4.4
Membre OutdoorsyHôte depuis août 2017
Taux de réponse 69 %Répond généralement en moins de 12 heures
About Nicole Keane's RV rentals
Hello, I have owned vanagons, sunraders, and sprinters. I have a Sprinter in OR, a Sunrader in AZ, and a VW LTE-28 in Slovenia. The Sunrader is not for rent. It is my precious. ;-) I absolutely love to live in my vans. It makes me feel more Wild and in connection with nature.. driving to a new place to explore, hiking, SUPing, biking, then being cozy in my nest in the evenings. It's the life for me, for sure!
4.4
Membre OutdoorsyHôte depuis août 2017
Taux de réponse 69 %Répond généralement en moins de 12 heures
Souvenirs de séjours avec les camping-car de Nicole Keane
Paul G.
3juillet 2024
5-day rental, 6/19-6/23/24, drove about 500 mi. Base fee: $144/day. Stayed in one campground, USFS Allingham C.G. on the Metolius River, just west of Sisters Oregon. Dry camping (no hook-ups) vault toilets, potable water.We picked up the vehicle in Portland. The Portland pick-up was the deciding factor for us to go with this rig. Unfortunately, in our case, the owner was not available during pick-up. Support by the owner was by telephone and text messaging.The rental was, mostly, as advertised. I will list the deficiencies. Some we noted at pick-up , others were revealed during our rental. We found two bags of recyclable garbage in the rear storage area, dead bug residue on the windshield (as anyone knows, that mess is hard to remove), the propane tank was less than 5% full, the Goal Zero Lithium Ion battery would not charge through the alternator, (consequently we drained it on the way to our campground and it never recovered), no adapter for roof-top solar charging port, no Northwest Forest pass, no paper vehicle registration in the glove box, the water heater/shower was insufficiently fastened in its place on the rear door and it fell off onto the van floor with routine closing of the rear door.Some systems we did not need so I cannot comment on them: Webasto heater, swivel seats, bike mounts, on demand hot water/showering, ceiling fan, bug netting, bed conversion to couch, pop-up changing tent, Groover bathroom.As expected, this rental had its quirks, most of them minor. Most impactful for us was the battery charging systems as they related to the fridge. We ended up going into town and buying a cooler and a few bags of ice. We had fun camping with our son and his girlfriend who were also traveling in their personal, built-out camping van.As a side note, I’ve never met the owner. We spoke on the phone a few times and exchanged texts regarding one issue. At pick up, she explained the systems by telephone. At drop off I offered a list of all deficiencies we found that I thought would be helpful to her in prepping the van for her next customer. My message was not well received. In her words, I am “grumpy”, “complany”, and “combative”. I’m sure she’ll get over it. Evidently her opinion of me as a consumer is no better than my opinion of her as a service provider. I would never communicate with any of my customers in such a manner.
Jared B.
5août 2023
Excellent all around!!!
Kyle D.
5août 2022
Niki was great to work with, fielding all my questions. Her van was exactly what we were hoping for. There is so much camping close by @ Mt. Hood + farms to pick up local produce all within a short drive from where the van is located in Hood River.Awesome van with all the comforts we needed AND awesome location! Would do it all over again in a heartbeat. Thanks Niki!
1 Photo soumise(s) par Kyle D.
Luis V.
2mai 2019
Because the Sprinter had no shower (despite the listing saying it had), we initially declined to rent it, but Niki and her boyfriend decided to install the propane water heater and water to the outdoor shower at the last minute, so we changed our minds and booked it: 3 days at $300/day.Problems began as soon as we picked it up. It was so dirty inside and out that we had to bring it home and vacuum the entire vehicle before we could pack it.
The first evening, the propane water heater blew a huge ball of flame while lighting, despite following lighting instructions to the letter, burning my hair. The water then stopped working after two 2-minute showers, and we realized the the water bladder was given to us nearly empty, despite their telling us that we had plenty of water to last us the 3 days. The remainder of the water in the bladder could be made to flow only if the person not taking the shower manipulated the bladder to push water to the out-take.Next, we discovered the sink drain was plugged (before actually using the sink, not because of material we were trying to drain). While trying to trouble-shoot that, the drain connection loosened and the entire sink contents of dirty water flooded the cabinet below. We were quite gentle with the plumbing and did not force or abuse any part of it. We were forced to wash dishes outdoors for the remaining 2 days of the 3-day trip.We were in the middle of nowhere with no access to fresh water, so had to break camp and pay an additional $150 to stay at the nearest location with food and water (since we couldn't cook without water, either).There were more minor issues with the van, such as Niki's knick-knacks that she uses to personalize the dash and other nooks (e.g. a plastic skull, toy dinosaurs, rocks, pebbles and crystals) that had to be removed to accommodate our items for travel before we started. The van has a hanging rack that swings and bangs while driving. The cabinets and drawers have hook-and-eye closures, so if you neglect to set one, you have the unpleasant experience of flying breakable items while on the road. Other cabinets and the refrigerator have a fabric-covered metal rod that has to be placed in front of the doors to prevent inadvertent openings. The van is a vehicle designed and built by an amateur who did the work on a budget.All in all, the $300 per day charge for this vehicle is already high even if everything is clean and in perfect running order. Niki stated she does not get this amount, but in any case Outdoorsy charged us an additional $90 "Outdoorsy Fee". Do not expect any return of your money from Outdoorsy if your experience is as bad as ours was. They only offered us compensation in the form of credit to be applied to the next rental from them. Since we are in the market for a Sprinter van and rented only for the purpose of experience and research, this was of no value to us. Niki's response to our problems was basically "sorry" and that we must have not followed her directions (e.g. with the water heater), and she neither inquired about injuries, nor offered to return some of the payment. My wife and I are both quite educated, mechanically savvy, and quite capable. We followed instructions to the letter. Very unsatisfactory.
The first evening, the propane water heater blew a huge ball of flame while lighting, despite following lighting instructions to the letter, burning my hair. The water then stopped working after two 2-minute showers, and we realized the the water bladder was given to us nearly empty, despite their telling us that we had plenty of water to last us the 3 days. The remainder of the water in the bladder could be made to flow only if the person not taking the shower manipulated the bladder to push water to the out-take.Next, we discovered the sink drain was plugged (before actually using the sink, not because of material we were trying to drain). While trying to trouble-shoot that, the drain connection loosened and the entire sink contents of dirty water flooded the cabinet below. We were quite gentle with the plumbing and did not force or abuse any part of it. We were forced to wash dishes outdoors for the remaining 2 days of the 3-day trip.We were in the middle of nowhere with no access to fresh water, so had to break camp and pay an additional $150 to stay at the nearest location with food and water (since we couldn't cook without water, either).There were more minor issues with the van, such as Niki's knick-knacks that she uses to personalize the dash and other nooks (e.g. a plastic skull, toy dinosaurs, rocks, pebbles and crystals) that had to be removed to accommodate our items for travel before we started. The van has a hanging rack that swings and bangs while driving. The cabinets and drawers have hook-and-eye closures, so if you neglect to set one, you have the unpleasant experience of flying breakable items while on the road. Other cabinets and the refrigerator have a fabric-covered metal rod that has to be placed in front of the doors to prevent inadvertent openings. The van is a vehicle designed and built by an amateur who did the work on a budget.All in all, the $300 per day charge for this vehicle is already high even if everything is clean and in perfect running order. Niki stated she does not get this amount, but in any case Outdoorsy charged us an additional $90 "Outdoorsy Fee". Do not expect any return of your money from Outdoorsy if your experience is as bad as ours was. They only offered us compensation in the form of credit to be applied to the next rental from them. Since we are in the market for a Sprinter van and rented only for the purpose of experience and research, this was of no value to us. Niki's response to our problems was basically "sorry" and that we must have not followed her directions (e.g. with the water heater), and she neither inquired about injuries, nor offered to return some of the payment. My wife and I are both quite educated, mechanically savvy, and quite capable. We followed instructions to the letter. Very unsatisfactory.
Chris O.
5juillet 2018
Everything about this trip was made easy by the great vehicle and the preparation that Niki put into her manual. I was prepared for everything and therefore worried about nothing!
Carol L.
5juillet 2018
Niki’s van is well equipped and has plenty of space for bikes and other gear. The diesel engine is fuel efficient - I believe we got over 20 mpg on our trip to Crater Lake! The outside temperature dropped into the 30s at night, but the heater worked great and kept us warm and comfortable. Our campsites did not have electricity, so we appreciated having the solar panels to charge the battery to run the refrigerator. We didn’t feel comfortable climbing up to the roof to put out the solar panels, but found they worked just as well on the ground when pointed at the sun. Niki was very responsive to all our questions (usually within minutes) and helpful. We felt very comfortable renting from her.
