Hi,
We have overseas visitors coming over and we are planning to bring them to the Snowy Mountain. I am looking to hire a seven-seater van to fit 7 adults. They are not keen to drive especially that they are driving on the wrong side of the road. :)
I haven't had the experience of renting a car before and need some advice or suggestions regarding (1) where to rent it from ; (2) which type or model; and (3) any other things that I should consider.
Thank you again for help.
All of the major car rental players offer 7/8-seaters - try East Coast as they may be cheaper than Hertz/Budget/Thrifty/Europcar/Avis etc. Also worth searching for people movers on Uber Carshare and GoGet. Always worth checking prices on aggregators like Holiday Autos. Make sure you purchase excess cover from a third party or wherever you can get it cheaper than the rental car operators.
And you still need to pay extra to get snow cover from the car rental operator even you get excess cover elsewhere. Otherwise your will be liable for the full value of the car and all third party damage.
Plus the rather expensive Koscuisko National Parks pass…
And snow chains (depending on time of year).
But can I use the Park Pass on my own car later, after this trip with a rental car?
East Coast strictly prohibits you to drive in the snow regions of Australia.
A rental vehicle is prohibited from use above the snow line in;
New South Wales (being Jindabyne);
Victoria (being Bright)
Tasmania (being Cradle Mountain, Hobart)
Please note, any vehicle damage, towing or recovery costs incurred while driving in prohibited areas as outlined above will be at the Customer’s expense and we are unable to guarantee the provision of a replacement vehicle.
How much gear etc do you need to fit, or is it just people? This will determine how much space you need behind the 3rd row…
Clothing and food. I am actually concern whether we have enough space behind the 3rd row. Thus, I am thinking of ruling out the Kia Carnival.
You really dont have much choices. Either Hyundai staria or kia carnival.
With kia carnival, the third row is split 1:2 so you can fold in the unused seat and have more space for lugagge. Not sure about the Staria.
Do you think Kia Carnival has plenty of space compared to a van such as Volkswagen Transporter or the Hyundai ?
@NelgCip: As a Kia Carnival owner of two previous models now I can tell you there's a heap of boot space with the third row up. Far more than any SUV with the third row in use. The Carnival has a deep well that the third row will fold back into level with the floor and there's a good gap between the third row and the rear. The third row are proper height seats too so it's actually comfortable for adults to sit back there. We fit 5 full size suitcases in the Carnival boot space easily with the third row up and more room to go for smaller bags before we get above the backseat height. Like others have said with the rear split you can get even more cargo space. When one of kids was still in the stroller and we were doing a 8 hour drive, we put the 40 down, put all the suit cases behind the 60 and had the stroller and kids scooters etc in that fold flat area.We were on the Gold Coast recently and we rented the current model from Avis & saw a heap of others as rentals on the road. Current model has the exact same boot space. The one we got was the diesel variant and only on the second last day did the needle move below the full mark on the fuel gauge when we drove up and back to Australia Zoo.
@Rockets84: Thanks for sharing this information especially coming from real experience.
It looks like Kia Carnival will suit our need. Thanks again.
Given you're staying overnight, you may need to consider 2 cars for luggage space
Better than trying to all cram in 1
Aside for myself, the other driver will be from overseas who is not comfortable to drive here since they are driving on the wrong side of the road. :)
Well do. Hahahaha…
What are the ages of the 7 adults? This information is imperative in order to give you suitable car-hire advice.
3 are in the 50s and 4 in early 20s. Thanks!
Actual ages are required because you never know, there may be another OzBer who has travelled to the Snowy Mountains with the exact same aged o/s visitors in a hire car and can thus help you out.
Who ever you rent off, never, ever take up their insurance(damage to vehicle etc…) it is very expensive.Take out travel insurance,far,far cheaper & so much more affordable,which will cover in most circumstances up to $8,000 in excess if the vehicle is damaged.Most rental companies have very large excesses on their vehicles.If you have no damage insurance, you then have to hand over a very large excess.I have just handed back a Audi Q5,(from Hertz) excess was $8,000 in the event of an accident.I just bought travel insurance from NRMA(domestic travel) it will also cover you for luggage loss,Medical etc…I found NRMA the most competitive for my circumstances.I always take out travel insurance whenever I rent a vehicle.Good luck.
Yes, that works for longer trips. I just purchased cover from one of the rental car excess insurers, $10K cover with zero excess, 3-days for $23.30
Thanks for the advice. That is very helpful.
I was looking at the quote online with the insurance, snow cover and roadside assistance almost double the total price for the peace of mind assuming that I don't have to pay anything in case of damage (I haven't read the terms and conditions just to be sure).
As for snow cover, it mentioned that the snow season is from June 30. So, we are going into the non-snow season yet but there still be chances of snow.
Be aware if you go this route that you will have to pay the rental car company the excess and then chase up the travel insurance company for reimbursement.
Also many have a clause that the trip/holiday needs to be so many kms away from home.
Good point. Need to work-out the difference and see if it worth the hassle as you have stated.
Can rental insurance (instead of domestic travel insurance) has no distance requirement.
Also check if any of your credit cards comes with complimentary domestic travel insurance that covers car rental excess. (& make sure the amount covered is at least as high as the excess charged on the car rental.)
Hyundai Staria can seat 8 with plenty of room at the back for suitcases and bags.
Thanks! I will have a look at which companies have them.
The diesel version is AWD with diff lock which comes in handy in the mountains.
Hiace Granvia Van is probably the most spacious choice.
Maybe consider a small bus
I am actually considering the Hi-Ace Commuter, but it is also difficult to hire one from my initial research and they are also expensive. Thanks!
Shouldn't be too hard to hire - search the "Commercial" section rather than the "Passenger" section of the respective websites.
Apex rentals are usually quite cheap and better than the majors (used to be unlimited kms, but not sure now - usually Commuters have 100-200km/day allowances with excess km charges after that)
Are you familiar with driving in snow?
If not better you take a bus from Canberra to snowy and back since you will be staying there and not doing local short trip?
I have driven before but with a small 4WD.
I also already booked accommodation at Jindabyne.
Toyota Alphard, Tarago, HiAce
Kia Carnival
Nissan Elgrand
Hyundai iload
All decent sized 7 seaters.
There are other options but too small for 7 adults imo.
Driver to be over 25 with full licence.
Credit card down payment required usually.
Hire companies are one option but I honestly prefer to use" Car Next Door" now owned by uber.. sign up and filter your search. Keys are locked to the car. Pay online drive to car and unlock.. good value imo
Car Next door is now Uber Carshare.
I checked with their on-line support, and it looks like that their insurance will not cover travel above snow line during snow season which they say starts from May until late October.
The large carpark for the Skitube up to the ski fields is below the snowline.
Uber Carshare charge additional per KM usage. I estimated that there is no savings for long trip plus you also have to pay for Skitube which is $63 per adult a day. Thanks!
@NelgCip: I have always found Hertz the best on pricing out of the majors, also never rent from an airport location, the pricing is far more expensive than a city/suburban location.
@NelgCip: I wasn't endorsing the use of uber carshare or otherwise, just saying there are alternatives to driving all the way up to the ski fields/ anove the snowline.
There is also a bus service from Jindabyne that's cheaper (https://coomacoaches.com.au/tfnsw-timetable/) that operates during the snow season.
I personally wouldn't want the added stress of driving in the snow/ icy condition when I'm on holiday. I'd just wanna rest & chill out at the end of a day on the snow.
@Love a bargain: Sorry. I was not thinking that.
It was actually great to get options available like this one that you just suggested so that I can consider them.
Agree that conditions might change that might be difficult to drive in the snow. Just putting the snow chain is stressful enough. 😁
Bayswater car rental is the cheapest. No birds, no frills. They have Hyunday and Toyota. Also confirm with your chosen accommodation if wheel chains are needed. Some places have problematic access at certain seasons. But generally I’ve found that taking a bus is the best. There are some travel companies which offer charters at very reasonable prices. Some accommodations also run their own buses or can suggest the right bus company.
I had a look at Bayswater but they don't have 8-seater. There 5 seaters are cheaper compared to the rest. Just wondering what is the catch. :)
Oh sorry. They used to just recently. 🤔😡😏😔
No catch, have rented from them for years
Bayswater, now No Birds is family-owned, starting in Perth from 1958 then Sydney in 1988. No catch, just smart low-cost operators.
Thanks! So far, the only difference I can find is that they don't offer roadside assistance. That's why I was wondering what is the catch. 😊
We rented one from Jucy a few years ago that came with a couple of lift tickets that made the rental effectively free.
Doesn't look like they offer that anymore though, so posting this is kind of pointless. They had Toyota Estima (japanese import), not a huge amount of luggage space. Was fine for us but we had 2 of them for 10 people.
Previously tried to rent a tarago for a group of 8 with lots of luggage, and that did not work at all, switched at pickup to a 12 seat hiace bus, which was much better.
Any experience with SIXT? As NRMA member, you also avail of some discount.
They are quite expensive even with the so called ‘discount’.Go onto all the car rental websites of the majors & compare each others pricing, this is the only way you can find out what it is going to cost you.Avis,Europcar are also quite pricey.Do your comparisons on each others class of vehicle that interests you.Car rental is like Hotel accommodation,it fluctuates in pricing.
Got an online quote from SIXT and upon further inquiry, the online quote is not correct. Can I insist on them honouring the online quote?
Late reply, but SIXT have always honoured the price I booked for it online. This is for my local branch though; cannot speak for other branches
Get chauffeured instead of driving? Or bus from somewhere nearby?