[migratory birds]

Any recommendations for rental car companies?

We'll explore both North and South Island communities but will not pay the $300+ extra to transport it on the Interislander ferry b/w Wellington and Picton (so we'll likely use one car on the NI and another on SI - same company or different companies okay)

Unless some of you have found that to rent for 2 weeks from the same company, pay to take it on the ferry works out in the end to be less expensive than renting one car for one week and another for another week...

[jdbob]

I've rented from Omega Rentals (http://www.omegarentals.com/index.htm) in the past and it worked out pretty good. Picked the car up at Auckland and made my way to Wellington. Drove it to their lot (just up the road from the ferry) and they dropped me off at the ferry terminal. They picked me up at the ferry terminal at Picton and then I left the car off at Christchurch and they took me to the airport.

[eolaherb]

We used "Apex" last year and were very happy. We picked up our car in Christchurch and dropped it off at Picton. We had another car waiting at Wellington and dropped it off in Auckland, where we were driven to the airport.

[DMcG]

Be aware that some rental companies restrict you from driving on certain unsealed roads as part of their agreement (the Waikaremoana road and the 309 in Coromandel are usual suspects in the North Island, I suspect Dansey's Pass road is one in the South Island). If you plan on getting adventurous in your driving or getting off the "beaten track", you should check with the rental company about what limitations they impose.

Dougie

[akp713]

I rented cars regularly on North Island and found Ezy rental to be among the best. The prices were the cheapest for well-kept cars, mostly Japanese imports. The only problem was some of the cars still had the Japanese radios which go from 79 to 90 on the FM dial and so only pick up a couple FM stations.

By far the cheapest option is A to B rentals, I used them for several long term rentals. The downside here of course is that their vehicles are older and less well repaired. I was very careful to check out their cars thoroughly before leaving Auckland. They also have a drop-off location in Wellington, but they are North Island only. Ezy rental has a Christchurch location as well, but I'm not as familiar with South Island.