The Youngest and Most Modern Rental Vehicle Fleet in Australia is the Kea claim. The maximum age of the rental vehicle fleet is 2.5 years.
What I like about Kea is that they manufacture their own vehicles in Australia and New Zealand. This means that they have the ability to incorporate, from the ground up, the latest technology and design concepts. They have also differentiated from the other big players by using different base vehicles. Their smallest vehicle is based on the Volkswagen T5 long wheel base turbo diesel, not a Toyota petrol van. Being a diesel will save you bucks in the long hauls across Australia and in some remote places, it is the only kind of fuel you can find. Being a 2WD vehicle though, you probably won’t find yourself that remote.
This small vehicle has also been styled differently by using the “Trakka” style angled pop top rather than a full pop top. But be warned, you may be banging heads if you forget what end you are at when you stand up. The front seats swivel around so once stopped you can face in to the car, it comes with a 90l bar fridge, some storage around the back, the patented “off angle” style of table, water tanks, solar power, internal cooking, 12v house battery, 240v socket, auto transmission and even the kitchen sink. And at 10l fuel per 100km is pretty fuel economic. The drawback? Around $185pd. Yep, this company is going for luxury.
Luxury is the theme throughout the range, with even a 2 berth having a shower/toilet facility. After that, it just gets bigger and more luxurious. If you are after style and comfort, then you will want a Kea.
They also have a 4WD that I am quite fond of. Like all other good ones, it is based on the Toyota Landcruiser. They’d be silly not too as it is the most reliable car in the outback. But unlike the others they have gone all out with the feng shui – or completely ruined it, depending on your point of view. Angles all over the place, they have completely re-thought what you can do in the back of a 4WD. Again with the luxury they have most things you need, but I gotta say a 38ltr water tank is the little small, and seeing as they are the luxury leaders, I’d like to see them put in a stereo with an iPod connection. It’s a long road out there and Toyota only ever put in a CD player – lame! (but all troop carriers suffer this audio disability, so don’t hold it against Kea).
Kea is the place you want to look at for luxury, just leave any concerns about budget out of the equation.
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 |  |
joeichy
from Australia
Ranking: 9/10
What an excellent little van. We had a hightop turbo diesel VW which was perfect for my wife and I. I can’t believe how …
What an excellent little van. We had a hightop turbo diesel VW which was perfect for my wife and I. I can’t believe how economical it was (around 8L/100k) but still with plenty of power! Only a couple of minor niggles: the motorized bed mechanism needed some help and the grey water tank was slow to empty and didn’t always empty fully. The turbo wine was a little annoying but otherwise it was all good. I’m even thinking of buying one to travel around Oz. The staff at pickup & drop off time were excellent. Got picked up from our 1st night accommodation and dropped off to the airport! Great service.
Reviewed 07 August 2010
Versteeg
from Netherlands
Ranking: 9/10
Very good briefing when we collected the campervan. In the campervan everything is functioning well.
Reviewed 06 August 2010 and experienced in May 2010
Wegmann Regula
from Switzerland
Ranking: 8/10
A good car with power for drive over the hills.
A good car with power for drive over the hills.
Reviewed 01 August 2010 and experienced in May 2010
Anna
from Germany
Ranking: 9/10
Very professional, great campervan, nice people.
Reviewed 01 August 2010 and experienced in May 2010
girlwithpoodles
from New Zealand, Aotearoa
Ranking: 10/10
We hired a 6-berth kea camper for two adults and two children for 5 days. I was a little nervous about taking preschoolers on holiday in a campervan but we all had a wonderful time and the 5 days was not long enough. It was great being able to pull over whenever the kids needed a break, and then relax in our own private lounge in the back, for lunch, afternoon tea or whatever.
The engine on the campervan was very gutsy and handled roads without any trouble. We did have a small problem early on but the staff at Kea were quick at fixing it. Overall, customer service was great.
We’d like to go away again next winter, but for longer, and will definitely be hiring a Kea again.
Reviewed 08 July 2010
ChrisJudd
from Australia
Ranking: 10/10
Right from the get-go, a great experience with KEA. We had seen their smart looking motorhomes on the roads on a previous trip to NZ, and decided to give them a try – good decision! Easy and informative website for info and bookings. Prompt and courteous email communication. Complementary pick-up from the CBD to KEA’s base found us lucked onto a near-new 4 berth vehicle for our 15 day adventure. Sparkling clean with all the whiz-bang gadgets like Satellite TV, CD/DVD/MP3 player, reversing camera, etc. Sooo easy to drive the impressively powerful and quite economical Ford Transit diesel powered machine – the 3,000kms we clocked up just flew by. One small and frivolous complaint – they inadvertently short-sheeted us; supplying only 3 bedsheets instead of 4. It mattered so little in the scheme of things that we forgot to mention it in the hand-back debrief. Staff at the depot were attentive and genuinely keen to make sure we were going to have the best chance for a fabulous holiday. 10/10 KEA! And yes, we’d be very happy to do it again with them. Cheers! Chris & Erica, Brisbane.
Reviewed 18 June 2010
jennifer123
from Australia
Ranking: 9/10
The MotorHome was fantastic, it is the best way to tour. We are going to do it next year, hopefully with Kea. Would have liked an awning and bigger doonas, everything was very clean and modern, would like to say thankyou to Kea for great service. Cheers Jen & Tomo Aussie
Reviewed 15 June 2010
larsskou
from Denmark
Ranking: 10/10
My wife and I went for three weeks in January 2010.
We were so happy with the KEA experience that we would happily reccommend friends and family ( and everyone else) to “do” Australia with KEA campers. Friendly and hospitable staff helping us to have the best trip ever. We were thrilled with the standard of the campervan. Top notch!
Reviewed 27 May 2010 and experienced in January 2010
I would rent from Kea again.
The vehicle was a 6 berth Ford Transit from KEA that had plenty of power and was easy to drive. The vehicle cabin heating was an issue since we drove through the southern highlands of NSW and the Snowy Mountains in winter, very warm clothing was required when driving.
The van itself was fantastic, clean and well laid out, however the house heater does not work well so a fan heater was required overnight to keep the van warm.
We were a bit cramped for a family of 4 and would definitely recommend the 4 seater if only 4 people are travelling, as they are more spacious – same van body so more room to move.
We used caravan parks to stay overnight so we had 240v power and real showers, the BIG 4 parks are definitely more comfortable and you get a 10% discount through KEA – Bonus. The water tank in the vehicle was 140 ltrs but we had to fill it every day as it leaked terribly – good thing we stayed in the caravan parks. We covered 1800kms in 9 days and had a great time we will do it all again next year, just less kms as there is so much to see and do in southern NSW.
The overall cost was less than $300 a day including van hire, fuel, and park fees so for us it was a good value holiday.