Renting a Car in New Zealand part 2
Make the right choice of car for your
journey
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NZ cars tend to be a
bit smaller and even more predominantly Japanese than in the
US.
Part two of a three part series
on renting a car in New Zealand - see also :
1.
Choosing a Rental Car Company
2. Choosing the right
rental car
3. Other things to
consider
Part
of a series on travel to and in New Zealand -
click the links in the right hand
column for more articles.
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People who think nothing of
spending many hundreds of dollars a month to own their only
lightly used car back home suddenly become 'penny wise and pound
foolish' when choosing a rental car for their vacation.
Be careful not to make the same
mistakes yourself when choosing a rental car for your New
Zealand vacation.
Consider also of driving on the
other side of the road in New Zealand, together with the
implications of that when choosing between stick shift/manual or
an auto transmission vehicle..
What Size Car to Hire?
Many people who own large luxury and possibly V8 cars back home will choose to rent
the smallest sub-compact car when on vacation.
They drive
their up-market full-sized car, at home, only a few miles a day
around town and on freeways, and usually in an empty car, along.
But then, when on a vacation, these same people choose a small
underpowered budget car to take two or more people and all their luggage
on possibly a 1000+ mile journey.
That makes no sense. If anything, you'll probably need a more capable car on vacation than back
home.
New Zealand's roads are usually of good quality and
well surfaced, but you'll be driving up and down hills, and on
occasionally moderately windy stretches, and most of the time
not on freeways. You'll need the extra power for simply
getting comfortably up the hills, and for occasional overtaking
of trucks and slower motorists.
Don't be 'penny wise and pound foolish'. Choose a mid size
or full size car - in terms of extra cost per mile driven, and
in terms of your total vacation budget, the extra cost of a
better car is trivially small, but in terms of extra comfort per mile driven,
and in terms of your overall vacation experience,
it is very appreciable.
Automatic or Manual
Many rental cars in New Zealand - particularly smaller sized cars - do not have
automatic transmission.
Unless you're both familiar with
driving a stick shift car and also familiar with driving on the
other side of the road (New Zealand cars drive on the left side
of the road and you, as driver, will be seated on the right side
of the vehicle) we recommend you choose an automatic rather than
manual transmission.
Remember also that if you do choose a stick shift car, the gear
lever will be on the opposite side - it will be on your left
rather than on your right.
Petrol or Diesel
In the US, diesel is more expensive than petrol, but the greater
fuel efficiency of a diesel engine generally balances out the
extra cost of the diesel, possibly making it a slightly better
deal overall in terms of cost per mile driven.
But in New Zealand, diesel costs appreciably less than petrol.
True! In January 2011, petrol was the equivalent of about
US$5.70 - US$6/gallon, depending on the grade of petrol chosen.
At the same time, diesel was the equivalent of US$3.95/gallon.
With a third less cost per gallon and 20% or more extra
efficiency, you'll have a very greatly reduced cost per mile for
fuel if you find a diesel car. Indeed, even if the diesel
car costs more to rent, you might still save money.
Here's a table of daily fuel savings in NZ dollars which you can
use to consider how much extra a day to pay for a diesel car,
assuming US$4/gallon for diesel and US$6/gallon for petrol.
Daily Fuel
Saving of Diesel over Petrol
mpg |
100
miles/day |
200
miles/day |
300
miles/day |
25 vs
30 |
NZ$14 |
NZ$28 |
NZ$42 |
30 vs
40 |
NZ$13.50 |
NZ$27 |
NZ$50.40 |
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Luggage Capacity
If there are just two of you in the car, then you can probably
fit all your luggage variously into the car's trunk (called
'boot' in New Zealand) and/or its back seat. But if there
are going to be three of you, that means you will have more
luggage and less back seat space to stow it.
If you're going to be traveling as a group of three in one car,
you should choose a large sized car with ample luggage space,
and carefully limit the number and size of suitcases you travel
with.
And if there are four of you, you'll probably want a station
wagon so as to hopefully be able to fit your luggage into the car.
Quick rule of thumb : If all of you and all your luggage
can't fit in one car back home, then there's going to be a
problem when you rent a similar sized car in NZ!
Remember also that while traveling around, you're going to want
to 'spread out' a bit in the car. You might have open
maps, some 'carry-on' bags (purses/handbags, backpacks, camera
bags, etc) you want to have in the passenger compartment with
you, some drinks or food, and so on. You'll be taking up
more space in your rental car with all your stuff spread out
rather than neatly packed into your traveling suitcases.
This is, ahem, another reason to choose a bigger car rather than
a smaller one.
Insurance Options for your Rental Car
New Zealand has a different type of liability system to that in
most other countries. Insurance companies operate on what
is called a 'knock for knock' basis whereby each insurance
company simply pays for the cost of repairs to its insured
person's vehicles, no matter who was at fault.
The reasoning is that it should balance out as between the times
a company pays for repairs that in theory it is not liable to
pay for based on who was at fault, and the times when a company
is spared the need to pay for repairs that it otherwise would
have been liable for. Not only does it balance out, but it
keeps the costs and delays and hassle of attorneys and
litigation out of the entire process.
New Zealand also has 'no fault' accident liability where the
costs of most accidents are paid by a government body. It
levies fees (primarily on employers) and these fees are then
used to fund the cost of health care when accidents occur.
This means that most of the time you can't sue (and you can't be
sued) if you suffer from or cause an accident.
Due to this very different type of legal system to that in, eg,
the US, your US insurance policy may or may not cover you while
driving in New Zealand. Additionally, a rental car company
in New Zealand may or may not include in its basic rental rate
the underlying basic insurance that all vehicles should have.
If the basic insurance is not included in the vehicle rental,
and if the rental car company insists you must pay it, then,
guess what. Pay it you must.
So be sure, when getting quotes, to understand which insurances
are mandatory (if any) and which are optional, and, most of all,
which ones you feel you need.
You might see what seems to be a bargain car rental rate, but
perhaps it is not really a bargain at all because of the need to
add a mandatory daily insurance fee to the low rental rate.
New Zealand Goods & Services Tax (GST)
NZ has a Goods and Services Tax (referred to as GST) which is
similar to other GST and VAT taxes in other countries around the
world. This tax (first introduced in 1986 at a rate of
10%) increased on 1 October 2010 from its former rate of 12.5%
to a new rate of 15%.
Typically this tax must be included in the cost of anything you
buy, whether it be food, accommodation, gifts, entertainment, or
rental car hires, with the only legal exception being if the
advertiser deals primarily with wholesale clients rather than
retail clients.
But some of the less honorable and ethical companies will try
and cheat this as much as they possibly can. For example,
the more expensive the hotel, the greater the chance that they
might be quoting rates exclusive of GST, requiring you to add a
further 15% to the rate you see quoted.
Check that the rental car rate you are being quoted includes GST.
Part two of a three part series
on renting a car in New Zealand - see also :
1. Choosing a Rental Car
Company
2. Choosing the right
rental car
3. Other things to
consider
Related Articles, etc
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Originally published
3 Feb 2011, last update
30 May 2021
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