between those 2 options. But I love pickup trucks.....and don't mind towing anything, anywhere it will fit!
Back to towing, personal limitations, of will you be comfortable towing a "big" trailer up or down a Mountian road need to be thought of. With a Moho and toad, you could unhook and drive both if it's a concern.
Good luck in your decision....sounds like fun either way!!

[wa8yxm]

Advantage of towing a car with an "A".. Blew an engine (ok so the engine was murdered by a road hazard. not exactly a "Blown" but... Killed would be more precise. At least Nationwide agreed and thus paid the claim someone here suggested I open (Thank you by the way)).

I still had a get-around while I saved up for the repair.

[dodge_guy]

With what you want to do I would recommend getting a Class A and towing a car. Looking back I wish I would’ve done that years ago. Drive bing around in a car is much easier than driving around in a truck. Granted I have done it for the past 15 years, but driving a smaller SUV or Wrangler would be great.

[wa8yxm]

I have towed trailers of many sizes from small U-Haul to some reasonable TT's. to a 40' 5th wheel. and I now drive a motorhome.

Different skill sets. And though I drive a Gasser. a D/P also needs some different skills than a Gasser.

Some difference.

Towing a Long trailer you need to, when making a turn you need to pull WAY out across the road you are turning on.. Else you will hit the curb with the trailer tires and possibly hit a lamp post or sign post as well. I watched a man pull a 30 foot Brand New Cedar Creek out of a gas station and WHAM hit the concrete barrier that protects the pumps from some idiot ramming them and tear up his brand new sticker in window trailer... OUCH.

Gasser, I only have to worry about 28 Feet of my 38 foot Motor hom

DP I'd have to worry about around 35 feet of it.

That's the biggest difference.

Also since the motorhome is 8 1/2 foot wide (but then some TT's may be as well) that's the part that took the longest for me to adjust to.

And I tend to adjust ..... Swiftly.

[AnneM]

Thanks for all the replies, everyone. You certainly gave me food for thought.
I've been researching this for a while, so for the benefit of future non-American readers, I can actually shed some light on the license issue.

As @maddog348 said, it's possible for a non-American to get a drivers license in some US states. As far as I know, the only difference is this would only be valid for one year and will need to be renewed. In Canada, it's possible to get a local license for 5 years at a time, for non-Canadians.

Clearly, we can drive with our Israeli licenses too, as they are international. We always take the extra step of issuing a formal international license on top of that, just in case. I do believe some states require that by law, though it's not a federal requirement and most states will accept a foreign license that meets the international standards (i.e. photo + name in English letters). Still, you never know what an insurance company will ask you for in case you make a claim so we prefer to be safe than sorry and spend the extra $5 on an international licence.

Of course, the issue here is with buying a vehicle, not just driving it. So, as far as I can tell, you don't have to be a driver in order to own a vehicle. Anyone can own a vehicle, they just can't drive it unless they have a license, right? As someone mentioned here, a company or LLC can own property, including a vehicle.

Since non-Americans can own property in the US, including real estate even, there's no real problem in getting a vehicle to your name. It's a hassle and you need a local address but it can even be the address of your hotel, the DMV doesn't really care. Clearly, you want an address where they can write to you, so most people give the address of a friend or relative in the US. The point is, the DMV doesn't care which address you give them and you don't have to be a US resident or citizen to register a vehicle to your name.

The main snag here - and the reason not many people do this - is the general hassle involved with buying and selling a vehicle. Just finding the right one usually takes some time. Let's say you're not pick and you just head out to the dealership, you'd still have to spend some time registering the vehicle. With a used car, you may need to run all kinds of emission inspections etc before you can get it registered. Not exactly a good way for most people to spend the first week of their vacation 😉

Even though we've had some very long road trips in the US, we were always trying to see and do stuff and preferred not to start (and end) our trips with the stress of buying and selling in a foreign country (it's stressful enough back home 😉 ). Yes, renting is expensive, but it takes you 15 minutes to get the car and 5 minutes to return it and it's all by the airport. Plus, you're covered in case there's a problem. The rental company is supposed to replace your car or at least pay for anything that needs fixing if you happen to be in the middle of the Yukon (as we were last year - though fortunately, the car was perfectly ok).

So yeah, buying and selling is something I wouldn't get into unless I had to. Looks like it would be something we'd have to do eventually when we get our RV, I'm just not in a rush to do that in the first "test" trip where we'll just be getting a taste of RV life for a few weeks.

Again, thank you everyone for your answers. That was very helpful. Expect more questions from me in this forum because I have TONS of them 😄 It's so great to have so many kind people willing to help a newbie out - thank you!

[DrewE]

wanderingbob wrote:
Recently we had to take our passports to renew our drivers license here in Florida , does that imply that a foreigner can not get a license ?
I agree with buying used and sell when you are done , it will be a lot cheaper than renting for long term .

A foreigner living long-term (rather than visiting for a vacation, etc.) can get a license in the state they are residing in. I assume their passport and visa paperwork would be sufficient proof of identity and nationality, as for other things. An enhanced driver's license (for border crossing identification) would presumably not be an option for a non-citizen, just as they could not obtain a US passport.

[maddog348]

reg. or enhanced license ?? Differs by state. Google it!!

[wanderingbob]

Recently we had to take our passports to renew our drivers license here in Florida , does that imply that a foreigner can not get a license ?
I agree with buying used and sell when you are done , it will be a lot cheaper than renting for long term .