armstrongpiper Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 Considering a trip in the Wild Wes in May/June next year, and looking for advice from anyone who has done this recently. We are over 70, so wonder what licence rules apply over there ref driving large vehicles, such as our max 3,500 Kg unless have extra classes added via medical checkups. We did a trip in a hired RV back in 2001, using a Cruise America 'compact' (23 feet and wide!) RV, and it was a disaster. We lost three days of our trip getting things fixed which should have been sorted at a service. Cruise America didn't seem to do servicing, just left it to the customer to use the free help line and waste time getting jobs done. So, would be very wary of using CA again, unless someone can say they have improved. Neil B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 We used Cruise America couple of years ago and got on ok, but it's a big company so may well vary between depots. As for license AFAIK whats on your license is what you can drive, but I'm sure a rental company will advise. We did Nevada, (north) Arizona, and (south) Utah on last trip, and can give a few pointers on these if you want. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
armstrongpiper Posted October 21, 2013 Author Share Posted October 21, 2013 Thanks for your comments, Colin. Interesting what you say about Cruise America, so maybe will give them another chance. Will continue to research the various options. Neil B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will86 Posted October 21, 2013 Share Posted October 21, 2013 We also used Cruise America (very good) on at least two occasions but this was quite some while ago. We had difficulties at the start with the hand over staff and reported it to their HQ which I believe was in Florida, we also had problems where there were damaged items in the interior and as it was stated in the info that we would be charged for damage I itemised EVERY FAULT and reported it to their HQ yet again. We received a reply instantly with a discount for the next visit which we did take up, then when we were due to sign in at the rental office (in Phoenix) there was a welcome message from the FAMILY owners. With renting there is always likely to be prior damage but you must read the rules carefully and make any errors known. Do not just grumble REPORT IT, I can assure you that complaints go direct to the bosses as happened on two other occasions with hotels when we had written replies waiting back at home. We found that the US is very customer conscious so you must complain if anything is not in order. Just thought we visited the film studios in LA which we thought was poor but whilst there a problem occurred over the routing and as we were aiming to leave the area before home time we complained about the delay and immediately a bus was called for us, THEN there was such a rush for it that we almost didn't get on ! We never had serious problems anywhere but you do have to let your views be known very firmly and correctly. As a side note I've never found our Tesco here any good at customer relations. I reported a fault on their toilet display logo's and it took 2 years before they accepted it. Their poor customer service was one of the reasons they failed in the US. Had I been smart I would have involved the media and made some money as I reckon I saved them a fortune on their share price. SO NEVER trust a non receptive British Company. Sounds a bit like some M/H situations? PS I recently loaned a friend all our maps and info, I'll give him a call for a report and see what he says. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will86 Posted October 22, 2013 Share Posted October 22, 2013 Hi Neil my Pal returned 2 days ago here is his reply un-editted. I posed the questions related to you. Hi Bill, Jusy got back last week and had a fantastic holiday. We went with Cruise America and our vehicle was a 30 ft long C30 class. They do smaller ones though. No hidden costs apart from having to rent some fold up chairs for outside which actually was a bit of a waste of money as nearly all sites had seats. We had to pay for an individual kit each up front like blankets,sheets etc but we had already pre paid for that. I would suggest as a belt and braces your friend books the VIP insurance as my mate did struggle with the width of the vehicle ( 12 ft wide ) and damaged a bumper and wing mirror but we weren’t charged for it at the end. I didn’t have a problem so your friend may be fine. Where not to go – we deliberately drove over the Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco and into the city from the North which I would avoid in future as the traffic was horrendous. Where we stayed in San Fran was excellent however. It was Candlestick Park and they ran a minibus in and out of San Fran every hour so for a small fee you didn’t have to worry about public transport or taxis. I would definitely do it again, but would probably do less miles ( we did just over 1500 in 10 days ) or go for longer. We did Vegas to Yosemite to San Francisco down to Los Angeles and back to Vegas stopping at various points on the way. Good places to stop were Seacliff State Park ( on the edge of the beach, where we saw whales, dolphins and racoons ) and Morrow Bay both in between San Fran and Los Angeles . It would have been nice to spend longer in Carmel and Monteray but we just didn’t have the time. The one place I wouldn’t stay at again was Dockweiler Beach RV park, Los Angeles - very pretty but late at night the aircraft took off from the airport and flew directly over head. No bad points other than my mate’s driving and no serious complaints apart from the fact that there was a problem with the shower and we only ever got cold water through it but apart from that everything with the van was great! Other than that perfect! Robin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will86 Posted October 22, 2013 Share Posted October 22, 2013 So there you go Neil and any others planning a visit. There was obviously less traffic when we went. The camp site mentioned is probably the one we stayed on right on the beach. There is one on the old Rt 1 which is between LA and SF and I believe the road was called Pacific Highway originally, its right on the waters edge. Do a run on Google to get an idea. We went South to North it seems they went opposite. We went to most of the places they did, possibly as I loaned them all our old information. We always moved away from built up areas before it got busy the same as you would do here. As said note any faults and let the bosses know. Its the same with any organisation if they do not know then they cannot rectify. I cannot remember how many miles we did but I do recall allowing 100 miles per day, maybe not a lot but time is needed to look around. And its a BIG BIG country very BIG. LA you may think of as a town ... its as BIG as SUSSEX. PS regarding snags when travelling it seems the norm to call at any service point for small repairs. We also had a water heater problem that was never corrected even when calling at a service point so perhaps that is something to be thoughtful about. The rental office is just that a rental office no more. I also notice they did 10 days at 150 miles a day so perhaps our 100 per day was the answer. We mostly stayed in KOA sites, not sure if they are around now. Never a problem but many had vicious mosquitoes midges ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
armstrongpiper Posted October 22, 2013 Author Share Posted October 22, 2013 Many thanks for the reports. We did a trip in 2001 (before Sep 11), and had loads of faults with the RV, and spent hours on their telephone helpline waiting for an answer. The repair/service agents were very helpful when we eventually founf them. Eventually got three days rental refund. We started in Oakland, halfway to LA (Morrow Bay) , Barstoe, Las Vegas, Grand Canyon (North Rim), Rock Springs, Jackson Hole, Yellowstone (THE highlight),, Craters of the Moon Lava Flow, Elko, Yosemite and back to Oakland. It seems a long way to go in 3 weeks, but one easily makes an early start each day, and with roads being so empty it was no strain to cover the miles and see things on the way. Thankyou for your help, again Neil B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starvin marvin Posted October 22, 2013 Share Posted October 22, 2013 Hi, we were in the US last week, travelling down the east coast in a hire car. Saw a number of RV's free camping or boondocking as they call it. We found the Cruise America agency in Jacksonville FL and they have 19 foot C class, we were also going to their depot in Orlando but ran out of time. The vans we saw looked good and would be very driveable on the brilliant roads they have. Give us a couple of years and we will be back either renting or buying and sell back which Criuse America do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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