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Car Hire New Zealand Rule number 1: Arrange the hire of your car before you arrive to travel New Zealand. Another Rule number 1: After a long haul flight don’t arrange to drive straight from the airport. Imagine, you’ve just spent 24 hours in a plane and you have booked to collect your hire car from the airport… Not worth thinking about really. Recover overnight and pick up your vehicle the next day. It’s a no brainer. If you want a car with automatic transmission then get confirmation in writing from the car hire firm. Remember that extras such as child seats usually cost more. I have to say that taking your own child seat with you isn’t such a bad idea. Sometimes even with a prebooked child seat the hire company can simply run out because of demand. You can usually carry your own for free on the plane over. If you need air-conditioning then ask. Do all the simple checks for a car hire New Zealand. What’s the minimum age required for the driver? Can I leave the vehicle at another destination at the end of the hire? If there’s another rule number one then this is it! In no particular order, for the sake of possibly having to take out another mortgage if anything happens, get the following or read up about them first! CDW that’s collision damage waiver. This limits what you pay if your hire car is damaged. Theft waiver Not so common but protects you from coughing up the whole rental if the car is stolen. Some companies offer a damage excess waiver but this can add to the daily hire by a bit. You may also be asked to take this out before they release the car. If you have taken out a separate excess insurance policy you can of course politely decline the offer of taking out the waiver with the car hire firm. The old glass and tyre ploy Usually the car hire company doesn’t cover you for damage to these or wing mirrors, windscreens, tyres, chassis etc. Car hire firms often say any ‘damage’ is down to driver negligence. You can get cover for this from some firms otherwise go external for car hire cover that includes this. Rule number 1 is check your car over carefully before returning it. Not because you’ve fallen in love but simply so you know if there are any external signs of damage. Have the car hire staff check it with you. Take pictures if necessary. If the car hire firm is too busy to inspect with you then write this on the form and keep a copy. • if you're turning , give way to all vehicles that are not turning • In all other situations, give way to vehicles crossing or coming from your right. • In New Zealand you're not allowed to turn left at an intersection when the traffic lights are red. (You will see drivers do this so be aware) • We drive on the left in New Zealand! • Wear a seatbelt in front and in back. It’s the law! • With about 2.5 million cars and four million people, New Zealand's car ownership rate is one of the highest in the world. • New Zealanders make about 2% of their journeys by bus and 1% by rail. • The roads here aren’t salted as it’s not needed. This means cars rust very slowly. • Around a fifth of cars are less than seven years old. • Around two thirds of cars are between seven and 16 years old. • Around a sixth of cars are more than 16 years old.
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