Australia, New Zealand & the South Pacific - Camper Van Rentals New Zealand

Heading to New Zealand in Feb and wanting to rent a camper van in Christchurch and drop off in Auckland. Should I book before arrival or wait until I get there. Any recommendations on rental company's.

Take a look at:
Jucy (http://www.jucy.co.nz/)

I've rented cars, not campers, from them 8 or so times and have always gotten a good price and never had a bad experience. The cars are not new, but are clean and well maintained. I've done one ways and they never charged one-way fees. Many times they offer steep discounts for one-way rentals if you help them reposition a vehicle ... and campers are regularly offered for big discounts. For example, their current
Steal-a-deal (http://www.jucy.co.nz/steal-a-deal.asp)

repositioning specials, offer lots of CHC-Auckland city camper special that are pretty good deals ... but they are for Sep and Oct.

As far as waiting ... hard to say. I'd say that Feb is not the middle of peak season, so it might work out if you can get a good last minute deal.

Enjoy your trip to NZ ... its a great place to explore.

Take a look at:
Jucy (http://www.jucy.co.nz/)

I've rented cars, not campers, from them 8 or so times and have always gotten a good price and never had a bad experience. The cars are not new, but are clean and well maintained.

Totally agree !

Have rented recently the "Jucy Crib" (Toyota Previa) from them for 4 weeks and loved every minute of it !
Will be doing so again next November in AUS & NZ.

However, diligently check your insurance coverage, because that part can get tricky in NZ.
I bought the extra insurance package with the rental - not cheap - but just to be on the safe side.

Feb is summer in NZ. Look at http://standbycars.com.au/default.aspx?c=2
Some companies do not like renter's taking vechiles from South Island to the North Island & vv. The Cook St ferry can be expensive for large vechiles,

Thanks for all the info looking forward to New Zealand

Although we did not rent from Wicked Campers (http://www.wickedcampers.com.au/), we saw their campers all over the place. For our next trip we just may try this route. Also, if you pick up your camper wearing just your birthday suit, your first rental day is free!

Onedog

I don't know if anyone really addressed it, but I would definitely try and book the camper van rental BEFOREHAND.

1.) better to be safe than sorry

2.) i know it isn't peak season, but even still, campervan reservations are ALWAYS pretty peak. it can be difficult to get exactly what you want if you wait until the very last minute. i saw some people get into trouble that way when i was there.

too bad you aren't there longer, you could just buy a car/van of some sort. that's what i did: got a station wagon for a song. as such, can't give any advice on which company to use, just from friends that you should book in advance. good luck, wish i were going again!

you could just buy a car/van of some sort. that's what i did: got a station wagon for a song

Would you mind to share your experience and please PM me with all the relevant info regarding your quote etc. ?

I'm greatly interested !

Sure, no problem.

I went to NZ when I was 19. I had a tiny amount of money saved up, and thought I was going to be there for a month. Well, 1 month turned into 2, and 2 turned into 7.

Still, I knew from the moment I landed that if I wanted to see everything, on my own terms, oddly the cheapest thing to do would be to BUY a car. I was a little worried, but had heard they were cheap in NZ, because of all the imported secondhand Japanese cars. I stayed in Ponsonby for 3 days, looking at the nz herald classifieds, looking for cars to buy. I finally settled on something that was new enough to be reliable (ie NOT a 60s Mini), but cheap enough for me. I got a 88 toyota corolla wagon for $700 kiwi.

That thing was indestructable. I wrecked it twice and rebuilt it with junkyard parts. Registration was in the post office, and was minimal. If you're stupid like me, you don't even need to get insurance. Basically, I bought it in Manukau City, drove it back to Auckland, registered it in the post office, and then was out on the road.

And the annoying thing is, I overpaid for it. I met scores of backpackers who got their cars for free. They just went to the airport every day for around a week, and eventually would find someone who abandoned their car for free there. In the end, that is what I did. I drove my car to the airport, and signed my name on all the paperwork/bill of sale/etc, leaving everything else blank. I put a huge sign on the car stating it was free, left it unlocked with the keys in it, and left the country forever. I like to think I made someone very happy, and not a tow truck operator very angry.

Years later, my cousin and his wife went to NZ to study, living in Christchurch for a year. They told me about the massive cheapie auto auctions, held weekly. There are just the fairground full of cars, and they are all auctioned off. You can get some pretty good deals there. And of course always check the bulletin boards with backpackers/hostels, especially in Auckland. You want to get people 2 days before they leave the country, desperate to sell their car.

In short, it is cheap enough to just buy your own, rather than pay a fortune to rent. I drove everywhere and did everything with my car. And many rentals aren't allowed on the dirt roads. I had no limitations, no restrictions, and it being a wagon, I could sleep in the back. Definitely big enough for my purposes. With a tent, I was GOLDEN.

Hope this helps.

Sure, no problem.

I went to NZ when I was 19. I had a tiny amount of money saved up, and thought I was going to be there for a month. Well, 1 month turned into 2, and 2 turned into 7.

... In the end, that is what I did. I drove my car to the airport, and signed my name on all the paperwork/bill of sale/etc, leaving everything else blank. I put a huge sign on the car stating it was free, left it unlocked with the keys in it, and left the country forever. I like to think I made someone very happy, and not a tow truck operator very angry.

...
Thanks for sharing ... wish I would've taken a year / two off after school.

While traveling around NZ I've noticed cars / vans for sale at hostels/in DOC carparks ... very cheap.

if you decide to play it risky look at http://www.transfercar.co.nz/ for cheap last minute one way rentals in NZ (usually heading too Auckland, as a lot of travellers rent in Auckland, drive to Christchurch and the fly back to Auckland).

@ im-headed-west:

thanks for sharing that! i did my crazy responsibility-free trek 7 years ago, i realize much has changed in the interim. i was a little worried that the car situation has changed as well, and that it wasn't as cheap to muck about the country.

but, as i said, my cousin and his wife went a few years ago, and they decided to go with a nicer, newer car, and it wasn't so bad. still, they told me that it wasn't so cheap anymore to do what i did.....

good to hear that there are still tons of cars at hostels and doc carparks (especially, that seems like it would be an excellent place to pick up what you want) for pretty cheap: the backpacker car culture is alive and well.

i also decided i'd do a little quick research for recent prices at the nz car fair in auckland - and i found a couple of cheapies for around $900 kiwi ($650 usd), complete with a valid wof/etc. if you really want to live dangerously, there is even a 1985 subaru wagon for $500 nzd ($360 usd), complete with "roof rack, pick-nick table, food box, sun roof,and 4WD." that's right, a 4wd station wagon for nothing - that's about the perfect nz car right there.

also a couple of vans, but they seem to be around 3-4k.

one thing that really HAS seem to have changed, my cousin told me and many other travelers tell me, is that you really should get insurance. i've crashed a car (3) times in my life, and (2) were in that short stint in nz. the roads are dangerous. it is worth the money for a little insurance - if nothing else, third-party so you're not liable for wrecking some businessman's bmw.

to be foolhardy again....... that wagon SURE is tempting, let me tell you.

FWIW we were very happy with the service and product of Wilderness Motorhomes (http://www.wildernessmotorhomes.co.nz/) on our first visit to New Zealand earlier in the year. ^

We'd done a fair amount of research. They weren't necessarily the cheapest (although our off-season price ended up costing not much more than a car would) but we found excellent reviews of them and our dealings (http://wanderingwarners.blogspot.com/2009/05/ah-wilderness-new-zealand-motorhomes.html) with them certainly lived up to that. :)

Cheers,
Fredd