I toured South Island for 2 weeks with my family and chose Anzed Rentals because it was competitively priced and had great reviews.

I will add my endorsement towards all those positive reviews as Vaughan is a genuinely nice bloke to deal with. From the moment I contacted him from Malaysia via email until he dropped us off at our motel at the end of our trip, he had made sure that my queries and concerns were looked into.

The ride we had reserved was the Mazda Axela which was supposed to be about 5 years old but unfortunately due to a cock-up we were offered other models as an upgrade without extra cost. We settled on a 15 year old Lexus ES 300 (3 liter). Though it was showing its age, it was still a good, reliable and clean car to drive around South Island's roads and mountain passes. It had enough power to tackle the steep mountain passes and braking/engine compression power to safely slow down the vehicle when going downhill with much dignity. I would expect the 2 liter Mazda to be noisier due to its lower engine capacity. Apart from some minor niggles, we have absolutely no issues with the Lexus and on hindsight, it was probably a better ride to tackle the rural roads of South Island. Fuel economy was a concern but upon top up at the last gas station, I worked out the consumption to be 9.25 liters per 100 km. Pretty respectable for so much high power driving on the mountain passes and valleys.

Throughout our journey, Vaughan kept in touch, especially when we had a scare after the floods washed out all 3 road links between Christchurch and the Mt Cook region where we were at. This was 3 days before we were scheduled to fly off from Christchurch. It was comforting to know that we had a local to advise us of the situation and offer alternatives.

All previous reviews were spot-on in saying that Vaughan spends more time with you prepping for the journey which is in contrast to renting from the usual international car rental companies. I fully recommend!

Reviewed almost 5 years ago