Car Rental in Australia

Hi All,

Have any of you rented a car in Australia?

If so, can you please answer the following,

1. Who is the best company to rent with?
2. Who is the cheapest company to rent with?
3. What type car is best for comfort? Will a compact e.g. Corolla be sufficient
4. Did you book accomodation in advance or book on arrival?

Finally, would you recommend a car in favour of a campervan or vice versa?

Many Thanks,

Jason.

Jason,

Last time I was in Oz I booked through lastminute.com.au
I got a jeep for 3 days and it cost less than €100
Most of the cars over there are pretty comfortable, they don't do "small cars"!
in relation to accomodation I would book the first couple of nights there just so you know where you are going. But it will depend what time of the year you are planning to visit....

I used http://www.carhire.com.au/ in January... they return prices from all the major car hire firms...if there is just two of u a corolla will be fine...
re accomodation we did a bit of both but found that just taking 30 mins out a day or two before u are to arrive somewhere is much less hassle than booking on arrival...

Thanks for the feedback, I will try out the links and hopefully get a good deal.

We (2 of us) are going in September and travelling from Cairns to Sydney.

Have you considered a campervan? We travelled from Cairns to Brisbane in campervan.2 adults and 2 kiddies. Collected at airport and off we went. It was great to have the freedom as we found in some places (Cairns for us)where we thought we might need a week 2 days was enough and then in other places we were able to stay on longer (such as Cania Gorge). The trip took 3 1/2 weeks and was most enjoyable. Will dig out further info if you need it...also loads of campsites on East coast, great places to pick up hints on what to do and what not to do.

Hi Puffin,

We have considered the campervan option also. Still 50/50 on which to go for.
Who did you rent the campervan from?

The only reason we may choose the car over the van is because of trips we are going to do e.g. Whit Sundays and Fraser Island. If these trips are taken into account in terms of overnight accomodation,then the car might be a bit cheaper.

Any information you have on the campervan would be appreciated.

Thanks.

Used the guy that PMU recommended above. The cars were all through Europcar. I found the staff pretty good.
And yes the Aussies do small cars.
We had a God awful Hyundai Accent in Western Australia and thank God the roads were long and straight for overtaking road trains. We did have Toyota Landcruiser Amazon (4.2 litre diesel which had two tanks and did cost a bit to fill) in Alice Springs. You need proper 4x4 if you are going properly off road, we did about 220 kms on unsealed roads.

Regarding camper van, I would not recommend being in one during summer in Red Centre or even WA. You would need air conditioing both back and front cabins, because the temps were up to 43 degrees C when we were there in February.
In winter you would get colder temps and so could wrap up.
Do price comparisons and factor in things like insurance and unilimited miles.
Note you will not get puncture insurance on big 4x4 in Alice.

Also watch out for the kangaroos around dusk, they are hard to spot in the threes along the roads and they do make a big mess of cars.

Sorry had not spotted time and location of trip in earlier message. September temps should be ok. Enjoy down under.

Hi Jason,

My girlfriend and I travelled Australia mostly by car ;last year.

We found Europcar to be the msot cost effective and "reasonable" to dealwith.
I say reasonable because you "will" find from time to time that you are a day or two early/late to your next destination....and some of the penalties are severe, so check that bit out in detail.
Europcar will allow you to drop the vehicle off in Cairns if you want, not many will.
As for comfort, the medium range are the best, but more expensive.
"But hey your in Oz maaaan, who cares for comfort when youre living the dream"......thats okay for a bit, so get the comfort you want, its much better on the overall mood you will be in after sepending most of the day in the car.

Lastly, I would definitely book your first two places in advance and then book by email as you will visit and hear about other places you did'nt think you wanted to stay in, but will hate to leave or must visit.

I am getting great flashbacks writing this, so thank you for that.

Best of luck.

Slimbo

Try Travellers autobarn. They rent campervans to thousands of tourists every year and have been around for a long time

jASON77,

we hired our micro home through tcvr.com.au We were in Oz at the time and found them to be cheapest. We also took some trips Fraser, Whitsundays, Low isles but all day trips. We were able to leave micro home at site plugged in....and most tour operators will collect and drop you off at campsite. Although an overnight on Fraser Island would have been better, it suited us to overnight in microhome with kids...meant they were in same bed every night.

Either way car or motorhome loads of accomadation on East coast and anyhow there's always sleeping under the stars!

Enjoy your trip and leave some time free to just wait and see.....the real oz way!!