U-Haul

Is U-Haul still refusing to rent trailers to be towed by Ford Explorers?

Are there any places that will?

Anyone have some Mercury Mountaineer badges I can replace the Ford Explorer badges with?

Thanks.

Reply to
Bob
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According to the U-Haul web site the ban on Explorers as tow vehicles is still in effect.

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From the USA Today story I got the impression that the Firestone tire debacle lit a fire under the trial lawyer to flood the courts with Explorer lawsuits.

What do trial lawyers use for birth control? Their personality.

Reply to
Larry Lojack

If you're considering rebadging you vehicle, check out ebay. There seems to be quite a bit of Mountaineer insignia up for sale.

Reply to
Captain Coleman

I think we should consider ourselves lucky UHaul won't deal with us.

Anytime I have ever rented UHaul stuff or been with someone who has rented UHaul stuff, the equipment has been atrocious. I remember one truck that had holes in the floorboards. You actually could see the highway. Another had a lit alternator light. The guy insisted we use that truck and refused to give us anything else. "Just call us if it breaks down." (We were going to use the truck on New Years day. And then he had the audacity to insist that we sign a statement that said we ceritfy that nothing was wrong with the vehicle when we took it! We walked away, went to Ryder and were amazed at the difference in the condition of the vehicles. The Ryder guy even walked the vehicle with us and noted any little blemish on the sheet before we took the truck (and there were only the tinyist things). Maybe no one else rents those little trailers ... but I still wouldn't attach anyting with UHaul on it to my Explorer - not even their bubble wrap :O). Crapola equipment, crapola custommer service, in my opinion. I suspect that UHaul knows they're stuff is unsafe and is unwilling to take on Explorer owners who are sensitized to this crap.

Reply to
Anthony Giorgianni

Reply to
Richard Ray

Yeah, you're right. I was just pointing out how ridiculous it is that they'll rent to Mountaineers (or Mazda Navahos) but not Explorers when we and Uhaul and the lawyers all know that they're the same truck.

The funny thing was for 6 months after they announced this ban on Explorers, their website had a picture of an Explorer towing one of their trailers.

Reply to
Bob

I Agree! I used to work for U-Haul, their trucks are junk. They hired me fresh out of the Navy and paid me slightly more than minimum wage to keep their trucks chicken wired together. I had absolutely no experience in auto mechanics. As long as they started up and rolled off the lot the boss was happy. If the boss decided he didn't like a customer he had a signal to me to rent him the absolute worst wreck we had. I didn't stay long.

I wouldn't drive one of their trucks but their open bed trailers are so rugged and well built that they withstand the abuse and lack of maintenance. I eyeball the tires real good, check for play in the bearings and check the hitch and lights before I rent one. Moved my son's whole 4 bedroom house in 3 trips with one of the big ones recently. (We towed it with his GMC Yukon.)

Reply to
Bob

What other company rents trailers one way?

Reply to
Bill

Careful...

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Reply to
Gordon S. Hlavenka

Bob wrotenews: snipped-for-privacy@giganews.com:

I didn't have a problem last time. What size trailor?

Maybe you're trying to pull a class III size trailor with your little class II hitch on the explorer?

Changing the badges sounds like a fine idea. Like the Camry XLE; you can just get the side panels and body art from a junkyard and make it a Lexus

300! Same car.

-- riki

--Those who live by the sword get shot by those who don't.

Reply to
RikiTikiTavi

"Anthony Giorgianni" wrotenews:XwAFd.755$ snipped-for-privacy@bgtnsc04-news.ops.worldnet.att.net:

I agree. Last time I rented from them I rented a car dolly.

The left tire strapping was cut so many times it wasn't long enought to strap down the tire on the left side. I had to stop and buy strapping and one of those little ratchet cargo tie down thingies to continue. How they let stuff go with obvious safety problems is beyond me.

And have you ever noticed that everyone who works for Uhaul is sullen and unfriendly? They just hate working there.

-- Riki

--Those who live by the sword get shot by those who don't.

Reply to
RikiTikiTavi

OMG - arrested for telling lawyer jokes. Now I know we have too many lawyers.

Did you hear about the new sushi bar that caters exclusively to lawyers? It's called, Sosumi.

Reply to
Larry Lojack

While all the comments are valid and there equipment is as one person put it "CRAP" I still think it is discriminatory towards owners of Explorers. If this is a lawyers / lawsuit game I say we find one of these sue happy lawyers and file a class action lawsuit against U-Haul for discrimination based on the fact Explorers do not have Firestone tires on them after the recall. Also they are judging my / our driving habits on those who do not drive responsibly. I for one do not want to be placed in that description. I have had my Explorer for over 5 years and pull a 10' cargo trailer every month without any problems. I guess I will get of my soapbox now. Thanks Mike

Reply to
Mustang_Mike

Try to get a shyster to take the case. You can't force a business to conduct business with a person unless you can prove discrimination based on race, color, gender, creed, or national origin. In some jurisdictions you cannot discriminate based on sexual orientation.

But nowhere > While all the comments are valid and there equipment is as one person put

Reply to
Richard Ray

An interesting side effect of this might be: Somebody driving an SUV that's _not_ an Explorer (or Navajo, etc.) has a wreck while pulling a U-Haul trailer. They sue, claiming that there was a fundamental mismatch between their vehicle and the trailer, and since U-Haul bans Explorers for safety reasons they have assumed the duty of vetting all tow vehicles.

In other words, by taking all comers U-Haul has a certain amount of "plausible deniability" -- they can claim that they're not responsible for your vehicle. But as soon as they ban ONE class of vehicles they demonstrate that they believe they have special expertise. Therefore it becomes their legal duty to check out all the vehicle models on the road.

Now we just need a non-Explorer driver to have a U-Haul wreck and be a test case :-)

Reply to
Gordon S. Hlavenka

Not to insult you, but... I honestly believe that there are a *LOT* of lawyers out there who have thought of this angle, and rejected it. Why? Because, for example (and I'm no lawyer), U-Haul *hasn't* taken on the job of vetting all vehicles for comaptibility with their trailers. What they've done is to take the advice of their lawyers (who, Im sure, have thought of the same line of thinking you have). In short, you would need to come up with a legal theory for a suit that actually has some basis that a court would entertain as being viable. As much as we like to characterize businesses as being incredibly stupid (and I've sometimes considered certain company policies as such), usually, they aren't. Sorry.

Reply to
Big Bill

The horse is dead..... beat on it as much as you like.

Reply to
Jim Warman

Why, Thank You, Jim! Sorry. I'm that way, I guess. :-(

Reply to
Big Bill

I guess we all have our pet peeves.... you guys let me have mine so I guess I should allow you yours...

I can be a dork since my Ex is my second vehicle and I can usually borrow a trailer if my own proves too small.

Reply to
Jim Warman

Reply to
Richard Ray

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