P1Fanatic

Looking to book a car for a South Island trip in November. Current route looks like we will cover approx 2500km. However all the car rentals we look at are petrol only. At first I thought maybe diesel is hard to get hold of or is a lot more expensive per litre but all the campervans seem to run on diesel and various websites say that diesel is the same or cheaper. For the amount of mileage we will do running a diesel should save us quite a bit on fuel.

Anyone managed to rent one in NZ and if so which company?

Cheers
Simon

Coffin Dodger

Yes, we rented a diesel camper in NZ. At the pumps diesel is a lot cheaper and available everywhere, was around NZ$1 when we were there but there's a reason for that, you have to pay a recovery tax of so many $ per 100km you travel or something to that effect. The rental company will bill you for it when you return the car.

I guess if you're buying it for business use in your tractor, lorry, etc. then you don't pay the tax, but general the public do. So don't forget to factor it in.

We opted for the cover everything insurance package with our camper and that included not having to pay the diesel recovery tax upon returning the van.

Coffin Dodger

Oh and just to add some of the best driving roads in the world IMHO so if going the car route consider forgetting your fuel economy idea and hiring something sporty It's like a Scoob heaven and was very frustrating having to drive a sluggish camper van along the miles of empty roads.

Most amazing trip I've ever been on and would move there tomorrow if it weren't for the minor details of family, work, etc.

P1Fanatic

Thanks CD. Now you mention it I do remember reading about DRT when looking at campers. We decided against one in the end as prefer to drive a car and stay in some B&Bs rather than campervan parks.

The DRT makes sense of why no one seems to offer diesel unless for 4x4 or campervan. Funnily enough companies I emailed asking about Diesel car options didnt mention that.

Simon

Luther

iTrader: (13)

Just got back from NZ..... truly spectacular roads and definitely worth getting a 'driveable' car out there....

charlette

Hi,
I agree with Luther that one should visit NZ to see the real beauty.

P1Fanatic

We ended up going with a Toyota Corolla 1.8 automatic lol. Although after hearing many stories about lots of speed cameras and people getting fined Im not too bothered