New Zealand Car Hire

[nickfromeastryde]

Hi everyone,

Merry Christmas and a happy new year.

Just wondering if anyone had suggestions as to the best company to go through hiring a car out of Auckland for 2 weeks. We don't intend to head down to the south island but would like to take up into the Bay of Islands and above where I understand there are some restrictions


Regards,


Nick

 

[nickykim]

Just had a look at Ace Car Rentals which we are currently using in Auckland as they had the best rate for what we we wanted. The only restrictions are not driving on beaches and not in Skippers Canyon (which is near Queenstown). They pick up from the airport and have an airport depot but no desk.
t

 

[tuapekastar]

Try vroomvroomvroom.com to compare the majors. Thrifty has turned out best for me the last few NZ rentals I've had. You can book through the above site, or directly through the rental company's site, one may cheaper than the other. There are a swag of cheaper rental companies but I tend to feel more comfortable with the majors (except Europcar, I've read too many negative comments about them).

The main restriction up North is that you cannot take the car onto Ninety Mile Beach, which is why we took a day trip up to Cape Reinga from Paihia on a bus rather than take the car.

 

[Dee Thom]

Try vroomvroomvroom.com to compare the majors. Thrifty has turned out best for me the last few NZ rentals I've had.
The main restriction up North is that you cannot take the car onto Ninety Mile Beach, which is why we took a day trip up to Cape Reinga from Paihia on a bus rather than take the car.

I agree with tuapekastar, we only use Thrifty in Aus, N.Z., and the U.S. So far they have been competitive in price, and we are usually upgraded when vehicles are available. Nice to be upgraded to a Jeep Grand Cherokee last time in the States.

Cheers,
Dee.

 

[crm911]

I wish I had known about VroomVroomVroom.com earlier. Anyway, I got lucky by getting a UAL discount code for Hertz, which turned out to be $100 dearer on the UA site than by using the same CDP code on the Hertz website. So it's worth comparing with the company sites.

For Hertz (4 days in March coming up at AKL) I am paying NZ$197.28 (AU$157.82) + insurances for a Camry. VVV shows Hertz at NZD165.83, i.e. $8 cheaper over four days, so I'll live with it. That booking will allow me to put the points on Virgin Australia, my preferred carrier, even though I used UA's CDP code. For anyone wondering, they are AWD Discount code (CDP) = K019376 Promo code = MUAA125. I am now a plain Mileage Plus member, so it should work for anyone in Australia (for the sake of comparison only -- VVV is cheaper)

The other consideration for cheap NZ rentals is that the cars might be two or more years old. The big brands might have a current model in NZ, as they do in the US, but not always. For Europcar the two cars we were given were one and two years old.

In 2010 we used Europcar for a 3-week rental that cost us around $3000 in all - even today they are NZ$100 dearer for my 4-day rental. We could not take a North Island car on the Wellington-Picton ferry so the biggest trauma in that rental was finding a spot to park the car outside the ferry terminal. All the marked spots had gone and it took an eternity on hold to speak to a human. Luckily he told us to park "anywhere safe" and drop the keys in a slot at the Europcar counter (nobody manning it). That's the kind of situation you can't plan for, but it is worth calling before a trip to see how a cheap company handles those situations.

 

[scwappy]

I've recently used APEX as they had cheap rates. Service was fantastic. Don't expect a fancy car though so depends what you are after. They come and drive you to their depot which is only about 3 minutes from the terminal. Took no time.

 

[markis10]

Another option is to look at a relocation rental, often there will be options to get campervans etc back to Auckland in a few days for $5 a day:

Rental Relocations Australia New Zealand United States Canada - Hire Now at StandByCars

 

[RB]

I find good reading on rankers.co.nz

 

[Sprucegoose]

Try vroomvroomvroom.com to compare the majors. Thrifty has turned out best for me the last few NZ rentals I've had. You can book through the above site, or directly through the rental company's site, one may cheaper than the other. There are a swag of cheaper rental companies but I tend to feel more comfortable with the majors (except Europcar, I've read too many negative comments about them).

The main restriction up North is that you cannot take the car onto Ninety Mile Beach, which is why we took a day trip up to Cape Reinga from Paihia on a bus rather than take the car.

well I guess you could take the car to ninety mile beach,just don't crash or breakdown.

i remember takings car to Bruny Island..... Didnt read the small print in Hobart. Made the trip all the more enjoyable!

 

[Sprucegoose]

Another option is to look at a relocation rental, often there will be options to get campervans etc back to Auckland in a few days for $5 a day:

Rental Relocations Australia New Zealand United States Canada - Hire Now at StandByCars

Good site.

has anyone done this?

 

[phantompharter]

Good site.

has anyone done this?

I have done this once, but in Oz.
Got a relocation PER - MEL in a long wheel base four wheel drive for $1 a day for 7 days. Including $250 in petrol.
Pretty sweet deal. Was only meant to be driven on bitumen... needless to say we had a lot of off-road fun across the Nullarbor.

Looks like all the NZ deals go South to North which is a shame as we are heading the other way shortly. Next trip we will book South to North!