Any advice re car rental / purchase in Auckland. we will be arriving March, travelling to Christchurch - 2 months in total.
Where's best to buy / hire?
Costs?
Is it better to use public transport? Costs?
Thanks for any suggestions / info
Jo

Hi i am out in New Zealand. You can buy a car in Auckland for around 700 dollars. You can buy cheap cars at the daily auction in East St 5 mins from the city. There is many private deals and you will be able to get a good car that will last a long trip. And you will be ablre to sell it for the price you paid. One tip make sure it has more than 6 months W.O.F warrant of fitness, same as MOT in the UK. Another goodthing is that outhere you dont need any insurance. Ps Public transport is poor here. Good luck............:)

cheers for that!!

Hi,

I hired a car for a month while I was in NZ and it was incredibly cheap - less than £10 a day. This was a real find, as I was expecting to be quoted around £25 a day, which I think is more like the going rate. We were there in January/February this year, so it was around the peak tourist season too. The car came from a company called Backpackers car hire, which is a branch of a bigger outfit called Maui. We had a Toyota Echo which was fine for all the different driving conditions you'll encounter. We picked the car up at their office near Christchurch airport and dropped it off at their Auckland office. Book in advance or when you arrive and they'll drive you from the airport to their office. Thye even give you a basket full of equipment to prepare picnics, and you can borrow a mobile from them for the duration of your stay too, paying only for any calls you make.