Transport > Car Travel > Driving in New Zealand > Car Rental

Renting a Car in New Zealand

Renting a car or motor home is cheap and easy in New Zealand and it is very common among backpackers. New Zealand has all the major rental companies plus a lot of smaller car rental agencies that often have much better rates. You may need to stick with the major companies if you want a one-way rental, particularly if the car is being dropped off in a different island.

Generally inter-island rentals entail dropping the car off in Picton or Wellington and picking up another car when the ferry takes you to the other side of Cook Strait. This saves having to pay to take the car on the ferry.

The price of a rental car can drop substantially if you rent for a month or more. This is particularly the case with some of the smaller car rental companies.

Because most travellers fly into Auckland and drive south, there are some very good relocation deals if you’re renting a car and driving north although the cheap deals are usually only available if you complete your trip within a couple of days. It is well worth enquiring with the rental car companies if you want to drive north from Christchurch to Picton or Wellington to Auckland – if you complete the trip within 24 hours you may even get the rental for free.

The standard insurance cover that comes with most car rental companies requires that you pay an excess of $2000 before the insurance company pays out. Rental car companies will sell you insurance to cover this excess, but at around $20 a day this is overpriced and in many cases doubles the cost of your car rental. A much better idea is to take out travel insurance that covers this excess or arrange rental car excess insurance through your auto club before leaving home. This works out a lot cheaper than paying the excess cover that rental car companies charge.

Rental car companies in New Zealand include:

A2B Rentals

11 Stanley Street, Parnell, Auckland

Tel 0800 616 111

Website www.a2brentals.co.nz

Ace Rental Cars

39-43 The Strand, Parnell, Auckland

Tel (09) 303 3112 or 0800 422 771

Website www.acerentals.co.nz

Open 8am-5pm daily

Avis

17-19 Nelson Street, Auckland

Tel (09) 379 2650 or 0800 655 111

Website www.avis.co.nz

Open Mon-Fri 7.30am-6pm, Sat-Sun 8am-5pm

Bargain Rental Cars

99 Beach Road, Auckland

Tel (09) 444 4573 or 0800 566 700

Website www.bargainrentals.co.nz

Budget

83 Beach Road, Auckland

Tel (09) 976 2270 or 0800 652 227

Website www.budget.co.nz

Downtown Rentals

31 Neilson Street, Onehunga, Auckland

Tel (09) 303 1847

Website http://visitnz.co.nz/downtown.htm

Ezy Car Rentals

51-53 The Strand, Parnell, Auckland

Tel (09) 374 4360 or 0800 399 736

Website www.ezy.co.nz

Hertz

154 Victoria Street West, Auckland

Tel (09) 367 6350

Website www.hertz.co.nz

Open 7.30am-5.30pm daily

National

73 Shortland Street, Auckland

Tel 0800 800 115

Website www.nationalcar.co.nz

Open 8am-6pm daily

Omega Rental Cars

75 Beach Road, Auckland

Tel (09) 377 5573 or 0800 52 52 10

Website www.omegarentals.com

Pegasus Rental Cars

83 Haven Road, Nelson

Tel (03) 548 2852 or 0800 803 580

Website www.rentalcars.co.nz

Thrifty

150 Khyber Pass Road, Auckland

Tel (09) 309 0111

Website www.thrifty.co.nz

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