# Six months in NZ - buy a camper?



## LittleGreyCat (Jun 22, 2008)

We are planning to go to NZ around October time then come back April/May time - to get spring, summer and then come back to the UK for the good weather 

Hiring a camper for that amount of time is likely to be very expensive so we were wondering about buying one and then selling it again when we come back.

Has anyone done this?

Is there a cheaper alternative for accomodation over this kind of period - we want to explore all the north ansd south island but not rush too much.

We could, for instance, rent a house for a month in six locations and explore from these in a car.

We spent three weeks there over 20 years ago in a Maui camper and thoroughly enjoyed it and have wanted to go back ever since.

Cheers

LGC


----------



## chapter (May 1, 2005)

i think i would rent, you may get a very good deal on a long term rental
also a new swift kon tiki cost £59.5k in the uk cost $168,995 in nz =£74.3k, so if you buy you would need to have a fixed buy back price or it may cost you more than the rental 
chapter


----------



## Ian_n_Suzy (Feb 15, 2009)

Hi,

I don't know how comfortable you would be with using eBay (I've done similar with boats in the USA).

Here is the eBay Motors New Zealand link to the Motorhome section, may be worth a "looksy".

http://motors.shop.ebay.com/RVs-and-Campers-/50054/i.html?_dmpt=RVs_Campers&_pcats=6038,6000&_rdc=1

Good Luck.


----------



## billmac (May 25, 2005)

Many of the camping sites have cabins that are let, so an alternative maybe to buy or rent a car and use the cabins for overnights. If you decide to motorhome then I would certainly look into buying and selling on after your stay. 
New Zealand is a motorhomers paradise with service points everywhere and a good attitude to wild camping. Be sensible and you are allowed to park almost anywhere and enjoy the wonders that the Country has to offer
Bill


----------



## Waves (Apr 17, 2008)

From what I understand there is an informal area in both Auckland and Christchurch where camper vans are bought and sold PRIVATLY. As most people fly into Auckland and out of Christchurch its better to sell in Auckland and buy in the south. 
Friends of ours got this advice from their son who did it sucesfully so they did the same and even sold the van for more than they paid for it. They were impressed with the campsites with most having communal kitchens.

They bought an old Toyota so it was more like driving a car with a bed in the back if you get my drift.

http://www.new-zealand-camper-van-adventures.com/used-camper-vans.html

The link is just one of many I found on the net not to sure what it is but seems to have a deal of info in it.

Sorry I cannot be any more specific just wish I was a practical person then I would do it my self.

John


----------



## orleander (Aug 30, 2006)

Hi,

Really it depends on your preferences for using either commercial sites with full facilities, DOC sites with basic toilets or just wild camping.

This will dictate what facilities you require in a camper.

Most second hand vehicles will be petrol Toyota or Nissans with just a basic grill but no toilet or shower facilities. Whist these are great little vehicles, if you want to stay at the side of a river or lake it is convenient to have your own facilities. In fact all hire vehicles are required by law to be self contained.

I suggest you decide your dates and send the same email to all the companies advertising on Google requesting their best price for long term hire.

Make sure when entering the email address you put them all in the TO: line so they know you have sent it to several companies.

The NZ equivalent to ebay is http://www.trademe.co.nz/.

Regards

Bob


----------



## gaspode (May 9, 2005)

Send a PM to pugwash (Paul):
http://www.motorhomefacts.com/forum-userprofile-6730.html

He's the resident MHF expert in NZ and he'll help you sort out the options.


----------



## LittleGreyCat (Jun 22, 2008)

Site we have found is
NZ eBay type of thing

The main concern is selling at the end of the six months - if you can't sell by the time of your flight then you have a problem.

When we were over there we worked out that the cost of hiring a camper or of hiring a car and staying in the cabins at camp sites worked out very much the same.

Take a look at 
Pink is our colour
for the kind of thing you can buy 

Campers do look to be more expensive (although when we went the exchange rate was over three dollars to the pound) but there looks to be a bottom level at about £10,000 where the value is unlikely to fall much more.

I have sent off an enquiry to Maui and we shall see what they offer.


----------



## ActiveCampers (Jun 17, 2005)

/watching with interest. 

Please can you keep this thread up to date with your findings? Its on our list of things to do


----------



## henry5 (May 7, 2008)

*NEW ZEALAND*

Hi LCG
If you would like to buy real luxury for your trip to new zealand have a look at www.traillite.co.nz The wife and I went to the factory to see if we could export one but it is not possible

henry 5


----------



## LittleGreyCat (Jun 22, 2008)

*Re: NEW ZEALAND*



henry5 said:


> Hi LCG
> If you would like to buy real luxury for your trip to new zealand have a look at www.traillite.co.nz The wife and I went to the factory to see if we could export one but it is not possible
> 
> henry 5


Chuffin heck!

For the price of one of those we could stay in 5* hotels with mink loo roll!

We are now starting to favour a caravan or trailer tent pulled by a 4*4 - this allows us to explore the more remote parts of South Island in the fourbi but still have a reasonably comfortable base.

The plan would be the traditional caravan one - set up base for a week and explore the region.

We have realised that if we were doing NZ in 6 weeks we would have a camper but doing it in 6 months may require a different strategy.

Everything seems very expensive, though - new caravans at $59,000?
Bailey Senator Wyoming

Compare this to
UK Bailey Senator Wyoming

$59,000 is about £26,500 - compare this to the £17,495 for the UK one.

I could buy a lot with the spare £9,000!

I suspect that what we are seeing is the result of the weak pound.
At $4 to £1 everything would look pretty cheap.
Sinking pound

Murphy's Law suggests that we will convert to $NZ when the pound is weak but then interest rates will go up and when we convert back the pound will be strong.

The other thing to note is all the different certificates you need even for a caravan - not a thing you see in the UK.

There are also Road Usage Charges for diesels and larger vehicles which are mileage based.

Given the enormous mileage on most of the vehicles advertised this must bring in a tidy piece or revenue!

Life is never easy, is it?

Cheers

LGC


----------



## LittleGreyCat (Jun 22, 2008)

*NZ - take your camper/caravan with you?*

Just received my first quote for shipping the Hymer to NZ.

This comes to almost exactly £4k - that is the true £4K: £4,096.

There will be additional tax, insurance, road usage charges etc. but these should be similar to the charges for buying over there (I assume).

This opens a whole new interesting can of worms 

For example we could potentially take our Hymer to NZ and sell it at the end of the trip to cover the shipping costs. Given the premium apparently charged (at the current exchange rates) against UK prices this could be an interesting prospect.

For example, the up market Bailey Senator caravan priced up in previous posts seems to have a premium of about £9,000 in NZ over UK price.

If this is true and there are no hidden flaws like massive import duties then it could cost in to buy over here (brand new might avoid some issues over cleaning etc.) and then sell over there.

Quite a lot of capital investment would be required, however.

This is starting to be fun 

Cheers

LGC


----------



## nickit (Apr 27, 2009)

Try this....

http://www.mauidirect.co.nz/

They sell vehicles here after they have finished rentals. Other firms do this as well.

The big firms sell after 3 years and often other rental firms buy them and re hire them.

We used

http://www.kiwicampers.co.nz/

They rebranded kea campers vans and used them for a further 3 years.

We had a van for a 6 weeks in low(ish) season from Kiwi and it was borderline wether to buy or rent. It had travelled over 3500000 km in its 4 years!! but was in great condition.

Fab place to motorhome, I would use less sites or the DOC sites which are cheaper and often in the most sceanic places.

Enjoy Nick


----------



## LittleGreyCat (Jun 22, 2008)

nickit said:


> We had a van for a 6 weeks in low(ish) season from Kiwi and it was borderline wether to buy or rent. It had travelled over 3500000 km in its 4 years!! but was in great condition.


Thanks - if six weeks is borderline between buying and renting then 6 months looks to be well into the buying zone.


----------



## impala666 (Oct 26, 2007)

*Motorhome or Cabin*

We are planning a similar trip to NZ and are thinking of hiring a car and staying in cabins on campsites of which there are plenty. this seems a good website http://www.top10.co.nz/

Some frends are now in NZ and have hired a van and we are looking forward to their story

Brian


----------



## 96706 (Nov 13, 2005)

Don't forget that a lot of the hiring firms do special rates for long period rentals - it's worth contacting them and seeing if you can bargain a deal, although in high season they aren't necessarily hard up for customers.

Last time we went (only for a month unfortunately though) I costed hiring a car and staying in holiday park cabins and found there wasn't sufficient difference in price to tempt us away from hiring a van. Our last rental company were Wilderness Motorhomes and we can recommend them on all counts www.wildernessmotorhomes.co.nz - service second to none and great vans. My son did the "buy and sell" option in Australia and was lucky with his purchase but we've always thought that if something went wrong with the van it could take a chunk of our holiday (and our money) before it was back on the road - at least hiring one you know that eventuality is covered.

Mrs D


----------



## LittleGreyCat (Jun 22, 2008)

**** said:


> <snip>
> Last time we went (only for a month unfortunately though) I costed hiring a car and staying in holiday park cabins and found there wasn't sufficient difference in price to tempt us away from hiring a van. <snip>
> Mrs D


We did the same sums when we went those many years ago and got roughly the same result - car hire + cabins = MH hire.

So we hired a Maui camper and enjoyed being able to park up and have our lunch with panoramic views from the dinette at the back.

This week's thinking is that capital risk from exchange rate fluctuation is likely to banjax most ideas, so probably the best thing is to buy something really cheap.

Cheers

LGC


----------



## Stanner (Aug 17, 2006)

Why not do what we've just done and arrange an exchange?

Plenty of people over there with vans want to come over here. We only exchanged a small camper but it was then cheap enough for us to splash out on a motel or cabin for a bit more room/comfort every so often.

Hire vehicles DO NOT have to self contained - it just means that if they aren't they aren't (strictly speaking) allowed to use certain basic sites or wildcamp, but in reality that is rarely the case. 

We exchanged with a couple who rent out 4 Toyota Hi-Aces and the one we had did not have a WC but we stayed at even the most basic campsites and wild camped a few times with no problems. 
They also have a larger Toyota bus with a full conversion and might be prepared to do a very good long term hire rate for that if asked - PM me if you want details - they are 10 mins from Tauranga Airport (£30 return from Auckland).

Just got back and feeling the cold after 5 weeks with hardly a cloudy day - 23 degrees to 3 degrees in 48 hours is a bit of a shock and as you can see body clock hasn't reset either.


----------



## LittleGreyCat (Jun 22, 2008)

Stanner - thanks for that.

We plan to go for the NZ summer to avoid the UK winter.

Are there really people in NZ who would give up their summer to go camper vanning in the UK winter?

Are there people who would want to be over here for six months while we are in NZ?

Having difficulty grasping the concept, but if it works it looks interesting.

Presumably we could expect quite a good swap for our Hymer B544?

Cheers

LGC


----------



## 131613 (Feb 22, 2010)

Some New Zealand hire companies DO have self-containment. We have done lots of campervanning in NZ and have found that most of the top end campervans are self contained although not all are certified. Being self contained is a big plus if you don't want to stay at a commercial campground every night. You don't have to have a self containment certificate to use some of the best wilderness campsites e.g. Department of Conservation campsites. The best way to find out who the best rental companies are is to go to the independent travel review site www.rankers.co.nz and read what other travelers have written. Off season rates are very low with the top end companies so you can get a top end camper for less than a car rental. One thing to remember if you're traveling off season, check out if the camper has a good heater and insulation. Some newer ones even have a drying room (where you can hang your wet towels and clothes).


----------



## CliveMott (Mar 10, 2008)

A friend back in 2008 spent 12 months in Oz (lucky sod!) He intended to purchase a motorhome over there and sell it just before returning home. In the event he purchased a 4X4 and a caravan and that "did the business" for the year with the 4X4 providing local transport once camped for a while. He tells me that 6 months is the balance point re purchase or rent. Once its 12 months then purchase wins hands down.
BUT
Rent comes with backup
Purchase relies on whatever insurance you take out.

C.


----------



## 96706 (Nov 13, 2005)

Caravans are in the minority in NZ for good reason, the terrain and the roads aren't really suitable for towing a caravan. Stick to a MH. If you are a member of the Caravan Club they do a reciprocal arrangement with the NZCC - worth it because you can then camp in their private holiday sites, I believe, although we didn't know about it until we got home, but will make sure we do so next time. We did, however, "gatecrash" a NZCC rally which was being held at a little DoC site in the Marlborough area and they are a really friendly lot as you would expect of MHers :lol: 

Scanner is right - not all rental vans are certified as self contained and this is a must if you want to wild camp (or "freedom camp" as they call it).

Mrs. D


----------



## LittleGreyCat (Jun 22, 2008)

At the moment we are agreeing with Clive's friends.

Even old campers have an inflated price.
They seem to be everyone's dream and priced acccordingly.

A 4x4 will let you go places (especially on the South Island) that you couldn't get to in a camper and an old caravan or trailer tent as a central base to tour from seems quite reasonable in price.

We won't really know until we get over there, but low budget purchases seem the way to go at the moment.

Oh, and we are members of both CC and C&CC so we should be O.K. with the reciprocal agreement.

Cheers

LGC


----------



## Stanner (Aug 17, 2006)

*Re: Motorhome or Cabin*



impala666 said:


> We are planning a similar trip to NZ and are thinking of hiring a car and staying in cabins on campsites of which there are plenty. this seems a good website http://www.top10.co.nz/
> 
> Some frends are now in NZ and have hired a van and we are looking forward to their story
> 
> Brian


We're just back from 5 weeks there, we looked at a few of the so-called "Top 10" sites and weren't all that impressed by them given that they charge a premium rate.

We soon learned to avoid anywhere that tried to push that it was "Luxury" or "Top".


----------



## Stanner (Aug 17, 2006)

**** said:


> Scanner is right - not all rental vans are certified as self contained and this is supposedly  a must if you want to wild camp (or "freedom camp" as they call it).
> 
> Mrs. D


We never saw any sign of active enforcement and only one location that pre-warned that a certificate was required to stay there.


----------



## Stanner (Aug 17, 2006)

*Re: NZ - take your camper/caravan with you?*



LittleGreyCat said:


> For example we could potentially take our Hymer to NZ and sell it at the end of the trip to cover the shipping costs.


Not unless (so I'm lead to understand) it is at least Euro4 compatible.

The rules for importing have just been tightened up considerably apparently.


----------



## DABurleigh (May 9, 2005)

And if it was how would they clean it sufficiently to get past Customs and Biosecurity? 

Dave


----------



## 96706 (Nov 13, 2005)

DABurleigh said:


> And if it was how would they clean it sufficiently to get past Customs and Biosecurity?
> 
> Dave


It would be interesting to see if they cleaned it as thoroughly as they clean your boots at the airport, be worth exporting it just to get it valeted 8O :!:

You may "get away" with freedom camping without a certificate, but why, when you are a guest in their country would you want to flout their rules 8O :lol: They are tightening up a lot in recent years - there's now a website giving information about different areas rules on freedom camping http://www.camping.org.nz/

Agree with the comments about Top 10 sites - there are some very good ones, the one near Dargaville for example, and the shower facilites at the Lower Hutt site are wonderful, but they pack 'em in and charge high. Another good reason to have a self contained van and find places to stay with peace and quiet and views.

Mrs. D

Mrs. D


----------

