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Old 12-13-2015, 06:49 PM   #1
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Anyone familiar with MH relocations?

My wife and I are planning to take advantage of an RV relocation opportunity after the Chinese New Year. Basically, we will fly out of SFO to Indiana to pick up a new 30 ft motorhome and drive it to San Francisco. That is basically a one-way RV trip, at $1 day, since we will be helping out an RV rental agency who would otherwise have to pay a driver.

Yeah, we have to put down a returnable deposit and pay some gas. Sometimes you also pay for insurance and there are limitations, but we do have nine days or so to make the trip and can pay a low daily fee if we want extra days.

Just was curious if anyone in this forum has done something like this.

My wife has never been in a motorhome so this is a simple low cost chance for her to get her feet wet.

These relocations are available all throughout the year and for different companies.
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Old 12-13-2015, 07:54 PM   #2
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Sounds like an interesting gig. Let us know how it turns out.
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Old 12-13-2015, 08:07 PM   #3
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My brother enjoyed 'paying his way through college' as a Winnebago driver delivering new rigs to the west coast dealers.
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Old 12-13-2015, 10:56 PM   #4
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Don't forget about the Alaska RVs. They need drivers in the fall to deliver them to the lower 48 and bring them back just before spring.
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Old 12-14-2015, 08:55 AM   #5
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Great way to travel across Canada to Ak if you're dreaming about that adventure. The rv rental companies in Ak have a plan for you to pick up their new inventory in Indiana and drive the motorhomes to Anchorage. Some cost involved but a significant reduction in $$ with a reasonable allowance of time to make the drive and include some sightseeing. Just look at their websites or call to get info about the deals.
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Old 12-14-2015, 09:51 AM   #6
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Right, this is not about being a paid driver. This is about paying for the privilege of driving one or two new vehicles to their needed location, paying $1 a day rental, having plenty of time to use the rv for vacation purposes on the way, their paying for part of the gas, etc. We just need to fly to the pickup location. They make it workable by having plenty of extra days in the schedule for vacationing, so you don't have to drive to a tight schedule.

This is simply a way to get the wife on the road for her first experience without renting at the full rate or buying an rv and hoping for the best. As most newbies, my wife has stuff in her mind that needs to be adjusted to the realities of the experience. At this time she basically told me to buy what I want, but I don't feel that is good enough. I was going to rent several motorhomes, but this is a way to dramatically reduce the cost, but still meet my goals.

There are also opportunities, like in Australia, to RV with a relocation vehicle.
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Old 12-14-2015, 10:06 AM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RodgerS View Post
Right, this is not about being a paid driver. This is about paying for the privilege of driving one or two new vehicles to their needed location, paying $1 a day rental, having plenty of time to use the rv for vacation purposes on the way, their paying for part of the gas, etc. We just need to fly to the pickup location.
Hmmm, in the bigger picture of life - it still sounds like there is a schedule to reach the end location. Otherwise, there probably isn't really a significant difference when it comes to acclimating someone to the RV environment for they experience the ride, the overnight situations, and the cooking. What they may not have is the greater time to sightsee or the randomness of which fork-in-the-road to travel.

Trivia: the things Yogi Berra actually said usually make sense in fewer words than most anyone else would use. “When you come to the fork in the road, take it” referred to the quickest way to get to his house (it was the same distance whether going right or left; the fork was really a 'loop' road).
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Old 12-14-2015, 12:51 PM   #8
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Ok, fine, let us get beyond generalities. One of the relocations I was considering provides nine days to travel 550 miles = 10 hours at 55 miles an hour if you can accept that speed, with some exceptions more or less.

$1 a day, some free mileage, a new 30 ft motorhome. Sure, I will do a PDI and take a repair tool kit and basic items with me, but leave the dog at home. I will probably bring a power management device with me and my multimeter as well. Yada, yada.

I don't think that schedule is particularly onerous and I don't know just how much time one figures they have to have to be random enough for sightseeing and road forking.

I think if one can get beyond ones assumptions about these things, they offer something unique that few talk about probably because few know about it.

Butt time simply provides a lot of value that can't be had chit chatting.

Here is a link to this stuff: http://thriftynomads.com/rv-relocation-deals/

After I do this, I can tell you either a horror story, a dream story, or something in between.
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Old 12-14-2015, 01:11 PM   #9
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Sounds like a great way to determine if a motor home is in your future. Let us know how it turns out.
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Old 12-14-2015, 01:18 PM   #10
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To me this sounds like an awesome way to get so experience before plunking down huge money on a dream.

One thing I would want to know more about, if I was you, is insurance. Do you need to have some type of special policy?

I would also be very concerned with residual liability if you do make any minor repairs or adjustments while in route. I understand from your previous posts that you have taken the time to develop the skills to make such repairs, just not sure what the factory or new owners position is on that.

I assume that the buyer is likely a rental company, right? If not, and I was the buyer, I'm not sure I would like the "delivery agent(s)" to be sleeping in my bed or using my bathroom facilities. I'm sure this is a spelled out in your agreement though, and the actual buyer is aware. Really it should be saving the buyer money considerably in delivery expense and they might think it's worth it.

If you do this, be sure to let us know how it goes.
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Old 12-14-2015, 02:54 PM   #11
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Actually, no question a mh is in my future, but I have to break my wife in so she can be part of the decision process. She is from China, so this is all new to her, but she likes traveling with me in the U.S.
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Old 12-14-2015, 03:13 PM   #12
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Yes, they require you to sign up for their insurance which seems reasonable to me and the smart way to go.

I will be attempting to get a copy of the agreement shortly so I can read it. As you say, responsibility for in route repairs, cleanup etc. I need more info on, but so far my questions have been answered satisfactorily.

In their typical rental agreements, not to say they will be the same, they take care of all of that and I am renting for $1 a day, so I'm a renter.

As long as I can demonstrate it either was broken when I left and remained so, or it failed not due to my fault on the road, I'm not too concerned.

I have another advantage, that having worked for them as a service repairman for 3 months to get my hands on training, I know their products very well and what to look for and how to operate them and can talk shop with them.

I am also a RVIA Certified RV service technician, so having a badge I can flash and that pretty much changes the nature of all the discussion I get into and provides me access to the back shop area at a dealership.

A critical part will be a documented signed off PDI with a list of any problems I have found and take pictures with my camera if necessary.

Im thinking, as an option, of stopping at a local detailing shop to clean it up and get a receipt, BUT I do know from working at that same RV rental place they have their own detailers and I'm guessing they prefer to use their own detailers, so I just have to work out the expected end of drive costs that are reasonable on their end and to what extent I need to plan for that. I believe the deposit is $1,000 and I'm guessing I should assume about $150-300 or so to be taken out of that for their cleaning process.

I will probably sign up this week for the first part of March, so I have time to prepare.

Right, it is with an RV rental company. So, in effect, I'm really just another regular renter with benefits that is simply renting at a heavily reduced rate for the first trip in that RV to get it from the mfg to the RV rental location. When I return it, it will be turned over to a technician and learning crew to get ready for the next rental...just like all their rentals. I know because I took in quite a few of those new units after relocation.

I use to put any where from two to six of these rental units, old and new, back on the road every day for them, so I know their system. They are all entry level vacation units.

Oh, and one more note, I will do a PDI at the end with my camera.
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Old 12-14-2015, 06:37 PM   #13
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Not to throw a wrench in the plan but If I were plunking down my hard earned $$$$ on a new MH, I would not want the mattress to have been used by someone for several weeks or the rig to be lived in for that long.

Maybe that is the accepted method but not for me.
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Old 12-14-2015, 06:43 PM   #14
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Not to throw a wrench in the plan but If I were plunking down my hard earned $$$$ on a new MH, I would not want the mattress to have been used by someone for several weeks or the rig to be lived in for that long.

Maybe that is the accepted method but not for me.
It's going to an RV rental agency, so they don't care if the mattress has been slept on. In a short time, a lot of strange butts will have dented the mattress.

It sounds like the RV rental place is being creative, and found way to to get their RVs delivered for free. Looks like a win-win situation to me, unless you consider the paid deliverers that are getting screwed.
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Old 12-14-2015, 06:55 PM   #15
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Oh, I didn't read the last line of the first post.

My only comment is to each his own.
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