New Zealand Camper Hire

[catman]

Hi all,

My Son and his Wife are travelling to NZ soon and were hoping to hire a smallish Camper van for around six weeks.

They have been shocked by the quotes that they've been getting so I just wondered whether anyone has any idea where/how they can hire one at a semi-sensible price?

Thanks

Tim

[David Beer]

catman said:

Hi all,

My Son and his Wife are travelling to NZ soon and were hoping to hire a smallish Camper van for around six weeks.

They have been shocked by the quotes that they've been getting so I just wondered whether anyone has any idea where/how they can hire one at a semi-sensible price?

Thanks

Tim

Did nz a couple of years ago over Xmas for four weeks. Having done us motorhome trips maybe 30 times, tried but gave up for nz. Hugely expensive and frankly , the sites I visited for interest sake were frankly, rough.
Going back maybe in 2019 for Xmas. Hotels for me.

[DJFish]

No Idea about NZ, but I rented from this lot https://www.justgo.uk.com this year & they have an operation in NZ, might be worth a look if you haven’t already done so.

[catman]

Thanks for the replies!

Tim

[WyrleyD]

Rental car and hotels/motels are the way to go also don't forget B&Bs, camper van hire rates are just stupid. We did South Island a couple of years ago staying mainly in B&B's (but a hotel in Queenstown as we were there for a week) and most of them were very good indeed.

[catman]

I agree, I have suggested this option too. I can't imagine anyone paying the prices that I've seen!

Tim

[moles]

Yeah we’ve always hired a focus from a company called apex in nz and stayed in hotels b&b’s and motels. The longest trip we did was 3 months and the car hire was £1400 for 90 days and that included a free ferry ticket for the car which was worth about £200 I think.
https://www.apexrentals.co.nz

Edited by moles on Saturday 22 September 09:22

[mikal83]

Thats why when we are off to NZ in 4 months time, we will be buying a 'van

[davek_964]

Guy I sit next to at work spent a month in NZ in April with a camper van. No idea what it cost him, but I'll ask him on Monday who he hired it from.

[catman]

Thanks. There will be a big difference in the cost compared to now.

Tim

[QuartzDad]

https://www.jucy.co.nz/

Son hired from their Australian branch, decent value.

[Condi]

Wicked were the 'go to' company for most backpackers.

http://www.wickedcampers.co.nz/

Buying a car is pretty expensive too, for what you get. From memory they have/had a large tax on imported vehicles. Something worth £300 in the UK was NZ$1500 or $1750.


EDIT - Just had a look at the Wicked site, about $1000 (£500) for 2 weeks, which I would guess is about right. It might be cheaper if you collect in Dunedin or QT and hand it back in Auckland. Most people fly into Auckland, drive down, then get an internal flight back up North before going home. So rentals going in the opposite direction tend to be cheaper.

Edited by Condi on Sunday 23 September 00:51

[Kenty]

Apex car hire and motels is really the only way to go in NZ. Motels are nice in the centre of town and restaurants around them. They often have cooking facilities if needed.
Camper vans are expensive and logistically a huge pain in the a**e, difficult to find parking, slow and have no storage room.

[peter tdci]

Kenty said:

Apex car hire and motels is really the only way to go in NZ. Motels are nice in the centre of town and restaurants around them. They often have cooking facilities if needed.
Camper vans are expensive and logistically a huge pain in the a**e, difficult to find parking, slow and have no storage room.

It depends if you like your creature comforts! I do, and have gone this down this route too. I've used Ace Rental Cars a few times and, as well as motels, AirBnB have come up with some good places to stay.

[Kenty]

Yes agree, Airbnb are good and an equal alternative but usually a bit more than motels, I have used them for our our longer stays in one place.
Certainly no home comforts in a motor home!

[davek_964]

My colleague booked via a travel company, but says they were told there were two companies for the camper van. Maui, and Britz. Apparently, Maui have the new stuff, and once it's been used a bit it gets passed on to Britz. He was told Britz stuff was fine, but nothing was available so they used Maui.

[alfaman]

moles said:

Yeah we’ve always hired a focus from a company called apex in nz and stayed in hotels b&b’s and motels. The longest trip we did was 3 months and the car hire was £1400 for 90 days and that included a free ferry ticket for the car which was worth about £200 I think.
https://www.apexrentals.co.nz

Edited by moles on Saturday 22 September 09:22

I’ve used apex as well - they were pretty good.

I booked late ish for Xmas so was very expensive - but I’d use them again.

Have been to NZ 3x

camper hire in summer is stupidly pricy- not worth it and not very comfortable.

Better to have a normal car which is much nicer to drive : and either stay in motels / lodges or camp. Camp sites aren’t bad / some have cabins.

[C0ffin D0dger]

QuartzDad said:

https://www.jucy.co.nz/

Son hired from their Australian branch, decent value.

Also hired from this lot when we did NZ. Had it for a month and toured both islands. It wasn't cheap but better value than some of the other places. Having a small van with a toilet & shower was good too as it meant we could stop in some out of the way places often secluded laybys or picnic spots for free. The national park campgrounds were also good, low cost but minimal facilities.

[sjg]

Plenty of budget "backpacker" friendly options - Spaceships, Jucy, Wicked, etc. Still pretty pricey though - we rented the most basic of Jucy ones (an old Previa with two benches that turn into beds, basic cooker/sink under the tailgate) in Australia and it was fun but not cheap.

In NZ, you need a "self contained" camper/motorhome to be allowed on many of the public/wild-camping spots - that rules out the cheap MPV campers and a lot of the Jucy ones you see in NZ now are a high-top Hiace but they're pricier still.

As said, motels are great in NZ, the hostels can be really nice too - private rooms available so more like a basic B&B, you don't have to be on a shared dorm. Can work out a lot cheaper to rent a car and stay in places like that than a camper particularly with fuel taken into account too.

[snabzter]

I used https://www.wilderness.co.nz/ in 2012 . They were really good then and cheaper than some of the other companies and they had a good selection of vans. I haven't used them since but it looks as though they renew them quite frequently. We got a brand new van in 2012.

Their service was very good and they gave us some ideas on where to go.