B5.3.3 New Zealand: Renting A Car/Campervan
Description
This article is from the New Zealand FAQ, by Phil Stuart-Jones and Lin Nah with numerous contributions by others.
B5.3.3 New Zealand: Renting A Car/Campervan
Several main companies; Hertz, Avis, Budget, Maui, etc. Some agencies have
mini-buses as well as cars. There are usually cheaper local alternatives
to the big chains. Taking a vehicle from one island to the other is
expensive and it is normal(?) to drop a rental vehicle off on one side of
Cook Strait and pick up another on the other side, but may not be possible.
If you leave a car at the end of a road and fly out (eg. Milford Sound) you
may be charged the cost of retrieving it.
The general impression is that renting a car in NZ is are not cheap
compared with US and European rates.
>From an advert in a New Zealand Tourist Board info packet, Ed Guy
(guy@degallo.unx.dec.com) contacted Pegasus Rentals in Christchurch. The
result was a car at about $35/day.
In Auckland, it is possible to hire a car for around $40 a day if it is for
a 'long' period, but the problem with using these cheaper companies as
opposed to the well known ones is the quality of the car. The bigger (more
expensive) rental agencies have newer cars (1-2 years old). The cheaper
companies have older cars. Most of them provide you with a special AA
(Automobile Association) membership for the duration of the car rental
which covers towing anywhere in NZ.
Most companies have branches or associates around the country and although
there are (were?) only 3 international airports in NZ (Auckland, Wellington
and Christchurch) there is usually no problem in being be able to drop off
cars elsewhere.
Christmas/New Year is a peak period so it is difficult getting a car at the
last minute. Most cars in NZ are not automatic so if you want one you had
better specify.
Check the Yellow Pages of the phone directory for an extensive list of
rental companies.
M. Steven offers:
"Maui have a web site at:
http://www.discover.co.nz
They are one of the biggest companies in the campervan/motorhome market.
There are several sizes. They are not cheap."
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Lin Nah provides the following list(!) dated 20 Nov 1996:
[non-affiliation disclaimer removed :-)]
Pointers to car rental companies (some of them have campervan hire):
Quick reference to car rental places in Auckland (campervans on pg 3)
http://www.evernet.co.nz/E_VerNet/nz/transport/auckland/rental_cars/
This points to quite a few pages. All they have are names of car hire
places in Auckland with phone and fax numbers.
Rental cars in Christchurch
http://www.canterburypages.co.nz/rc/index.html
Adventure New Zealand:
http://www.holiday.co.nz/rentals.html
This site has pointers to car rental, campervans(motorhomes), and
motorcycle hire.
Maui campervan hire:
http://www.discover.co.nz/econocar.html
See also:
http://www.discover.co.nz/getabout.html
Nationwide car rentals and "Wheels rent a car"
http://www.nzcentre.com/nzcars.htm
Pegasus car rentals
http://nz.com/webnz/pegasus/
Seabrooks (car sales with a buy back scheme)
http://www.tdtech.co.nz/Seabrooks/
Link lowcost rentals
http://www.gisnz.com/linkrent.html
Apex Car Rentals - chch
http://www.southern.co.nz/rental/
Rhodes Rent a car - canterbury
http://www.canterburypages.co.nz/rc/rhodes/index.html
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Campervans
Regarding campervans, Greg Lauer offers:
Last May (1995) we hired a '2 berth luxury' campervan from Adventure
Rentals in Christchurch. Because it was off season it cost us NZ$60 a day.
>From what I can remember we just phoned them and picked it up the same
afternoon. We had four people in it.
If you want some more info email me at <glauer@expert.cc.purdue.edu>
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