$led Rental$

B

blkhwkbob

Active member
So we're trying to get my friend's 21 year old brother into the hobby, but it's kind of hard to ask him to spend $600 to rent a sled for 3 days to ride with us to try it out. Add in fuel, food and lodging, and you're talking a LOT of money for a short trip. What the heck happened to the price of rentals? It seems like not too long ago you could rent during the week for $100 a day and weekends were like $150, but you could get a weekend package for less than $400. Those days are gone.

If I were 21, that $600 would most likely be spent flying to Vegas or Florida, so I wouldn't blame him if he backs out of sledding totally.
 
garyl62

garyl62

Active member
Not sure where you were planning to go as I do know some places are getting up toward $200 a day, but check out Dan's in Houghton. They are in the Northwoods Directory on the left edge of this window. their 550IQ is only 120 a day even on weekends. Call them soon though. I was checking for some guys in the middle of Feb and they were close to sold out for the weekend we were looking at.
 
B

blkhwkbob

Active member
One way that they could probably reduce the cost is by keeping the sleds for a couple of years. People renting sleds don't need brand new models every year. It's like a bragging rights thing with the Dealers or something, but come on, a 550 fan isn't going to change that much from year to year.
 
M

Modman440

New member
Before i bought my snopro 500 race replica i rented one in newberry it cost 180 a day but this past year we went up and i took a buddy for his first u.p trip. He wantee ski doo because thats what he played on down here we rode monday thru thursday and at 200 a day he was blown away because after fuel food and so on he could of had a big down payment on a new one.
 
E

Eagle River Mike

Member
Rental places like to turn them over while they are still worth some money. It works out better financially for them to rent them for a season or a season and a half and sell them for some money. Trust me, they know the econcomics of the rental business. Same reason you don't get a 5 year old rental car at Hertz. There are some rental places that have older models but they are always garbage. All the dealerships have newer units. They are more reliable and they can keep track of the damage (and charge customers for it) easier than older beat up sled.
 
E

ezra

Well-known member
face it if u were no raised riding u are prob not going to get in to it. unless u are one of the few that start making big bucks at a early age and still have time left to play.
 
T

Team Elkhorn

Guest
Yep, the sport has gotten expensive. The last time someone asked me what the total cost of a weekend snowmobile trip with a rental sled would cost they thought I was joking. Especially when they can rent a midsize car with unlimited miles for less then $20 a day.
 
B

Banjo Man

New member
Look at what some marinas charge for a rental wave runner or jet ski. The daily rentals on sleds look like a bargain.
 
W

whitedust

Well-known member
If you can't afford a rental sled to enter the sport how are you going to purchase a sled,gear, truck, trailer & the cost of a weekend snomo trip?
 
F

fatdaddy

Member
I just purchased two new sleds for 20K, and I also believe that this will be my last purchase. The sport is getting out of control. Fuel costs, oil costs, Food, wear and tear and of course the cost of lodging. In additions to lack of snow, the over crowed trails and the outragious cost of winter wear I'm going broke. I don't think my son will be able to afford this when he's on his own. Its sad because we have been doing this as a family for many many years, but when you look at the cost you could fly to Mexico for a week for what it costs for one weekend.
 
W

whitedust

Well-known member
To me you have to purchase a top of the line sled you like maintain it well & stay with it. This shoots holes in Polaris Indy concepts but as a vet snomobiler I want the best. I hope I'm wrong & lots of newbies buy in at entry level like I did years ago but I didn't worry much about snowcover back then either.
 
T

Team Elkhorn

Guest
whitedust said:
If you can't afford a rental sled to enter the sport how are you going to purchase a sled,gear, truck, trailer & the cost of a weekend snomo trip?
Click to expand...
But then how do you get new people into the sport if they've already decided its too expensive before they've even tried it? If you have to ask how much it costs, stay home?
 
B

Builder Bob

New member
Now there are other ways of looking at this.
How about the OP loaning his sled to his buddy, and the OP renting.

If you want to try sledding, buy a sled for $1800, use it a few times, sell it for $1700.

If you rent for few days per year, it about the same money as depreciation.
 
X

xcsp

Member
I've looked into the rent vs. owning a sled and if you only do it once or twice a year, maybe the cost of renting isn't really the worst as you get to ride new(er) sleds, no maintenance, storage, a trailer and other related costs.

Also, depending on where you rent, you could rent a model of sled that you may be interested in buying-cheaper to rent and find out if the sled you thought you wanted is or isn't for you.

If you buy a new sled, you know the hit you take once you own it.
 
W

whitedust

Well-known member
Builder Bob said:
Now there are other ways of looking at this.
How about the OP loaning his sled to his buddy, and the OP renting.

If you want to try sledding, buy a sled for $1800, use it a few times, sell it for $1700.

If you rent for few days per year, it about the same money as depreciation.
Click to expand...

Yeah I used to lend my #2 sled all the time then 1 of my buds got pissed when I would not lend my sled to a 350lb friend of his. I was dumbfounded screw that it is my sled I'll deceide who gets to use it. In my experience people will use whatever sled you lend them & never buy in. My 1st sled ride was on a rental & I didn't really like it that much back in early 70s. Later in early 90s I bought back in for the entire family & stayed with it & watched everyone else get out. The guys that got out talk about renting but only 1 followed thru at Yellowstone for a family gig.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top