Have just read a bucket load of supposed reviews condemning & complaining about Drive NZ rentals.

We are Kiwis living in ChCh & have family spread thru out the Nth Island. We visit frequently by flying from ChCh to Auckland. We have hired cars from Drive NZ on 3 occasions and would like to report that we've had nothing but brilliant service on each hire. Staff have been very good & helpful, cars have had a full tank of petrol & we've never had an issue with reservations or insurances. Yes, their cars are slightly older ,definitely not brand new but as far as we're concerned they fit the bill. We recently hired a car in Dunedin from a reputable rental company (a 9 month old Yaris & that was the biggest piece of crap we've ever hired!!). The 2nd time we hired from Drive NZ did have a problem - central locking wouldn't work - and they replaced our car with an update at no extra cost. In fact, we're flying into Auckland this Saturday morning and hiring a Holden Barina. From Drive NZ. Keep up the good work fellas. This is one hirer who has no beef with this company and will continue to rent cars from them.

Reviewed over 3 years ago

Rent a wreck would be more appropriate.

Arrived from uk out of hours. Took over three hours to get to pick up. Car dirty, over 10 years old. Ordered and paid for sat nav non provided. Office impossible to get hold off. Spoilt the holiday of a lifetime with such a banger. Would give negative stars if available

Reviewed over 1 year ago

We returned it to one of the four different addresses on our email paper trail and left for Australia - it was the wrong address and they reported it stolen!

The pick up address was a huge confusion as it wasn’t as per our instructions and when we finally figured out where to go and collect it we were told we didn’t have a car as they had booked it under the wrong name. The car was hadn’t been serviced in 13 months and was due 9000km ago and needed new wipers and brake pads, the lights on the interior console didn’t work on the transmission, we cleaned it at a service station using paper towel and water as it was disgusting. Full of dents and rust and was 8 years old. Fuel tank wasn’t full. And they overcharged us and refused to refund. And I was there for a funeral so this just made the trip even more miserable

Reviewed almost 2 years ago

Highly recommend Drive NZ.

Thank you for the efficient service, ease of the booking process & how streamlined it was to getting the car and setting off. The car was excellent, I had a Toyota Sedan and it felt very safe, easy to navigate a new vehicle. Best of all, great price - value for money is a 10/10. I will definitely be using again!

Reviewed over 6 years ago

Just read these other reviews and wish I had seen these before.

Absolutely terrible experience

Over an hour wait to get picked up, mixed instructions, never get hold of them, went to get car and asked where it was parked was told “in the car park youll find it”. Nationwide banking issue so card wasnt working and they send an email threatening to report car as stolen. Communication was shocking, receive messages from a jasdeep0071 gmail address that makes you think you are getting scammed. Avoid this place at all costs

Reviewed over 1 year ago

Terrible and unsafe.

Fuel tank just over half full.

Window wiper not working properly

Under inflated front tyre

Wheel balance vibrating the car

Engine cut out at idle.

Car not sanitized from previous users and it smelt like curry spices.

Poor communication by using SMS - and very unprofessional

Reviewed almost 2 years ago

Have just read a bucket load of supposed reviews condemning & complaining about Drive NZ rentals.

We are Kiwis living in ChCh & have family spread thru out the Nth Island. We visit frequently by flying from ChCh to Auckland. We have hired cars from Drive NZ on 3 occasions and would like to report that we've had nothing but brilliant service on each hire. Staff have been very good & helpful, cars have had a full tank of petrol & we've never had an issue with reservations or insurances. Yes, their cars are slightly older ,definitely not brand new but as far as we're concerned they fit the bill. We recently hired a car in Dunedin from a reputable rental company (a 9 month old Yaris & that was the biggest piece of crap we've ever hired!!). The 2nd time we hired from Drive NZ did have a problem - central locking wouldn't work - and they replaced our car with an update at no extra cost. In fact, we're flying into Auckland this Saturday morning and hiring a Holden Barina. From Drive NZ. Keep up the good work fellas. This is one hirer who has no beef with this company and will continue to rent cars from them.

Reviewed over 3 years ago

Do not touch...

do the research that we missed and look at the ongoing issues!

Drive NZ Auckland Dropped a car to us that was nothing like what we had reserved online, we got a 2013 Toyota Corolla sedan instead of the 1+ year suv, was told that there were no other options available. Manager said over the phone that he would see what he could do and call my partner back in ten, but after 10 minutes he text to say there was no other option. When we tried to call the manager to get a resolution he refused to answer.

We then drove the car to the rental company to find out that they no longer had a car yard that was available to the public and the address was unknown. During that drive we found the check engine light was on, the petrol tank was not full as required and the spare tyre was missing, when we advised the company that this was a safety risk they advised us to leave the car on the side of the road for pick up.

Needless to say we value our safety so left the car at the hotel (Not on the road side) and got another rental from a reputable company.

Reviewed over 3 years ago

DriveNZ is an appalling and unsafe business to deal with.

Unsafe vehicles. Refuse to respond when asking for help. Do not use them. Unsafe response. Miserable customer service and that is a compliment. Made our holiday a horrible experience. Not good for NZ. REALLY BAD THAT A GOVERNMENT AGENCY CAN LICENCE THEM

Reviewed over 4 years ago

DO NOT TOUCH DRIVE NZ.

Hired a car for 5 days. Picked up car from Auckland at 6pm to drive north for a family event. Got to Whangarei and needed to turn lights on ( it was getting dark ) and only one light worked, the passenger side driving light did not work which is unsafe and deems the car un roadworthy. The working light was only just working leaving us on State Highway 1 basically blind in darkness.

I called the office to seek help, no-one answered as they are not 24/7 like advertised. Was told they do not have after hours and to call back tomorrow morning - this from the shuttle guy.

Called AA which is in the manual in the car, they advised they would come and tow our car as not legal to drive a car without a light ( it is illegal not to mention unsafe ) and that we needed to get off the road and stay in Whangarei for the night. This cost us $118 NZD for the shittest hotel we could find that had vacancy. In the morning we made contact with drive NZ to be told it wasn't their issue and we needed to get the car fixed at a Toyota dealership or change the light ourselves the service was absolutely appalling, basically a no care answer from the girl in reception. Couldn't speak to a manager as was told " not available ".

Had to cut our trip short and book another nights accomodation at Auckland Airport as cannot drive at night time and flight very early in the morning.

To add to the experience we were charged $95 for insurance which we DID NOT want or agree too or sign for. They said it is because we used a debit card and they automatically charge insurance for " just incase " - all of which WAS NOT communicated to us. Very slippery way to charge for insurance.

The Car was also 8000kms overdue for a service and the car had 3/4 of a tank of fuel when we picked it up.

DO NOT HIRE A CAR FROM DRIVE NZ. They are liars, scam artists & should not be able to have a commercial business in NZ. Ruined our trip and dented our bank accounts.

Reviewed almost 5 years ago

We arrived at the international terminal at midnight, expecting a pickup service, as was stated in our booking.

Nobody was here, and we waited quite some time after managing to give them a phone call, to get picked up by a (presumed) stoned crazy driver (he might just have been on medication, so I'm careful with my words...). He was the only person picking up people from the airport and handing them the keys for their rental vehicle, nobody was attending drivenz's office.

When our turn came, we got told by this more than friendly staff member that we had to pay 50$ to get the car (my payment for the contract had already gone through and stated 0 NZD at pick up). So as it was close to 2 am, we were tired, we just paid... Only to get to the car and noticing the front right light was not working. May I mention that no inspection of the car was made, nor were we given any picture or evidence of prior damages that occurred to the car. Our fuel tank was not full, but we felt quite lucky, as another customer we talked to, told us his was not even half full...

Anyway, got back two days later at 5pm (6hours before we were supposed to give the car back), to be able to properly chat with a representative of the company, as it is supposed to close at 6pm. The employee was about to leave and I can't tell you how happy she was when she's seen us arriving and asking to have a chat. She just said she couldn't help, and told us to call the next day.

So we did, and got told the contract didn't include a free pickup from the airport (I'm a lawyer by trade and thank you, but I can read a contract). No apologies, no refund at all.

So overall, no customer service, and a bloody rip off company. Wish I'd have read the comments beforehand...

Reviewed about 5 years ago

What can I say about this company, at no point in time were we told that we had to contact the firm to take us to the car depot, an hour later another driver told us to ring the number on the booking

( which is not the correct number) upon arrival I got given a wreck of a car it had half a tank of gas but was told to return it full, 10 min into the drive to Rotorua the engine management light came on, three other warning lights also decided to eliminate on my drive, as well as this the car was dangerous in that the transmission was wrecked you could not overtake or even climb hills that steep it kept slipping.

Please please avoid this company at all costs is cheap for a reason - just fly to where you need to go its less stressful

Reviewed over 5 years ago