TV Alternative: Rent vs. Buy

[Snorin'Sonoran]

Hi everyone,

First off I think this thread only really applies to folks who don't tow very often. My wife and I are considering upgrading our TV. Our current vehicle is paid off so it's nice not having a payment. We need something bigger. I'm thinking about how much a TV upgrade would cost and that I'll probably tow with it maybe 5 times a year max and commute to work the rest of the time. That's a lot of commuting and only a little towing.

I'm curious if anyone has ever rented a pickup when they need to tow their camper rather than own a capable TV. Over the life of a vehicle loan it seems to me that there would be a lot of savings. Also our camper has a GVWR of 3500 lbs so I imagine almost any full size pickup rental would be capable of towing it.

I'm interested to hear your thoughts.

Thanks

[PoohbearT]

Out of curiosity, wouldn't a larger TT require that the TV is equipped with a brake controller?
Do rentals have these?

[Iraqvet05]

I looked into that several years ago but the placed I found that rented trucks would not let you tow anything behind them.

[bansai]

Might want to check out the Uhaul website. They rent pickup trucks and advertise using their trucks to tow boats, so a lighter weight camper might be ok with them.. Here in my area it's generally about 20 dollars a day + 70 cents a mile. That's close to 300 dollars driving 400 miles, not including gas of course.

Say you want to do a 3 day trip. 400 miles each direction. You probably would want to rent the truck 1 day in advance so you don't have to mess around with picking it up the same day you are leaving... Math would be (approximately)

20 dollars times 4 days = 80
400 miles times 70 cents each direction x 2 = 560

Total cost before taxes, etc = 640 dollars. Of course you have fuel to worry about too. Should probably factor in another 80 to 100 for that.

Starts looking pretty expensive to me. 5 camping trips like that a year will set you back about 3000. It's not super expensive compared to buying a 50+ thousand dollar truck, but it's still about 5 truck payments all said and done. Go on just one longer trip per year and you're likely paying half, or more of what a new truck would cost you financed.

It's an option, just not one I could justify since it sounds like a pretty big PIA, in addition to being prohibitively expensive as much as we camp. Maybe these aren't factors for you though. I'd be concerned the rental wouldn't be setup properly to tow what I need to tow on any given trip which could totally ruin a vacation. UHaul isn't the only game in town, maybe there are better options.

[PonyExpress]

I have never found a rental place that will let you tow with their 1/2 ton trucks.

You can find places that rent 3/4 and 1/ton trucks but its was expensive

[SOMBATFAMILY]

Just be happy with what you got and use it. I tow a popup camper with GVWR of 3500 lbs with a Honda Odyssey minivan for 5 years with no problems. I got bigger TV cause I got bigger trailer. If the vehicle you current use to tow GVWR of 3500 lbs trail work than there is no reason to go bigger.

[sennister]

Never tried renting but I agree with some of the other comments.

Many times you can't tow with them. Well they can tell you not to but how do they stop you? Well I have seen some rental trucks that don't have hitches so that will slow you down.

The other issue being the brake controller. Sure you can add it temporarily but that will be a headache having to wire it in and such. Then there are other towing related accessories. Such as towing mirrors. The universal ones suck. The make/model specific ones are better but when renting you normally don't get to pick Dodge/Ford/GM so are you going to buy new ones each time?

If it is just moving the camper from seasonal site to storage or something along those lines, then you could post something on Craigslist about moving a camper and maybe get an offer. I would go that route before renting. However it sounds like you are looking for more often than twice a year.

[Subaru297]

Some rental companies will put a locking hitch pin in the receiver so you can't use it.

[North of 49°]

I was looking into this myself when our trailer was being delivered to the dealer. My truck was in the shop because of an accident so I was examining my options. One of the big rental places around here offered pickups and I drove by it every day, and all of their trucks had the hitches removed. U-Haul was the next option, but then I thought about wiring and brake controllers... and I ultimately decided to wait for my own vehicle to be ready.