Review - RVshare, a Peer-to-Peer RV Rental Firm

RVshare is one of the largest peer-to-peer RV Rental companies in the US.  They represent a huge inventory of privately owned RVs of every type, size, style, and age, in every geographical region of the country.  You can easily do all your research online, searching their inventory and communicate directly with an RV owner to start a dialogue about a potential rental agreement.

Many Types of RV Rentals

The RVshare website states there are many different rental options. You can rent an RV for a round trip journey or rent an RV for a one-way trip. With the one-way rental you would fly to a destination, pick up the rented RV and drive it back to your home, or drive it from your home to a desired destination, then fly home. Alternatively, you can rent an RV and drive it to and from your destination or rent one that is already set-up in your desired location, or have one delivered to your specified location.  There are many options, and you get to decide what works best for your needs.  The RVshare website gives you the many options to sort the inventory for different criteria that meets your specific needs, from stationary rentals, delivered RVs, to instant bookings.

Many Reasons to Rent an RV

Because of the volume of the RVshare inventory, you are sure to find a perfect fit for your RV needs.  Whether you want to take a historic road trip with your kids, or you have a bushel of relatives coming to town for a weeklong family reunion, or you’re remodeling your kitchen and need a place to hang out during the demolition, you’re sure to find exactly what you’re looking for, right in your neighborhood, in the RVshare inventory.

The actual prices, amount of the refundable deposit, and the cost for excess fees, (like generator use, mileage overages, cleaning fees, black and gray water clean out, etc.) are set by each RV owner, within RVshare’s predetermined guidelines.

Owners and Renters Insurance is Available through RVshare

Additionally, RVshare offers different levels of insurance to protect both the RV owner and the renter in case something goes wrong. They also have a roadside assistance program for renters who encounter difficulties in their travels.  Some of the reviews, however, indicate that the roadside assistance was hard to reach and slow to respond, and numerous other reviews expressed owners’ concerns that the RVshare insurance underwriter used multiple claims for the same damage, so the owners had to pay the $1500 deductible several times for the same claim.  RVshare provides insurance (which does cost extra) was a sticking point for both renters and owners.

…Or Provide Your Own Insurance

My recommendation is if you are an RV owner listing your RV in the RVshare inventory, ask your existing insurance underwriter to extend your coverage to include the times your RV is rented.  It will increase your premiums, but at least it will be there to protect your asset if something does go wrong.  Also, if you are renting an RV through RVshare and you already have roadside assistance as part of your auto insurance plan, ask your agent to extend that coverage to the RV you intent to rent.  Providing your own insurance or roadside assistance will eliminate the major objection and difficulty that others have experienced with the RVshare system.

Do Your Due Diligence

Another thing to keep in mind is that some folks have expressed disappointment when the RV they rented did not match the description of that particular RV, as shown on the RVshare website.  Therefore, you should read the reviews. I need to restate this, because that’s the best way for you to do your due diligence. Each rental has its own reviews, and you can learn a lot about what you will get by reading other renter’s reviews.  But you also need to be reasonable. If you are expecting an “as new”, modern, and meticulously appointed travel trailer, but the trailer you’re trying to rent is a low cost 1990 travel trailer, your expectations and your shopping goals are incongruous.

Manage Your Expectations and Be Realistic

Within the RV rentals industry, you do get what you pay for, so study the photos, talk to the owner, read the reviews, manage your expectations, and be sure to read all the contractual fine print.  For example, your security deposit will not be returned to you for over a week after the RV is returned to the owner.  This is clearly stated in your rental agreement, but it continues to be a significant point of irritation for renters.  That is the established policy of RVshare and it’s unreasonable to expect them to change the policy, just for you.  The better you are informed going into the rental agreement the more likely you will be to have a rewarding experience.

Managing Conflict Procedures are Established

RVshare has been in the rental business for many years, and they know that conflicts between renters and owners, do arise from time to time, but they operate the business with a philosophy of minimal interference, so it truly functions as a peer-to-peer marketplace.  For conflict resolution, they have a documented procedure, for renters and owners to try and work out the conflicts between themselves, and only after that system breaks down does RVshare step in to mediate the dispute. They believe renters and owners are best able to reconcile any conflict once they are given some simple steps and guidelines.

Services Provided by RVshare

RVshare provides the platform, but they maintain that every RV rental is a transaction between two independent parties, and they operate their business accordingly.

RVshare does not own the inventory, or set the fees, but they do ….

• provide the platform,
• do the marketing,
• provide the mechanism for the safe exchange of money,
• qualify renters,
• provide insurance,
• provide roadside assistance,
• and establish RV owner standards and transactional protocols.

How to Access the RVshare Inventory

You can access their inventory directly, through RVshare, or use the one-and-done platform, Outwander to search all three of the primary peer-to-peer RV rental businesses (RVshare, Outdoorsy, and RVezy) all at once, to greatly increase your search results in any geographic area.  You pay nothing extra for Outwander’s expanded search function since their fees are paid by the rental companies.

What could be better than searching three RV rental inventories, independently?

How about searching all three simultaneously through Outwander?
Which will…

• expand your search results
• save you time &
• save you money

Review Submitted by Peggy Dent, author, writer, and continuous RV traveler. In the past 22 years, I’ve driven over 130,000 miles in a motorhome, and I'm currently writing for the RV industry.