RV Lease To Own – Or, Should You Buy An RV, Instead?

by Conner Mckay

Are you interested in RV lease to own and you are interested in learning more about this topic and finding out everything you need to know when it comes to this issue? If this is the case, then you are at the right place because there will be a lot to cover on this topic.

Doing the proper research before you decide to spend a lot of money on an RV is really important. You need to familiarize yourself with the methods that will allow you to obtain this vehicle. Some people want to do a camper lease, some want to rent an RV, and some want to go ahead and purchase it right away.

Everyone has different priorities and you should determine yours. Since you are here, you are probably into leasing an RV. And the downside is that you cannot lease it in the traditional manner. But don’t worry because there is a way around this and we are going to learn more about it in the following chapters.

First, we are going to learn more about what is an RV and the pros and cons of owning an RV. Then we are going to learn the ways that you can try to obtain an RV. And after that, we are going to learn more about RV lease to own and we will focus on this topic till the end of the article. So, without further ado, let’s get into the article.

What Is An RV

Now before we dive into the ways that you can own an RV and the RV lease to own, let’s first cover some of the basics and learn what an RV is in general. Why so? Well, it’s because there are a ton of people reading this article who are interested and want to learn more. So, this chapter is for them. If you want, you can jump to the ways in which you can obtain an RV. Now let’s get into the topic.

So, what is an RV? RV is a simple abbreviation for the phrase “Recreational Vehicle”. A recreational vehicle is a type of vehicle that is intended for recreational activities such as camping.

These vehicles became popular in the early 70s and they are getting more and more attention because people simply want to escape from their urban life and indulge in adventure and enjoy their free time off work.

RV Lease To Own

And when it comes to this, these camper vans are perfect for this purpose. What is worth noting is that the RV term is really broad and under this term falls a lot of different categories of vehicles. Namely, motorhomes, campervans, caravans, popup campers, truck campers, and fifth wheel trailers.

A typical RV features a small kitchen, a bathroom, and one or more beds. In addition to this, RVs can be rather utilitarian vehicles equipped with only the essentials. And they can also be luxurious vehicles equipped with leather interiors, air conditioning, television, and other luxury items that standard RVs do not have. But what about the RV lease to own? More on that, we are going to cover later on, let’s first cover the pros and cons of owning an RV.

Pros And Cons Of Owning An RV

Now before we dive into the RV lease to own, let’s discuss more about the pros and cons that come from owning an RV. And when it comes to these vehicles, it is worth knowing that there are a lot of these pros and cons. But you shouldn’t worry because we are going to list the most important ones. So, let’s get into it.

Pros Of Owning An RV (Lease To Own?)

Now before we learn more about RV lease to own, let’s cover more on the pros of owning an RV. What is worth noting, in the beginning, is that the pros are really immense when it comes to owning this type of vehicle.

With an RV you are simply free as a bird and able to travel whenever you desire at any given moment. And not a lot of vehicles could allow you to do this. Unless you own a private jet or a yacht.

And when considering the cost to own one of these luxury transportation vehicles is high through the roof, owning an RV has a lot of sense.

RV Lease To Own

When you have an RV it is far more likely that you go camping in comparison to when you don’t have a vehicle like this. I’m saying this because camping without an RV in a tent can be a true challenge and also highly dangerous if you don’t know what you are doing.

With an RV you can spontaneously decide and go camping whenever you want. There are hundreds of camping places where you can go and park your camper and spend the night. Then during the day enjoy and have fun and after you are done, come into your camper take a shower and have a good sleep (if you want to learn more, check out our guide on is it illegal to sleep in your car and how to sleep in a car).

And here we come to the next pro, which is the ease of use. You have everything packed inside of the RV, ready to travel, you have a bathroom, a kitchen, and a bed. What more do you need? You don’t need luxury items if you have a desire to travel. Overall, there are a lot of pros to having an RV. But what about an RV lease to own? More on this later in the article.

Cons Of Owning An RV (Lease To Own?)

Now before we cover the RV lease to own, let’s first learn more about the cons of owning an RV. As you probably know, everything has its pros and cons. So, this is the case when you have an RV. So, what are the downsides of owning a vehicle like this? Let’s elaborate on them.

The first problem when it comes to RVs is their cost. Not a lot of people can afford to purchase one. So, a ton of people are looking for rent-to-own RV or RV lease to own and RV loans for bad credit. Not all people have perfect credit scores. And this could be a problem when it comes to RV financing bad credit. So, you will either need to work on fixing your credit score by getting a better job or simply pay for the RV in cash.

The second con of owning an RV is the maintenance aspect. Maintenance can be rather expensive. Especially if we are talking about an older RV. Older vehicles tend to break down more often and require a lot of repairs. So, when it comes to this, you better be well prepared to do some DIY work on your RV if you want to keep it in the best shape. If else, you will have to pay really hefty repair bills on it.

The third common con of owning an RV is storage. Storage is expensive and you better have your own storage place if you want to own an RV. Since if you don’t have a place to store the RV, you can expect to pay up anywhere from $250 to $500 for storing this vehicle for a month. But what about an RV lease to own? More on that next.

Ways To Own An RV

Now before we cover the RV lease to own, let’s learn more about the ways that you can try to obtain an RV. What are your possibilities when it comes to this type of purchase? Let’s elaborate more on them.

When it comes to this type of purchase you have two options. The first way to own an RV is to go ahead and buy it with your savings.

This is the most convenient way if you don’t want to worry about paying monthly interest rates and don’t want to have big headaches in the long run. And I frankly, recommend it.

It is much better to wait a couple of years to get the money needed and purchase the RV and not worry about mortgages. This way you will sleep better and you will not have problems in the long run with the increase in interest rates that we are seeing right now because of inflation.

Also, you can get a cheaper RV, you don’t need the top-of-the-line RV that cost a ton of money. The only thing you need when it comes to the RV is to make sure that it is in good condition and is not rotted out. This way you will avoid expensive repairs in the long run.

Or if you cannot wait to collect the cash and you want your RV right now, you can choose the financing route and do an RV lease to own. But can you lease an RV? Let’s elaborate more on this topic next and after that, we are going to learn more about renting an RV to own. So, you don’t want to miss that.

Renting An RV

So, let’s say that you don’t want to wait to gather all that money to purchase a new and used RV. So, you chose the financing route and you go for the RV lease to own. Can you lease an RV in the same manner in which you can lease a regular car or a pickup truck?

Sadly, though, leasing an RV is not possible. Why so? Well, RVs are not like cars. Even though they are practically motorhomes on wheels, they cannot be leased.

There are a ton of people who want to do a lease and we say to them all the time that they cannot do this procedure. But why is this the case? What is the reason why an RV lease to own is not possible? Let’s elaborate more on that in the following chapter and learn more about the reasons why you cannot lease a recreational vehicle.

Reasons Why You Can’t Lease An RV

We learned that an RV lease to own is not possible for some reason. But what is this reason? Why you cannot lease an RV in the way you can lease a standard vehicle? Let’s elaborate.

When purchasing any type of vehicle, no matter if we talk about a car, a plane, a helicopter, or an RV. One thing in common for all of them is that they tend to depreciate. So, what is depreciation?

Depreciation is basically the lack of desirability for some object. When a car is new is very desired, it has zero miles on the odometer. But as soon as you leave the showroom floor, the car will lose 20% of its original purchase value.

And so is the case when it comes to RVs, they tend to depreciate a lot. So, leasing companies do not like to lease them because they will lose a lot of money. This is why you will never going to find a company that leases RVs.

But what is good is that there is an alternative to leasing when it comes to RVs. And this alternative to RV lease to own is the rent to own RV. But what is rent to own? More on that, we are going to elaborate in the following chapters where we will learn what rent to own is and how it works in general. And you don’t want to miss that.

Rent To Own RV

We have covered the RV lease to own and we learned that leasing an RV is not possible. You just cannot lease an RV as you would lease a regular car. But you can rent to own one, that’s for sure. So, how does this renting work? Let’s elaborate.

Even though technically you cannot lease an RV, you can rent an RV in the long term and then purchase it if you really want it.

There are a ton of RV companies that are doing this practice. So, finding a company that will give you long-term rent is not a big issue.

So, how this work is pretty simple. You just go ahead and rent the RV of your dreams, this rent needs to be a long-term rent though.

Then you pay monthly. For example, renting an RV for a single night can be low as $50 or high as $200 or even more in some cases.

The minimum that you will have to pay for a month is about $1,500. Not a small amount of money but still, it is really affordable if you practically live in the RV and you are using it every day.

When the end of the agreement you have the option to buy out the RV for yourself. Which is a really excellent thing. You get an RV for a discounted price or no price at all depending on the RV itself.

The only thing that you need is to learn about a good RV dealer or an RV owner that will give you the possibility of an RV lease to own. Or better said, rent to own RV. Since you are basically renting this RV and in the end the RV is all yours.

Reasons Why You Should Rent To Own An RV

Now let’s dive into the reasons why you should opt for an RV lease to own or rather said RV rent to own. There are many reasons why you should opt for this type of deal and in the following few chapters, we are going to cover all of them in detail, so you get a better perspective of why you should do it. So, let’s get into it.

1. Low Or No Down Payment

The first benefit of RV lease to own, or better said rent to own is that you place only a low down payment if we are talking about an expensive RV or no down payment at all if the RV is older and has a really low market price.

This will be really convenient because not a lot of people can afford to place a down payment in order to rent to buy their RV.

2. You Can Rent With No Or Low Credit

The second benefit of why is it a good idea to rent to own instead of RV lease to own is because you can do this without any credit score in some cases.

This is the case because are not dealing with banks and another kind of institutions that will require you to have a good credit score.

Even if your credit score is really poor, you can still rent an RV. You just make a deal with the owner and you agree on the terms.

3. Part Of The Monthly Rent Is Added To The Purchase Cost

Another benefit when it comes to rent to own an RV in comparison to an RV lease to own is that you can strike a deal with the owner and determine how much of your monthly rent you can add to the purchase cost.

So, if you want to pay for the RV quicker, you can increase your monthly rent and then pay the RV in advance and after a couple of months, you will be able to completely buy out the RV from the owner. These prices are really flexible and are up to the personal agreements between the buyer and the seller.

4. After The Lease Ends You Own The RV

The next benefit of doing an RV rent to buy instead of an RV lease to own is that after the end of the rent period the RV is all yours.

Or if you need to pay a bit more money you pay it in cash, or possibly you extend the rental period and then finish paying for the RV after the final payment goes through.

5. You Only Deal Directly With The Owner

And the last benefit of renting is that you are dealing directly with the owner of the RV. It can be a private owner, or it can be a renting company that rents RVs.

So, there are a number of ways that you can strike a deal and also, agree on payments that will suit you both. Overall, an excellent way for an RV lease to own.

RV Monthly Rental

Now let’s discuss more the monthly rental for an RV. How much money can you expect to pay to rent an RV for a month?

Well, this really depends on the RV as well as on the people from which you are renting the vehicle. If it’s an old RV, then prices will be rather low and you can rent it for less than $1,000 for a month. But if it’s a larger and more expensive RV, then prices will be quite higher. So, it depends on the circumstances.

RV Long-Term Rental: Alternatives to Typical RV Ownership

  1. You cannot lease an RV like you would a car, but a long-term rental is a similar option.
  2. Long-term RV rental gives you the vehicle without the responsibility of costly repairs and upkeep.
  3. Long-term rentals typically come with roadside assistance, and you usually won’t be responsible for mechanical problems.
  4. You cannot lease an RV due to the high depreciation rate of RVs, making it an unreasonable option for anyone.
  5. Pricing for long-term RV rentals varies depending on the type of RV you want, and renting an RV generally costs between $50-$200 per night.
  6. Long-term rentals may drop to closer to $50 a night.
  7. Owning an RV makes sense if you use it regularly; otherwise, renting long-term is a better option.
  8. Owning an RV is an excellent investment if you’re considering full-time RVing.
  9. There are many benefits of renting an RV long-term, including savings, negotiation, and more time to explore.
  10. Peer-to-peer rentals let you rent out someone’s RV, giving you more choices for the type of rig you want, and many RV owners jump at the chance to rent out their rigs long-term because it’s guaranteed income.

Conclusion To RV Lease To Own

In this article, we have covered quite a bit when it comes to the option of RV lease to own or the rent to own. First, we covered what is an RV and the pros and cons of owning an RV. As we noted, there are countless pros to owning this type of vehicle. With this vehicle, you get a ton of freedom that you cannot get with any other type of vehicle.

Next, we covered the RV lease to own. And we learned that leases on RVs do not exist. The only way you can get an RV in payments is to rent to own it. You rent the RV in long term and when you finish the agreement and make all the payments, the RV is all yours.

F.A.Qs To RV Lease To Own

Now let’s answer some frequently asked questions.

Can You Rent An RV

Yes, you can rent an RV. You just find an owner that has an RV available for rent or you contact an RV company that offers these services and they will make a deal for you in no time.

How To Rent An RV

You can browse online and see some listings. There are a ton of people who rent their RVs when they don’t need them. Just look for ‘Rent RV + your area’. There should be a couple of results already in your browser after you do this search.

How Much To Rent An RV For A Month

The cost to rent an RV can depend on the type of RV that we are talking about. The cheapest that you can get for a month probably would be about $1,400. While the most expensive ones can cost even up to $10,000.

How To Buy A RV With Bad Credit

The only way to buy an RV with bad credit is to contact an owner who wants to sell it to you and make a deal with him. You can rent to own the RV. You first agree on a long-term rental for the RV and after you finish the payments the RV will be all yours.

Can You Lease A RV

You cannot lease an RV. But you can rent one in the long term and after you finish paying the monthly payments, the RV will be all yours. Contact your nearest RV company for more details about this.

Is It Cheaper To Lease Or Rent A Trailer Home

You cannot lease a trailer home. The only way to get one is to make a long-term rental contract. Then, after you are done paying for the rental, the RV will belong to you permanently.

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