Hiring vs buying an RV

Hiring vs buying a Recreational Vehicle:

Making the Right Choice for Your Adventures

When it comes to road trips or enjoying the freedom of the open road, many people consider the option of travelling in a recreational vehicle (RV). Whether you call them RVs, motorhomes, or campervans, they can give freedom to travel and experience the beauty New Zealand has to offer. However, one important decision that needs to be made is hiring vs buying an RV. This article aims to explore the pros and cons of both options.

For those who are not ready to commit to owning an RV, hiring or leasing can be an attractive alternative. With RV hiring available, you have the opportunity to experience travelling in an RV without the long-term commitment. Hiring or leasing offers flexibility in duration and allows you to choose from a variety of models and sizes.

That being said, purchasing an RV provides a sense of ownership and freedom. Owning an RV means having complete control over customisations and personalisation options. Additionally, there’s no need to worry about rental restrictions or time limitations imposed by hiring or leasing agreements. Also, owning an RV can potentially offer long-term cost savings for those who make use of their vehicle regularly.

Lets take a look into hiring vs owning an RV!

1. Flexibility and Variety in Choosing Your RV

Whether you’re hiring vs buying an RV, there’s a lot of flexibility and variety to choose from.

One of the benefits of hiring an RV is that you’re able to have access to types of RVs that you may not had otherwise. If you had to pay the costs of purchasing an RV, you may not want to try it out. This is great for shorter periods of time, such as renting a motorhome or caravan over the weekend or a few days.

Through hiring an RV, you get to test what it would be like to have your own one. This helps to know if it’s something you would like to have over a long period of time. Once you have experienced renting, leasing or hiring an RV, you’d be able to know how they are to drive. You’ll also have an idea of what features you do or don’t want in your future RV.

One of the main advantages of owning an RV is the ability to customize and personalize your vehicle. Whether you choose to buy a pre-owned RV and renovate it or build your own from scratch, you have the opportunity to create a space that suits your needs and style. From choosing the layout and design to adding personalized touches, customizing an RV allows you to create a home away from home that reflects your personality.

If you travel often, buying your own RV would also reduce the amount of packing and unpacking. You may have items that are left in the RV even when you’re not using it. This can cut down on the stress of getting ready for a trip and also having to remove everything afterwards.

One common issue with RV hiring is the limited availability of vehicles. Popular vacation seasons or peak travel periods can make it challenging to secure a rental on short notice. This limitation not only restricts spontaneity but also forces you to plan your trips well in advance. This means potentially missing out on impromptu adventures.

The process of booking hired or leased vehicles can be time-consuming. From contacting multiple rental companies to sorting out terms and conditions, it often involves numerous phone calls, emails, and paperwork. This not only eats into valuable time but also adds unnecessary stress to the planning process.

This is where hiring vs buying an RV would come down to how often you want to use an RV. As well as how personalised you want the experience to be.

2. Convenience and Availability of RVs

Convenience and availability also plays in role when considering hiring vs buying an RV.

An advantage of renting an RV is the convenience it provides. You can simply pick up your rented vehicle at a designated location. This eliminates the need for storage space or worrying about where to park it when not in use. This allows you to go on your journeys with ease, knowing that you have comfortable and reliable transport.

Renting an RV also relieves people from the maintenance responsibilities that come with owning one. Regular upkeep such as cleaning, servicing, and repairs are taken care of by the rental company. It allows you to focus solely on enjoying your travel experiences. This not only saves time but also stops potential stress that comes with maintaining an RV.

Owning an RV means saying goodbye to late fees and expensive accommodation costs. It also takes away the stress and hassle of having to book in times to rent your RV. Depending on the season and current demand for RVs, you could find that you’re needing to book months in advance. You also may not get the exact RV you’re wanting depending on what’s available.

While it’s fine to plan holidays, vacations and family trips months ahead, having to plan them around hiring an RV takes away some of the spontaneity that trips often have. It can also provide less room for sudden changes outside of your control such as weather or event dates.

When you own an RV, you have the luxury of traveling for as long as you desire without worrying about finding available hotels or paying massive rates. This allows for extended holidays and the flexibility to explore multiple destinations at your own pace. It can take a huge weight out of the planning process, and allow for more freedom when planning trips. It also allows for impromptu adventures!

3. RV Cost Savings and Avoiding Long-Term Commitments

When comparing the costs of renting vs owning an RV, it’s important to take into account not only the rental fees but also other expenses. These may include insurance premiums, maintenance costs, and storage fees. When owning an RV, these costs can often be outweighed by the savings with over an extended period.

When hiring an RV, you’re often paying quite a large amount of money per day. If you’re wanting to go on a long trip, this cost quickly adds up! What you pay in a day for hiring an RV could be what you pay per week, fortnight or month when getting it through financing. Although you’d be paying your RV off over a longer period of time, you potentially cut the costs significantly. This is because the RV is now yours to own forever!

After looking around at estimate costs for hiring an RV, it seems that you can get them from $50 per day, all the way up to $500 per day. These costs depend on the size and type of the RV you are wanting to hire, with the lower end hiring costs having space for a couple and the higher end having space for a family.

If you were to get an RV through caravan finance, you may find that those daily costs turn into weekly or even monthly costs!

By investing in your own RV, you can save money over time. Rather than spending on rental fees each time you want to hit the road, owning an RV allows you to eliminate those recurring expenses. This means that the more frequently you embark on trips, the more cost-effective owning an RV becomes.

You also avoid making deadlines of when your RV is due back at the lot. It’s not uncommon for holiday plans to change. Something happens and it can cause our plans to run behind time, or we may find something else along our adventures that we want to check out.

By owning your own RV, you remove the stress of getting all of your holiday activities into a certain amount of time. Found out about an awesome festival in a local town that’s happening in the next couple of days? Just camp out a little longer! There’s no need to worry about missing out on unexpected journeys or late fees for not getting your RV back on time.

Renting Vs Owning an RV: Final Verdict

As you can see, there are various pros and cons to both hiring or renting an RV and owning an RV.

Buying your own RV allows you much more freedom, not only in terms of how long you are going on your adventure, but also in what kind of model you have, how you customise it to your own personal tastes, and what features it has. You don’t have to book months in advance and you avoid very high daily hiring costs. The daily costs of renting could be your weekly or monthly cost of financing your own RV!

If you plan on going for long adventures, or frequently like to use an RV, having your own one may win out when it comes to renting vs buying an RV.

Hiring or renting an RV is great if you are just looking for an experience but don’t plan on doing it regularly. You get the freedom of picking up an RV to go on your travels with, without having to commit to a long-term investment. It may also be a great way to “try before you buy”. Additionally, you don’t have to worry about maintenance and storage considerations, as you just hand it back after your trip is done.

Hiring vs buying an RV will come down to what your goals are and wether you are wanting to use an RV for long periods of time, or regularly over the years.

If you would like to know more about the differences in RVs such as motorhomes and caravans, check out this article here.

If you’d like to learn more about financing when it comes to RVs, feel free to check out our guide on how to finance a caravan.