Review: Travellers-Autobarn.
Travellers-Autobarn rents campervans, cars and motorhomes.
The cars are station wagons and small sedans, the campervans are 2 and 3 berth vans and the motorhomes are sub-hired from a 3rd party.
Their range of campervans is broad enough to cater for a couple of different price ranges with the budget model, “Chubby”, going out for approx $40 per day, through to their “Deluxe” going out for around $60.
The “Chubby” budget van, is based on the Misubishi express, as are most budget models out there. Each Chubby is individually painted, the age range is 3-4 years old and the fittings are pretty much industry standard: sleeps 2, esky for cold storage, kitchenette sink, food storage at the back and cooking with the rear door up. There are a handful of companies that are adding awnings/tents to the back door to protect you from the elements whilst cooking, the Chubby is one of these. The “easy to assemble” awning comes standard with the hire and can save you getting wet if you have to cook whilst it is raining. Overall, the awning is that main thing setting this vehicle apart from its closest competitors as there is very little difference between them otherwise. One final thing to note though is that they have a headphone jack in the CD player to plug in your ipod. These are excruciatingly rare so keep that in mind if the music you listen to in your travels is high on importance agenda.
Pros:
Comes with the rear door awning
iPod jack and CD player
Under 21 rentals
Cheap
Cons:
No pop-top or hi top option
Mitsubishi is not as reliable as Toyota
The Hi Top is the next price level up at around $50pd. This model is for those that want a little more room and a little more luxury. Seating and sleeping 3, the Hi Top allows for sleeping “upstairs” and “downstairs” – 1 up and 2 down. Great if you have a child or friend coming along. Cooking facilities allow for entirely inside cooking and it comes with a fridge and a microwave. The microwave will only run when connected to mains power like when camped a caravan park or similar. The fridge is dual power so will run on the house battery and the mains. Like nearly all budget campervans, it is a manual gear vehicle (stick shift), so if you can’t drive one of those, you will have to move up a price range or 2. The beauty of the hi-top is that you can stand upright in the vehicle. On longer trips, or for taller people, this is a fantastic option. It also allows for extra storage in the area above the drivers head. Never fear though, this vehicle already has plenty of cupboard space inside. The downside of the hi-top is that the extra height causes extra drag on the vehicle and the fuel economy is reduced. If doing a super long journey, this will have some impact on fuel bills.
Pros:
extra people capacity
stand up inside
cook inside
Cons:
fuel efficiency not great
can’t park in undercover car parks
The top of the line is the Hi-top deluxe at around $60pd. The difference between the normal and deluxe hi-top is the newness. The deluxe vehicles are newer and hence have overall less wear and tear. The fittings and upholstery are nicer and any recent design improvements are going to be found in these vehicles. One new design element is the slide out bench that pops out through the side door, but that is hardly a deal maker. Generally, there are more lights, prettier laminate on the cupboards, thicker cushions and even carpet on the ceiling but overall design of the vehicle is the same. So if you like a little more “pamper” on your journeys, this is the one for you. Stupidly, if you want to be able to play your iPod, you will have to rent the Chubby, because you can’t plug in to the hi-tech AM/FM radio.
(Only joking, really, what you are going to have to do is buy one of those little local transmitters that plugs in to the cigarette lighter socket and broadcasts your iPod to the FM radio)
Pros:
newer and nicer than any other in the range
3 people
cook inside
Cons:
Most expensive
Not the best fuel economy
As mentioned earlier, the 4 berth and 6 berth motorhome are sub rented from a 3rd party. They don’t really mention that on their web site, but a keen eye will tell you from the photos that they are getting them from Around Australia Motorhomes, so if you are getting a quote, do yourself a favour and check directly with AAM for a price as well.
To see more reviews, head back to the campervan hire home page. If you are sick of reading reviews and just want to compare prices, click on the compare prices button below.
| Ratings | |
| Vehicle Quality |  |
| Service |  |
| Value for Money | |
| Overall | |
We spent 4 weeks in a Budget Camper – it’s a bit old but it was great value for money. Had a great time travelling from Perth to Darwin – especially the Exmouth area is just wonderful…
I hired a campervan from Perth for 10 days and toured the whole southwest coast from Esperance to Perth. Campervan was great value and so easy – just pull up anywhere and set up for the night with minimal fuss. The vans are a bit older than some of the other companies, but WAY cheaper and in great shape. I was travelling by myself so spent a bit on petrol, but for 2 or 3 people it would be perfect.
We had a high top campervan from Travellers Autobarn for 3 weeks. The price was great, but the campervan was old and dirty. We spent a few hours on the first day cleaning the interior and after that it was OK, apart from the passenger seat, which was so worn out that one side was 3 inches lower than the other – extremely uncomfortable and gave me severe back pain. I develeped a system of packing out the seat with cardboard and towels, and that allowed us to keep going, although it was a bit of a nuisance to adjust the padding whenever we got on and off.
Technically the van was sound, no problems, and all the appliances worked OK. The pots and pans and cutlery were fine, but the bedding and towels were terrible, old and smelly. It didn’t matter to us because we’d brought our own, and the towels came in handy for padding out the broken passenger seat, but I wouldn’t have wanted to sleep in those sleeping bags.
After a while we got used to everything being worn and tatty and having little niggly things like cupboard doors that wouldn’t stay shut while we were driving. We realized it is almost impossible to keep the van clean when getting in and out all the time, particularly in wet weather that gives you muddy shoes, so having an older one that we didn’t have to worry about was good in a way.
The service was extremely friendly, and the price was all inclusive, no extra for the gas bottle which you didn’t have to refil before returning the van. We took out the additional insurance to remove the excess, which again was much cheaper than with some other companies.
On balance, we’d be prepared to use Travellers Autobarn again. It’s important to understand that their prices are so low because the vans are old and quite worn inside. They said that they put their effort into keeping the vehicles mechanically sound rather than clean, which kind of makes sense.
The friendly service helped to overlook some of the problems.
**WARNING**
Darwin office is very unprofessional and ripped me off. Booked a Van for the week ending Sat, only to fly all the way up there from Melb to speak to a very rude manager there who simply said that he didnt want to come in on a Sat so “sort it out” forced to change flights and alter trip. The van had no running water, and the stove did not work, I didnt figure this out until I was in the middle of Kakadu… I was never refunded my lost day and my Sec deposit took six weeks to find its way back to my account. VERY RUDE DARWIN MANAGER…