Burner Friendly RV Companies

[ladywednesday]

Do they exist? Does anyone know of any? I am looking to put my deposit down. Probably just going to be me & the hubby- possibly one extra couple. Suggestions would be highly appreciated. I have tented it the last five years and damnit, I'm treating myself this year!!!

[Packoderm]

http://www.cruiseamerica.com/destinatio ... tival.aspx

"%||Your reservation was not accepted for the following reason(s):%

1. Limited availability; Please call 800-671-8042."

[Mitch]

Do they exist? Does anyone know of any? I am looking to put my deposit down. Probably just going to be me & the hubby- possibly one extra couple. Suggestions would be highly appreciated. I have tented it the last five years and damnit, I'm treating myself this year!!!

ElMonte likes Burning Man. They're not cheap, but the equipment is in good shape and they have a sense of humor about what is going to happen to it (that sense of humor doesn't extend to not charging you extra for dirt or damage). www.elmonterv.com, you can see what it'd cost to rent there.

IMPORTANT: Now is the time of year to book an RV. The prices will got up a lot in the coming months.

[Bay Bridge Sue]

As I remember people had issues with CruiseAmerica. No matter WHO you get an RV from - CHECK EVERYTHING to make sure it works, and that you don't have a lemon on your hands. Some companies have a "dog fleet" that they rent out to Burners, hoping they won't check them out, then charge them for the damage they didn't do.

Plus, if you're renting an RV for conveniences like AC/showers/generator etc, it would suck bigtime if you got out there and found out they don't work.

Expect them to get filthy nasty dirty, and it doesn't hurt to ask THEM how they clean an RV they get back from Burning Man. It may make the dif between getting your deposit back or not.

Happy Trails...

[Eric]

Last year we used Cheapa Campa- they don't come with a generator (but they don't tell you that until you go to pick them up). Worst RV we've ever had, and Adrians been using one for 15+ years.

This year we're going with Apollo RV, which is actually the full service version of Cheapa. We got good rates (but we booked the end of Sept for this year).

Like Sue said- document the hell out of any problems. When you do the pre-rental walk-through video it & any problems, and get the person who walks through with you on the video. If you have a problem on the playa, video it as well (smoke alarm that won't stop, fridge that stops, a/c that doesn't work). I recommend just keeping a 1 or 2 gig card separate for this (that way the Critical Tits or Dicks parade doesn't pop up while you're trying to seriously argue the problems at the counter)

CLEAN THE FUCK OUT OF IT!! #1 reason burners have problems renting RV's is that people return them trashed. Read up on the "prepping your RV for the playa" threads & the cleaning threads. I highly recommend "swiffer" knock offs to use to start wiping off the dust as soon as you're off the playa. They work astonishingly well.

[dragonpilot]

El Monte is reasonably Burner-friendly, but take pics or do a video of your rig inside, outside, especially the roof during the pre-trip inspection BEFORE driving it off the lot. They will charge you handsomely for any dent, ding, or damage not previously noted.

[CapSmashy]

Also, know your service charges up front. Like how many "free hours" you have on the generator and how much they will charge you per hour after the freebies have been used.

And yes, as already mentioned, document everything on your pre-inspection. Video taping it is an excellent idea. While you are doing your walk around, have your tour guide demonstrate how everything works on the rig. From the A/C and generator system to how the couch folds down.

The replacement/repair costs of RV specific things is extraordinarily expensive. That hide a bed sofa that you saw for $200 that looked (and felt) a lot like the one in the RV will be an easy $2K charge to replace.

[happydragon]

I had a good experience with cruise america. The guy at the shop I picked the RV up from knew exactly where I was taking it, and was totally cool and upfront about the return cleanliness expectations. He threw in a coffee pot and toaster, both of which were heavily used over the week, and was even cool when I brought it back missing a window and with minor damage from a poor judgment of clearance pulling into a gas station. (I didn't get my deposit back, but on the bright side, I didn't have to worry about cleaning up the RV either.....)

[Drawingablank]

We used cruise america and had no problems. Although they do not have the highest quality RV's, it was quite acceptable and we had no problems with it. They knew we were heading to the burn and they even have a special sheet printed up relating to use of the rv at the burn.

Cleanup: We ran it through a truck wash first. Next we emptied all our crap out of it and went over it with a swiffer several times. A scrub brush was used to get the playa dust out of the ribbed rubber mats at the doors. We bagged all our stuff in large trash bags before reloading the RV. We got our full deposit back.

[CaffeineGirl]

Be Free RV out of Portland, OR rents to burners (though it may be late for this years booking). They normally charge burners a non-refundable deposit, but my husband and I have used them for 8 years and always take them black clean, so our deposit is "waived" so long as we behave themselves.

Portland is about a 12 hr drive from the playa; you come in/out from the north so you miss out on the heavy traffic entering/exiting from Reno/CA.

As noted above, do read the RV threads about care and keeping them clean. Also very true that rental places do not want to deal with burners due to getting their vehicles back trashed. Check tires, etc. and get them replaced if needed. And don't try lying to them about where you are going. They know what the mileage is to and from BRC, and no matter how much you clean there will always be some playa dust.

Since Oregon does not have a sales tax, and the airport is fairly close to RBRV, total costs for vehicle and supplies for anyone flying in may end up quite a bit less than renting out of CA or southern NV.