U-Haul vs. Penske Moving Truck Rentals: Share Your Story
I’m helping a relative move this weekend, and I am trying to convince her not to go with the cheap choice (U-Haul), but pay $40 more for a Penske rental for her local move. This is mainly based on overwhelming anecdotal evidence (from me, my friends, and tons of people online) that U-Haul is just a logistical disaster and Penske is run at least competently, if not well. There’s nothing in this for me, except that I don’t want to deal with all the potential headaches that seem to happen with U-Hauls.
Details of my pleadings:
- I have used U-Haul once. The truck was a disaster - underpowered, dirty, and literally about to fall apart. It was not there when I wanted to pick it up, but I got another one. (Which probably screwed over the next person… see below)
- I have used Penske once. It was a brand-new truck with 200 miles on it, and they told me that Penske only uses their trucks for a few years and then sells them. (You may have seen lots of big yellow trucks with the Penske logo painted over, many of which look in great shape, as I have.) It was picked up, used, and dropped off with no billing surprises or funky fees.
- Multiple friends have used U-Haul, and most of them have some sort of horror story. In one, a tire blew in Montana on their trailer. They had to wait until the next day for a new one, but weren’t reimbursed for the extra required hotel room.
- U-Haul doesn’t actually do reservations, they are more like “yeah, we’ll see on that day. We might have just double-booked. If so, you might need to drive a couple hours to somewhere else or wait until tomorrow.” Avoiding that scenario by itself is worth $40 to me.
- Besides my personal experience above, U-Haul trucks have been shown to be unsafe and poorly maintained per this LA Times investigation - “Many trucks have high mileage, and The Times found safety checks were often overdue. Customers describe breakdowns and accidents.” Like perhaps, bald tires?
Am I overreacting? The Penske does “cost double”, but with the mileage I think it’ll be more like $130 vs. $90. If you’ve used U-Haul or Penske before, please share your experiences. Good or bad, I want it to be fair. But I’m betting it’s going to be lopsided…
Find more in Frugal Living | 12/20/07, 1:19am | Trackback
December 20th, 2007 at 2:19 am
I went with Uhaul 2 years ago when I moved from one end of the San Fernando Valley to the other. When I picked up the truck, it was the last one they had (yes, I did have a reservation). For some reason, I had expected a few trucks to choose from. It wasn’t complete junk but it wasn’t great either. It was dirty and slow. Driving on the 101 in CA, I was glad it was only a short ride cause I half expected it to break down at any moment. If I had to do it again, I’d probably spend more time doing research on a better truck rental & hire some guys to help rather than enlisting only one friend.
December 20th, 2007 at 2:44 am
Have used uhual everytime.. no hidden fees for me, truck was not very nice, and did have somewhat high miles. No road incidents or hidden fees though.. Although to be fair i have never had the chance to rent from penske so my comparison factoring does not exist
December 20th, 2007 at 2:53 am
I despise UHaul. I got a truck rental from San Francisco to San Diego a few years back, including a car tow rental to tow my Audi. It seemed to be burning diesel quicker than normal. Only in LA when we had to slow down did we realize that the diesel was coming out of the engine in the form of smoke; I guess that’s why drivers on the highway were looking at us funny. We called the assistance line but they were no help whatsoever. My car was covered in diesel fuel, which I promptly got detailed. UHaul refused deal with it in any way, including to pay for the detailing or any sort of gas reimbursement. They punted it to the local SF outlet (franchisee excuse, I think) who punted it back to the corporate office.
I’ve never spoken to anybody who’s had a good experience with UHaul.
December 20th, 2007 at 2:56 am
I was going to suggest the LAT piece but you of course were already on it. If reading that article doesn’t scare the bejeezus out of your relatives, offer to pick up the difference or at least drive separately. There’s got to be some way to put a price on personal safety, i.e. measure risk correctly.
Also, see if they will click on the “it was sheer terror” link at the LA times interactive web page: link
December 20th, 2007 at 3:41 am
Do you have Budget there? I used Budget three times and have been very satisfied.
December 20th, 2007 at 3:56 am
I had a friend call up both companies, and he was originally going to go with U-haul, but a rep from Penske called, and matched the U-haul price. It might be worth attempting to haggle penske.
December 20th, 2007 at 3:58 am
but oh yea, they ended up getting 2 flat tires on the Penske truck.. AND the trailer they rented in addition to the truck was locked up w/o a key, and unavailable for 24 hours.. so they did end up having a horror story experience with Penske
December 20th, 2007 at 4:16 am
I used Uhaul to move less than 5 miles. First the truck wasn’t there when I had called ahead of time. Granted, they did find a larger truck for me and gave me the smaller truck price…but then it broke down after I had it loaded. I called the mechanic because Uhaul doesn’t directly help you out and it was over 2 hours for him to get out to the truck. Luckily one of my friends was good with cars and was able to get it started again. However, we weren’t able to turn it off. Again, this was for a less than 5 mile trip. It took us twice the amount of time it should have.
December 20th, 2007 at 4:44 am
I used a Penske mid-size truck to move all our luggage including furniture, around 50 miles. I preferred Penske over uhaul after reading the reviews. The Penske truck was 40/day plus mileage. I bargained cost per mile down to 60 cents and overall it turned out to be a good experience.
December 20th, 2007 at 5:21 am
I only have experience with Budget and Uhaul. I agree with ProfessorB that Budget was great.
We used Uhaul to move 90 miles. We picked up the truck with no problems, but 60 miles down the road, I was following my husband, who was driving the Uhaul, and I noticed one of the tires was really low.
We did manage to get it fixed and finish our move that day, but that was in part due to a service station who took care of all the hassling and haggling with Uhaul for us.
Next time we’re going back to Budget.
December 20th, 2007 at 5:38 am
I used uhaul just a few weeks ago. I was not moving. I had a Stackable washer dryer that I bought brand new and only used for 9-12 months before moving. When I moved I took it with me but could not use because it was a gas dryer and I didn’t have the gas hook up and the lady who sold me this house left the all electric washer dryer. So I got encouraged by you sell item on ebay blog and sold this machine. I didn’t deliver it but rather posted it as pick up only. Only I didn’t want straingers in my house, so I met the buyer at a grossery store parking lot close to my house. I had to “deliver” the machine that far and used uhaul. I chose uhaul because they where the cheapest for the 4 hour useage I needed. The truck worked fine. It was available, looked and felst pretty new. I must say, no hidden charges and an okay (to good) experience. I’ve never not used uhaul, even when moving (short distances, I hire some one for the long hauls). There is my two sense
December 20th, 2007 at 5:51 am
I’d also add “unreliable and *unsafe* truck” to the list because the number of comments by people who had a truck break down in the middle of the highway was staggering. I’m all for saving a few bucks for the sake of taking on a little bit of headache but having a car or truck break down while you’re on the highway is a dangerous situation and I wouldn’t ever trade cash for safety.
December 20th, 2007 at 5:52 am
Oh, by list I meant the image, I saw you had it in the numbered list already.
December 20th, 2007 at 5:53 am
Do you not have other choices?
I used Ryder on my last move and the cost was better then Penske, Uhaul and Budget. You can find quite a few online printable coupons for Ryder to get the price down.
I rented 2 trucks about 2 weeks apart and they were both excellent.
December 20th, 2007 at 5:56 am
Moving from LA, CA to MIA, FL. After many hassles to get the truck, we got going and was pulled over in AZ. No license plate. UHaul did not really care.
December 20th, 2007 at 6:12 am
I have never used either since I’ve always had access to a trailer and pickup from my dad or granddad, but I have helped friends move using a U-Haul truck. Since I never drove it, I can’t tell you much about it’s condition or mileage, but from what I saw it was nothing spectacular, but it was perfectly adequate for my friends’ in-town move. The one exception I noted was that one of the blinkers needed a new bulb. My dad once rented a U-Haul truck in CO to haul his old Harley home to southern OK after a break-down on his way back from Sturgis. His schedule didn’t allow time to repair the bike before he had to be back to work, so he and his friend put their bikes in the back of a U-Haul and drove the last 600 or so miles. It was expensive, at around $500, but it was their only option at the time. It’s been several years now, but i don’t remember hearing any complaints about how the truck drove or about any unexpected charges. Of course, keep in mind that these are not first hand experiences, so there certainly could be issues I didn’t hear about.
December 20th, 2007 at 6:30 am
I have used both Uhaul and Penske. Penske is hands down a better product. It really isn’t even close. You can also search for coupon codes online for Penske rental that can bring the price down close to the crappy Uhaul trucks.
December 20th, 2007 at 6:38 am
Anyone have suggestions for doing a longer distance move? I’m gearing up for a move from the Midwest to the East Coast in the next few months and have an apartment full of furnishings, etc. to move, plus my car.
December 20th, 2007 at 6:41 am
I have used Budget (http://www.budgettruck.com) 3-4 times for local moves. I have found them cheaper than Penske. Clean trucks and one time the person at the counter threw in the dolly and furniture blankets for free.
December 20th, 2007 at 6:47 am
U-Haul almost killed me - literally. I was driving at 65 MPH while towing my car when the truck started to feel very funny. Fortunately, there was an exit just ahead where I pulled off. Good thing too because the front left wheel of the truck promptly leaned over to a 45 degree angle. For all intents and purposes, the front wheel fell off.
If that had happened before I got off the interstate I’d be a gonner.
U-Haul is not worth it at any price.
December 20th, 2007 at 6:50 am
The last time I used U-Haul, I wanted to change my reservation from Saturday to Friday. I called the number on the website and asked them to change it. Their response was: “We’ll email the local office and ask them to change it, they will either email or call you back to confirm if they have a truck” After waiting two days for an email, I called back and they said they would do the same thing. I told them just to cancel the reservation and I booked a new one online.
The truck I got was brand new though. I think the problem with U-Haul is I think they are all independantly owned, and since trucks go to and from different locations, they don’t care about the trucks at all since they only have to see them until someone else rents it.
December 20th, 2007 at 6:55 am
I used Penske to move from Atlanta to Indianapolis. Penske trucks are clearly a better product. I had a windshield wiper fly off in a rainstorm leaving Atlanta but that was it. I was not charged anything for it.
It was not a hard comparison when looking at UHaul’s old beatup trucks and Penske’s newer clean trucks. You are correct in that they only have trucks newer than 3-4 years. Who would you use when you have to haul all that you own 800 miles?
December 20th, 2007 at 7:09 am
I moved with a 26′ Penske truck and a car tow dolly.
The truck was diesel-powered and in beautiful shape - looked almost brand new!
It was there when I went to pick it up, there were no surprise fees, and mine cost LESS than U-HAUL.
Penske - hands down.
December 20th, 2007 at 7:12 am
U-Haul trucks are just terrible. I rented one once and it broke in the worst place possible. In the middle of nowhere at 2AM. I was extremely lucky that someone came by and gave me a lift. Their attitude was “happens all the time, sorry.”
Another time I was arguing with an owner who refused to lease me the truck without buying his insurance. I told him my auto insurance covers this but he didn’t care. My insurance rep even offered to speak to him but he refused saying I either purchase his insurance or no truck.
December 20th, 2007 at 7:25 am
I guess I was ignorant when i did my only move of about 25 miles (about 80 bucks). I used U-Haul and it went fine. Nothing special, but the truck was in good working order and easily got the job done. My wife used Budegt and she had a nicer truck, but it worked just the same. But now, being more educated, sounds like i was in the minority, so next time ill go Penske.
December 20th, 2007 at 7:26 am
I haven’t used Penske, but I have used UHaul. It was a negative experience. I’ve had GREAT experience with Budget trucks. The cost was low and the truck was almost brand new. Look for coupon codes online.
December 20th, 2007 at 7:34 am
Here’s an easy way to make your decision… drive down any major interstate in the country. Count how many uHaul’s you see broken down or actually on fire over in the emergency lane. Now count the Penske (or Ryder, whom I have used numerous times).
My last count - Broken down or burning uHauls: 17. Other rental trucks: 0
Another fun thing to do with the Ryder’s is to set the placard to the Radioactive one, that seems to keep people a little further away from you when your moving down the road
December 20th, 2007 at 7:40 am
i, as well, have used budget several times. Prices similar to uhaul, and have had no problems. This inluccdes two long on way moves and one local move.
December 20th, 2007 at 7:46 am
UHaul for my first local move, never again. You are not actually “guaranteed” a truck your size or larger b/c they may actually have NO trucks available. I got my truck 9 hours after the time I reserved it for. I had to move at night, take the next day off of work to return the truck, etc. Penske for my next local move. Brand new truck, booked for 7:30am, available and ready to go when I arrived at 7:15am. No angry people in the office waiting, smiling faces everywhere. I don’t recall Penske being double the cost of UHaul, but I didn’t even price UHaul out the second time to compare. I think until you’ve been personally burned by UHaul, you might still think it’s “worth it.”
December 20th, 2007 at 7:55 am
I just used Penske to move a friend this past weekend and learned something very interesting. If you call the store instead of renting online, they will sometimes offer you a lower rate. Penske was $80 online, but just $50 over the phone. Granted, I still got the $20 insurance (which I would have done even if I were paying $80), but I still came out $10 ahead.
Also, Penske has a 10% AAA discount for local moves and 12% for one-way.
In all, I have used Penske 4 times in the last 12 months and have been extremely pleased with the quality and service each time.
December 20th, 2007 at 7:56 am
Wow, this post brought back terrible memories for me. I LOATHE uhaul. Hour long waits in line. Them losing our reservation. Them not having a truck for us, even when they had our reservation. Driving 4 hours round trip (and many added miles) to pick up a truck after our local place didn’t have one. Surly counter people. Complaining to “corporate” only to hear that they have no power to govern the quality of their licensees. Oh, they are terrible. I would pay the extra $40 for your cousin to make sure you don’t have to deal with uhaul’s BS!
December 20th, 2007 at 8:02 am
I’ve used both U-Haul and Penske. I’ve also used both for long moves (500-1000 miles) and local moves. Penske is the shiznit! If you reserve on line and are with AAA it can be cheaper than U-Haul and U-Haul’s trucks are not even close to the quality of truck you get from Penske. The customer service from Penske is awesome too!
For local moves I can handle a beater (U-Haul) but for long hauls you need something that you would personally choose to own (if you could) to move your family. For that, Penske is the winner without question (and for local moves too).
I signed up for AAA just to save on the Penske truck and the savings was more than the cost of the AAA fee. So I still saved $$ and had peace of mind.
December 20th, 2007 at 8:14 am
Gosh, I am trying to remember but I am pretty sure it was Uhaul.
We moved 2 hours away in 2001. We always used Uhaul (never a prob) for short moves. So we rented a truck well in advance. The day of the move all of our friends show up to help and my husband goes to pick up the truck. They did not have one!!!!! We were LIVID.
Finally calling around we found if we asked for a round-trip truck it was cheaper and they had one (no one had a one-way). Which was fine. Our relatives could drive the truck back when we were done. I believe it was Penske that saved the day. Though I am not sure.
I will never use Uhaul again.
December 20th, 2007 at 8:16 am
P.S. Uhaul told us they did reservations. They had a reservation system at the time. But um, yeah, what a sham.
December 20th, 2007 at 8:17 am
Penske overcharges.
U-Haul is completely unreliable and totally scary (think: bad breaks and a frozen mountain pass).
I went with Budget. They’re lower-priced than U-Haul generally and they keep them maintained and inspected pretty well. Reservations are a must!
December 20th, 2007 at 8:32 am
We recently used Budget Truck Rental to move a sectional from PA to MD. The cost was $99 for 2 days not including insurance. We picked it up in PA and returned it in MD the very next day. No issues.
I refer to UHAUL as HELLHAUL and Penske when we priced it was a bit much.
December 20th, 2007 at 8:36 am
Yeah, when I moved my stuff across town with U-haul it was terrible. The employees were absolutely the slowest working people I’ve ever seen and wasted at least 1 hour of my time. i would avoid U-haul no matter the cheapness.
John
December 20th, 2007 at 8:51 am
UHaul also has a bad reputation for discriminating against certain dealerships — to the disadvantage of customers. For example, I have seen situations where a person goes on to U-Haul’s online reservation system to secure a truck. Often, the system will send the reservation to a dealer that is NOT near by (often there are several closer). Often, when dropping off a truck, U-Haul will also direct you to return it to another dealer that is not the closest.
On a personal level, I used U-Haul twice. The first time was without major problems (just long lines at the counter and terrible customer service). The second time was horrible– they lost my reservation (even though I had the printed receipt with confirmation ##), but decided to “cut me a break” by offering me a smaller junk truck, several hours later. Meanwhile my friends and family were waiting around twiddling their thumbs. Never again . . .
December 20th, 2007 at 8:53 am
The last time I rented a U-Haul, I was stuck with a dying truck with get this…NO POWER STEERING. I was left grasping the wheel with both hands and foot trying to turn the rig the way I wanted. Luckily the sheer size of the U-Haul encouraged everyone who valued their life to get out of my rumbling way.
-Raymond
December 20th, 2007 at 9:02 am
Well, I actually have a good story.
I rented a u-haul in September. I had a small army move my girlfriend and I from a condo to the house. My friend is good at driving these monsters and he was going to do it but then he took too long so I got it myself.
We loaded it up and on the way out I took a turn and clipped a car. I had the second biggest truck now mind you. I left the guy a note and tried making a claim on my insurance. They denied me based upon the gross weight! READ YOUR INSURANCE BEFORE YOU TAKE ANY OTHER VEHICLE! I pulled out all of the stops and had family in insurance make pleas on my behalf.
The person I hit was a young guy and his deductible was huge so I did the right thing and payed him out of pocket. Well, he had already made a claim with his insurance and they had contacted my insurance and u-haul. Everything was sort of over, his car was fixed, I had him sign a document and I was out $.
Still I knew this insurance company had a claim and I thought, “How could they let me leave without any insurance?” I read online that they provide gap insurance by default. I pursued and pursued and eventually they cut me a check to make me whole!!!
The morals of the story are to be sure to check your insurance first. Call them and tell them which vehicle you are going to rent and when and get them to send you something saying it is okay. Next, keep really good records of everything. Finally never take no as an answer. 10 people told me I was screwed but logic/persistence recovered the money for me.
December 20th, 2007 at 9:03 am
One more comment on the truck:
-It was really shaky, and didn’t have much power, cornered terribly and was difficult to drive but it was clean and much cheaper… although the stress of the ordeal grayed some hair!
December 20th, 2007 at 9:06 am
A previous job required that I rent trucks often and I did so using both of the above services. My experience mirrors yours (I’ve probably rented with UHaul 25 times and Penske 10 times). UHaul is a managerial diasaster. Their equipment is old, dirty, unreliable, etc. Their employees, facilities, etc. are equally unimpressive. The Penske operation on the other hand was fast, clean, and well-run. Those Penske trucks are damn nice. I’ll pay the premium every time just to not have to deal with UHaul.
December 20th, 2007 at 9:35 am
Last time I rented with Uhaul I was moving over 1200 miles one way. I reserved their midsize truck (17 ft.) and when I showed up that day all they had left was their jumbo (26 ft) truck. Just the extra gas cost would have made the difference in the extra rental fee from another company. However, we didn’t have to stack a single thing in the back of the truck
December 20th, 2007 at 9:35 am
Have used Uhaul 3 times, each time with no issues. I’d go with Uhaul, no reason spending more than necessary. For the extra that the Penske would cost you could hire a day-laborer to help you with the packing, that would be a much better thing to spend the money on.
Man, moving yourself sucks. Every time I do it I swear that I’ll hire professionals next time.
December 20th, 2007 at 9:40 am
I’ve never used Penske, but I’ve never had any major problems w/U-Haul in the ~5 times I’ve used them. They don’t seem to take real reservations, but they always have something waiting for me when I get there. They also help load/unload the hitch and are pretty laid back about everything. The only thing I don’t like is the people who work there — they tend to give me the creeps. Every UHaul employee I’ve ever worked with either had a tattoo or earrings in all the wrong places.
December 20th, 2007 at 9:43 am
I’m noticing a trend of people who have had “near-death” experiences with U-Haul. They are driving WAY TOO FAST! You should only be driving 45mph if you are hauling something. Idiots…
December 20th, 2007 at 9:58 am
I have had multiple problems with UHaul. I had moved from Chicago to MD but me and my dad flew back to Chicago to pick up my stuff and bring it back. I booked my reservation online and asked for the closest Uhaul location to my residence. Well they gave me a Uhaul location smack in the middle of Chicago where I was located 40 miles outside of Chicago. They were expecting me to drive in rush hour to pick up my vehicle when we discovered there were 3 Uhaul places within 5 minutes of my house who all had available trucks. It was a major hassle to get them to understand this and have them cancel our downtown Chicago rental. We had to speak to several people.
We did wind up getting a truck but it was in terrible shape and very dangerous to drive from Chicago to MD.
I have had several of other times when I have moved and them not have the equipment I have ordered and other very poor customer service issues.
December 20th, 2007 at 10:07 am
My friend used uhaul to pick up some furniture. The truck broke down on him, and he had to sit on the shoulder for an hour and a half for somebody from uhaul to come over and add oil to the transmission or something along those lines. I used Penske for a move from Atlanta to Boston, and don’t remember anything, which is a good thing.
December 20th, 2007 at 10:09 am
Our last move, we used a combination of Uhaul and Budget truck rental. For Uhaul, we used a trailer on our Ford Escape which I’m pretty sure messed up our rear shocks. I’m guess it was most likely due to our weight distribution strategy but Ford replaced the shocks under warranty so we were good to go.
As for Budget, those guys were a pain. We reserved the truck weeks in advance, but they called us the two days before our pickup to tell us that our pick up location had changed and that they’d credit us the extra mileage to pickup and drop off in the further-away location. Great. I called the local location and asked to confirm that my truck would be there when I planned to pick it up but no one could find any paperwork or anything in the computer about an extra truck being there for me. They said if someone called me that it should be there when they said it would be. Double great.
We went there at the right time to pick up the truck and lo and behold it was there, but even the people at the shop were surprised to see it! Anyway, I did save a few bucks for using Budget instead of Uhaul or Penske, but I doubt I’ll use Budget again since they added to stress to an already stressful situation.
December 20th, 2007 at 10:11 am
I?ve used U-haul many times. The trailers were fine when we could find them. In my area they were hard to track down since U-haul didn?t have a nearby central rental place. Stuff as much as you can in there and drive in the slow lane. Don?t ever rent a 10? box truck. The wheel wells poke into the back of the truck and it becomes difficult to place anything of size (couch) along the sides of the truck wall. If you plan on carrying a mattress or couch get a 14? box truck. I had to return one truck after 10 minutes when the check engine light turned on and the radio died in another one. I?ve since switched to Budget and will never go back to U-haul. I got hammered on miles a couple times using the rental trucks. You can fake out the miles renting a trailer (one day in town rental in the Bay Area with a small detour to San Luis Obispo). You can?t really do that with a truck.
December 20th, 2007 at 10:31 am
Just used U-Haul last week. Driver side door didn’t close very well and the rest of the truck seemed a bit sketchy. I also had to call four different locations to find the truck size I was looking for with the other stores telling me “maybe” tomorrow.
The stuff got moved and I’m still alive but I would have preferred a more professional interaction and higher quality product for the length of time they have been around.
December 20th, 2007 at 10:42 am
I did a lot of research on this b4 i moved my stuff from IL to CA. I called up uhaul and penske and a whole host of other companies. I finally decided to use movers.. but i found Penske was willing to come down a lot in price .. i told them the U haul price and they were willing to match it and they have the AAA discount too .. So it might be a worthwhile move to bargain with penske and get the uhaul price.
December 20th, 2007 at 10:54 am
Jonathan, you’re not alone in your experience with Uhaul! When my wife and I got married she was living in Michigan and I in Missouri. I called to “reserve” an enclosed trailer for the balance of her things to be moved here. When I went to pick up the trailer they of course didn’t have it and said I couldn’t have made a reservation because they didn’t take them! So scramble all over creation to find another one and literally after driving 500+ miles one of the tires blows 2 miles from home. Quite a bit of water under the bridge since then but it doesn’t seem that they have gotten their act together any.
December 20th, 2007 at 10:56 am
Good luck with the move! Personally, I haven’t had problems with the company during the two times I used U-Haul in Chicago (July 2006 and July 2007).
My problem happened when I wildly underestimated how much time I would need the truck. It took almost twice as long to load and unload as I estimated, so the bill was more than anticipated. Keep that in mind this weekend!
December 20th, 2007 at 10:58 am
Wow, hot topic.
I’ve never used Penske. I’ve used U-Haul several times, from cross country moves of over 1000 miles, to in town moves of 35 miles, to using a van to pick up home remodeling supplies and furniture.
I’ve never had anything by a good experience. One time, on a furniture pick-up run, they didn’t have the van I wanted, so they upgraded my to a small truck for the same mileage and refunded the different in average gas when I returned it (I had negotiated the gas difference when I rented). The vehicles have always been new/semi-new and I’ve never had any trouble. The worst thing I did was drop my own keys into a night drop off once, but I managed to fish them out with a wire coat hanger and didn’t have to wait until morning.
I live in a city with many uhaul locations - the one closest to me now is huge and always seem to have trucks on hand, reservation or not. Again, as others have said, I don’t have a comparison, but the prices have never been beat and I have no complaints to make me take my business elsewhere.
December 20th, 2007 at 11:01 am
Good call on negotiating with local Penske dealer. I’ll have to try that.
December 20th, 2007 at 11:02 am
I have more Uhaul horror stories than I can remember (dirty trucks, long lines, dangerous trucks, etc). The worst one was when a tire fell off my 26 footer on I-75 in Atlanta during rush hour.
After reading the LA Times story, I will never rent a Uhaul again.
Scott
December 20th, 2007 at 11:12 am
One of my friend’s had an awful experience with Uhaul moving from one area to the city to another - too much furniture and boxes. So the second time around she used the Zipcar service. They have lots of cars/trucks in big cities and it’s pretty cheap even for infrequent users.
December 20th, 2007 at 11:14 am
We have used U-haul for our moving twice in two different cities. And have not encountered any hidden fee. The truck was decent. Nothing to complain. I would suggest using U-haul if it was a within the city move. If the distance is more than 50 miles or so, then it might be worth using Penske for reliability.
December 20th, 2007 at 11:18 am
I’ve never actually used UHaul, but i have used Penske.
I’ve used Penske on more than one occaison, and their price always seems to be flatly cheaper the uhaul.
the most recent time, i needed to drive from Philadelphia, to Baltimore, to pick up furnture for our new house which we were getting from an inlaws’ neighbor (long story). i called on a saturday morning, and since the manager had a truck with no reservation gave me a really good deal on the mileage- i think i paid a flat fee (like 50 bucks) plus 30 cents a mile (and i ended up driving 300 miles that day)
December 20th, 2007 at 12:14 pm
I’ve used U-Haul 3 times. 1/3 was nearly disastrous. The truck started overheating on the interstate. The only way to keep the temp gauge out of the red was to drive about 55 mph. No long haul diesel should be forced to go that slow to keep from overheating. Speaking of overheating, the A/C didn’t work. This was in South Carolina in July. Unacceptable.
My one experience with Ryder was pleasant.
December 20th, 2007 at 12:27 pm
I don’t know if you guy have Budget available, but the only time I’ve needed a truck we had a good experience for a good price. We did a one-way 500 mile move over 2 days and had no problems except for our unfamiliarity with the new area. so we ended up putting on quite a few extra miles looking for the drop-off location. But, again, not Budget’s fault. We had a mid-size truck which was there at the reserved time with the reserved equipment, including the car tow trailer we needed. The billing came out as expected, the truck and equipment were in good shape, and if we move ourselves again in the future (unlikely since it would now be with two small children) we’re likely to use Budget again.
December 20th, 2007 at 1:54 pm
Ahhh! Brings back memories! My son and I drove from Western Michigan to Eastern Michigan to pick up my dad’s rolltop desk. Went to the UHaul place to pick up the truck - they had no idea what I was talking about. No truck available. After driving 4 hours, I was more than a tad mad. Even had the “reservation” paper in my hand. Had to drive another 50 miles to get a truck - a 26′ truck instead of the 10′ truck I had originally asked for. A 26′ truck for 1 desk!
Two years ago I moved from Michigan to Minnesota. Rented a Penske truck and was delighted to pay them for the use of a clean newer truck, the fantastic service and the peace of mind. I remember being in awe of the tread on the tires. We drove into 50 mile per hour head winds all the way to Minnesota. There were absolutely no problems with the truck.
There have been times in my life when I have chosen not to pay the lowest price for something. This is one of them. My vote is for Penske.
December 20th, 2007 at 3:07 pm
please be careful when you secure the load and drive on the highway. A accident can cost you a lot of fortune. A guy was fined 5 million for a personal injury case.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/.....source=rss
I rented u-haul once. I will never rent another one again in my life. The break was almost worn out and the right rear view mirror was not adjustable. Luckily, I had a passenger with me and can help me when making a right turn.
Right now, in most of major cities, we have flexcar program. For example, in seattle, if you are a member of them, you can rent a SUV or pickup truck for $10/hr including fuel and insurance! And the best part of it is all the car they had are pretty new and well maintained.
As far as I can remember, there are two companies in SF running the similar program. You should give them a try.
December 20th, 2007 at 3:25 pm
Used a Penske for moving a furniture from a friend’s house to ours. Of all the 4, UHaul, Budget, Ryder and Penske, Penske gave us the best rate. And the service was top class, they acknowledged my reservation.
However, something I noticed - the rate was slightly higher if I rented and returned the truck in the same location. So I had to return it to their next closest office. Anyone know why they sorta encourage such one way moves by giving lower rates?
December 20th, 2007 at 3:31 pm
UHAUL has sucked every time. Last time, my wife and I had to argue with the guy at UHAUL over price for about 2 hours when we got there when we had clearly reserved it and had been given a price in advance. Not to mention, the truck was total garbage.
I have used Budget twice since then and been extremely pleased. Their trucks are maintained well and it was hassle-free to get in and out of their office.
December 20th, 2007 at 3:48 pm
first U-haul horror show: moving from NJ to MA last year. truck I’d reserved online was given to someone else. I ended up spending $55 for a cab to some far-flung burb, but when I got there they had a brand-new truck for me and U-haul refunded half the rental fee plus the cab fare.
it still sucked, though.
second U-haul horror show: local move in MA, in January, about 20F cold. got an old broken-ass truck that was on its last legs. first problem was I locked the door from the inside then found out the key wouldn’t work in either door so they had to send someone out to slim-jim it. second was that the heater was busted. third was it wouldn’t go much more than 45mph. when I returned it the guy more or less shrugged and said “whatever” when I complained.
in 05 I rented a 10-ft U-haul that was brand-new and waiting for me to move from MN to NJ and it all went well, leading me to trust these bastards twice more.
so, never again.
December 20th, 2007 at 3:48 pm
Budget is far cheaper than UHaul or Penske, at least in my area, and I’ve had good experiences with Budget. The truck wasn’t terrific, but it was far from terrible, and for the right price it is worth it.
December 20th, 2007 at 3:51 pm
I used U-haul 2 years ago to move approximately 20 miles.
The truck was CRAPPY. Beat to hell. And grindy/fidgety stick-shift! Moving is stressful enough. A sketchy truck is the last thing you need.
December 20th, 2007 at 6:00 pm
I have a friend that works for Penske, and they are good people. Penske doesn’t screw around with truck safety, specially since most locations around me also do work on other companies trucks. Add to this that Uhaul buys old Penske trucks and you get the idea that the extra money is better spent on safety.
December 20th, 2007 at 7:03 pm
I moved over the summer and used U-Haul. The only problem I had is I couldn’t really drive after the sun went down. There was something wrong with the headlights / electrical system (perhaps something to do with the u-haul trailer I was towing with the U-haul truck). When stopped the lights were pretty bright (at least bright enough to see the dang road) but once you got up to speed the lights dimmed and you couldn’t really see the road. Turning on the high beams was no help. It was really no big deal since we were running late and had planned to stop for the night anyway instead of making the entire trip in one day. Based on the experience though and other things I have read I would probably only use U-Haul for a local move.
December 20th, 2007 at 7:35 pm
We are going to go with Penske for our upcoming move from LA, CA to MN. The Penske rental was over $4,000 cheaper than the U-Haul quote *and* includes unlimited mileage that U-Haul charges extra for. I’ve also had horrible experiences with U-Haul, probability due to the “independent dealer” organization. I was moving to school several yeas ago over Labor Day weekend, and no truck was available at my “reservation” time. I have to wait two days for a truck.
My wife also has a horrible U-Haul experience. We we set to move her out of Chicago, made a reservation and then, again, no truck available. We were sent to another U-Haul location to get a truck. The people at the second place were very nice, and got a truck for us, but had to close up because *every* reservation was being sent to them without any call from the first location.
We’re hoping the our Penske experience will be better.
December 20th, 2007 at 7:42 pm
I have used U-haul and hated it, mostly because the trucks are so old, dirty, and drive like tractors. I have never used Penske, but have been very satisfied with Budget.
December 20th, 2007 at 8:06 pm
I used U-Haul to move 250+ miles from Cincinnati OH to Champaign IL. The truck was old and had a lot of miles (not sure exactly how many), but I didn’t have any problems and only a few dollar fee for going over the allocated miles. I also used Budget to move in town last year, also with no problems. They were actually cheaper than U-Haul this time.
December 20th, 2007 at 8:47 pm
I’ve only had experience with U-Haul, and never had a problem in the 2 or 3 times I used them. But I guess I should qualify that by saying the first time was over 20 years ago, and the most recent close to 17 years ago, so things could very well have changed.
December 20th, 2007 at 9:42 pm
Uhaul “reservations” are ridiculous. It’s more like getting a numbered wrist band to stand in line. That’s a great idea for concert tickets. If the show sells out, you miss the event. Bummer. If the Uhaul lot runs out of trucks and you’ve got one day left on your lease, “bummer” doesn’t come close.
My wife and I moved about 35 miles this past summer. We were planning to use Uhaul, but they were so unprofessional on the phone and so clearly disorganized that, a week before moving day we switched to Budget. We also considered Penske, but went with Budget for logistical reasons (pick-up/drop-off points were closer).
Moving isn’t (usually) something that happens out of nowhere, you have to schedule a whole bunch of things. How does Uhaul stay in business when can’t consistently give customers what they ask for, when they ask for it, and at the location they ask for? Oh, that’s right, Uhaul doesn’t spend any money on maintenance.
December 20th, 2007 at 9:44 pm
I’m not sure how U-Haul stays in buisness other than name recognition and past reputation. I’ve used them twice in the last 10 years. I don’t recall any problems with fees or employees but there was quite a wait and the trucks scared the buh-jeebus outta me everytime. Slow, Barely running and thought they would fall apart at any minute.
Used a budget truck this past summer and it drove like a Cadillac by comparision. Clean and very comfortable.
December 20th, 2007 at 10:08 pm
I’ve used both. Penske for the move from Michigan to Texas. The truck was literally brand new and ready for us when we got there. One tire was low, was notified of this by the staff, they filled it up but told me to watch it. During loading, noticed the tire was low - called the number they provided at the shop, and someone was out within two hours to change our tire. Drove thousands of miles in the truck with great experience.
Used U-Haul when we moved from our temporary apartment to our house. The truck was based on an early 90’s Ford and had just under 200K miles on it, so you can imagine what it looked at drove like. Shop we picked this up at was a mess and took them forever to bring the truck around.
I’d do Penske again if I had to. For the long drive it was actually cheaper than U-Haul, but even if it was more expensive for a local move, I think I’d do it just because the experience was so much better!
December 21st, 2007 at 3:12 am
I used U-Haul just a couple of weeks ago, one of the worst experinces of my life. I know you can find criticism on just about any big company on the net but just the sheer volume of evidence against U-Haul is pretty damning. I hope U-Haul goes out of business, the bastards.
December 21st, 2007 at 3:35 pm
I have had a few experiences with U-Haul, and they were all terrible. The last time they did not have the truck I had ‘reserved’, and the manager actually told me he really didn’t care. I guess it is my fault for going back to them.
December 21st, 2007 at 6:53 pm
When we moved across the country, my employer demanded that we find the lowest of three bids. When we called around, we found that they (Budget, Penske, Uhaul) would keep underbidding each other. Eventually we ended up with Penske at around $200 below the original bid.
December 21st, 2007 at 7:21 pm
I have moved from coast to coast a few times (NY to CA, CA to FL, FL to CA) as well as some shorter state to state moves.
Early moves were with UHaul- horrible. Luckily I never had a breakdown, but got pulled over for lights not working. And I had them charge me $75 for not returning with full tank of gas - even though I did and I had the receipt to prove amount of gallons. And their sign said the not enough gas fee was $25!! I fought a huge battle for that money and neither they nor American Express would give it to me. I’ve had truck from there with doors that came open while driving though.
My Penske rentals have been awesome! Clean trucks that do not smell like BO! Working radios and A/C! Doors that stay shut while driving!
And you can get a discount on Penske with AAA!
I’d go with anyone but U-Haul. And if you’re doing something local, Home Depot rents pick up trucks and cargo vans, at least where I live they do.
December 21st, 2007 at 10:06 pm
Ugh, why is nobody at Penske or U-Haul picking up their phones…
December 22nd, 2007 at 12:53 am
I’ve done 4 U-Haul moves, 2 Penske (about to do another), and one Budget. Penske is THE way to go for out-of-state moves. Nice, new trucks, online reservation discounts, and a bonus AAA discount (I bought a membership because of the rental, as the savings were greater than the cost of the membership!)
U-Haul is okay for local moves ONLY. I’ve had both old and new trucks (though they ALL have smelled like butt), but I wouldn’t risk getting a janky one to drive cross-country with. The online reservation system DOES NOT DO ANYTHING, except cost you $5. It doesn’t guarantee you diddly - you’ve got to call your local dealer. Also, the quality of your experience heavily depends on the individual local branches. Two of the shops here in town are run by very friendly and helpful people, and both have been good to me.
December 22nd, 2007 at 3:41 pm
I used Penske to carry my home furnishings from Maryland to Oklahoma (1,300 miles). We had so much stuff we had to do it twice and one time hauling a car on the back of the truck. The experience was varied. The first time the truck broke down at a Nashville Truck Stop. We didn’t move from the gas pump (where the truck stopped) for four hours while we waited for the mechanic to get there. Obviously, a lot of big rig drivers weren’t happy. The truck was a old and dirty. Second time, it was a dream. New truck and no problems other than trying to drive a rig that was 43 feet long. My advice; make sure you are getting a fairly new truck before you start. I would use Penske again for cross country, but U-Hual for local especially since U-Haul has so many more outlets than Penske.
December 22nd, 2007 at 4:07 pm
If you need a truck of a particular size on a specific date, stay away from U-Haul. I’ve been messed over by them numerous times. My last move, from KY to AL, was in a Penske truck. I’ll use them again. Every part of the process with Penske was reliable from the condition of the truck to the reservation.
December 22nd, 2007 at 8:10 pm
Just used a 24′ Uhaul today for a local move. The truck was an old junker with 221,000 miles on it. It worked great the 19 miles I used it though. In August I drove 1800 miles in a Penske with less than 300 miles on it. It was truly a great, comfortable truck that was brand new and it actually was cheaper than a uhaul at that time. I HIGHLY recommed Penske for a long drive like that. The truck has cruise control, rides nice and the only downside is that it’s a little harder to load since it’s higher. For local moves I think uhaul is great, they are easy to load and unload because they sit low to the ground. Yes they are old, it’s still worth it to save $50 if you can.
December 22nd, 2007 at 10:34 pm
First, don’t roast me because I honestly didn’t take the time to read all 87 responses. I justed wanted to add that Penske and Ryder will negotiate some things like mileage allowances, which can save some extra $$$. I used Ryder on a long move and the experience was great. I only use Uhaul for local moves because it’s easier, too. It was cheaper for me to Uhaul a mattress across town than to have it delivered, so I did!
December 23rd, 2007 at 2:26 am
Hey Jonathan;
You’re definitely asking a form of the big question: “What’s my time worth?”
It seems to me that attempting to save $40 at the expense of having multiple friends what for you is actually bordering on rude. U-haul doesn’t even accept true reservations, so between vehicle quality, availability and accessibility you’re probably shooting for a 1 in 10 chance that something goes pretty wrong. When I have 10 friends waiting to help me move, that 1 in 10 chance isn’t worth $100, let alone $40.
December 23rd, 2007 at 6:09 pm
I used Penske for a trip from New England to Texas. I purchased a AAA membership and got 12% off the price of renting the truck and becuase I booked online and I got an additional 10% off.
The truck was brand new and clean. Drove great and the gas mileage was phenomenal.
December 23rd, 2007 at 7:09 pm
I’ve used both, and based on advice like this we chose Penske when moving my mom from AZ to KY a few years back….what a great piece of advice we got!!!!!
Our truck broke down an hour past Winslow AZ, 2 hours from Albq NM. It was late at night and getting cold, we had to walk about an hour to a gas station in Meteor Crater, AZ We used the pay phone (the place was closed for the night, and it was below 32 degrees) to got a hold of Penske, and another hour or so later, a giant “semi-hauler” tow truck came and picked up the moving van and myself and my friend who was traveling with. They towed us to ALBQ and told us to get a hotel and a receipt and they would reimburse us. They said they would either fix the truck, or give us a new one and unload then re-load with their own staff. The truck was brilliantly loaded (my deceased uncle was a genius in many ways) when we left town, and they spent about an extra 3 hours trying to fit everything back in before they just gave us a bigger truck (which they promptly loaded with ease due to excess space). They paid for our hotel as well as reversed 100 dollars from the overall bill as compensation for meals and time lost. Overall my mom spent about 800 on the Penske truck and u haul quoted around 6 or 700 after mileage. Needless to say I am very glad my mom sprung for the extra cash, because from what I know about u-haul, it would have been a complete and total disaster. As it was, we simply lost one day of travel time, but were compensated for the extra hotel night and more than compensated for two people to eat for just one day. (U-Haul, supposedly would pass on the towing fee that was several hundred dollars, they won?t pay for a hotel, there?s 80 more, and they don?t respond in a timely manner, which would have meant me and my friend literally hoping not to freeze to death overnight as we did not pack winter camping gear in the cab.)
December 23rd, 2007 at 7:21 pm
I just happened on this site as I was looking for Penske coupons for a local move. I want to share my experience with both Penske and UHaul. I cannot stress enough that I would NEVER use Uhaul again. My husband and I moved our household items in a Penske truck when we relocated from KY to SC. The move was not without incident. We were pulling my Mustang behind the rental truck. I was driving my husband vehicle and he was in the moving truck. I noticed a spark and then to my horror both wheels on the trailer caught fire. We called Penske and the fire dept and it was tramatic but they had us back on the road in one hour. We were not so fortunate with Uhaul. My husband returned to Ky for our third vehicle and rented a car hauler from Uhaul. He only got about 40 miles when he had to pull over because the trailer was all over the road. He called Uhaul and they claimed to be sending a tow truck and then he called back and they claimed they could not help him. This went on for over 8 hours ( no, that is the truth) when I finally called them and asked what the heck was going on, they told me that the hauler was not intended for that vehicle(van) and that they would not help because that was the pick up locations fault. Now mind you, we checked it out online before renting and it did say that we could tow the van. They left him on the side of the road and refused to help. He had to call a friend and have him drive to his location and pickup the car hauler and return it to Uhaul the next day and my husband had to leave the van behind with the friend and we had to make an extra trip the next weekend to retrieve it. I contacted Uhaul both by phone and by email and was told sorry about my luck! I will never ever use Uhaul again, no matter what the price difference is. Please do not make the same mistake as I did.
December 24th, 2007 at 7:39 am
I worked at a self-storage facility for several years and we had quite a few trucks break down there or nearby - and all of them were U-Haul. I’ve moved 7 times in the past 8 years and have used Budget trucks each time - they’ve been great. I haven’t used Penske, but have heard nothing but good reviews from others who have used them. Watch out for U-Haul! They’re awful.
December 24th, 2007 at 7:44 am
I had a terrible billing experience with U-Haul about 9 years ago now. The truck was in okay shape, but every other interaction with them was a nightmare. The counter people were awful, and they ended up charging my credit card 3 or 4 times for the same charge (several hundreds of dollars worth). When I went back to the store, they were uninterested in helping. I ended up writing to the company president who did manage (after a long time) to get the erroneous charges reversed, but there was no appology, no coupon for future use, in short, no attempt at customer satisfaction or service. I was amazed and appauled.
December 27th, 2007 at 8:07 am
I am a big fan of Penske. I’ve used them several times for cross country moves and have had nothing but good experiences. Their trucks are clean, new and seem to have great maintenance. The truck was there when you reserved it and they have pretty good discounted rates if you reserved over the internet (better rates if you can reserve a few months ahead) and further discount if you belong to triple A. Don’t know if they still offer it, but they also allowed you to move a reservation back once it was confirmed with no price increase. For example, if you had an Oct 1 rental reservation, you could move to Nov 1 and the rate would still be locked in at the Oct 1 rate. Great if you want to lock in a good rate and finalize the exact move date later.
December 28th, 2007 at 12:49 am
I’ve used Penske, Uhaul, and Budget. The Uhaul experience was horrible. The Budget truck had less than 2,000 miles on it and was in great shape. The Penske truck was not quite as new but still in great shape. The Uhaul truck was so beaten up.
As far as service, I always have to way for extremely long periods of time to get helped at a Uhaul location. I also had to wait at the Budget office, but it wasn’t an unreasonable amount of time.
December 28th, 2007 at 11:39 am
I had one hell of a trial with uhaul, and after 24 hours of dealing with a piece of junk trailer with major electrical problems it blew my jeeps break lights and other electrical. Uhaul told me it was my fault and would not remembers me! I Hate Uhaul! It was a horable day that I cant forget.
January 11th, 2008 at 3:52 pm
I have used uhaul before and they are overpriced piles of junk. I am currently going to be moving from sc to vt and uhaul wanted over $1000 and only covered me for 1461 miles and then i had to pay extra. Penske on the other hand is charging me $520 for the same truck and i was not only able to reserve it online but got a discount for doing it. That price also covered the tow dolly that i couldn’t even get with uhaul unless i wanted to pay another $240. That and penske even let me pick the truck up a day early with no charges which allowed me to take the extra day off after the 5th day. After 5 days they charge you $50 for each extra day. I was able to get that back. So i would stick with penske. They are awesome.
January 12th, 2008 at 10:23 pm
We had “reserved” a truck with Uhaul and tried to call up many times to confirm it before driving out to pick one up. We couldn’t get through to anyone because no one would answer the phone at their site. It took a long time to finally get through to their corporate office who put us through only to find out they had no truck for us and wanted us to drive hours out of our way for one. No, thanks. We went with Budget, I believe.
Then, Uhaul tried to charge us a cancellation fee, which is ridiculous considering they couldn’t get us a truck within 3 hours of us. We’re not in the middle of nowhere, either. We’re outside of Philadelphia.
This, in addition to trucks not being able to make it up modest hills in southeast Pennsylvania without a check engine light coming on or trucks stalling makes me spend more money on Budget every time.
I loathe Uhaul.
April 11th, 2008 at 1:58 am
enterprise rental car also has trucks and has the best customer service for both and another option to consider is a company that normally hauls regular freight not just household stuff like overpriced movers is called ABF they will drop a trailer at your location then you load it and then they will have one of their drivers take it where you want and you unload on the other side saving you a bundle so if the truck breaks down they have to deal with it but not to worry because they have a large well connected company and many trucks available to replace any problem trucks but that rarely happens because they built there business from on time deliveries so there trucks are new and maintained properly
May 29th, 2008 at 1:57 pm
i have been a penske agent for over 5 years now, i have seen many things and heard many things that drive me nuts. i have this story pretty interesting actually. they come to my location and i give them a rate for a 16′ truck and they start freaking out like omg thats so expensive and uhaul is cheaper and i start laughing and i go ok go try uhaul….2 days later they come back to my location and they’re like uhaul sucks! we broke down…im like heyy i know we’re expensive but our trucks wont break down on you. of course there are VERY RARE occasions about them breaking down but its 1 in 20000 truck so ur ok. plus myself and other penske reps. are sometimes nice and say get me a quote from uhaul an ryder and i will match it, so yea thats all i had to say
May 29th, 2008 at 2:10 pm
plus penske renews its trucks every 3 years, after the 3 years they make sure they are in PERFECT condition and they sell them for a good price.
penske is the way to go, if you want to go one way shop around and get quotes from everywhere
after you do that go to a penske location and they will match it for u no questions asked
June 3rd, 2008 at 11:09 am
Ugggh, U-Haul’s are awful. We’ve moved A LOT. And being in WV, U-Haul is just about the only choice around. They are always old, dirty, no ac, broken parts, etc. But the worst experience with one was the 20 year old extra long one my husband had to drive that was a stick shift. It only had 2 working gears, the others would just grind and squeal. We barely made it up our long sloped driveway. I was surprised it made it. Anyhow, if I HAD a choice, I’d go with someone else.
June 3rd, 2008 at 11:26 pm
All the stories I read on disasters with U-Haul rentals I really believer because it happened to me on my U-Haul rentals. My experience was with the main San Francisco location. they will find a way to nail you for something extra before and after you rent. The trucks are definitely terrible to drive if not unsafe and noisy especially on long trips. Watch out when you have to go back with gas at 3/4 full-with high cost of gas, you may find yourself paying more because either you’ll forget to do it or don’t fill up to that level.
One time, they tried to charge me for pads that were “purposely left unstrapped” as if I used them when I returned the truck!!!
Go Penske, its safer, people are honest and helpful, esp if you mention U-haul experience.
June 28th, 2008 at 2:01 pm
We had a funny experience back in 98 with a Uhaul truck. We rented it, took it home and it broke down on the way back ot the house. I called them, brought it back and they gave me another. After packing it, it made it to our new home 100 miles away and then wouldn’t start when we went to take it back. They towed it and when I got my final bill, they charged me towing and mileage for the other truck. I fought them on it and won, but I shouldn’t have to fight about it. Their junk equipment blah blah blah.
So, 5 years later I buy a new home and rent a penske truck. It was clean and had much more space and contrary to this article, it was cheaper for an intown move that Uhaul.
Two years ago, I decided to move back home 100 miles back and my wife rented a Uhaul. I knew instantly it was a mistake. This thing would barely run and I had to drive through Indianapolis in a truck that wouldn’t go more than 40 fully loaded and then on I-70 for 90 miles at 40 miles an hour. I had to pay fuel on it when it averaged about 3 miles to the gallon. BUt, the fuel gage was broke and wouldn’t register the tank as full and I had to fight with them to get them to try to put more fuel in it and check. It cost me well mroe than Penske jsut because the old beater truck they have consumes much more gas from being poorly maintained.
I’m up for moving (yet again) and Penske is giving us a sweet deal. Three days, 200 miles and after discount we’ll only pay 130 for a 24 foot truck. The only problem, and the reason I came here is no one seems to know what the mileage is and for a deasel truck, this is a concern.
July 9th, 2008 at 6:26 am
Can anyone tell me if any other company has cargo rental trailers other than U-haul for a one way move from Pa to Florida? It seems like only U-haul carries trailers which kind of makes me have to rely on them. Please Help anyone !!!
July 14th, 2008 at 12:02 pm
An interesting though long story -
I just brought a Penske truck from Atlanta to Seattle. I had reserved 11 days as I was traveling with a 7 yr old, a dog, a cat, and my mother, and knew I would not be able to drive for long periods of time, 6 hours max!! Somehow my reservation had gotten mixed up so they had the wrong truck waiting for me and I had to wait several hours for the rep to un hook the car carrier from one truck to another and their computer was not working. (not Penske’s fault). The engine light was on when I picked up the truck. I was averaging about 4 miles to the gallon from Atlanta to MD and when I called the 800 #, the guy I talked to said they did not have any service stations anywhere in the area and could I talk it back to Virginia? Well uh, nooo! So I dragged it up to their service station in Michigan which was my next desination, where they ran a computer diagnostic and said nothing is wrong, don’t worry unless the RED engine light comes on. Still, 4 miles to the gallon…In South Dakota the RED engine light did come on and I barely had time to pull over to the shoulder. They did have a repair shop there and what a super bunch of guys! The tow truck driver took us on the scenic tour and the repair guys were very concerned and competent. 4 hours later we were back on the road back to the campground we had just come from as that drive day was wasted.
The next moring, same thing!! RED enginge light, truck dies call the repair shop, took it in again, they said this truck never should have been sent out on the road, but they fixed it up so we’d have a safe ride in to WA but to tell the drop off rep to not rent it out again.
As for the 4 miles to the gallon we’d been getting that’s because a dohicky in the engines turbo thingy was open all the way - sucking gas- and they fixed it so we’d get better gas mileage now! But whatever they did also sucked all the power out of the engine. So we limped our way over the Rockies at 25-30 mhp and coasted in to WA 14 days after our original start date!
Everybody has been very apologetic and making sure we knew this was a total abberation from the norm. They didn’t charge any extra time. I do however have to go to bat with them because I need them to reimburse me for the extra time on the road ( hotel and campgrounds) and the insane amount of $ I was burning getting 4 miles to the gallon. I don’t anticipate that it will be pleasant as the rep seems very argumaentative.
With all the profuse apologizing from all but one Penske rep, I would still rent from Penske again because I believe them.
August 14th, 2008 at 12:26 pm
Rented a Flat bed for 2 days. Truck broke down on the first day.
They had the audacity to charge me for 2 days, and $1200 for repair! The truck broke down by itself when I shift gear on the freeway exit. I did not hit anything or ran over anything.
They basically charge me for their own equipment failure!!!
WARNING!!! DO NOT RENT FROM THEM EVER!!!
August 19th, 2008 at 1:15 pm
I see this post is very old, and you’ve already moved, but I thought I’d offer you a little advice, in case you ever need it in the future (or know someone who does). I worked at U-Haul for about a year, and I would only rent from them under very certain conditions, if at all.
It is important to understand that U-Haul has two types of trucks: 1) trucks they considered “in-town” for local moves, which must be returned to the same location they’re rented from (complete garbage, trucks that are falling apart & cannot be trusted to get anyone very far) and 2) “one-way” trucks that are for longer moves & can be returned to any U-Haul location (most are newer and in good shape, but of course a few are on the verge of becoming in-town trucks, due to high mileage). For the first type of truck, you pay as you’ve listed here (truck + mileage); the second type of truck includes mileage and is priced according to where you’re going.
When you make a reservation, if you are planning a local move, you will automatically be set up with an in-town truck. One-way trucks are reserved for people going longer distances (the further, the better - you’re more likely to lose a truck if you’re not going far, because when they’re overbooked and don’t have enough trucks, they “save” the trucks they do have for the people making the most expensive moves, telling other customers they don’t have any trucks left).
The only way to get a decent truck from U-Haul is to get a one-way truck. On a weekday, when not much else is going on, you might be able to talk an employee into letting you rent a one-way truck that you can return to that location (in order to get the in-town price), but that is a case by case situation, and I wouldn’t count on it. If you want a one-way truck for a local move on a busy day, you can offer to pay the price for a one-way truck and return it to another location, but if you’re not going far, they’re not likely to allow this. For one thing, they’re taught to be suspicious of people moving to the next town over who are willing to pay that difference (substantial), because the one-way trucks are much more frequently stolen (the in-town trucks are hardly worth stealing). Also, they’re trying to make the most money they can off the one-way trucks they won’t get back, so they aren’t going to be thrilled with the idea of sending it out to a nearby city, when they can save it for someone moving cross-country.
I haven’t read your piece on reservations with U-Haul, but I can attest to the fact that they almost always overbook on the weekends (puts a smile on the face of the manager who sees $$$ and a growl on the face of every screwed customer - the managers are always sure they can get hold of enough trucks before the weekend comes, but it doesn’t always work out).
If I ever make a big cross-state move, and I need a truck, I’ll consider a one-way truck from U-Haul. However, if I needed to move something local, the only way I would ever do it is if I could talk an employee into giving me a one-way truck to return to the same location (to get the in-town price), which must be down in-person, at the time of rental (meaning, if this is a very important, time-sensitive move, and/or if it’s on any day Thursday-Sunday, it’s not a good strategy).
If you don’t to deal with the hassle, or you can’t secure a one-way truck for what you want, Penske is the better way to go. You will pay more, but the truck won’t fall apart on the way out of the parking lot (happened many times at the location I worked at with the in-town trucks).
August 23rd, 2008 at 9:08 pm
I used U-haul’s 6×12 trailers numerous times. For the first time traveling from Nebraska to Florida, my trailer was newer, but had problems with the brake and turn signal on the drivers side, as it wouldn’t flash right, or not at all. It worked before I left, but had problems down the road. So I pulled over to a truck stop, and ran new wiring while it was raining, by myself, along the outside of the trailer and spliced it in. So I wouldn’t get a ticket from being pulled over. When I turned in my trailer at my destination, U-haul didn’t compensate me for the bad wiring, and the loss of my materials, and AGGRAVATION.
Then a year later I towed two trailers with my car and my truck (military) from Florida to California. The two trailers were U-haul at a fair price. Didn’t have any problems with those trailers, I made sure to triple check the lighting before leaving.
A word to the wise, with the trailers: Check that the trailer safety stop mechanism works if the trailer were to breakaway, it is a hydraulic box mounted to the top of the trailer tongue, that is actuated by a safety chain that is hooked to your hitch. Also check that all the lights work: clearance, brake, running and turn signals. Check the tires before you leave for enough tread, and air pressure. Check to make sure the leaf springs on the double axle trailer aren’t cracked or missing chunks of metal.
August 23rd, 2008 at 9:11 pm
Uhaul ok for trailers. But use Penske for Trucks.
November 5th, 2008 at 10:37 am
Please, Please, Please Do NOT RENT U HAUL. If I have done anything worthwhile on this earth it would be to save any one any grief or from death by using a U Haul. DO your research. U Haul is notorious for roll overs with their trailers. I was one of them. I lost my SUV, all my valuables that I was hauling, and had to recover from a back injury. I thank the Lord that my children were not in the car they would have been killed instantly. I did my research after the accident and was shocked by how many people this happend to. They lost loved ones and others were wheel chair bound. I ended up having to pay U Haul $1,500 for their trailer, but they never sent me a dime or a letter. THey will kill you if you rent from them. I am serious. Read up on all the cases across the U.S. and Canada you will be exhausted from the articles etc. BAN U HAUL !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
November 25th, 2008 at 10:30 am
I had a great experience with UHaul a few years ago…now need to
rent again and was searching for price comps.etc. I still am going to
go with bottom line $$.
But it occurs to me,there have to be 1000s of people who are happy with U-Haul but they don’t speak up. It’s only the ones with a horror
story who bother to write about it.
January 14th, 2009 at 7:11 pm
I have used U-Haul and Penske over the years, but 21 years ago we moved from Northern Michigan to Arizona in a 26′ Penske with a car dolly. We had a great trip. No problems at all and a nearly new truck. In 4 days I will be doing a move to Missouri in a 26′ Penske truck with a car hauler. I am looking forward to the trip and the great thing is that it is about 1/2 the cost of the 1987 price. Of course, it is about 600 miles closer. Still, great price and they promised a new truck. More good news, our last move, this time it’s to our retirement home.
January 16th, 2009 at 1:01 pm
I have to agree with Elizabeth. I had an exceptional experience with Uhaul and everyone I know has nothing but good things to say about them. Just this past August I reserved a truck and tow dolly from Uhaul. Upon arriving at the intended location the truck was waiting for me with tow dolly hooked up and ready to go. I was in and out in less that 15 minutes. And this was a dealer (privately owned business wanting to supplement their income by renting out Uhauls). I read all of the above comments and it disgusts me that all of you had such bad experiences with Uhaul. However, it sounds to me like most of you that had bad experiences rented from dealers. 99% of the dealers that rent out Uhaul equipment just do not care. If you got overcharged or your reservation went “missing” I can only attest that to the lack of care and/or interest in the customer from the dealers. Unfortunately if you have a problem with a dealer the buck stops there. The only thing you can do is complain about them and hope they get pulled as dealers never to be able to rent Uhauls again.
However, if you rented from a Uhaul owned or managed facility (an actual Uhaul center owned and operated by Uhaul employees who are paid by Uhaul) and still received this kind of poor customer service I urge you to demand a phone number for their MCP (Marketing Company President) and call him/her up and let them know whats going on in their centers. They will take immediate action I assure you. And if they don’t demand their ADVP’s (Area District Vice President) number. Going through the right channels will get you results.
My two cents
January 22nd, 2009 at 2:21 pm
I’ve rented from U-Haul 3 times and every time my reservations were screwed up. They’ve never gotten my reservations right and they always stick it to me when it comes to how long I reservation for. I’ve always gotten short changed on my rental times, which doesn’t help also when the service is so slow. And they always charge me for my reserved rental time without even budging or offering to cut me some slack on price. The trucks were always beat and always had 250K+ miles on them. The last one even stalled out on the highway several times. I’ve called coporate each time but the buck always gets passed and I vow to never use them again.
January 26th, 2009 at 1:47 am
I have driven u-haul trucks before and have had nothing but bad experiences. I was moving my mother from Alabama to Indiana and the truck could only reach 40 mph on I-65. It was scary to say the least. I ended up putting my flashers on and praying to god I didn’t get killed.
February 23rd, 2009 at 7:54 am
Growing up I moved ALOT! My parents always used UHaul, and although they always seemed like older trucks and a bit on the dirty side, we didn’t really have any major problems.
I personally moved from Michigan to New Mexico, then to Sarasota Florida-each time I used Penske because of their reputation. The trucks were virtually new (both under 300 miles), and when I locked my key in the cab they had someone there to get me in within a half hour. I have nothing negative I can think of with Penske. If I move again, they WILL get my business.
February 23rd, 2009 at 1:50 pm
Uhaul sucks. I just rented a uhaul yesterday. The darn truck did not have a loading ramp. Are you kidding me. I didn’t think they even made these trucks without a ramp. And, of course, they did not have any more trucks in that size. I would have had to pay more money for a larger truck, even though they gave me a truck with no ramp.
From now on, it’s Rider, Penske, Budget or anyone but uhaul.
March 3rd, 2009 at 12:52 pm
It is true that 10 foot trucks of Uhauls do not have a ramp… but thats cause a ramp wont fit under a 10foot truck without being extremely short and useless. If the ramps a problem *(john rivers) go with a 14 foot, its the same price. As for Ryder, ryder is the same company as Budget… They “technically” are no longer in business. As for reservations, as with any truck company, you do have a reservation and expect it to be there when you reserved it for. but if the person previous to you decides to not return the truck (which does happen often) then thats when you run into a truck not being there for your reservation. Uhaul does have a Reservation Guarrentee… which means if you dont get your truck you get $50. Local uhauls are older but are maintenenced every time the truck comes back to the facility. one way trucks are brand new! Diesels dont exist in the moving business except for with penske, so diesel horror stories can be disregarded.
April 8th, 2009 at 11:48 am
Look’s like this post is still up-to-date…as I suppose it should be because so many of us move all the time! Ugh. I’m a bit surprised no one has mentioned the alternatives to renting a Uhaul truck, but than again, this was exactly the first thing I thought of when my wife and I needed to move. We skipped the whole truck rental thing and tried moving pods instead. This was a local move so I looked at costs very closely. When it was all said and done, it was SOOO worth it and cost less when considering our time, which well, is priceless
Unless I need to move just a few small items, I will most likely never rent a truck again. Door to Door Moving and Storage is a fantastic company that I’d highly recommend to anyone. The whole moving pod idea is here to stay in my opinion. They often have deals too so check em out - http://www.doortodoor.com
April 30th, 2009 at 5:47 pm
My wife and I are planning a move almost completely across the country. I just checked rates for both companies on line. U haul will charge me $ 1719 for a 17 foot truck and allow me 9 days and 2439 miles. To make the exact same trip Penske will charge me $880 for a 22 foot truck and allow me 9 days with unlimited miles. Using these numbers I can get a truck and car carrier from Penske for less than just a u haul truck
May 3rd, 2009 at 11:54 pm
My husband and I are military, and we have always done our own moves. We used uhaul for all of the moves except this last one, we used Budget. Uhaul was going to charge us nearly $1000 to move from TX to VA in 7 days, with unlimited mileage. The quote online with Budget w/15% discount was about $400! A HUGE difference, we thought…until we got to Budget on the day we were picking up the truck and ended up with some $350+ in hidden fees and taxes! So the savings ended up being a couple hundred dollars. I’m not entirely sure it was worth it though. The truck got terrible gas mileage…my husband was using a tank of gas in the Budget truck at the same rate that I was in our Ford Escape…I thought diesel got better mileage?? Plus the truck was SUPER-SLOW! I’m talking 0-60mph in 5.2…MINUTES! Thats really not even an exaggeration. It topped out at about 68-69 going downhill…needless to say, that was the LONGEST 1300 miles of my life!
May 4th, 2009 at 5:28 pm
you will not beleve this one,on feb/09 i was moving from yougtown,az to modesto,cal u haul cote was $1375.and i was told they. will give me a better deal if i book then.i told theme i will be back ,i walked to penske it is next door located close to down town phoenix,and with no tricks or upsell they charge me $850 for same service , but begger and newer truck and better insurance cover. thank god and thank penske for good and honest serivce.this is very true story and god know that.
May 27th, 2009 at 11:47 am
People. look at the facts. over half of these people have had people have had problems with there uhaul truck. given they are cheaper than penkse but you get what you buy. I am a proud penske employee and i just think some of these articles are funny. Tires can happin to company truck out for rent. its just the way it is but penske trucks are inspected everytime they are returned from rental. i know, im one of the people doing inspections. our trucks are top of the line and nonone else compares to us. Do you people know how to price haggle, penske base rates ARE higher than other companys however we are always willing to knock a feww dollars off here and there. common guys, be smart and come to the better company. i promise, you will not be unsatisfied.
June 4th, 2009 at 1:29 pm
Uhaul is awesome! They also sell out their old trucks and it can be very cost effective. Check out their website for more info on the trucks.
http://www.uhaul.com/trucksales/
September 29th, 2009 at 9:04 pm
I JUST WANT TO LET YALL KNOW I HAD A GREAT EXPIERENCE WITH UHAUL. IF PENSKE OR BUDGET WAS MORE CONVIENT, A BIGGER MOVING COMPANY LIKE UHAUL..LOL THEN YOU ALL WOULD BE SAYING THE SAME THNG ABOUT THEM JUST LIKE UHAUL..LOL MAYBE BECAUSE UHAUL TRUCKS GET USED ALOT THE REASON WHY SOME OF THEM ARE IN BAD SHAPE..THINK ABOUT IT FOR A SECOND….