Should You Buy or Rent an RV?

Buying an RV can be a significant investment, so people often choose to go for the cheaper option of renting. Having the opportunity to only worry about the RV for a weekend or a few weeks is hard to turn down for many people. But the dangers and costs of something like that are just as hard to ignore.

Everyone has heard that buying a car that was used as a rental can be a big risk. You don’t know what anyone did in that car, how well they treated it, if the company performed proper and consistent maintenance. An RV is just the same. While we aren’t actually talking about buying an RV that was a rental, we are concerned about how it was treated. An RV is a large vehicle with a lot of space to cover when it’s being inspected. The last renter might have pushed it past its limits, and now you get stuck on the side of the road with a broken vehicle. If the RV company missed something big in their inspection, you could end up holding the bill to get it fixed. There are plenty of ways to avoid this, like rental insurance and liability forms, but that company at the end of the day will do whatever it can to protect its own finances. You can bet that they will try to figure out a way to get more money out of you.

Another big concern is the cost of renting an RV. An average RV that was made in the last ten years typically runs between $200-$350 a day. If you choose to rent one for a week, that’ll cost about $2,000, not to mention insurance fees and cleaning fees. If you wanted to take a whole Summer and travel the country, three months at that price would be almost $25,000. At Pikes Peak RV, we have plenty of options to purchase that cost less than that. It would pay itself on in one Summer, and then you would have it for years to come.

A big concern with buying though is maintenance. Even with this added cost on top of the purchase, it is clear that it would save you money in the long run. You would also have the added security of knowing that you had maintenance done properly, and you won’t get stranded on the side of the road.

Renting can be a great way to get a feel for the RV experience, but it is clear that buying an RV would end up much better for you in the long run. If you have any questions or concerns about owning an RV and how else that can benefit you, please give us a call at (719) 596-2716 and we’ll be happy to help you out. Make sure to check us out on Facebook and Instagram and give us a follow!