dreamfish

I am checking out hire car companies today. Avis and Budget want to charge me btwn 1400 and 1600 dollars for a half decent car.

I also saw a company called 'Rent a Dent' which made me smile - doesnt instill a whole load of confidence though!

Who did you use for your car hire?

And what insurance did you take out? One travel agent told me to go with a fully inclusive insurance which has no excess and no daily rate or summit - i cant remember what she said now.

All i Know is £500 plus seems an awful lot for a ruddy car.

since i am staying in a B&B 10 mins from Welly maybe I should assess the requirement for car when I get there and just hire for a week?

Burt Badger

Try finding a local company (easier said than done I know) and then haggle hard with them.

Make sure you are not getting a car that has been written off or is an old model without airbags etc. The driving across all of NZ is terrible, so get the safest car that you can.

Burt

dreamfish

cheers BurtWink - have to say i am NOT looking forward to driving there. I might just leave it all to other half unless we're on a straight road with no junctions!!

spose thats where insurance comes into it - get some with no excess. just in case!

Burt Badger

Make sure that you watch Mad Max before your trip! LOL

Burt

dreamfish

do enlighten?

Maz

One of the perks of my job is free membership to the Hertz Gold Club, so we're going with them. We're paying US$1,300 for 15 days for a small SUV (Ford Escape or whatever the equivalent is over there, I forget the name of it now). It would be US$!,100 without Gold Club, but we'd have to buy our own insurance on top of that, and that would include a $3,000 deductible! :scared: Not sure if that's US or NZ money, but we are fully insured with no deductible, so for us it's a bit of a no-brainer.

Our rental is also a little cheaper as we're renting in Welly, but dropping off at Auckland airport. Apparently if you rent in Welly and can drop off within 48 hours at AKL, you'll get quite the discount. I guess they pay people to drive the cars from south to north. There's a market for it as a job!

dreamfish

you lucky sod

Maz

At your service.

P2L

Try www.btritzontour.co.nz

Some-one on here recommended them a little while ago, (Poppets I think )

they cover just about every car hire company in NZ and suit all pockets

AnnieNell

You are so right, I find the standard of driving in Auckland particularly "interesting":scared:

Maz

Another thing to bash NZ about, I see. You ever driven in Paris?...

AnnieNell

or China

simonmarkellis

Try http://www.gorentals.co.nz/cust/hotDeals.asp i used them when i visited in August and they were good as you can rent slightly older cars for less.

dreamfish

thanks for that - yes i have been looking at gorentals.

did you take the extra insurance (no excess)?
and what car would you recommend?

poppets

I haven't read all the replys but if no one else has mentioned them we used DCR in lower hutt if that helps, will get back with more info if i can find it xx