RV rental – California

January 12, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Thanks to all those who responded and gave travel time tips. Much appreciated. Next on the list is car rental. Two of us want to rent a RV from LA to Vegas RETURN. We then want a car to drive LA to San Francisco ONE WAY. Lonely Planet has good advice but any tips and info from others experiences please. Recommended company? Insurance? Package deals? How about Driveaways for LA to San Francisco? Any benefits esp. price if car rental organized through travel agent along with flights? We’ll be flying in to LA from New Zealand.

Be sure to tell the rental agency in advance that you want written endorsement on your rental contract that you can take the car into Nevada. It’s never been a problem when I’ve told them in advance. The advice about auto insurance is also good.  Assuming NZ handles insurance similar to Australia and the UK, I can say the categories here are different from what you have back home.  See what if anything can be covered by your company.

Two examples about insurance differences (I), I’ll be heading to Scotland next month.  The insurance that comes with the car covers all damage, and all medical except for the driver.  The remaining insurance comes from an “umbrella” policy that have here in the US, based on my commitment to get the maximum insurance available on the rental contract.  (II) In the US the insurance is divided into personal liability (as in being responsible for repaying costs for personal injury – medical, lawsuits), collision (damage to vehicles), being the major ones, with another category for uninsured motorist.  The latter covers you if the UM is considered at fault, but is driving without insurance.  Some states make it illegal not to  have insurance, but that doesn’t prevent uninsured drivers from other states from driving in California.  I’ve never had to invoke UM, but its good to have.

 

 

Filed Under: RV Rental Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Rialta

January 12, 2012 By Leave a Comment

We purchased a new 1998 Rialta last May.  After an initial flood of problems we were finally able to get everything fixed, and we couldn’t be happier with it. The RV rental is billed as a vacation vehicle, and it suits our purposes perfectly.  We seldom stay on the road for more than a couple of weeks, so our family of three is not quite stressed out by the lack of space by the time the vacation is over.

Last summer we did a 7,000 mile tour of the US, just to see where we wanted to go back to, and the Rialta performed wonderfully on some of the “don’t you DARE take a truck on THIS road” roads in the Tetons, climbed the Rockies easily, and cruised RT 1 with class and plumb. The only problem we have had the involved the chassis (VW) was a bit of a pickle, however.  The Rialta wouldn’t fit in the VW dealership’s shop.  We do find the VR6 engine smooth and reliable, and we got a little over 17 mpg on that long trip.  My wife who at times thinks if anyone is in front of her, they shouldn’t be, was able to navigate Wyoming at +100 MPH, until I woke up and fainted. We bought the Rialta over the Internet from Mobility RV in upstate Iowa, saving $13,000 off list.  However, they did an abismal job of prep on it.  I guess you get what you pay for.

 

Filed Under: RV Rental Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

How is Bucharest?

January 12, 2012 By Leave a Comment

I am sure you will enjoy your trip to Bucharest.  You will note that the city is incredibly clean, very western European, and rich. You won’t see many Ford Mustangs or Explorers because the income level is so high that you will more see Mercedes SUVs, Land Rovers and Jeep Limited Cherokees.  In fact, the Mercedes brand name is probably more well-known there than Ford. If you are thinking in terms of Fords, I am not sure you will be able to afford Bucharest.  Quite frankly, people there are apparently on a
higher status plane than you.

As for shopping malls, they are so many that you probably would not be able to cover the basic ones in a couple weeks’ vacation.  And be ready to spend some major Euros and Deutschmarks because the exchange rate is in Romania’s favor these days.  Do visit the Gucci outlet on Ceau Ceau Boulevard – Here you can have clothing, jewelry and other necessary accessories individually designed.  Nearby, enjoy some Caspian Beluga or malosol on toast points for an appetizer with your American lobster from Maine, flown in daily at one of Bucharest’s new “California style” restaurants.  Jicama and cilantro are no strangers to todays’ Romanian cuisine. You will certainly enjoy the quiet of a true civil society. Regrettably, however, because of the high standard of living, you might be a tad disappointed with service industry workers.

Prepare for your journey by considering your wardrobe.  You won’t seem out of place if you wear a decent pair of English walking shoes and riding boots, although expensive, have become de rigeur for Bucharest’s inclement weather.  A camel hair sport coat will make you “fit in” with the locals.  Accessorize with a silk scarf.  This is one country, by the way, where furs are frequently encountered and you won’t be stigmatized for wearing one.  In general, please dress well;  you wouldn’t want to be considered one of those dirty unwashed tourists who is under the false impression that he can “do” Romania on the cheap. The local custom, if you want to be treated as well as the ordinary citizen, is for travelers to bring their belongings in belting leather luggage. You’ll pay a bit higher than normal tip for your sky cap service and a bit more than usual per bag for the taxis, but fitting in will determine how you are treated in this fortunate country.  Fortunately, you will be able to save money on your car rental and, again fortunately, you will be pleased to note the ready availability of parking spaces and the high level of civil society.  This is no Bulgaria where you need fear your windshield wipers being stolen.  

You are undoubtedly traveling to Romania for investment purposes. Everyone who is anyone is trying to get a piece of the thriving Romanian economy these days so be prepared for some hard bargaining.  But Romania’s place in Europe is incredibly secure and its ports clean and thriving.  The Tisza and the Danube have especially delicious drinking water.  One pays a bit for such a favorable location and cleanliness – the price of Central European success so near tourist mecca of the nearby intriguing Balkans.

I’m afraid that the Romanians have become a bit lazy over the centuries from their massive wealth and no longer perform their own folk music and customs, being completely westernized. However, you will note that Romani (Gypsy) musicians make quite incredible incomes preserving Romanian folk customs on behalf of Romanians. This symbiotic cultural arrangement is the result of a centuries long special inter cultural communion resulting in a selection of personal tasks within the society.  If ROmania had not treated its Romani so well in the past centuries, you would not be able to enjoy the odd Roma violinist.

Do in enjoy your trip.  It may be expensive, but such luxuries are enjoyed rarely in one’s lifetime. Don’t hesitate to come back to this newsgroup and let everyone here know about the wonderful time you had there.

Just one more tip.  I would suggest renting your RV rental in advance.  SUVs and other luxury cars are in great demand these days. You wouldn’t want to end up slumming it and taking taxis everywhere so plan ahead!

 

Filed Under: RV Rental Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

3000 mile oil change: a superstition?

January 12, 2012 By Leave a Comment

One of our cars is “regular duty”.  It’s used for commuting. The commute is (approx.) a 2 mile run through neighborhoods( a couple of stop signs, one light that is normally rolled through, then a 15 mile interstate  highway run, then about 2 more miles of stop and go “city” driving.  It’s very rare that it’s started for a trip less than 15 miles, and I’d rather take side streets at 20 mph then sit in a traffic jam.

        The other vehicle falls under severe.  It gets started, run 6 miles through neighborhood streets, never over 25 mph speed limit, shut off to drop the kid at daycare, then started and run 1/4 mile to work.  This is 3-4 days a week; the other days are often short trips (2 miles to store, 6 miles to grandma’s house).  This is also the Rental RV, so it gets loaded up and driven on the highway occasionally.  70-75 MPH, loaded down, AC blasting (small 2.5 liter engine).

My theory is that you need to run the engine long enough to get up to full oil temp – at least half an hour – every week or so to be sure that you’re getting the water out of it.  If you do that than your driving is normal, bar towing or racing.  In that case I change my oil about every 10,000 to 15,000 Km.  I use Mobil 1 10w 30 in just about everything except the MGB, which gets an oil change every spring and uses dino 20w 50.  I guess that I’ve never had a car long enough to wear out the engine (if you don’t count the aluminium block Vega that I had in high school), and I’ve never had a failure that could in any way be caused by long oil change intervals.

The race car gets a damn engine rebuild about every 20 hours – 1,500 miles – to magnaflux the crank and look for stupid things that happen to race engines.  I get to look at bearings and journals that are perfect – they don’t even need to be polished, I usually put the same timing chain back in because the cam timing hasn’t budged.  I don’t take the pistons out if the leakdown is ok.  That’s on an engine that has 100 hp per litre, 12:1 compression and lives between 6k and 7k rpm’s which should be considered extreme duty.

My vote is that with today’s oil and filters, and even more importantly ring technology and combustion management, oil changes at 10k to 15k kilometers is normal and fine.  Listening to oil manufacturers tell you to change three times more often is like asking the bartender if you should have another beer or asking the used car salesman if you should buy the undercoating and the extended warranty!

 

Filed Under: RV Rental Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Vacation Vehicle

January 12, 2012 By Leave a Comment

My Taurus SW was driving fine across country, 87 AXOD with 3.0. It started smoking and I pulled it in a parking lot. Found it the tranny started dumping tranny fluid all over the ground. It was coming from a dust shield between covering the underside of the tranny in about the middle where I assume it meets up with the engine? I have to get it fixed. I’m no mech but does anyone have an idea on what it could be?  

I had a similar problem in my Ford Ranger with a 3.0 V-6 and automatic transmission. I was driving to the deer lease up and down hills while engaged in overdrive. After 120 miles, I pulled of the road to turn. When I did, fluid and smoke were billowing out from under my truck. I thought the transmission was a goner. I drove it a few more miles to the deer lease and let it set until morning. In the morning I started it up and the fluid was still burning off of the pipes but it wasn’t leaking any more. I replenished the lost fluid and drove back home, and have had no further problems. My conclusion to all this is that the transmission overheated when climbing the long hills and using overdrive. If your car was loaded, as most RV rental is, you probably overheated the transmission if you were using overdrive and climbing. If it is no longer leaking, I would change the fluid and keep on driving. My truck has given me no more problems since the incident, but I don’t use overdrive on the hills or if I have a load in the back.

Filed Under: RV Rental Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

K1500 Questions

January 12, 2012 By Leave a Comment

I am considering ordering a new K1500 truck from the local Chevy dealer and have some questions I would like to know about before I talk to the salesman and look the fool.

First, what are the merits of automatic transmission over manual?  Friends I have spoken too say that automatics are better for very slow creeping over the roughest of terrain.  On the other hand, manuals are better for creeping downhill (engine brakeing).  My two current vehicles have manual tranny and both my wife and I like shifting for ourselves.  This truck is intended for a go anywhere RV rental for 2 to 4 weeks a year, a second car otherwise.

Second, what is different about the manual transmission offered with the 5.7l engine vs. the manual on the smaller engines?  I would expect the larger engine to require a transmission with a higher torque handling ability.  Are the gear ratios different?  Does this unit have “granny” gear, and if so, would this counter the above cited advantage of an automatic?

Third, I have never owned a 4X4 before, so I do not know the merits of various systems available.  According the the pamphlet from the dealer, push-button 4-wheel drive selection is standard on all 4X4 units, but the photos all show a shift lever in the cab.  The price list I obtained from the Edmond’s WWW site does not mention this “option” at all.  Is this issue affected by transmission choice?  What about the front wheel hubs?  Is limited slip available for the front?

Lastly, how much over invioce can I expect to pay?  According to the Edmond’s list, the truck optioned the way I want it comes to $21K invoice, $23.5K MSRP.  I live in the San Diego area where trucks sell very well.

Autos have several advantages over manuals for off-roading.  First, the torque converter effectively increases your gear reduction when going uphill at lower engine rpms.  At higher rpms, the converter slips less (if at all).  Also, you don’t have to worry about stalling and the whole need for a third foot in tricky situations.  When going downhill, the wheels are turning the engine (engine braking).  Torque converters don’t like to work in this direction and will require the wheels to turn faster before the engine starts to turn.
Therefore, as you say, a manual is better for downhills.

 

Filed Under: RV Rental Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Making Long Trip in Explorer, Leather Seats, etc. etc

January 12, 2012 By Leave a Comment

We have been looking at a new Ford Explorer and wondering how it rides on long trips. Would you call this a “Rental RV”? It has the lumbar support and all of that. We have a small dog (20lbs) and have seen the interior of the cars leather and cloth. Does leather have a tendency to show small toenail marks?

In the cargo section of the Explorer there is a spring loaded pull cover to cover your luggage and cargo. I noticed that there is a gap between the back seat and where this cover starts. I am concerned with this gap showing anyone there is “stuff” under it. Any after-market devices or clips that can be put on it?

The seats sit very well for me at six feet tall but my wife has problems with the seatback not providing a lot of support at her 5’4″ height. The view of the road is nice and handling is good, overall rates a 7 on a scale of 10 for vacation vehicles. The leather WILL show marks but a feed/cleaner will take care of most of them.  It might be worthwhile to purchase a dog-blanket seat-cover to eliminate those marks. The cargo cover has the gap to allow the rear seats to recline, and if you have the tinted windows then it is very hard to see anything through the crack.  The cover is not very strong and won’t prevent a heavy item from flying through the air in a panic-stop or rollover situation, get a cago net that attatches to the floor clips.  Any paramedic will tell you that a stuffed doll flying out of the back seat in a wreck can break your neck, just imagine what a suitcase would do.  I bolted a cargo box to the floor for stuff I carry all the time, and use a cargo net for the rest.

Filed Under: RV Rental Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Hal Turner’s Racism

January 12, 2012 By Leave a Comment

I have no problem with fishing where the fish are, that’s what I pay them for.  But in the end of things a profile, like a medical test, is judged by its false positives and negatives. Certainly membership in a recognizable group is a factor.  Stopping all blacks, however, more in the interest of real estate values than drugs, is a pretty shitty profile. And if I thought police were stopping all blacks just because they were black, I’d be screaming against profiling also.  But, I don’t really think that (race) is the sole thing looked at.  I’m sure other factors are also used.

For example, in a vehicle, the officer might look at the age of the occupants, visible clothing, visible signs of gang affiliation, type of car (rental, for example), number of occupants, where the vehicle appears to be coming from, where the vehicle appears to be going, and so forth.  Or, on an arriving flight, the officer might look at the age of the person, clothing, visible signs of gang affiliation, where the flight came from, where the flight is going, and so forth.

  In fact, I know for a fact that blacks are not the only ones stopped. Many years ago I was stopped, and my vehicle searched, by border patrol agents when we arrived back from a vacation in Canada.  Of course, back then I fit the typical image (profile) of a person who might have drugs in the vehicle – long hair, hippy-style clothing, an older car (not the typical RV rental, but I only lived a few miles from the border), and so forth.  Since we didn’t have much luggage in the vehicle, the search took about five minutes and we were on the road again.

  And I didn’t get angry at the officer either.  Heck, my mother even thought I was using drugs – so it was not really surprising the officer thought the same thing.

Filed Under: RV Rental Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

1965 Custom Cab vs. Camper Special

January 12, 2012 By Leave a Comment

The camper special was designed for the addition of one of those slip-in campers.  It had a heavy-duty cooling system, so you could lug the beast over hill and dale.  It had beefed-up springs on the back for the added, constant weight.  And a larger battery (Amp-Hour rating) and matching alternator.  It may have had nicer finish and interior, because it was intended to be a Rental RV as opposed to a farm truck opr work truck, and people on vacation tend to like a few more creature comforts, but I’m not certain whether “Camper Special” meant it was more aesthetically pleasing.

I never knew about the custom cab option – I thought this was a marketting thing and meant not much, really.  (I never saw a pickup that didn’t have this.) Like the twin I-Beam label on the side of the vehicle – they all had it, so why bother.

I believe this is right, but I stand to be corrected by those more knowledgeable.

 

Filed Under: RV Rental Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Cost of Motels vs. Recreational Vehicle Travel

January 12, 2012 By Leave a Comment

I would like to start a discussion on the costs of travelling in Rental RV vs. the cost of using Motels/hotels for trips in Canada and the U.S.

You need to be more specific.  How much do you expect to travel?  There are many costs of an RV (taxes, insurance, registration, maintenance) that care more or less amortized over time.  If you travel a lot and polan to keep an RV for a long time, your costs will be significantly different from buying an RV for one trip of ay 6 months around the US. Where you travel and the kind of accomodations you like (RV resort vs public campground or budget motel vs up-scale motel) also make a difference in costs.  In general, I would not recommend buying an RV simply with an eye to saving money.  Then tend to be money pis unless you are skilled at maintenance and enjoy working on them yourself.  This doesn’t mean you should not get one, just that they are not automatic money savers over motels.

There is more to this Rving than just an economic analysis. These are two very different ways of seeing the world. You can save money in an RV by cooking your own meals, overnight lodging etc. On the other hand, your gas mileage sucks (10mpg max with a gasoline engine) and you have some pretty big capital costs.

The big difference is in the experience you have traveling. With an RV you will never pull into a town and find all of the motels are no vacancy. You can just find a Walmart Parking lot and you are set for the night. It is very common for me to head out friday evenings and drive until I am tired, then I find a roadside rest or just pull off the interstate and park. I get a nice nights rest in my own bed, in the morning I have a cup of fresh java and hit the road whenever the mood strikes, sometimes its 5 am othertimes not untill 7 or 8. Then when the coffee has been processed there is nothing like having your own facilities on board.

 

Filed Under: RV Rental Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
« Older Posts