Mountain Rentals Review

Editors Review

Last Updated: 10/11/19

Mountain Rentals is a family-owned business in New Zealand, with over 10 years of rental experience. They run older, simple 2 berth sleepervans aimed at the budget market with depots in Auckland and Christchurch.

About Mountain Rentals

Despite being in the rental industry for quite a while, Mountain Rentals is not an overly popular choice for travellers wanting a quality road trip in New Zealand. They remain to be a small, family-run entity that takes pride with their campervans, regularly maintained at their own workshop. Aside from their personalized fleet, their daily rate is way cheaper than other campervans on the road, and even offers a free airport pick-up/ drop-off, which can be an enticing treat for those who don't want to spend a fortune in taxis. Their campervans provide you with the basic camping essentials that are ideal for a convenient, but not a glamorous trip. 

More than that, Mountain Rentals offers one-way rental through their depots in Auckland and Christchurch. This means more options for freedom camping within these areas. When you freedom camp around NZ, there are certain rules you need to follow so check them out first here. 

Fleet

The company has a very limited but personalized fleet, with only 2-berth sleepervans on selection―Toyota Lite Ace and Town Ace or a similar model. So if you're travelling in a group, you might as well consider other companies. The 2-berth campervans are specially designed for adventurous road trippers travelling in two. You will definitely enjoy the freedom of a simple and meaningful road trip in the country through their basic campervans. 

Each vehicle features a rather plain yet very economical campervan hire in New Zealand. At a very affordable rate of NZ$72 per day, your campervan rental will be provided basic amenities such as pillows with cover, duvet, picnic table, picnic chairs, chilly bin, ice bricks, and water tank. You can also bring some of your important stuff during your trip because there is plenty of storage under the bed.

Vehicles

2 berth Sleepervan

As mentioned, Mountain Rentals only runs Toyota Lite Ace and a Town Ace vehicles (or variations thereof). Aside from basic campervan features, there are also optional extras that you can add for a more convenient road trip. For those who love to prepare their own meals, then you can rent their cooking equipment for only NZ$3 per day. The additional payment will now supply your campervan with cooking essentials such as gas cooker, frypan, knives, chopping board, can/bottle opener, cutlery set, plates, bowl, salad utensils, mugs, tumblers, tea towels, turners and the like. 

Whilst this is only a cheap addition, most companies across New Zealand include the cooking and eating/drinking utensils, so paying extra for it is a bit of cheeky way for the company to bump the price―and whilst $72 per day is still on the cheap side, there are cheaper ones that have this kind of stuff included. On the flip side, they include a picnic table and 2 chairs as standard, which is NOT usual. However, if I had to choose whether I want an outdoor table included that I might use if it's not raining or my pots and pans to eat every day, I know which thing I would prefer included.

Insurance

Though the insurance coverage is already included in the daily rate, you will still be held liable for any damage caused. Mountain Rentals has different insurance excess, depending on the age of the drivers. For drivers who are 25 years old and above, the excess is at NZ$1, 000 and NZ$1, 500 for those under 25 years of age. And be informed that the windscreen is not included in the standard insurance, so it's best to have it insured for an additional of NZ$100. Upon reservation, you will be required for a $500 deposit. 

Reputation

Despite the company's extensive existence in the rental business, there are still limited reviews about them, making it hard to distinguish, whether the company is a good catch or not. But even though the company is not a very popular campervan hire in New Zealand, it has continuously strived to be part of the rental industry for the past years. 

Well, being in such industry for more than 10 years is quite an achievement, taking into account the tough competition among the companies. Apart from that, their economical campervan rate is very interesting to consider as there are only a few rental companies in the country that provide a close match to their quotation. Thus, they can be a good choice if you want to save money, while still enjoying the beauty of New Zealand on wheels.

Summary

Mountain Rentals has a limited but affordable fleet that the owners go to great lengths to maintain. Whilst affordability is definitely the attraction of this company, its limited selection of models and older age of the campervans may be a turn off for some. And the additional fee for eating utensils may be to push the budget up a little too high.