We're planning a cross country trip from NJ to Yosemite. Does anyone know a place that rents out Airstream trailers? We would love to purchase one but it's beyond our price range right now.
Saw the thread and realize straight rentals of Airstreams are unlikely, for reasons noted but...
1. Just returned from RV Show in SF Bay Area and brought home brochure from Motorhome Timeshare.. As Webster predicted (humorously..) folks are now selling 1/12 shares in big Motorhomes, with maintenance and mileage fees, just like NetJets or other fractionals... Unlikely for A/S Trailer unless Suburban or Tow Vehicle included, but might be worth contacting them..
2. Given resale values and ridiculous cheap financing (Motorhomes come with 5.99% 20 year loans!!) it might make perfect sense to buy a pre-owned Airstream, take it to Yellowstone on vacation, and then sell it in Calif or upon return, and pay off loan after few months of no-down and low monthly payment loan.. (Depreciation on brand new one makes this much more expensive..)
3. Advertise for "Reverse Vacationer" and split costs in way that doesn't amount to commercial rental for liability risk.. See if Forum member on West Coast has always wanted to take one-way trip to New York, and then arrange to bring their unit home to West Coast after finishing at Yosemite.. Still requires faith and confidence etc etc. We've wanted to travel from Calif to Florida Keys, but return drive was turn-off, and have tried to influence friends here to fly to FL and drive ours home as east-to-west trip.. Not such a stretch to extend to Forum member...
4. Modified version of that is to find one in NY area, do trip to Yellowstone, and then ship home with commercial shipper and handle disposition there. Nobody but CruiseAmerica or Moturis does one-way rentals across US, that I'm aware of, and those are Class C Motorhomes only.... Some of the car haulers, like Swift or Horseless Carriage might bring tailer home, though it won't be cheap either..
John McG
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Condoluminum
In Theory, there's no difference between Theory and Practice, but in Practice, there is usually a difference...
Thanks everyone for your help. We'll have to consider something else. Maybe we will try to purchase a used one and resell it later (though I think we will want to keep it). We are going to a RV show next weekend. Maybe someone will give us more ideas.
Marites
as i am just in the process of finding/buying a new rig, and haven't decided between a 34ft or 31ft or 30 with slide (i'm leaning toward the 34), i too was looking for a rental option just to sort out my size needs.
coming from a 28ft as motorhome i'm not so much worried about total living space as much as gear carring space....anyway.
while searching i did find one as dealer offering fractional leases/time shares or whatever you'd like to call it....one of the dealers in iowa does offer this option.
go to the as homepage clic on find a dealer and clic on "iowa" on the map. i think it's the davenport iowa shop.....looks like it will cost 6-8K but can be applied toward purchase....
and you'd still have the issue of a tow rig.
not really a bad price, when you consider renting even a used beat up smoked in, class c is expensive....2500-3500$ weekly when mileage is added for long trips.
While looking at thread for cool new Safari Deluxe 25FB, now in stock at Colonial in northern NJ, I happened to notice they are offering for sale a traded-in 1988 Excella 25, w/rear twin beds at price of less than $13K. That is identical (but for our Queen bed) to unit we bought in 2003 for about same price. It even has dreaded pink curtains and mini-blinds from some perverted interior design school in late '80's... <We still have complete extra set of those salmon-pink mini blinds in perfect condition to give to anyone who wants them for price of shipping..>
Anyway, point is that late '80's and early 90's 25's are very popular, often sell within days of listings, and could well be bought, taken to Yosemite, and sold 6 months later for less of a loss than you'd pay to rent something, plus or minus NJ taxes... Sadly, you'd probably just decide to keep it, however..
There are other threads that go on and on over twins v. queen beds, so I'll just say that is matter of life-style choice... What I can say is that we did entire interior makeover (blinds/curtains/upholstery/carpets/mattress toppers/plumbing fixtures ++) for less than $4K, and the result was highly livable for 1/3 total cost of new '25...
John McG
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Condoluminum
In Theory, there's no difference between Theory and Practice, but in Practice, there is usually a difference...
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