Would you buy a rental RV?

If you have ever sat down and priced out a new Class C motorhome you know that the prices can exceed well in to the $100,00 range. What if there was a more affordable way for you to get the motorhome of your dreams without having to shell out a lot of dough?

One thing you need to consider is the miles on the vehicle vs. how long you intend to own the motorhome. Obviously, you'll need to consider the miles you are going to add to it before you want to resell the motorhome. Not only do you want to keep the miles in a “feel safe” range for the next owner but, you also want to be able to get enough use out of it to make it worth your while to buy.

When you are looking for motorhomes, new or from a private seller, you are going to find the hug price tags with lower miles. When you purchase a motorhome that was previously used as a rental you will find the opposite. From our experience in purchasing a used rental motorhome, we found that you could save $20-$30k if the miles didn’t scare you off.

If you are willing to pay a little more you can find one with less miles. If you budget is a little tighter then maybe a few extra miles doesn’t seem so bad.

The choice is your.

Our experience buying a rental motorhome.

After we made the decision to purchase a rental motorhome is was time for use to do our research and see what size and what company we wanted to buy a used unit through. Our choices were to purchase from El Monte Rv or Cruise America. In the long run we chose El Monte RV.
When we bought our motorhome we lived in Pleasant View, Utah and Cruise America had a dealership only 40 miles away in Salt Lake City so we jumped in the car and went down to take a look.

Keep in mind we have been looking at both company's inventory online and going through a million pictures. We had a pretty good idea in our minds of what we wanted before we even stepped foot on the lot. Although the motorhomes they had were well taken care of serviced regularly they just seemed to have a very ”utility” feeling to them. I am sure the wear and tear factor is the reason and therefore the furnishing in their motorhomes was built to withstand the rental market.

When cruise America does put their motorhomes for sale, they do a thorough inspection from top to bottom, inside and out from engine to microwave and back again. If anything requires repair, it is replaced. They also clean, paint, and re-decal the outside of their motorhomes. If you see a Majestic Brand motorhome cruising down the road a pulling up next to you while camping, that is Cruise America’s aftermarket brand for their motorhomes.

The same care is taken at El Monte RV Sales when you buy a used motorhome from them. El Monte does not redo the outside. We had their logo displayed faintly across the front where the vinyl lettering once was and had to remove their “Going places with smiling faces” catchphrase off the back.

Unfortunately for us, the nearest El Monte dealership was located in Las Vegas. Can you say ROAD TRIP? So we hopped om the car and drove to Las Vegas to look at what they had to offer. The original one we had intended on buying was great. While touring their lot and looking at the motorhomes they had available, we came across a different one and we were SOLD!

More counter space nicer upholstery and yes, more miles. 

Although the miles were higher, we knew we were only planning on keeping it for a few years and knew the mileage would not be an issue for resale.

We went to the bank and picked up a cashier's check and returned and drove away in our new to us motorhome.

The only issues we had were one of the house batteries needed to be replaced and the biggy was the drainpipe on the shower was busted. I was able to fix that with a quick stop at Home Depot. 

When buying any RV check everything! Lights, batteries, plumbing, slide-outs, refrigerator, EVERYTHING.

Would we recommend buying a rental?

If you are dipping your toes in the water and wanting to see if this type of RV is for you, then we would say this is a great option. Although if you plan on racking up a ton of miles, make sure the miles won’t be too high when it comes time to sell it.

Here are the links to El Monte RV and Cruise America’s website.