El Monte RVReviews of elmonterv.com

We rented a A class RV expecting we would get a A class RV. Instead we got a A- RV. It was faling apart! We can understand that everyone wants to rent one and not everybody looks after it. But what we do expect is it to be in order. We felt it was not checkt out. We still payed a lot of money and in fact it was not worth it. Next time we are going to look somewhere else

Horrible-hot water didn’t work-shower didn’t drain-city water hook up leaked for 1 full day-flooded my campsite and my neighbors as well called roadside service-they were no help-had another night to stay-but had to rent a hotel room instead-will NEVER rent from El Monte RV again-I have a deposit for a rental in September-but after my horrific experience in July-I requested a refund-I have not heard from El MonteRV-that adds insult to injury-I’m very upset and my only outlet is to file a report with the better business bureau I want my deposite back NOW

I rented a very nice 24' RV, and the customer service at booking was excellent. Unfortunately, that's where the good experience ended. I'm leaving one star because of how poorly things were handled when the generator failed. When it wouldn't start, I called the toll-free number and was on hold for over an hour before anyone picked up. I followed every troubleshooting step the rep walked me through, but we couldn't get it working. The rep noted on my account that there was a problem with the generator and told me to speak with the front desk when I returned the RV. Without the generator, I had no A/C for the trip — a serious problem for four days in an RV. When I returned it, the front desk had me stand by while they looked into it. The mechanic came in and confirmed there was a problem, telling me directly: "I did a master reset on the generator and it's working now." So the issue was real and acknowledged by their own staff. The woman at the front desk was pleasant and professional, but she said her hands were tied and there was nothing she could do. I pointed out that I'd paid for four full days of an RV that was supposed to function — especially the A/C. Her only offer was a $100 credit toward buying an RV from them in the future. I was blown away — and not in a good way. I paid for a working RV and didn't get one, and their idea of making it right was a discount contingent on giving them more of my money. How could I ever rent from them again? I won't.

El RV estaba muy sucio en la entrega, se dañó una cubierta a las 60 millas de haberla sacado por desgaste, no le devolvieron el monto que tuve que pagar, el aire acondicionado no funcionó en todo el viaje, un fiasco

I booked an RV from July 24th through July 31st for a family road trip from Denver to Yellowstone. Before booking, I was assured that all of their RVs were no more than two years old, which gave me confidence that the vehicle would be reliable. Unfortunately, what was supposed to be our family's first RV adventure and a memorable vacation turned into a series of mechanical failures that disrupted our plans almost every step of the way. 1. Coolant Leak on Day One Shortly after picking up the RV, we stopped at Costco in Denver to buy groceries. While my family was shopping, I stayed in the RV with the kids. When they returned, we noticed fluid leaking from underneath the engine compartment. Upon opening the hood, I found that the coolant reservoir was boiling and spraying coolant. I immediately contacted customer support, but it took approximately 2–3 hours before I was able to reach someone and receive assistance. The support team could not identify the root cause and simply advised me to purchase coolant from a nearby gas station and refill it. This delayed our departure by almost half a day, leaving us stranded in Denver until the evening. After inspecting the vehicle myself, I discovered that the coolant reservoir cap had not been properly secured, which appears to have caused the coolant to leak. This is something that should have been caught during a basic pre-rental inspection. 2. Generator Failure on Day Five On the fifth day of our trip, the generator failed at the exact moment we needed it most. Throughout the trip, I had reserved RV sites with full hookups, so I had never needed to use the generator until we planned a scenic riverside stop to cook lunch and spend quality time with our children. Instead, the generator would not start. To make matters worse, we were in an area with no cell phone reception, forcing us to abandon our plans and drive until we found a signal so I could contact customer support. Although the representative eventually helped resolve the issue over the phone, we lost the opportunity to enjoy one of the experiences we had specifically planned for our family vacation. 3. Water Pump Failure on Day Six The most frustrating issue occurred on the sixth day while we were driving back from Yellowstone to Denver. Our plan was to drive most of the day, stop somewhere safe in the evening, cook dinner in the RV, spend the night, and complete the drive to Denver the following morning. Unfortunately, the RV's water pump failed, leaving us without running water. When I contacted customer support, the response I received was shocking. I was told, "You're due to return the RV tomorrow morning, so why don't you just drive it back as it is?" This response completely ignored the fact that we were still in the middle of our trip and relying on the RV for basic living needs. Without running water, the RV became practically unusable for our planned overnight stop. We were forced to cancel our plans, purchase dinner from a restaurant instead of cooking as planned, drive approximately nine continuous hours back to Denver, and pay for a hotel because the RV was no longer suitable for overnight use. Overall Experience I rented this RV because I trusted your assurance that your fleet consisted of vehicles less than two years old and would be dependable. Instead, I experienced multiple mechanical failures throughout the trip, each of which disrupted carefully planned family activities and caused unnecessary stress, delays, additional expenses, and lost vacation time. This was our family's first RV vacation, and we had looked forward to creating lasting memories together. Instead, we spent a significant portion of our vacation troubleshooting vehicle problems, waiting for customer support, changing plans, and dealing with preventable mechanical issues. I understand that mechanical failures can happen, but three significant issues during a single rental—especially beginning within hours of pickup—indicate that the RV was not properly inspected or maintained before being rented. Given the repeated failures, the disruption to our vacation, the additional costs we incurred, and the poor response we received from customer support, I believe it is reasonable to request appropriate compensation for this experience. I hope you will review this matter seriously and work toward a fair resolution.

I recently rented an RV from El Monte RV in Denver, CO for a road trip from July 2nd to July 20th. During our subsequent travel, we encountered a series of problems with the vehicle that we documented and shared with the manager at the local office upon our return. While they informed us that a vehicle inspection was carried out prior to handing us the keys to the RV, it subsequently became clear during our time on the road that the vehicle was not inspected thoroughly and was not in any condition to be rented out. This is based on the following concerns outlined below. 1. The refrigerator could not reach or maintain an adequate cooling temperature, so we could not use it to store perishable items. As we had planned on using it during our two week trip, we were, instead, relegated to using a small ice chest that we had brought. However, this was clearly inadequate to store enough food for the entire trip and required daily replenishment with bags of ice. We called the 1-800 number (on the keys to the vehicle) twice to help us troubleshoot the issue and followed their directions, but this failed to resolve the problem. As we were driving from 5 to 8 hrs and had to be in a different place every day, driving the vehicle to a repair shop to a to have the appliance inspected (and without even a guarantee they could fix it) was not an option. So we were without the use of a refrigerator for the entire trip. Moreover, while the freezer worked somewhat better and was able to keep a temp at or near 10 deg, food would not stay frozen. 2. The magnets that hold the two bathroom doors open and closed came out of both doors also on the first day (and with their first use). It looked like this had happened before and that they had been glued back on, so we tried this as well but it didn’t work either. So we had to duct tape the magnets to the door so they would stay on. Otherwise the doors would swing open and closed while driving. 3. The hose to drain the black and gray water tanks had a large leak in both the hose and its attachment to the drain on the vehicle, so while draining the tanks, feculent water would leak out and cover the ground underneath and contaminate the water hose and electric cable nearby (note that it was attached to the drain outlet properly). This was not fixable, nor were we informed that the hose had this problem before (it obviously did, since this happened the very first time we drained the tanks and recurred every time thereafter). 4. One of the arms on the awning did not deploy fully, so the awning could not be opened and used every day of our trip. In particular, we had the awning out on a sunny day. Later that day, it rained and the water drained over the side of the awning in front of our entry door (see the first photo below). Also, the day we picked up the RV, they told us the awning wasn’t working so they had to install another one before we could take possession of the vehicle. When we did so, we noted that there was about a 12” long tear in the awning (which they also acknowledged), so we essentially had to pay for the use of a torn awning that wouldn’t deploy properly 5. The rubber weather seal along the entire passenger side door progressively came off during the trip and would not stay on when we put it back in place, so we had to duct tape it in place to keep it from falling and blocking entry to and exit from the passenger seat 6. The handle on the window over the dining table came off the very first time we tried to open the window, and we could not reattach it after several attempts. We then had to go outside the RV to open the window (by pushing on the edge of the window) and return to the RV to close it from the inside (the same way).

We chose El Monte RV over Cruise America because of its reputation for having a newer fleet and providing a higher standard of service. Unfortunately, our experience was the exact opposite. Our RV had a serious ventilation/HVAC problem from the beginning of the trip. Whenever the engine was under load, the airflow almost disappeared from the dashboard vents, leaving the rear of the RV hot and stuffy while the driver was left with freezing cold air blowing onto his feet. During engine braking, the airflow briefly switched for a few seconds before changing again. This happened continuously for 21 days and more than 7,000 km (almost 5,000 miles). This was not a minor inconvenience—it affected every single day of our journey across the United States. To make matters worse, the shower curtain had apparently been contaminated by animal urine before we picked up the vehicle. This should have been identified during cleaning and inspection, but it wasn't. We spent almost three weeks with an unpleasant smell in the bathroom. When we reported the ventilation problem, El Monte's solution was for us to interrupt our vacation, find a service center ourselves, and spend our own holiday dealing with repairs. We had planned a 21-day cross-country trip with campgrounds, attractions, and reservations booked months in advance. We were paying approximately USD 310 per day for the RV. At that price, I did not expect to become part of El Monte's service department or spend my vacation organizing repairs for their vehicle. I expected El Monte to arrange roadside assistance or replace the RV. Neither happened. What disappointed me even more was how the complaint was handled at the end of the trip. I asked to speak with a manager, but no manager ever met with us. Instead, a staff member repeatedly walked back and forth asking management what they were willing to offer. It did not feel like anyone was genuinely interested in solving the problem or even listening to the customer. The final resolution was: waiving the cleaning fee, and offering USD 100 as goodwill compensation. Considering that we spent 21 days with a defective ventilation system, endured an unpleasant smell throughout the trip, and paid thousands of dollars for what was supposed to be a premium RV vacation, this compensation felt completely disconnected from the inconvenience we experienced. The amount itself is not the point. This trip cost our family many thousands of dollars and was a once-in-a-lifetime vacation from Europe. We did not expect perfection—mechanical problems can happen. What we expected was a company willing to take responsibility and genuinely care about its customers when something went wrong. Instead, I felt that the priority was simply to close the case as quickly and as cheaply as possible. I accepted their offer only because I live in Europe and extending the dispute in the United States was simply impractical. Based on my experience, I cannot recommend El Monte RV. If I were planning another RV trip across the USA, I would choose a different rental company. Premium prices should come with premium customer service. Unfortunately, that was not our experience with El Monte.

We had the worst experience ever I’ve emailed several times. We also got hurt on the steps to the rv and no one has contacted me. But yet I get a reminder to do a review which I have already done before!