Why Hire a Wilderness Motorhome?
Wilderness is the traveller's favourite rental vehicle company. Our customer reviews have earned us the coveted Supreme Award of the Traveller Voted Awards for two of the past three years. Don't take our word for it - just read what others have said about their Wilderness experience on the Rankers website.
We got to be the best because:
We rent top quality vehicles at a sensible price. We figured that not everyone wants to pay top dollar for a campervan. So we sourced highly specced vehicles that are no more than six years old, then refurbished them, and now we maintain them meticulously. And if you'd rather hire a brand new motorhome, we have European designed and built Escape 4 for supreme comfort and style. All our campervans and motorhomes run on diesel fuel which is about 40% less expensive than petrol (gasoline) in New Zealand. They come with all the extras that most rental companies either don’t bother with or charge you extra for like dual air bags, solar panels and big batteries, copious water storage, DVD player and MP3 connection, and freedom camping certification.
We’re not too big. Our company is big enough to have a wide range of options, good systems, and backups if things go wrong - but it's not so big that you will be treated like a number. You won’t find any queues or line ups at our bases, just a warm welcome and a helping hand. And whether it’s advice on where to find the best coffee in Wellington or snowboard hire in Methven, either before you leave home or while you’re on the road, our team are ready, willing, and able to help.
We’re the experts on touring New Zealand. Our team know all is there is to know about campervan hire in New Zealand. We live it and breathe it not just while we’re at work but on weekends and holidays as well. That’s why our campervans are the best designed and fitted out (we know what works and what doesn’t because we’re the biggest users). Our knowledge of how to make the most of your New Zealand road trip is unbeatable. In fact, we will even give you the best guide book!
We’re just plain nice. You’ll be blown away with how committed our team are to ensuring you have the most amazing Wilderness experience. That starts with how we put our rental rates together – notice the lack of nasty surprises. Unlike many of our competitors, we don’t advertise deceivingly low headline rates then whack you with hidden costs. Our pricing is fully transparent. Here are some examples of the extras that come standard at Wilderness: linen and bedding, crockery and cutlery, full gas bottle, one-way fee, extra driver fee, cleaning fee, location fee, vehicle registration fee, and airport transfers.
Are we for real?
If you have visited Rankers, New Zealand's online travel review website, you will have noticed that unusually high customer satisfaction is what sets us apart from the rest of the vehicle rental market. Consistently high satisfaction rankings is so out of the ordinary for vehicle rentals that many people have asked "are you for real?"
Wilderness received so many glowing reviews from happy customers that many other rental companies assumed our reviews were fraudulent. Under considerable pressure from our competitors, Rankers undertook an indepth investigation into our rankings. You can read the results on their travel review website. The Rankers team concluded that we are "straight shooters". They even challenged other operators to "Provide a great product, play a clean game and the traveller will love you for it." We couldn't have put it better.
The Wilderness Way
Our values, beliefs and the way we do things are shaped by te whenua (the land), te tangata (the people), and te wairua (the spirit).
Our foundation values: We act with integrity, honesty and transparency. We treat others with dignity and respect. We work best as a team and help each other succeed. We are accountable and we perform to achieve results. The environment is key in everything we do.
Our partnership with our customers: We aim to be the rental company of choice by providing products of the highest standard and offering unparalleled customer satisfaction.
Our community commitment: We care about the world in which we live and work. We aim to ensure that we have a positive impact on the environment and on the communities within which we work.
Our History
Motorhome rental companies are renowned for making bold claims like "the newest fleet, best service, best designed, most reliable, most comfortable, best features, and best appointed" (whatever that means). Who should you believe? We say don't take their word for it. At Wilderness, we don't make any statements that we can't back up with the facts.
But it was John’s authenticity and tireless dedication to making customers happy that really got people talking. Having travelled extensively himself, he put himself in the shoes of the customer. In fact, they weren’t viewed as customers, just new friends.
John’s sister Mary joined in 2006 adding her business experience and passion for making a difference to the growing company. They opened a base in Christchurch allowing them to service the South Island, added bigger motorhomes to the fleet, and brought more skilled and energetic people on to the team.
In 2008, a new manufacturing company was established to feed the expanding rental fleet. RoadCraft brought a whole new level of complexity. Not only did we design the motorhomes, we sourced the parts, fitted them, tested, and tuned them - and all to our exacting standards.
John and Mary sold RoadCraft in 2010 to focus purely on the rental sector. They partnered up with campervan rental guru Michael Becker, co-founder of leading New Zealand motorhome rental company Kea Campers. Michael brought more than a decade of experience as well as the vision and drive to take the company to new heights.
Later in 2010, the years of focus on customer satisfaction culminated in Wilderness being voted Supreme Winner for Transport Providers in the Rankers Traveller Voted Awards – and that’s the vote that really counts. Receiving this award was our proudest moment.
In 2011, we imported a couple of German manufactured motorhomes to test in the New Zealand market. These came with features and a new level of design and construction expertise never seen before in New Zealand rental motorhomes. The German motorhomes were an outstanding success. A full complement of Buerstner Ixeo motorhomes will be rolled out in time for the 2012/13 season.