MoseyOnDown Posted July 16, 2018 Share Posted July 16, 2018 In addition to local and UK trips, we regularly drive our Globecar PVC through France to Italy Spain etc and of course really love it. We are thinking of renting something similar ( 2 berth and approx 6m) in France before we take the plunge and try long haul - Canada and or NZ. Wondering if any contributors had experience to share, things to watch out for or even know of reliable trustworthy firms (with one or two exceptions I have a pretty sceptical view of National /International firms but may have to hold my nose on that one!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted July 16, 2018 Share Posted July 16, 2018 We've hired motorhomes in UK, Australia, NZ, Canada, and US. My advise is always list every fault and damage no matter how small at beginning of hire, mostly we've had little problems, but in one case when picking up and walking round van we pointed out various marks and minor damage and was told by a kindly laid back gent "Oh don't worry about those little bits", well we made him list them, on return a sharper younger chap started listing the lot, the conversation went "you've scratched this panel", "It's on the list", "You've chipped this mirror", "it's on the list", "you've broken this handle", "it's on the list" You could see the disappointment on his face when he realised he wasn't going to get his bonus. >:-( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PJay Posted July 16, 2018 Share Posted July 16, 2018 MoseyOnDown - 2018-07-16 2:21 PM In addition to local and UK trips, we regularly drive our Globecar PVC through France to Italy Spain etc and of course really love it. We are thinking of renting something similar ( 2 berth and approx 6m) in France before we take the plunge and try long haul - Canada and or NZ. Wondering if any contributors had experience to share, things to watch out for or even know of reliable trustworthy firms (with one or two exceptions I have a pretty sceptical view of National /International firms but may have to hold my nose on that one!) I don't understand the question. Why do you need to hire avan in France? If you have a globecar, which you say you use in France, Why Hire? i understand you would hire in USA/Canada, so why hire in FRANCE. I guess a Mh in USA/Canada would possibly be bigger and LHD, but why hire before you go? PJay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoseyOnDown Posted July 16, 2018 Author Share Posted July 16, 2018 Why hire in France? A very good question. Three reasons: 1. Want to hire a 6m fixed bed before we go whole hog and upgrade our rear lounge Globecar to a fixed bed because we may just get a little claustrophobic.... 2. Want to have the experience of fly then hire before spending a large amount of money on long haul 3. Fly /hire could give more options for those occasions when we have a shorter time available and we are missing the sun (less relevant this year I have to admit). Also have to confess that I am naturally a more cautious plodding adventurer. :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted July 16, 2018 Share Posted July 16, 2018 We hired a fixed bed WildAx in UK when our VW was off the road, worse week in a motorhome ever, gf's claustrophobia kicked in whilst in the transverse bed, that's why we now have a Campscout, still fixed bed but longitudinal, you can still hire a WildAx direct from factory last I knew. Don't think you will learn anything from hiring in France, even different branches of the same company are not necessarily the same experience, so a hire company in Australia is hardly likely to be same as a French company. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikebeaches Posted July 17, 2018 Share Posted July 17, 2018 MoseyOnDown - 2018-07-16 6:23 PM Why hire in France? A very good question. Three reasons: 1. Want to hire a 6m fixed bed before we go whole hog and upgrade our rear lounge Globecar to a fixed bed because we may just get a little claustrophobic.... 2. Want to have the experience of fly then hire before spending a large amount of money on long haul 3. Fly /hire could give more options for those occasions when we have a shorter time available and we are missing the sun (less relevant this year I have to admit). Also have to confess that I am naturally a more cautious plodding adventurer. :-) Hiring in France does sound surprising when you've got a pvc. Fully understand your desire to have short breaks, however. We fly on holiday quite frequently - though not to France - and we also use oor van for trips. The great thing for us about having our own camper is the ability to take almost as much of your own 'stuff' as we want. Whereas, when flying, we're very restricted with what we can take, especially as we prefer travelling with hand luggage only, to save the faff at the carousel and also to have less clobber to drag around to the hotel / apartment / villa. This winter we are planning to garage our van near Alicante airport and fly down for short breaks whenever we fancy. Totally understand hiring for long-haul destinations, however. But as others have suggested, I'd expect it to be a very different experience from hiring in France. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Solomongrundy Posted July 17, 2018 Share Posted July 17, 2018 Earlier this year I had a problem with my Pilote and called at a Caravan/Motorhome dealer near Beaulieu sur Layon to try and solve the problem. I found they hired out Motorhomes, although I didn't need one at that time, and during the following weeks we noticed dozens of hired Motorhomes with their logo on. They are called Sud-Loire-Caravannes (SLC) – part of a seven centres group – and if they are as good at hiring as they were helping me they might be worth contacting. Hope this helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoseyOnDown Posted July 18, 2018 Author Share Posted July 18, 2018 Thanks for all advice/ suggestions. I'm plodding off to mull them over - so thanks again. B-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zydeco Joe Posted July 18, 2018 Share Posted July 18, 2018 Have hired two VW campers (1980's vintage) from a guy in Redwood City close to San Francisco, California. Was very cost effective at about $100 per day and that's not far of chain motel prices and you then need a car on top but with the camper all sorted. We had 2 fantastic trips including visits to one of thje worlds greatest places Yosemite NP. Not a MH but great fun. B-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scoge Posted July 19, 2018 Share Posted July 19, 2018 Mike Just wondering if you have left your van before in Spain and flown back and forward for holidays. If so where have you stored it and how have you arranged the covering insurance? It is something I am looking to do but can't arrange the appropriate insurance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjsbc Posted July 22, 2018 Share Posted July 22, 2018 We have hired in the UK twice in three years (just go motor home hire) travel insurance is a must we knocked off a lump off a motor home pulling over for horse float (the local council had been cutting trees and just dumped the trash in the verge and we found it).Although some of the reviews are not good for some of the MH companies we have found the ones we have used to be pretty good .Use your cell phone take pics of all defects ensuring they contain their reps etc. As for OZ and NZ most hire companies are pretty good (they have good volumes) and most motor homes they hire are local builds and are up there with the best. If you are up to it a cheap way of seeing NZ or OZ try the web site of imoova the mileages can be daunting but you can see Aus for virtually nothing and also NZ relocating for them. We are off to meet our sons possible inlaws next week flying into Brisbane going south to Armadale then north to Tennant creek and down via Alice Springs to Adelaide by motor home just look out for roo's,most two berths are van conversions are vdub or merc and are up to the conditions Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill kircher Posted July 25, 2018 Share Posted July 25, 2018 Hiya We rented a motorhome in le havre through a site called yescappa. everything was spot on and it was left hand drive. it was unlimited km and with comp insurance for two week was £1145 it was our first time motor homing but liked it so much we have bought a 2004 compass castaway :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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