MN to AZ is there a cheaper way than a UHaul trailer? (Phoenix: rental, motels)

[Minnesota2warmer]

We are moving form Minnesota to Arizona and a 4x8 UHaul trailer is going to cost around $400. I was wondering if there are any other companies that work between Minnesota and Arizona. Because we would only need the trailer one way, which is what was nice about UHaul. Let me know if you know any good companies!

[Uptacamp]

Buy a used one & resell when you you arrive in az?

[KurtAZ]

Or sell everything and buy replacements once here? I have been pricing out moving companies, PODS, Penske, Budget and UHaul for a move. You may find something comperale for less money but a managed move will run you in the thousands.

[maverick974]

Originally Posted by Uptacamp

Buy a used one & resell when you you arrive in az?

That's what I did when I moved from Oregon 2 years ago. I bought a moving van, packed it myself, drove it myself, unpacked it myself and when I was all done, I sold it. I even made enough on it to pay for the truck, pay for the fuel and motels. It worked out great for me.
One nice thing about it, I was able to store all my stuff in it until I found a place so I didn't have to load and unload it twice. That saved me a ton of work. Also, when you rent one, they give you a specific time period and there is just no way I could have done it and that time span so they would have charged me a small fortune for the extra days.
It is a lot of work though so you must take that into consideration. You could make it a bit easier if you hired some neighborhood kids to load and unload but they might not pack everything so it doesn't get damaged.
Overall, I was very happy. My move basically cost me nothing but there comes some responsibility with doing it that way as well. If that thing would have broke down on the trip, it would have cost a lot to fix it. A flat tire on those things is quite a job to fix while on the road so doing it yourself is not for the faint of heart but it is certainly doable. When you rent one, if it breaks, they come out and fix it or they will send a tow truck to get you out of a sticky situation. That's not the case when you do it yourself. A tow truck for a moving van is not cheap.

[Steve Pickering]

I have done both. I once bought a good 5 ton truck and sold it for more than I paid for it when I got to Phoenix. And most people pay more to move their "STUFF" than the replacement cost or value.

No, you will not find a cheaper one-way rental trailer. Phoenix is their home depot and they give very good rates to get trailers there for annual service.




And I did have a flat tire. It cost a bunch.

[Goober13]

$400 is a really reasonable rate. It's only about a 36 hour drive, and as the OP said, U-Haul's headquarters is here so you got a fair price. That and $250 or so in gas is not bad for moving 1700 miles.

[maverick974]

Gee, I guess I need to learn to read. I didn't see that all they needed was a smaller trailer. $400.00 is really bad at all but if all I needed was a trailer, I'd find one on Craigslist, buy it, move here and sell it. I had an old U-Haul 4x8 enclosed trailer in Oregon. It was ugly but it always did the job and I got it for $50.00. I owned that for 5 years and sold it for $200.00 before moving here.
There isn't much that can go wrong with a trailer other than a tire blow-out or an extreme case would be a wheel bearing takes a dump but typically not a problem and not very hard to fix.
If you had a good jack and tire iron in case you had a flat, I'd think you would be fine.

[Zippyman]

Keep in mind those uhaul trailers are extremely heavy & the nature of enclosed trailers is to make the tow vehicle suck gas. If you normally get 20mpg highway, figure 8mpg with an enclosed trailer. Id look hard at abf u-pack if you can do without those items for a few days..

[maverick974]

Originally Posted by Zippyman

Keep in mind those uhaul trailers are extremely heavy & the nature of enclosed trailers is to make the tow vehicle suck gas. If you normally get 20mpg highway, figure 8mpg with an enclosed trailer. Id look hard at abf u-pack if you can do without those items for a few days..

I mean no disrespect but if you went from 20 to 8 mpg, something is seriously wrong with your vehicle. Either that or you left your parking brake on.....
Even if the trailer is a little on the heavy side, you should get maybe, MAYBE 13 or 14 towning a smaller trailer unless your towing only uphill. If you got 8, you need a different tow vehicle.
I have an small Ford Ranger with a 4 liter V-6 that normally gets around 20 mpg. I can tow my 3000 lb. boat and I get 16 mpg out of it.

[todd00]

That's a long trip, if something did go wrong with the trailer, at least you would have someone to call. Ya never know, ya sure don't want something happening and having a hassle getting it fixed. Unless you can find a good deal on a near new one, I'd just rent the Uhaul.