Get 15% off JUCY campervan hire!
Here are all the important details about this JUCY deal: - 15% off all JUCY campervan - Promo code: HOLIDAYHERETHISYEAR -
Booking dates: 01 May - 30 June 2021 -
Travel dates: 01 May - 20 December 2021 -
Pick up and drop off from JUCY Brisbane, Cairns, Gold Coast, Sydney, Melbourne, or Adelaide
Sale ends 30 Jun 2021
Example: Sydney - Melbourne, 30 July to 20 August, (Prices start $31.14 per day)
https://i.imgur.com/vyWgBAd.png
What issues did you have with yours ? Actually had some stuff mechanically in Australia , started taking a few turns to start all or a sudden , called up support, and they got us into a third party garage in the city ahead and had it swapped out in an hour which was great service
Then randomly the same car refused to start , road side came and helped us with a lead wire to start it , we called support and they had a new car waiting to go at their next depo full fuel and 20% off the rental due to the issues
But it was great to stay in , had all we needed
There's quite a big list of issues between the vehicles I've had, if I get time later in the day I'll write it all out…
Bed bugs in the one from sydney I hired.
Holy hell that could probably be a court case.
People in America have 100% sued for the psychological trauma inflicted by bed bud infestation and won.
Hope you had a good time in NZ, what spec did you go with mate? Pro's / con's?
NZ has been great, the low numbers of tourists at the moment is a real bonus… I'm just winding down now and back in Christchurch ready to head home next week.. (Satellite tracker shows my 8 week route: https://new.spotwalla.com/trip/bfc7-2f74fb1-22f5/view )
A quick run down of the 2 campervan styles I've had, I wont go into the faults/issues now:
I had a Condo for a couple of days, seats 5, sleeps 4… They've really compromised the layout to get the couple of extra road-worthy seats in the back, it would be fine for a weekender or a mini-adventure for mum dad & a couple of rugrats, not ideal for an extended trip, horses for courses… The toilet is a porta-potty that isn't in a functional location, I think they only include it so it's classed as "self contained", you have to open the sliding door to access it, then bring it inside to use it, there's no room inside to keep it in a usable location…. The USB & cig-lighter power outlets are over in the kitchen, a poor location if you want to be charging a lappy or tablet while in use, the items you're charging have to be sat around the gas cooktop to be in reach of the power outlets… The table is basically not usable for a 6 foot person, the table clips in below the window level about 650mm off the floor, the seat/couch at the front is about 530mm high I think, it's near impossible to get in and out of the seat with the table in place… I cant remember any other major annoyances with the condo but I only had it for a couple of days, I wouldn't recommend one for more than a few days, and probably only practical if you're staying in paid camps…
I've spent most my time in a couple of Chasers (they dont have them in Aus), seats 3 in a squeeze across the bench seat, sleeps 3, it has a proper Thetford cassette toilet & shower, and hot water heated by the engine coolant or mains power when you have it… The layout is quite good, they've done fairly well to squeeze a functional shower in here and the living area, couch & table, are quite usable which is important for an extended trip, (you tend to spend a fair bit of time sitting around in the evenings or waiting out bad weather).. The cig/usb power outlets are at the side of the couch in a practical usable location… It has a bed up top and one down the bottom, being over 6', broad shouldered with dodgy knees and a side sleeper, I'm not a fan of the top bed, the space is only about 100mm taller than the width of my shoulders so I constantly hit the roof while getting in/out or rolling over, and I find it a pain to get in and out with my stuffed knees, it would be fine for smaller and/or younger people… I sleep in the bottom bed, it takes 5 mins to set up but it's not bad for one person, it's made up out of numerous pieces of foam so it probably wouldn't be good for a couple due to the gaps between the separate pieces of foam…
Both have fridges, the Condo has a hinge door version, the Chaser has a drawer type, I prefer the drawer….
I got a real good rate on the Chaser just as the bubble opened so it was only slightly more expensive than the Condo, so I switched to that, if you're doing more than a couple of days in NZ that's the way to go depending on price at the time… If I was to do it again I would probably probabley consider spending 50% more and go with a company that maintains their vehicles to a higher standard, it would have worked out cheaper and easier in the long run…
I don't think the code in this deal works for NZ but "SAHM" still works for 11% off, you also get a decent discount if you book for more than 42 days…
Also,,, the NZ Jucy Hiace vans are a 2L jap imports, very gutless and terrible on fuel…
Cheers mate. The Jucy Chaser looks alright. Not sure about the romantic dinner option in the video ;p
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIgRr1XC7-s
Recon it would be a bit cold sleeping up top mid July? (gas heater or just the engine)? When I went the Jucy car we got had an oil leak and subsequent smell. But did gets us up and down Treble Cone, and it was super cheap.
I hired a Britz (Mercedes based) 6 Berth for 2 people for a week. Was brilliant. The chaser looks like a mini version. Surprised about fuel as I have driven a few Mini bus Hiaces full of people and it returned <12L / 100km. That being said, the Jucy probably wasn't diesel?
Lastly, campsites any gems or disasters? particularly on the south island. Looks like you spent a few nights at White road reserve?
@tunzafun001: The Chaser was ok but you have to be mindful they're small cramped budget vans, they're not like a lux Britz Merc Sprinter, it all comes down to dollars… I only paid $34 per night for the Chaser, about $2k for 2 months, for solo travel I couldn't justify spending more… Looking now the Chaser rates have gone up significantly, probably due to tourism picking up over there and ski season coming on…
The only heating is the engine or a 240v fan heater if you're in a paid/powered camp (I think you normally have to pay a small extra fee to get the 240v heater)… The main issue with cold weather free camping is the condensation and moisture, it's not too much of an issue if you're driving decent miles each day and running the vans heater to dry the place out but if you stop for multiple days they tend to get very damp, all your clothes and bedding end up feeling damp… I slept up top in the Condo for a couple of nights in temps around zero and it seemed ok, in the chasers I stayed down the bottom, being in a van with lots of windows I dont think it makes much difference where you sleep, it will be cold in winter…
I free camped for most the trip but when the weather was real bad, when there were no free camps, and towards the end when I was worn out I used paid powered sites… Places like Fiordland there's basically no free camps so you're forced to pay for camping, and around Queenstown the free camps are pretty crappy and quite restrictive, you can only use them from 5pm to 9am or risk a $200 fine… .. I ended up paying $314 for 15 nights in powered camps in the second half of the trip..
I use the Wikicamps app to find camps and such, it costs about $4 for android and about the same for win and apple I think, there's also the free Campermate app and a couple of others but I find Wikicamps more user friendly, I've used it for years in Aus so it's just what I'm used to, I like that it shows if there's phone reception at the camps and such, and no ads…
Free camps vary a lot, most are just gravel parking areas, some local gov areas welcome free camping and have quite good camps with loos, others have pretty much removed all the free camps due to backpackers shitting all over the place and doing the wrong thing…. I tend to avoid roadside camps and ones in towns because it's a bit of a sport in NZ to honk at and harass free campers at night due to so many backpackers doing the wrong thing… I had no issues at all for the ~45 nights I free camped over there… (I've done 500+ nights free camping in Aus in recent years so I think I have a feel for where to camp and where not to camp)
That White road reserve camp was just convenient and close to Christchurch and the Jucy depot so I used it for the first night and third night because I had to hang around Christchurch to swap the Condo for the Chaser at the start, that was just a gravel area in an upper class rural area… A lot of the free camps around Christchurch seem to have issues with local hoons hanging around drinking and doing donuts and such, that one was out of the way a little and in a good area so I figured I was unlikely to have issues there… (reading the comments in Wikicamps can give you a bit of an idea of what camps are like)
I have a 2.4L petrol/carb Hiace Commuter bus in Australia and it's fairly good on fuel, average around 10.5L/100km..
The jap import 2L petrol Hiaces that Jucy use are significantly worse, doing the sums, between the 3 vans I did 7242km and used 950L of fuel, so average 7.6 km/l, 13.15 L/100km…. Fuel is pricey in NZ, I averaged about $2.07 per L (I used Flybuys NZ discounts and hunted out cheap fuel with the Gaspy app where ever possible, avoid buying fuel in remote areas, top up in cheap major towns to get you through the expensive areas)… I spent $1970 on fuel for the 7242km…
(I do a lot of miles while touring so it's a bit of a game to get the best fuel efficiency I can, I always drive very sedately… If you drive it like you stole it like a lot do with rentals the figures would probably be worse)
I must have been lucky, I didn't need a UV light to see the stains in the 3 vans I've had, lol
![[QLD, NSW, VIC, SA] 15% off Jucy Campervan Hires (Travel Dates May to Dec 20 2021)](https://files.ozbargain.com.au/n/21/631321.jpg?h=00a54fcd)
I hope the upkeep of the Aussie ones is better than the Kiwi ones, I've spent the last 2 months touring NZ telling myself "you get what you pay for", lol… Mechanically they seem to be maintained ok but otherwise they're a bit of a let down..