I pondered heading to Tassie for something different but the charge for a rental car blew me away! Not the same story round oz though.
What’s the story outside of Aus/NZ atm?
Not sure where I read the tip on leasing a vehicle rather than renting whilst in Europe/UK pre pandemic but I found https://www.driveaway.com.au/ and wondered if there are others UK sitters may use? With Brexit & Covid, it would be great to know of the most trustworthy places to gather info on vehicle rentals etc.
I appreciate any info as may be useful to us very early next year.
We have a sit in July we paid the ferry 200 pounds.
We our Sitting for the same HO at Christmas.
We have booked our flights .
HO is putting us on their car insurance .
Bit relieved at this as driving from the ferry
Downtwards the midlands isn’t very nice in the dark winter nights.
We are traveling to Hawaii in May/June. Fortunately the homeowners are allowing us to use their car for the month we are on the island of Oahu because we are hearing about major shortages of rental cars and jacked up prices. We are also spending two weeks on Maui and are daily hearing horror stories of people who arrive on the island and finding the rental car place doesn’t have a vehicle for them. We have a car reserved through a local rental (family owned) place we’ve used before and that it’s there when we arrive.
Same prices in the U.S. Even in normally times it’s really expensive to rent a car here. This is why we don’t take sits where a car is required and not provided. In the U.S., most insurances allow for coverage of occasional drivers that don’t permanently live where the main driver does. So it covers sitters. We’ve been loaned cars on tons of occasions. To me doesn’t make any sense to pay thousands of dollars for a car in order to house sit. Kind of defeats a lot of the point imho.
In America, the rental rates are higher and rentals more difficult. Rates in the UK went up quite a bit after my first year’s “big trip”, with outrageous deposits and insurance. I have had four sits so far add me to their insurance and allowed me to drive their vehicle, which is very helpful on a sit for things such as possible vet visits, trips to the shop for meals, etc. There is a general shortage of vehicles in general on cars all over, due to COVID, basically, I have been told, because of the lack of computer chips available for new cars. That backlog will have to be resolved and there are rumours that supply chain issues could continue well into 2022. As an example, I sold a six year old vehicle, nothing special, a 2015 Ford Fusion here, to a dealership for $9,000 to make some money because they are recruiting for any used cars that can be found.
So, our flights are now booked … its all a bit real
Myself, Wife, Boy 1 and Boy 2 are off to New Zealand -
We now have 4 house sits lined up ( 3 in north / 1 in south)
the last sit is providing a car , but for the Dec/Jan/Feb we need to get about the vast country that is NZ
We have rented a car when we went before, for a shorter period of time, pre children…
We are wondering how to go about privately renting a car (from someone in NZ) other than renting from a company as this will be far to expensive in holiday season…
the other option is buying and re selling when we leave?
What about asking the PPs you have lined up for ideas? They may know some local/hyperlocal ideas (e.g., NextDoor/FB marketplace/craigslist/local variants), and also it may nurture in the back of their mind, like if a neighbor later is thinking of selling their car or has an extra car to rent.
We were there a few years ago also before kids and got the best rate through Jucy Kiwi owned and operated. However, the cheapest way for short term car rental is actually by doing rental car relocation. Rental car relocation deals are offered when a car hire company needs to move vehicles from one city to another.These relocation deals allow travelers to cheaply drive rental cars over a set number of days, from a pick-up branch, to the needed location. I’ve had loads of friends do this…but it might not be best suited for a family depending on your time restraints and responsibilities while in NZ.
Hi @edwardsfamilyUK - In hindsight, you probably should have held out for sits that include a car. Housesitting in NZ is really popular and there are always plenty of opportunities via THS and/or Kiwisitters. All six sits we did came with a car as I think the car is insured in NZ not the driver. The excess is increased for extra drivers, only one homeowner mentioned that and we were happy to agree to pay it should we have any accidents.
If I was you I would contact the others to ask if they would allow you to use theirs as hiring is more expensive than you originally thought. Be sure to emphasise that should it not be possible then it will have no effect on your agreement to sit.
Driving is really easy in NZ and the chances of an accident are really slim - they drive on the same side of the road as in the UK and there are so few cars on the road that driving is a pleasure!
As @Colin says, all my sits (9) in South Island from Nov ‘22 - Apr ‘23 came with a car and I was in the North island in 2019 for 6 months, all came with a car except one which wasn’t necessary. I’m currently sitting in Australia and have lots lined up, all except one come with a car.
In between housesits in NZ I did road trips and hired cars from Radcarhire.co.nz which I’d used in 2019. The cost was much higher this time than in 2019 and varied on each occasion. I consider that, as I’m saving so much money on accommodation and can cook instead of go out to restaurants I can afford some car hire in between.
If a car hasn’t initially been offered I’ve asked, explaining that (particularly if there are dogs) I need it to transport the dogs for different walks and to get to a supermarket if it’s a distance from the home. I’ve not been refused so far.
I’ve read the article at the top of this posting and also checked out driveaway.com.au mentioned. However, does anyone know of an economical car hire company in Australia now? I’m getting quotes for over $1000 for less than 2 weeks!
@Smiley yikes. Nothing to lose by checking out qeeq. I once needed a car for 3 days and I got to rent it through qeeq (in this instance it was from a private person). Sorry, just double checked: it was through qeeq, but through a company called ‘cheapa’ (and was obviously someone’s private car, but was fine for my purposes as we sold our car and just needed wheels until we left the country)
Wow @Smiley that’s so high, I take it that’s Aus $'s … I’m sure you’ve done your research there are price comparison sites https://www.carflexi.com/en-us do let us know how you get on and good luck!!
I don’t know anything about Australian car hire but I love the EasyJet car rental website as it is mostly unbeaten in price, allows a search for firms in a general area and not just specific sites, and has great flexibility for changes and cancellations. It may not help you on this occasion but always worth checking.
I used to rent cars and do the sits that say the ‘sitter requires a car’. I stopped after I got charged an insane amount by the rental car company because they found dog hair in the car. Really, the only reason I needed a car was because I wanted to take the dog hiking, which the owners wanted also. I put down a sheet every time the dog was in the car, but still, the hair got everywhere. I vacuumed the car several times but could not get every piece of hair out. At the end of the sit, the rental car cost me more then a hotel would have cost. After that, I decided never to rent a car for a sit. And if the owners wanted to me take the dog on hikes, they could provide a car. I have never been offered a car on sits, so I have passed on all sits where a car is required. The rentals are insane these days and most do not allow pets in the cars, so be careful.
Have you tried Jucy, @Smiley, though I’m not sure about availability in all states?
Pity you’re not going to be in Victoria as I know of a car that will be in a garage for the next four months!!!
I never rent a car to take owners’ dogs out because they’re not usually allowed, as you found, so would hope the owner lends me theirs which they generally have done in NZ and Aus. In the UK I use my own car. I want to rent a car mainly while sitting in Canberra for 2 weeks for 2 cats so can go off during the day.
blew me away! Not the same story round oz though.
that it’s there when we arrive.