Any GOOD experiences with U-Haul?

[SaltBoy]

My family is looking to move in a few weeks, and we're going to have to rent a 26' truck in order to haul everything. And *I* get to drive it for 1500 miles (yippee)!

Anyway, my wife placed a reserve for a U-Haul. Allegedly, the truck is only about a year or two old, but I've always been wary of U-Haul. In the past, when I've moved less stuff with U-Haul, the truck they give me seems to be really run down and old.

But if this truck is as new as they say it is, it can't be *that* bad, can it?

Or should I just go for Penske, Ryder, or somebody else, even though it's more expensive?

 

[Tiamat]

I used their moving vans when i went to shop at Ikea, and it was fine. The guys at the front desk were mean though. They were increasingly agitated when i refused to pay the 5$ insurance fee.

 

[mugs]

My only experience with U-haul was with a trailer, and it was not un-good.

 

[iamwiz82]

For a 10 mile drive I'd do Uhaul, for a 1,500 mile drive, I'd do Penke/Ryder/Budget.

 

[sobriquet]

I've only rented from U-Haul twice, from LA to San Diego and then within San Diego, but both were good experiences with pleasant and friendly employees.

 

[novasatori]

I only rented once for about 80-90mi trip

24' truck it wound up costing like $100 for 1 day (24hr) and all the miles were included.

They actually gave us an upgrade from a 20' because they were all out, and charged us the same rate.

The truck was a little run down, but it ran fine, the thing I disliked most was it capped out at 70mph, which I can understand for safety concerns but passing cars going 69mph was a pain in the ass when the highway was 75 cause people would ride your ass like a mofo in the left lane and be freaking out cause the most you can do is like 71 downhill lol.

 

[paulney]

I've rented U-haul only for in-town moves, and most of the time it was ok. Except once where the truck died on me, and from then on it was a neverending nightmare.

 

[joecool]

yeah, 15 years ago when i moved to college, rented a big ol truck, and when we got to my new house my dad drove it into a tree limb (limb was a lot lower than he thought!). left a nice big dent. they never noticed. i was happy.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

Originally posted by: Tiamat
I used their moving vans when i went to shop at Ikea, and it was fine. The guys at the front desk were mean though. They were increasingly agitated when i refused to pay the 5$ insurance fee.

That's been my experience as well. Used them for several one day or half day rentals and the equipment was fine. The employees left a lot to be desired though.

 

[SarcasticDwarf]

Regarding vehicle age and condition, I would not worry. UHaul has to pay out the rear when they break down, so they have a major inventive to keep them in decent condition.

 

[brtspears2]

Poor phone customer service. If you break down and need to make a call, it will take a while for them to answer.

 

[kami333]

Originally posted by: Tiamat
I used their moving vans when i went to shop at Ikea, and it was fine. The guys at the front desk were mean though. They were increasingly agitated when i refused to pay the 5$ insurance fee.

I learned the hard way to get insurance, cost me $1500 when my insurance wouldn't cover a scrape I left on a guys car trying to park.

Oh yeah, and their reservations aren't really reservations, it's more like a "if we have it, we'll rent to you" especially if you make one over the phone or internet. Confirm in person a couple days before at least.

 

[homercles337]

I have had horrid experiences with UHaul, bad with Penske, and the best of the terrible 3 with Budget.

 

[Eos]

They have nice moving boxes!

 

[paulxcook]

I've only had good luck with Penske. Uhaul was fine too.

 

[Captante]

Ryder would be my first choice becuase I rented from them many times back when I was a courier & never had a problem ... I've rented from U-haul 4 times & 2 of them were horrible experiences so I'd be very hesitant to use them on a long move.

 

[Dedpuhl]

U-Haul was ok for all my "in-town" moves. My worst experience was when I helped a buddy move and I was the only one that could drive a standard....and he got the 24 footer. It took me a while to get the timing down on that POS.

For a long move like yours, I'd get a mover like Mayflower. Heck, I used a mover for a 750 mile move...

 

[DrPizza]

Had a bad experience with U-haul when we wanted a large truck for moving. IIRC, the 24 foot u-haul is more like 20 feet, since the last 4 are that little 1 foot tall overhead compartment above the cab - they count that part. When I rented from (budget?), 24 feet was 24 feet.

I had a good experience renting a little tow behind. Oddly, it was rated only to be drive 45 mph (or something like that.) Still, I did 60+ (I was in a hurry to get my pig to the butcher.) That uhaul has never been cleaner except the day it was brand new... I scrubbed the sh!t out of it. (pun intended!)

 

[manly]

That's like asking if there are clean streetwalkers.

 

[wedi42]

u-haul is good for the competition!

 

[Miramonti]

I've used them a number of times for long distance trips. Each time I have had to remount the cab to the frame, replace the drive axle, and rebuild the engine on the side of the road but otherwise have had no problems and would recommend them.

Let me start over. I've had no problems each time...just make sure you get a new vehicle that runs smoothly. I've rented a penske truck and the dang horn didn't work, which I found out in downtown chicago. :thumbsdown: There's always a chance of breakdown with any vehicle, but uhauls have been very reliable for me.

 

[compman25]

I've used them twice, to move from Santa Rosa, CA to Bend, OR and from Pleasant Grove, UT to Spokane, WA. Both times it went fine.

 

[LordNoob]

Used their trucks a couple times for in town moves and they were fine. Rented a trailer once for a few hour drive and that was fine too. No problems, just once I had a really old truck and I am glad I never had to drive it on the highway because I doubt it could have broken 65 mph.

 

[BornStar]

I drove a U-Haul and a Budget truck over the same 350 mile route. The U-Haul I had was a good 15 years old and was absolutely disgusting in the cab. It ran OK but I hated driving it. The Budget was much better; the truck was pretty new and I had no problems with the cab. I believe the Budget was the cheaper of the two as well. I'm going to stick with Budget at least for a while.

 

[Vette73]

Make sure you tell them how far you are driving. A lot of places will give the run down trucks for local/short runs and the better/newer ones for long hauls.

Check with your CreditCard. I know citibank will cover you for car and small truck rentals but never looked up large truck rentals before.