All inclusive car rental in NZ?
 

I recently rented a car in Ireland and rented through a company called EasyTour Ireland. Basically, they just work with Hertz to give you a rate that includes everything - including super cover, reducing the excess to €0 in the event of damage. It was nice knowing exactly how much the rental would cost and not having any surprises at the rental counter.

I now need to rent a car in NZ at AKL and it seems like they're similar to Ireland - high excess rates for damage, and credit cards don't cover NZ rentals. I'm wondering if there is a company out there similar to EasyTour that offers one flat rate that includes super cover, so I know exactly what I'll be paying when I book it, because it doesn't seem like any of the major companies tell you how much super cover is on their website.

And do any of the companies based in AKL offer any more fun cars. Something like a Mini Cooper, Golf GTI, Focus ST, WRX, you get the idea. Just not the boring garbage you usually see in American rental fleets. I've had my fill of base model Fiestas and Priuses. Thanks.

Most NZ car rental fleets are BORING!!! A Toyota Camry is considered "premier" or "premium" down here.

Have a look at http://smartcarrental.co.nz/ for cars ranging from the fun/affordable (like a mini cooper or golf) to the fun and luxurious like their jag.

If money isn't much of an object, have a look at http://www.devinerentals.com/. An Aston Martin might be worth it. ;)

Hertz CDW in NZ takes you to zero liability. All the others I looked at do not.

All rental companies in New Zealand offer an zero liability option, but they have typical exclusions from coverage.

e.g. you fill up the car with diesel, instead of petrol. and you're not covered for this.

Typically your looking at $40NZD per day onto top of your rental price for full coverage, then you have an whole works of added fee's with the larger International Companies. such an $30-70 airport fee!

You could look at an compaine like Apex http://www.apexrentals.co.nz/ they some newer cars (aswell as the cheap range) but have much better pricing plans ect

Try www.holidayautos.com
It looks like you can get a one-week rental, insurance coverage included, from AKL for as low as NZD 240 (including the extra insurance to take the CDW excess down to zero).

Looks like you have good news-Apex does offer to take CDW to zero. I would learn what they include/do not include in their "off road" exception, especially for a South Island rentals.

Seems Budget only goes down to $300:

http://www.budget.co.nz/driving_nz/y...n/default.aspx

So it looks like there are more than Hertz but less than all.

Still, good news as there are more options than I thought.

Apex, Jucy, Omega, and most of the 2nd tier companies all offer plans to take the liability down to zero. There's a lot of variation in their respective fleet content depending on location.

Pretty much technically every Rental Car company won't cover you for driving off-road insurance coverage is limited to driving on standard roads.

What roads are you planning to take your rental car off road on? bare in mind that there are some road's in the South Island we're rental cars are banned, and you zero liability wont cover you.

Seems we both know the variance of roads on the SI. That's why I'd like to know, in this case, how a company carves that out, and data points on what they do in practice.

I think you mean Accident Excess Reduction (AER) - CDW is not a common term used in NZ (or Australia), except by Europcar. AER costs $29.90 a day incl. GST for standard cars.

Not correct! Avis and Budget do not offer a zero excess option in NZ (or Australia). Avis Excess Reduction at a cost of NZ $24 + 15% GST per day reduces the excess from NZ $3,450 to $345 incl of GST. Budget will be similar, given they have common ownership.

Note that undercarriage, roof, windscreen and water damage are generally excluded from insurance cover in NZ (and Australia). Driving on unsealed roads and many specific roads is also prohibited.

I'd also be interested to know which specific roads are prohibited, for future reference.

Europcars list is longer, and includes some main highways (Arthurs pass, Sh6 & SH8, Milford sound road, Haast pass etc.) between 10pm and 6am during April to October. Also all unsealed roads unless you have purchased unsealed road coverage.

Maybe a little exaggerated!

The airport fee for all the major airports from the major car rental companies is $45 + 15% GST (total of $51.75). Given the uniformity of the fee and my understanding that all airports are still government owned, I suspect the fee is set by the airports/government.

Thanks.

Glad I rented an Avis car when I drove to Milford Sound! And Arthur's Pass!

You drove them between 10pm and 6 am in winter months?

Oops, missed that! I'm not crazy! Was in summer during daylight hours, thought it was about 5-10°C and raining!