Help!!! Penske vs Uhaul (Pennske, MPG, towing, expensive)

[koolme]

Originally Posted by gronk

Fact: That's because U-Suck trucks can't make it to 8000 miles without falling apart.

Fact: I can't argue numbers as I have no access to them. I did a little searching and found two retired trucks for sale. The Penske truck was retired with 120,066 miles on it and is an '04 Model Year. The Uhaul was retired with 246,856 miles on it and is an '01 year. That means someone was driving it to put those last few miles on it, I'd be terrified to drive cross-country in something with that many miles, especially a gas engine as your so proud of.

Fact: Who cares, I have unlimited miles! And they have always had a local dropoff for the 3 times I've moved and done some comparison shopping. I just never used them because Budget and Ryder offered a better deal.

Fact: Guess what I prefer? Loading dock height! Especially when I rent a local truck, I love renting those little Izuzu trucks with the lift on the back, much easier than a ramp. Oh yeah, U-suck doesn't offer anything like that do they? Penske, Ryder, and Budget do, why don't you?

Fact: So what? You don't beat them by more than $100 dollars at the most, I've moved several times in the last few years and there's never been much difference, especially for long distance moves. Besides, I'd rather rent a good quality vehicle and pay for it.

Fact: Thanks, you made a good point for me. I hate driving gas powered trucks, I rented a GMC (and no your Fords aren't any different) from Budget and it was a slug, nothing wrong with it, but a gas engine just can't match the torque of a diesel. It would hardly move empty, muchless once I had it loaded, I had a hard time maintaining 65mph on the interstate as well. The time before that I got a Diesel Izuzu from Budget and that thing was a monster and only a 4-cylinder! I had no problems keeping my speed and I had to keep my foot off the gas starting out from a stop, it would accellerate so fast that I would hear my stuff falling over in the rear.
The only thing I will say about U-Suck is that they tend to have mostly Fords and I'm a Ford fan. Only a Ford could put up with the abuse and lack of maintenance it receives while doing duty as a U-Suck Jalopy.

Like it!!

[bels7]

Originally Posted by milliehubbard

Being non-commercial you are not required to stop at the weigh stations.

I've rented some bigger trucks from Penske ( 24 ' ) and they ( Penske ) always say I should stop at the weigh stations. So I do, except that they almost always wave me though the bypass lane. But sometimes they don't waive me through and I have to drive slowly over the scales. Not a problem.

Used to rent U-Haul until I discovered how much better the Penske equipment is. Once I had problems with a brand-new Penske truck, several hundred miles into a drive, and they responded right away, fixed the problem on the road, and I was on my way. I'll always use Penske !!

[AVTechMan]

U-Haul pretty much needs a U-Over-Haul.

I had originally made a reservation with them earlier this year when I was planning my one-way move from Michigan here to Texas....but then something told me to read about the reviews on them and thank goodness I had found out the horrible service that Uhaul had, plus the uncertainty of the reservations and getting the truck on the day of the move.

After checking into Penske (which I have driven before driving their tractor-trailers and knowing they are top-notch in service) I cancelled Uhaul right away, and went with Penske. Because of the fact that I was on an extremely tight moving schedule (family flew to MI to help with the move and already had put my 30 day vacate notice with the management company) timing was critical. I couldn't imagine the nightmare I would have endured if I went with Uhaul....if I was able to start my own moving company, I sure would and put U-SUCK to shame, because I can't stand equipment that is very unsafe and not fit for road use. Reminds me of one company I used to drive for that had equipment like that.......

[supernerdgirl]

I used Penske, and the only problem I had was my scheduled drop off location was across the street from Wrigley Field. and we were unaware there was a CUBS GAME going on when we wanted to drop off the truck. Thus, we were driving around Chicago with an empty truck because my original location refused to take it back (but if you've been by Wrigley Field during a game it's easy to see why!). But I called Penske and they were VERY helpful in finding us another drop off location without any other problems.

[seahawksweetie]

Thanks everyone for the heads up on Penske. We were going to go Uhaul until I read what everyone posted here. We are using Penske now to go from San Diego to Seattle.

[floridadreamer]

We've moved about 5 times in 3 years and 3 of those times PRE booked a uhaul truck. Each of these times, they either didn't have the truck available for when we scheduled it to be picked up, or they wanted to give us a much larger truck from a location miles away but of course no credit for all the gas we would have to buy for the HUGE TRUCK. Last time we booked a 16 foot truck and they wanted to give us a 26 foot truck We ended up having to wait about 2 hours for them to call us back with a location (20 miles away) that had a smaller truck available.

We used Penske this last time and it was AWESOME. Not only was it cheaper, but like someone else said, it was practically a new truck.

[Crew Chief]

Originally Posted by bels7

I've rented some bigger trucks from Penske ( 24 ' ) and they ( Penske ) always say I should stop at the weigh stations. So I do, except that they almost always wave me though the bypass lane. But sometimes they don't waive me through and I have to drive slowly over the scales. Not a problem.

Unless you fill the whole truck with books or concrete blocks, you shouldn't have any weight issues at a scale. It's VERY rare that you'll be overweight with a load of furniture. (I frequently fantasize that all U Haul trucks will be put "OUT OF SERVICE" every time they enter a weigh station...)

[floridadreamer]

I would like to add- If you are on a strict schedule, whereas you want to start early and get on the road, DON'T USE UHAUL!!! If you have a day to kill waiting around-then feel free

[Blue Eyed Tone]

I wanted to go with Penske, but I need to tow my own trailer and there were some problems with that. First of all I could not get insurance because Penske will not cover you if you have your own trailer attached and I could not cover it with any of my other types of insurance. Also, they weld a 2" ball to the hitch and I needed a 2 5/16". So I'm forced to go with a UHaul which will allow you to tow your own trailer. They require you to provide a hitch ball anyway.

If someone knows of a better alternative, I'm all ears. I have a couple weeks before I move.

I also discovered that if you book way in advance, you'll get a much better rate. The rates vary depending on availability, so book early.

ML

[patel1]

i am also thinking of renting this same type of truck(22 ft penske), did you think there is enough room for 2 adults and a 3yr old w/ a booster seat or can i get away with renting the 16ft one? thanks