The two Indian girls at the front desk were quite nice.

The car was really terrible. It had 120,000 kilometers and kept breaking down.

When picking up the car, the receptionist suggested buying insurance. I mentioned that I had already purchased full insurance through the car rental website, but she informed me that the insurance bought through them isn't from the designated insurance company. In case of any issues, they would directly charge 2500 NZD, which is their minimum claim amount, and I would have to deal with the insurance company back home, which could take up to six months. After some deliberation, I decided not to buy it.

We arrived in Christchurch at 11 PM, and the Chinese staff member had already clocked out. We communicated with a guy with a beard for 15 minutes. He recommended that we pay an extra 122 NZD for a new Toyota, otherwise, we'd get an old Nissan with 180,000 kilometers on it. For safety and comfort, we reluctantly paid more, which was a bit frustrating. We picked up the car two hours earlier than the scheduled time, and the return time also had to be two hours earlier; otherwise, we would be charged an extra 59 NZD. This policy is unreasonable since we pay by the day.

We completed the paperwork at the EZI rental car counter inside Christchurch Airport. There is no store, so there's no chance to choose a vehicle; you're given the car keys and directed to the airport parking lot to pick up the car yourself. Initially, we were a bit disappointed with the car. Although it had only been driven for just over 10,000 km, it felt a bit old and was obviously a base model without features like a reversing camera or sensors. There was a long scratch on the left side of the car, but the customer service representative only noted a small damage at the front left. In reality, the scratch extended to the rear door. Since I had full coverage insurance excluding tires, I didn't bother to haggle over it!