Hiring a motorhome out (1 Viewer)

richardttt

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Hi all, I'm new here - been browsing as a guest for a while though ::bigsmile:

I'm going to ask that question that you all probably roll your eyes and take a big sigh at about motor home hire. I've read most of the threads on here and another site on the topic and it seems to be a resounding "don't bother". However, I don't give up that easily and would love to hear from anybody who is having a good experience of renting out their motorhome and or making money from it.

I understand that I would not get rich and be able to give up the day job on just one or two vans, but the aim of this would not be to earn a living - more to enable me to comfortably afford a decent motor home and maybe make a couple of pounds from it.

The main questions I have are:

Is the insurance prohibitively expensive, What happens if it breaks down while on hire? If you sign up to an agency, how often do they get you hires? And is the demand as high as a certain company who wants to make me a billionaire would have me believe (first one to guess who wins a prize).

Obviously I've missed the boat this year, but this is something that I would really like to try, even if it doesn't earn me a living, it could be good fun - I've little money, but loads of time!

Thanks for reading,

Richard
 

Peter JohnsCross MH

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Lets put it this way, I have six very late models which we hire out. I buy at trade prices, you cannot, vans are cleaned and maintained by my staff, you can't, insurance is on our trade policy which is not easily obtained.

Do I make a fortune out of it................. NO

Why do I do it, it's part of a motorhome dealership and we can offer potential purchasers the opportunity of hiring before buying.

You will either have to advertise or use one of these so called brokers with all the grief involved as you will not see your hirers until they arrive! (We can vet ours at time of booking.)

Vans get damaged and not looked after with any Tom, Dick or Harry hiring.

Peter
 

rainbow chasers

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Nothing wrong with hiring your motorhome!

1. Do not get too emotionally attached. It may pick up the odd branch scrape, or little dings - happens to anyone. It may not, but be prepared.

2. Choose a good agency - and no you won't be a millionaire...but, if your motorhome creates enough demand then you could well afford to purchase another.

3. Agency fees - it is all about insurance (£100/week), recovery insurance, the hand overs, the paperwork, the credit checks, the health and safety, the vehicle maintenace checks, the tracking, the 24 call centres and the endless hours of paperwork related gumpf. Each hire creates around 30 pages, all have to be kept for 3 years.

Think somewhere around £300 per hire for a good agency full management that is just covering its' costs....many will charge alot more, and give you very little - so choose very wisely!

4. Will your van be out every week? No way! That is utter poop! Most hire vans will probably be out on hire for minimum of 10 weeks a year, Max of around 20.

5. Is my van worth thousands a week? No, not really - depends what it is of course - average is around £600-800 for a popular vehicle, height of season. Recession is in swing, and although this hasn't made a great dent if the company is marketed correctly - but will make those that are more budget orientated think twice. I usually cut in a school holiday reduction to help them out.

In 3 years of hire, one vehicle has sustained very little damage if any - a scuff on the fibreglass, a broken window and an odd catch. It has earned over twice what it cost.

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Pammy

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the health and safety, the vehicle maintenace checks,


Can I just point out here, that if you hire a vehicle out, it must be checked by a Gas Safe Registered Engineer only. This is absolutely paramount - read the Gas Safety Installation & Use Regulations 1998 for full details of where you stand exactly.
 

rainbow chasers

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the health and safety, the vehicle maintenace checks,


Can I just point out here, that if you hire a vehicle out, it must be checked by a Gas Safe Registered Engineer only. This is absolutely paramount - read the Gas Safety Installation & Use Regulations 1998 for full details of where you stand exactly.


Yes - good addition Pammy! I take some of these things as routine so forget to mention them - Gas has to be done yearly, minimum - PAT test anything electrical...plus the 'maintenance checks' which includes the entire vehicle. We do this every 6 weeks - (just a harsh MOT!) - but it does pay, as if there is any fault developing it is found and sorted faster!

As with these sort of things - there is alot more than just handing it over and taking the money - the paperwork and legal issues add another day to your work. There is lots to think about - and if you go to an agency and they say 'don't worry about' this and that - don't worry about signing with them - there are many companies out there, not many do it completely correctly - it does hit the profit margin fairly hard.......personally, I would rather have customers safe, and enjoy a peaceful holiday that skimp on quality.

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richardttt

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Sorry all, I should have made it clearer. I don't want to do this for a living or to make a fortune - I have a job already. I want to own a motor home to enjoy, if it part pays for its self that would be great, even better if it totally pays for its self. And if it makes a profit, I'll buy another ::bigsmile:

The £300 per hire that Rainbow chaser mentioned is certainly not to be sniffed at. Damage I can expect, but nobody would take it without knowing that if they broke it they would be fixing it. And the Gas legislation is something I'm very familiar with, having worked it that game - my brother in law is also a gas safe engineer, so I would never be stuck on that front.

What type of motorhome is more popular, I find myself looking at 5 birth vans with a rear lounge and an over cab bed, bet they catch the wind though on the motorway?

Also, which are the best agencys to deal with?
 

rainbow chasers

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'Popular' Vans are 5/6 berth c-class - usually end kitchen/toilet as it gives the most internal space. Length around the 20ft margin - customers may never have driven a van before, this size is not too long, but big enough to be comfortable. Much longer and you are talking rear end swing, and getting it knocked about.

Size and layout has to suit everyone - not just you, so makes choosing quite a handful! You may be able to nogotiate getting food out of the oven with a toilet door behind, but someone of larger girth may not - silly things like that make a difference in someones' holiday - especially when they are paying for it.

You should, in theory be able to see a return of around £500/week taking off an agency fee average, and after taking other vehicle related costs you will see around a grand a month roughly 'profit'.

Customers do not fix a vehicle themselves, they have a damage deposit. If they damage it (fair wear and tear excluded) then they will pay the cost of the repair which is all agreed before hire.

If damage is sustained, they are issued with a notice that states that the deposit will be held, to cover the repairs - what I do is find the most cost effective option, keeping them consulted at all times and return any excess. Some companies treat damage as an extra form of income, which in my mind is wrong!
 

Hendrixfan

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What have you got at the moment and would you be willing to hire it out to another funster without going through an agency?... (see my new thread and you'll know why I'm asking!)

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haganap

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well, great to have two opposing views.

Have you thought of sharing a motorhome? is there any members of your family that could club in ot buy one on a sort of time share option?

this could be another way of you affording a motorhome.
 

Jim

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well, great to have two opposing views.

Have you thought of sharing a motorhome? is there any members of your family that could club in ot buy one on a sort of time share option?

this could be another way of you affording a motorhome.

Good point Haggers, years ago when I used to fly as a hobby, the planes cost similar amounts to motorhomes but the servicing costs were astronomical keep them certificated as 'air worthy' Rather than own aircraft outright the vast majority owned a share in an aircraft. It was a cheap route to ownership and kept the over head down because it was shared. Shares in aircraft were freely bought and sold on club noticeboards and magazines.

This worked well but you only 'booked it for a few hours at a time, or maybe a weekend at most.

Could this work with motorhomes? I think it could, especially if you are sharing with a sibling, friend, parent etc For me, I would rather own outright a 15k motorhome than a 1/4 share in a 60k one, though splitting tax, insurance and maintenance costs by 4 would be attractive.:Smile:
 

rainbow chasers

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You guys are so out of date! ::bigsmile:
I already do it - I don't mention it for non-advertising reasons, but I have the 'MotorhomeShare' Scheme. Website coming one day...lol!

It isn't a new idea, they do it for RV's in America. I took on the idea after seeing a bloke buying a really cruddy, damp horrible manky good for nothing Sherpa for 15k!!!! - to be honest it was guilt of not telling him to run away as fast as he could that drove me thinking how I could help people in that position

Splitting tax doesn't work Jim, I thought about that - and it just won't work! Too much bickering and too much time lost managing. Rather the sharers pay nothing!

I won't go into it too deeply, as I said, I am against people that advertise in forums, I find it rude - but in effect i have come up with an angle which means the motorhome will cost you absolutely nothing to run or maintain.
I am actually looking at selling the Hire/Share soon, as my other companies are becoming like wives - demanding, and constantly wanting my undivided attention - so i haven't pushed it at all.

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richardttt

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Thanks for all your views so far guys, it's good to know there are people who do this without too much bother. Does anybody have any experience of motorholme? I have read lots of bad reviews from people who rented from them, but can't find much from people who use their agency services - they do email me a hell of a lot from ages ago when I tried to make a simple inquiry.

Not sure if part owning would be right for me and my family, I would end up never using it and paying through the nose haha. I understand it does work well for aircraft though - once upon a time I was trying to learn how to fly microlights and it is an excellent way to bring down the cost of owning and maintaining aircraft.

I hope they catch whoever burnt you motorhome Hendrixfan, the mentality of some is beyond reason.
 
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richardttt

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I have used them and had no problems at all, in fact very good. But I think that was more down to the private owners of the Motorhome than the company itself.

Hi, did you hire from them or do you use them to rent out your own motorhome? Glad you had a good experience whichever way.

They do email a lot and every time I find a website that I think is new and informative, it turns out to be them with a different name.

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Douzeper

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Hi, did you hire from them or do you use them to rent out your own motorhome? Glad you had a good experience whichever way.

They do email a lot and every time I find a website that I think is new and informative, it turns out to be them with a different name.

I hired from them before I owned a Motorhome.

A 6 berth Swift Kontiki, £1000 for a week, it spent the whole time parked up at Glastonbury Festival :)

Flew into Bristol the owners met us there, gave us the low down on everything and we returned it to Bristol Airport.

They did mention that as they use two companies to rent out their Motorhome and "Motorholme" knew this they didn't get that much business from them.
 

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