11.3.2 We want to rent a car (or jeep or motor home) to go throughAustralia. Which kind of car is required or recommended(especially for the desert in the center of Australia)?
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This article is from the soc.culture.australian FAQ, by Stephen Wales with numerous contributions by others.
11.3.2 We want to rent a car (or jeep or motor home) to go throughAustralia. Which kind of car is required or recommended(especially for the desert in the center of Australia)?
Almost every area in Australia is accessible by any car. That is,
as long as you stay on the bitch (bitumen) you can go anywhere.
If you really want to go off the beaten track you will need a
4WD, but I've never owned one and I've never felt that I've
missed anything. If you want a cheap form of accommodation that
you can take almost anywhere, hire a motor home. If you can
afford the outlay, and you are staying long enough, the cheapest
way by far is to buy something civilised and semi reliable, then
sell it before you go (you could pick up a half decent mid range
car for A$3-4,000. [FS]
Unless you have driven a four wheel drive (4WD) in sand/mud
before then stick to a conventional car/motor home they are
cheaper and you will probably not have enough time to spend
exploring the rougher areas. If you want to see a sight that is
only available by 4WD then there is probably a tour that will
get you there and back for less trouble than hiring a 4WD. [FW]
I would recommend a four-wheel drive vehicle for driving around
through the desert in the centre of Australia. A motor-home will
probably slow you down and use up a lot more petrol, a jeep will
probably mean you will get sunburnt very easy. [IC]
A bloody big one mate.! Rent a car, Ford or Holden from a
reputable company, with air conditioning. Stay in motels and
hotels. Don't leave the main roads, and even then, carry a 15ltr
can of water if you go more than 200 km inland from any city on
the coast. Travel with other vehicles in convoy if you can
arrange it. Does this sound bad? keep in mind that there are only
17 million people in Oz, and most of those live in Melbourne,
Sydney, Perth, Brisbane and Adelaide, then Darwin. That doesn't
leave many to spread out over a country that is the size of
Europe, plus England, plus lower Mediterranean etc. Try it on a
map. It can be many days between passing cars in central
Australia, and if you are broken down, you MUST stay with your
vehicle. My advice ? See Australia by bus tour, the only way to
go unless you are prepared to face the last frontier and all the
hardships that that entails. And wear a hat. The temperature can
be 40+ C in the shade. [RC]
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