El Monte RV Review

We were really looking into booking with Elmonte for our trip in 2025. We have been loyal renters with Cruise America. We found out when looking at prices. There were differences in rates at Elmonterv.com and Elmonterv.co. They give a deal to those without US addresss. They charge higher rates and miles if you have a US address. Same company but they provide huge discounts for those who don't live-in the USA. You have to read the fine print to find this out. It obvious they prefer renting to those who live outside the USA.
We will keep our loyalty to Cruise America.

I have been trailer camping for over 15 years and decided to try out an RV. The RV we rented from El Monte RV in short ruined our trip and confirmed why I will never rent from El Monte and never own a RV. When we showed up to rent the RV, I should have started to question the "New" 2021 RV when they could not get the fridge to cool and told me it takes 4 to 6 hours before you will notice it. As well, the AC would switch to heat which really caused issues when the west coast is experiencing 100 plus degree days. Nonetheless I trusted the person who walked me through the operations walk thru. As the week progressed the fridge finally failed and we lost all our food. The AC never work right either. And the biggest issue that final killed everything was when we ran our generator and started to smell gas to only figure out that the generator started to leak gas and the camper almost exploded. The circuit breaker would not shutoff the generator and I had to manually disconnect the generator from the battery and let the camper vent out for the night before we could try to start the camper. We also followed their roadside assistance program but they had no one to assist us camping in the north rim. The name they provided finally got ahold of us and said they only service the south rim. At the end of the day, I am thankful no one in my family died from this experience. FIND A DIFFERENT RV RENTER.

Customer service was terrible! Good luck when something breaks on the RV. Our water pump broke, tried twice to get it fixed with no success. We were without water for 4 days (had RV for 13 days total), unable to wash hands, dishes or flush the toilet (!), and had two of our children with us. We were told "you could have used a water hose"...?!, unacceptable and RUDE! That's the whole point to rent an RV, for the convenience of your trip, so you don't have to pull over to the gas station if you or your child needs to use the bathroom, or you want to cook and wash dishes. Then only got a $165 discount. Also would NOT use their insurance as it has a $1K deductible. Caught a rock from a semi and there went $400. Also, they gave us at checkout a broken coax cable and leaking water hose. I would NEVER rent from them again and will tell everyone who wants to rent an RV to stay away from El Monte RV rentals in McKinney.

We hired a class A family sleeper from El Monte (Dublin, San Fransisco) in early July for a once in a lifetime holiday, travelling around the U.S. We are from Australia and have done RV holidays within our own country before and knew that we loved that type of travel.

For some reason it took 2.5-3 hours just to pick up our RV. Other families were coming and going but due to a "system error" ours was taking hours longer. Eventually they said it was all good and we just wanted to get the hell out of there.

The guy showing us around the RV really had no knowledge about it. He just kept telling us to find our manuals online. He wasn't sure how things worked and didn't know where the physical manuals were. One thing he did mention was that they advise not to use the auto levelling system as some people drive off with the pegs still lowered (this is an important feature of the van) but if we were confident we wouldn't do that, we could use it.

The first issue we had was the cleanliness of the van. Within 10 min our feet were completely black, the shower hadn't been cleaned and there was hair everywhere. There were curtains missing in the van, one curtain rod on one of the bunks was broken and had screws sticking out. A piece of wood flew off from above the dining table during travel. Luckily it didn't hit our children. We were unable to shower in the van as the one time the shower was used, it leaked water all through the van and the drain blocked up. A dealership in Colorado had to re silicone the shower. Our toilet was only used for wee but had been blocked from the first day we picked up the van and required plunging every day. El Monte claimed we used the wrong paper but it had been blocked from before we picked it up. Our tv antenna system never worked so we only had tv if the rv parks had cable.

Next up, the levelling system. This is required to be used for slide out vans as they need to be levelled to properly slide out. It worked sometimes. Most of the time only 2-3 pegs would lower. Sometimes they wouldn't retract and we would be stuck in the rv parks trying to get them to retract. The really kicker happened when we were driving and the system turned on and started lowering as we were driving. Scary and dangerous. We then were told over the phone how to disconnect the system. We were asked to take the van in to Colorado to have it looked at. The dealership in Colorado were not happy to have us there and did not want to even check the system. They just said to leave it disconnected.

We travelled to Texas and it was the middle of the heat wave. Our aircon leaked water all over our bed during the night, saturating everything including our mattress. This left the aircon unable to be used until wr took it to another servicing place to be fixed. This place was not affiliated with El Monte and said the RV was in terrible condition. So much so that they rang el Monte and told them how bad it was. They fixed the aircon by removing dirt and buildup in the draining hose (but this was another day wasted).

The tv in the bedroom was not properly secured and swung open and snapped off during travel. Power points throughout the van didn't always work.

Also the van was just terrible to drive. Felt every little bump and the wind was constantly pushing the van off the road. Biggest waste of money we have ever spent and really ruined our trip.

We returned our rv 6 days early due to all the issues. We couldn't stand it anymore. El Monte had a record of all of the problems we had and still did not refund us for the 6 days. There was no compensation given to us regardless of all the time we wasted.

Would NOT recommend these poorly maintained vehicles from el Monte. Hire elsewhere so your holiday doesn't get ruined like ours.

Worst experience of my life. Left us stranded in the middle of the desert, during summer, and with storms all around. We had 5 adults, 4 children and 3 dogs with us. 7 hours of waiting on hold to be told to get our stuff out and find a different way home. Completely unacceptable for any company to treat people this way.

Worked with Ammar on the purchase of Thor Class C motor home. Ammar and the entire organization was a pleasure to deal with. They were quick to reply to questions and did everything they told me they would do. Very professional organization and would recommend them if you are looking to purchase a RV.

Expérience désolante. Dans le contexte de la pandémie COVID 19, l'entreprise ne fait pas de remboursement lorsqu'un véhicule doit être rapporté plus tôt que prévu. Pourtant, l'industrie touristique en général (Air Bnb, hôtellerie, campings) a assoupli ses politiques de cancellation et rembourse ses clients El monte RV et l'agence Camper travel située à Dallas (partenaire) nous ont avisés qu'ils allaient conserver la totalité du montant versé initialement ce qui nous apparaît inacceptable et abusif comme pratique dans le contexte de pandémie qui sévit actuellement.

El Monte's best insurance does not covers you for almost any damage to the RV. The "VIP" insurance, which is meant to cover the RV, has the following stipulations: 1) the first $1,000 of any damage of any kind is your responsibility, 2) things NOT covered: the ENTIRE interior, the windshield, "overhead damage" (that would be the entire top/roof and anything mounted there), damage incurred while backing up, damage from hot or cold weather, the slide-out, the awning, the undercarriage, tires, wheels, entry-step, vandalism, and more...

We rented a 22 foot RV and were very satisfied! The unit was a 2020 model, and we had no mechanical issues at all. This was our first rental, and we had heard horror stories from friends in other cities about difficult rental agents, poorly maintained vehicles and hidden charges. We experienced none of these problems at El Monte in McKinney! The entire staff was friendly, helpful, and answered all of our questions. They even helped me with a packing checklist. The vehicle was totally ready at the designated time and the pre-rental inspection thoroughly explained all related features. The vehicle was clean and ran well to/from Albuquerque. When we returned, there were no hidden/previously undisclosed charges. There's a sign in the office that says, "integrity above profit." I believe the staff exemplifies this. We had a great time in our rental RV and will certainly come back to El Monte when we're planning our next road trip!

Customer service at pickup, while in the vehicle, and dropoff was very courteous and professional.

Unfortunately.

I have not had any of my $US1,000 bond returned, nor will they respond to emails.

Personal summation: Avoid. Especially avoid if you are from overseas (I am from New Zealand).