Sydney-Wollongong-Wilsons Promontory National Park-Phillip Island Churchill Island-Warnering Road-Me

Satisfied

We had to spend over 700 AUD for additional insurance at the car rental place! Otherwise, we would have to pay a 4500 AUD deposit, with a 10% non-refundable deposit fee. So, we had no choice but to buy extra insurance.

The rented RV had quite a few cockroaches, hygiene was average. The sink drainage was poor, we fixed it ourselves by connecting the campground's water hose to the sink drain and turning on the faucet to clear it. Halfway through the trip, the wooden panel of the fridge door fell out and scraped the floor, so we had to repair it ourselves. A few years ago, their cars were very close to the airport, now they are quite far.

There were many pitfalls. I bought full insurance in China, which turned out to be useless. The rental company gave us two options: either a $5000 deposit, which would be returned after 6 weeks with a 2% credit card fee and 4-6% exchange rate loss, resulting in a $300-400 loss; or buy their insurance at $45 per day, totaling $270 for 6 days and no $5000 deposit. Reluctantly chose the second option, which started a 6-day nightmare of a motorhome trip. The vehicle had already run 159,000 kilometers. Is this really a 3-year-old car? The dashboard looked like it belonged to a 10-year-old car. It was a Toyota Hiace. At speeds over 60 km/h, the tire and wind noise were louder than a plane taking off. The driver at the front couldn't hear the passengers at the back. We only slept in the van for one night because it was too uncomfortable. If you have three people, it’s better to rent a six-person motorhome for more comfort. The power system in the van was broken, one burner on the gas stove was not working, and the other burner required careful handling to ignite. Returning the vehicle, they required the exterior to be cleaned, otherwise, there was a $150 cleaning fee. This was not communicated clearly by the rental agency, leading to a very poor impression of the service.

A great company with very patient staff. However, make sure to ask them to demonstrate all the functions, and record a video to avoid any confusion later.