This was posted 9 years 3 months 16 days ago, and might be an out-dated deal.

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Under $5 Per Day for Rental Cars and Campervans @ Transfercar

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There is a trick that some savvy travellers might want to keep to themselves: at a time when saving money to take a holiday has become so difficult, it is now possible to cut costs and enjoy driving free rental cars and campervans in Australia. Most of the time drivers also receive a free tank of petrol.

How does this work? Rental car companies need to reposition their fleet for new hires and usually have to spend large amounts of money to do this using trucks for transportation. Transfercar provides a win-win solution where travellers get a free one-way car or campervan hire while rental companies save big money on relocation costs.

This money-saving trick works particularly well when combined with a cheap one-way flight. New deals and routes are being added every day so it pays for travellers to check the website regularly at www.transfercar.com.au.

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  • +1

    I get their emails and often wish I lived in a major city. I don't know why I bother getting them because it would be a 5 hour drive just to pick it up, but it costs nothing to dream. lol

  • +3

    The limited timeframe is good if you're just going from point A->B but if you're after a holiday, you won't have much time to see/do anything along the way.

    • +2

      That's the exact reason I've not used one of these services/deals.

  • +1

    One of the competing services for this is type of one way relocation rentals is imoova.com (previously called StandbyRelocs.com).

  • +5

    Not sure where the deal is with this. Isn't this a standard service offered by several sites (such as)

    http://www.drivenow.com.au/onewayrentals.jspc#/relocations/A…
    http://www.imoova.com/
    http://deals.vroomvroomvroom.com.au/index.php?country=Austra…

    While it might work for some I also have never found a deal worth taking that would allow any significant amount of time to see the sights, and every time I check a one way flight it just ends up feeling like I am using my time and/or money to bring their car back for them. Some offers include money towards fuel costs but you would often be paying for most of that, so once you add that to flights and limited timeframes, I'd generally rather pay a standard rate and work to my own schedule.

    • Agreed, this is not a deal or bargain. Better 'deals' with other companies, and if they can't get some sucker to drive their vehicles one way they pay someone to do it. My father in law used to drive hire car vehicles to different locations and got paid for it.

  • +9

    The times allowed on this site are much like trucking times - get up, get going, only stop to pee.

    There was another campervan mob doing this for years, that allowed extra days and even paid for fuel. Unless this was happening in this case, I wouldn't consider it any sort of bargain. What is the non-return fee that these companies charge anyway?

    Absolutely no value, unless you need to be somewhere fast and have a fear of flying. It is otherwise just a job and not a very interesting one at that.

    Get back to us when the days for return are fully useable and there's a fuel allowance for the distance to be covered.

  • +1

    I have never heard of these before… I like the idea, would suit the spontaneous person with a lot of free time and money.

    You could always pretend you are in the Gumball rally or something :D

    • "You could always pretend you are in the Gumball rally or something :D"

      Heheheh, I like the way you think. I propose a "state-to-state OzB rally", with the cars supplied, for free of course, by these turkeys.

      And we won't be sparing the horses, if you know what I mean…

      Vroooom, vroooom, screeeeeeeeech :-P

  • So, I have 2 Questions:

    1. How much does it cost a bulk shipper to get one of their cars on a big carrier truck?

    2. What's the difference - in CO2 & other toxic emissions - between driving each car vs filling a big carrier trailer with those cars?

    First, diesel is a cacenogenic toxin, & CO2 is everyone's enemy.

    • Good questions…
      1. It costs them hundreds of dollars to put a car on a carrier truck. Offering you to drive the car for free makes sense!
      2. True that a few cars emit more CO2 than one truck… but look at it this way: in most cases people would have travelled to their destination anyway (by plane or with another car) so this solution is actually more eco-friendly than you think :)

      • pigeons fly free

        You're only driving for free WITH a fuel allowance.

        Brisbane to Adelaide in a 6 berth motorhome?
        at 12 lts per 100k
        anywhere between 1.52 to 1.38 per litre diesel, across Western NSW expect it to be around $1.50 per lt or higher, regional average Jan 2015 $140.9

        2,054.5km = $345

      • Their destination ~ Your destination. We could argue that point. What about the journey home?

        I agree that it makes sense in some situations, but please let us know where is the deal in this. What are you offering here that you don't normally offer? It would be like posting a deal here that Coles is selling vegemite for the usual price.

        IMO this is not a deal at all, it's just free advertising for your company.

    • +1

      Have a look at some of the costs here:
      http://movingcars.com.au/recent-quotes.php

      examples
      AUDI Q5 Brisbane Melbourne $541.10

      TOYOTA HILUX 2WD CAB CHASSIS Perth Sydney $1042.66

      SUZUKI SX4 Perth Brisbane $1385.96

      TOYOTA HILUX 4WD UTILITY Cairns Melbourne $983.74

      HOLDEN CAPTIVA Adelaide Perth $856.84

      MAZDA 2 HATCH Perth Adelaide $417.24

      LEXUS IS200 LEXUS SEDAN Perth Sydney $895.37

  • isnt this the normal price?

  • I am a bit confused. Lets say I wanted to take the 4wd camper on offer here https://www.transfercar.com.au/relocation/Perth/Adelaide/132…

    It says KM allowed 1600 for a Perth to Adelaide trip. However the distance required to be covered in 5 days is according to google maps:
    2600km shortest route, heading almost to Kalgoorlie then across the Nullarbor.
    3100km heading to Albany first then across the Nullarbor.
    3300km to go first through the scenic wine country in SW WA.

    How does that work? Is it an extra 1600km allowed over the 2600km minimum (ie a total of 4200km in just 5 days)?

    So I would travel a minimum of 520km a day, up to 840km per day every day for 5 days to get the job done? Lets say you average a fast 80km/hr, including refueling, stopping and sightseeing in the car. That is between 7-10 hours a day minimum in the car day after day for 5 days without rest.

    Direct cost would be $25 paid to you and about $15/100km in fuel, so an extra say $400.

    I am just not seeing the value, maybe if there were a few more days it might be better.

    I also wonder about the duty of care in requesting an untrained person drive 6+ hours a day every day without a break in a large unfamiliar vehicle on unfamiliar roads.

    Interesting business model. Maybe I have it wrong.

    • Some relocation deals are better than others. For some shorter distances you can get 5 or 6 days sometimes.
      Sure usually it is quite a bit of driving but some people choose to drive some of the way at night…to make the most of their days. They can also share the driving with someone else if it's two or three people in the car.
      This can suit backpackers or people who want to see the country on a budget.
      When you rent a campervan, then you have accommodation paid for as well…
      This might not work for everyone, but people who do use those relocation deals are generally very satisfied.

  • +1

    Worst point is that you travel at your risk. The insurance they give you is minimal with large excess. To reduce the excess to a reasonable level or nil you have to pay a lot of your own money. And they want your credit card imprint so they take the bond money out first thing. If all goes well they release the money but only after a week at least.

    • Or you can take out a domestic travel insurance policy that has rental car cover included. It is a lot cheaper than paying for the car company insurance!

    • It's just exactly the same as when you rent a car. Same insurance conditions, it's your choice to reduce the excess or not.
      True that booking a domestic travel insurance can be cheaper.

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