When we were in Quartzsite this winter, we discussed the possibility of spending more time there next year, or possibly in a future year. There are places to stay that are free for 14 days, and then you need to move - either away from Bureau of Land Management (BLM) property altogether (e.g. to a private campground), to another BLM area at least 25 miles away, or to a Long Term Visitor Area (LTVA) which is a fee area. When we are camped on Plomosa Road, we are in a 14-day free area, but when we move to the Blue Birds' Nest, we are in a LTVA. In the LTVA, you can pay for 14 days stay ($40) or for the whole season ($180). Even if you are not staying in the LTVA, you can then use their dump and water if you have a permit from there.
One of the things that Dwayne mentioned while we were there was that he really wished we could go off road more. We did a very small amount of off roading after we did the climb up Q Hill - we were following another Jeep that had a LOT higher clearance than we did - he got to one place where his Jeep was going nearly vertically uphill (or that's the way it looked to me!) and the right front wheel was totally off the ground over the ridge of the hill. He couldn't make it across initially, got out to look, and then backed up and went at it a lot faster. It wasn't that tall of a hill (maybe 2-3 feet) and more like a HUGE speed bump (it immediately went back down). I was not willing to risk it in the Jee-rage - it is our transportation vehicle, and really not designed for that type of 4WD in my opinion.
But, I know that Dwayne wants to do more off-road traveling - to me the solution would be to get a vehicle that is designed for that. While in Yuma, we've noticed several consignment lots (or "for sale by owner" lots) with various vehicles, including off road vehicles - so we stopped one day to take a look, just to get an idea of prices. My theory is that this is nearly the end of the season, so prices might be lower... and if we found one that we really wanted, maybe we could find a place to store it in Yuma until next year.
Some of the vehicles we saw:
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| $7,000 |
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| $7,000 |
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| $12,500 |
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| $7,700 |
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| The tires are behind the one that is for sale for $12,500. The one to the left is $7,700. |
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| $9,250 |
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| $9,250 (Note that Dwayne is eying the motorcycle!) |
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| Dune buggy! Better for the sandy areas that are outside of Yuma than Quartzsite, I suspect. $2,200 |
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| $2,200 |
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| $4,000 |
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| $4,000 |
So, armed with the information about what some used ones might cost... I looked for rentals. I had looked previously, but found that they were rented by the hour from campgrounds in the area of Quartzsite, and in the range of $400/day.
As I searched, though, I found something called Herc Rental - it looks like it may be a commercial/heavy duty rental sub-company of Hertz - the website definitely has a Hertz look to it.
https://www.hercrentals.com/us/rentals/trucks-trailers/off-road-vehicles/off-road-utility-passenger-vehicles.html The off road vehicles are "more reasonably" priced for rentals from them - the pick up location is near Phoenix, which would be a pain... but it gives another option to consider!
FYI: I *think* this is just a "Thinking about" exercise that we won't be acting upon... but if it is something that Dwayne really wants, we definitely will do more *thinking* about it!
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