Introducing Trekker Vans Campervan Rental
- Thread starter naterry
- Start date
naterry
13 Cheeseburgers
Looks very nice and a great idea!
Suggestion for start up, have a ton of quality brochures made up, buy space a the air port to put them in there near the rental car offices.
You might hook up with a rental car bunch locally and figure out a commission.
Same thing with travel agencies, they should be easy to work with. Camping tours could be nothing more than some maps and the keys, you deliver locally.
I wouldn't go overboard on advertising as this is a specialty and you can find your target market, TV and radio will be too much for the return, IMO. Specialty magazines, Camping World or RV'er types may be well worth the cost, you already know that market.
Do not take on long term contracts! Not starting out.
Do not seek investors early on, banks can finance receivables.
Since you're loading up vehicles with equipment, load up with liability insurance, and don't mention your coverage levels LOL. I can see a crash and the kitchen sink flies forward killing fido or junior even worse.
Best of luck in your business venture!
Thank you, some great advice that I had not thought of here. Much appreciated!
You're spot on. My competitors (Jucy and Escape) market almost exclusively to the "leap year" crowd in Europe. It has been very interesting to see where and how our first costomers found us. Over half have been local, ~1/3 from across the US, and then somehow word got out in Spain and Holland, which is cool!
Bikersmurf
Expedition Leader
X2
All summer long we see oversized rental RVs driven by Germans who have never driven something so big. Your vans would be an excellent alternative.
When you say low draw for the fridge... how low? Brand?
All summer long we see oversized rental RVs driven by Germans who have never driven something so big. Your vans would be an excellent alternative.
When you say low draw for the fridge... how low? Brand?
naterry
13 Cheeseburgers
We chose the Dometic CD-030, and it has worked well so far. It pulls ~3 amps (40 Watts) when set in the middle of it's temp range.
Duder
New member
Nate! CFlo here. Glad I found this thread - it's cool to see all the details of the stuff you were describing. I'll need to check the vans out in person sometime soon, and maybe even rent one and see what all the fuss is about. We had a great time on the epic 4oJ 'froadin / camping adventure. Thanks for the margaritas! Also I accidentally took one of your blue cups home, and will return it at the earliest convenience. Sorry!
You are of course welcome back on any future group trip; we need to make sure you get your fill of nerdy engineering talk around the campfire.
You are of course welcome back on any future group trip; we need to make sure you get your fill of nerdy engineering talk around the campfire.
86scotty
Cynic
Yep, we hit several National Parks every summer. It's so easy to peg people. They all seem to travel the same way within their herd. Americans have this fantasty that other Americans are using their National Parks. Not true in my experience. Americans are at Walmart or watching American Pickers or whatever the hell the latest one is. Without sounding racist, here's what's in your National Parks.
European familes in El Monte or Cruise America motorhomes.
Older European couples in their Eurovan Westfalias.
Younger couples, usually foreign, in Jucy vans, Peace vans, Escape vans, Sprinters and us (mostly) Caucasian guys in our overland type of things.
Asian people of all makes and models in big tour buses.
Statistically very few American families in their Asian built minivans.
Older Caucasian couples in big American trucks with huge truck campers on the back which look as if they will topple over at any second.
That's it. There is no variance. Am I the only one to notice this?
Not to muck up your thread Nate, just a little humor. I'm fascinated by the idea of what you're doing.
naterry
13 Cheeseburgers
CFlo! Great to have another friend on here and no worries about the cup. I really liked the caravaning aspect of our the trip, what a great group. Looking forward to the next one!
Oh boy, the boss says I can't joke around about politics!
Pinnacle Campers
Chateau spotter
Vans 5-7 left the shop recently and I thought I would update the thread with a couple minor changes that to me make a big impact in overall fit and finish.
Previously the countertop, and table top were laminate with exposed Baltic Birch edge detail. The problem is, plywood edges tend to have a lot of void areas, glue, are often "end grain" and show a lot of defects in the laminate process. Baltic Birch is the cleanest typically in regards to these issues. Lately I have noticed even the Baltic Birch showing issues, difficult to accept stain, which results in blotchiness.
Needless to say, this bugged me, this isn't something Nate has made any comments about, this is about me and making sure I'm happy with the finished product.
I had suggested rubber t molding during the development process but felt it was lower on the list with many other priorities.
Recently I bought some t-molding and gave it a try, https://amzn.to/2xQZKxl
The results are a nice clean edge detail, that has a higher durability factor.
Till next time....
Previously the countertop, and table top were laminate with exposed Baltic Birch edge detail. The problem is, plywood edges tend to have a lot of void areas, glue, are often "end grain" and show a lot of defects in the laminate process. Baltic Birch is the cleanest typically in regards to these issues. Lately I have noticed even the Baltic Birch showing issues, difficult to accept stain, which results in blotchiness.
Needless to say, this bugged me, this isn't something Nate has made any comments about, this is about me and making sure I'm happy with the finished product.
I had suggested rubber t molding during the development process but felt it was lower on the list with many other priorities.
Recently I bought some t-molding and gave it a try, https://amzn.to/2xQZKxl
The results are a nice clean edge detail, that has a higher durability factor.
Till next time....
Last edited:
goin camping
Explorer
OP, Went to your website and could only find two non helpful pictures of the interior.
I'd be hard pressed to rent an RV I could not see the interior of unless I go to your shop. But that is just me.
I'd be hard pressed to rent an RV I could not see the interior of unless I go to your shop. But that is just me.
Petrolburner
Explorer
I really like that style of cabinet. Plywood that's strong, the coating is strong and impermeable. I might go with a brighter color, actually liked that blue honestly. Can you make the surface any smoother? How rough is it? Did you use pocket screws? What size?
Pinnacle Campers
Chateau spotter
No pocket screws, just Titebond 2 and brad nails. The fact that these boxes are only attached on one plane means that there is less stress on the box itself. They are only attached to the floor. If they were attached to the floor and a wall, the racking/twisting on uneven surfaces would have more of a tendency to rip the boxes apart.
For another application I'm thinking about imbedding fiberglass tape in the mliner on the first coat, wetting it out and putting another coat over the top just as you would with epoxy (which is what mliner is right?)
The texture varies. In short, the foam rollers supplied by Milner are designed to lift the product. I found that the thicker the paint is the less fine grainy texture there is, the foam roller might lift a thick coating of paint but it will fall or flatten more.
For the least amount of texture, spraying (it on thick) is probably a better method.
I have tried another type of roller (for Behr deck over) and the results weren't as good. I havent tried a regular fine nap roller in an effort to get a smoother finish. I think the smoother you try to get it the less consistent it becomes, more lap marks, etc.
The real fine grainy texture would be hard to clean, like orange peel texture used in residential drywall applications, you try to scrub kitchen grease and it just gets caught in the texture, the thicker application smooths out more.
I think this would be a great application for your build, durable and practical, the wood work, sanding is made easier by the mliners ability to hide things.
For another application I'm thinking about imbedding fiberglass tape in the mliner on the first coat, wetting it out and putting another coat over the top just as you would with epoxy (which is what mliner is right?)
The texture varies. In short, the foam rollers supplied by Milner are designed to lift the product. I found that the thicker the paint is the less fine grainy texture there is, the foam roller might lift a thick coating of paint but it will fall or flatten more.
For the least amount of texture, spraying (it on thick) is probably a better method.
I have tried another type of roller (for Behr deck over) and the results weren't as good. I havent tried a regular fine nap roller in an effort to get a smoother finish. I think the smoother you try to get it the less consistent it becomes, more lap marks, etc.
The real fine grainy texture would be hard to clean, like orange peel texture used in residential drywall applications, you try to scrub kitchen grease and it just gets caught in the texture, the thicker application smooths out more.
I think this would be a great application for your build, durable and practical, the wood work, sanding is made easier by the mliners ability to hide things.
Pinnacle Campers
Chateau spotter
I'm not the OP but I agree, a pic of the bed made with two adults laying in it, the table set up with two adults and two kids sitting at it (with dinner on the table), inside of the rooftop tent with two kids and their stuff, etc.
naterry
13 Cheeseburgers
Hello,
They're there, or here? Select "explore trekker vans", then "view van details", and then there are four tabs with roughly 100 or so pictures of the interior.
Just gotta scratch the surface.
Kind Regards,
Nate
calicamper
Expedition Leader
We base camped it in one spot for 6 days Madison Campground. The camp host said we were a rare case given most people were highly transient two nights being about the max stay. So we had allot of new camp neighbors. We were always gone all day as was everyone else. All our camp neighbors about 18 or so were all US peeps except for one solo young lady from Canada. Most were grand parents a couple of them with grand kids in tow. Only two neighbors were 30-40 something parents like us. I found the grand parents who all grew up camping were very friendly and fun to talk with and shared tips on where to visit when or parking tricks etc. The younger folks my age were not friendly. All the out of country folks we met were super cool and fun to talk to we had lunch with a professor from Austria spending 3 months traveling the US parks. Several Germans, a British Couple. All were doing their own camp/airbnb type trip.
The worst people we encountered regarding behavior on the narrow trails and trashing public bathrooms were the bus loads of tourists from Asia. One lady nearly shoved my 5 yr old into a hot spring as we tried to walk by her as she blocked the trail for several minutes trying to take a selfie. Which resulted in not only me but three other people of non Asian decent telling her that she needed to leave before her agressive behavior resulted in an escort back to the parking lot.
Petrolburner
Explorer
That's good info Brian, thanks.