Help!!! Penske vs Uhaul (Budget, U-Haul, Ryder, trucks)

[BxRosie]

Has anyone made the move using either U-Haul or Penske Trucks? How was it? We have very little furniture making the move with us, it's mostly boxes & a motorcycle. We're thinking of using either a 24' or 26' truck.

U-Haul offers moving help to unload the truck. Has anyone ever used this referral service? Has anyone ever hired help to unload the truck?

Last question...Do you have to stop at all the weigh stations along the highway between NY & NC?

THANKS!!

BxRosie

[dengar]

Another vote for Penske. For the same price I got a much bigger truck.

[fromcenFL]

Penske by far has newer trucks, and actual mechanics to take care of them. They cost a little more than Uhaul but its worth it. I had a pleasant drive from FL to NC in an 16 ft Penske. Every Uhaul I ever rented rode rough, smelled bad, one even pulled to the left so bad it was hard to drive across town.
My uncle worked for Penske and told me Uhaul doesn't even use qualified mechanics since they only rent to the weekend-moving types. But Penske does a lot of commercial leasing and since businesses wouldnt put up with poor transportation you benefit from better vehicles when you use it to move.

[whimsical1]

GO with PENSKE!

I've also used Ryder trucks successfully.

I used U-Haul going from FL to CO. LONG drive. The first truck I got had no brakes. I found this out while driving it home to pack. I exchanged it, took my second truck home, packed it up, and locked it. We were leaving at 6am. I went out that morning to start the truck, and lo and behold, the key that started the vehicle didn't UNLOCK it. They came out and got the truck opened, but said I'd have to wait 3 days to leave or not lock it on the trip as they couldn't get a key that fast. HA! They brought me a third truck after much screaming and fighting, and we moved everything from one to the other (with no help from UHAUL).

That truck broke down before we got out of Florida. I got it to their repair facility. Three days, they tell me! What's with the three day thing, I ask! I tell them they have three hours to get it repaired or tranferred to a new truck (since I was now a single female with small children traveling with me and no way to move all that stuff on my own). They managed to repair it in 5 hours, and I got on my way.

I did end up paying nothing for the truck (and got a rebate on part of the gas!). But it was not really worth it. Sad, not worth even less than nothing!

OK. Vent over, go with Penske or reyder. And play them off against each other. They will wheel and deal to get your business!

Good luck!

[Markh]

Just a thought but check out u-pack. They drop off a trailer, you load it, they pick it up and delivery it to your destintion and you unload it. It was cheaper for us than u-haul and penske and we didn't have to deal with driving it. You only pay for the space you use on the truck but you have to commit to a minimum amount. We used a u-pack truck and hired help from emove (uhaul) site for loading and unloading. The help was excellent on both ends of our move. Our move went smoothly and we only ended up with 1 broken dish and a couple of scratches that were our fault anyway.

Mark

[cakeprincess]

Penske. We got the $200 off from the Penske internet special coupon. The truck is brand-new - never had any problem with it. We drove from FL to NC like a breeze.

We chose Penske because they're newer, cheaper, and they accepted AAA discount as well.

[T.S.]

My online Penske quote went down by a couple hundred dollars when I changed the drop off location from Charlotte, NC to Rock Hill, SC so when booking online check a couple different drop off locations.

[Weloveantiques]

Never using Uhaul again. I'll strap a fridge on my back and carry it cross country first.
We moved from NY to Oregon with Uhaul. Got an antique uhaul truck, we were ok till Indiana when the power steering unit fell off- yes fell off- as we were driving on Interstate 80 in Gary Indiana, spent a lovely day along the highway waiting for the tow truck to haul us to the garage. We could see were it had fallen off before and been welded back on.
Power steering got fixed and we take off again, OK till we got to the
Rocky mountains and the brake warning light keeps coming on as we are coming down the steepest parts of the mountains, talk about a thrilling ride!! We pulled into the closest uhaul garage, I think it was Laramie Wyoming? They looked at the truck, did nothing and said-don't worry about it, it's
OK. We arrived in Oregon and vowed-never again.
When wemoved to FL we did Penske and got a brand new truck with 3,000 miles on it. No problems at all. Worth the extra few hundred bucks for sure!!

[nk0171]

We just booked a PENSKE truck ourselves for this Saturday, so i am pleased to hear all the hoo-ha's about Penske!!!

[sheilaramos]

Just recently moved from Florida to South Carolina. Penske is the best. Uhaul is terrible and so is their disrespectful staff. U-haul was very expensive and like mentioned in the forum their trucks are OLD and CRAPPY. Penske it definetly the way to MOVE. During our move we mostly saw Penske trucks on the road, some Budget and a few Ryder and a few U-haul but mostly Penske.