The King of New Zealand Campervans
In November 2009, my partner and I traveled to New Zealand to attend a "back-to-earth gathering". Planning to be in the country for a few months, we figured that it would be economical to buy a campervan and sell it at the end of our trip. Indeed, NZ van rentals start around $100 per day. A three-month rental would put you somewhere around $9,000. We spent a week in Auckland buying our van and having it prepared. We knew we had bought a great van, but it was a few weeks until we realized we had bought the King of NZ campervans.
Why "the King"?
This is going to sound awful... But once we started driving, over the weeks, we started to feel a bit sorry for 99 percent of the travelers who had also bought campervans. Why? Comfort, comfort, comfort. Almost every "backpacker van" on the road would be a torture if two people had to spend entire afternoons sitting in the back. And spending time in your van is the reality of van travel in NZ. It rains a lot in this country. We spent days and days in the back of our van. It felt as loungy as a cosy living room!What makes this van so comfortable?
There are many Toyota Hiace vans in NZ, but there are perhaps only two or three Toyota Hiace Commuter DX vans. Nothing on the traveler market comes close to it for comfort and reliability. And the way this van is equipped (starting with the large queen-size bed that converts into two "sofas" on which you can sit or lounge all day) puts it in a league of its own.
Natural High Top = You Can Sit Around All Day!
Ninety-nine percent of backpacker vans in NZ (including Toyota Hiace vans) have a low roof."What do you mean, low?"
Sure, these vans are higher than mere sedans. But once you put a bed in there, if you try to sit on the bed, well, you simply cannot, because your head will bump against the ceiling. Imagine spending months and months sitting on a bed with your back bent over. That's what most NZ van travelers have to do. Ouch! Not for us.
A few (not many) vans on the backpacker market have plastic high tops. They are not quite as good as natural high tops because they may leak. Nevertheless, they sure beat the regular low roofs. A high top is a must if you want to be able to live in a van: You have to be able to sit comfortably. By the way, the woman in the picture is 5'9" tall (175cm).
True Long Wheel Base = Two Rooms
Many ads for Toyota Hiace vans advertise that the van has a "long wheel base". But on inspection, most of these vans do not have a long wheel base! They just have the regular Toyota Hiace length. The "long wheel base" is just advertising BS for new buyers who don't know the difference.
The long wheel base makes a big difference in comfort. It allows us two comfortable spaces:
- a full-length, large queen-size bed (which converts into two awesome "sofas"),
- a "work space" for cooking and other such activities.
When two people are stuck in a van, unless they are very very much in love with each other, it is wonderful to have independent spaces where they can each do their own thing.
Queen-Size Bed Converts into Two Sofas!
Most traveler vans have wide beds that are wonderful for sleeping when night comes. During the day, they are a waste of space: Who wants to lie down all day? Sadly, most travelers are stuck with vans where most of the space is completely wasted during the day. You simply cannot hang out comfortably all day on a bed, especially when the roof is low. You really need a place that is comfortable to sit.
On each side of the corridor, there is a long "sofa". Each of us can lie down on the sofas. Or we can sit up comfortably for hours—near the front, in the middle, at the back, wherever we fancy. You could fit eight people sitting and facing each other on the two sofas.
The Best Storage
In most traveler vans, there is some storage space underneath the bed. But it is very impractical to access: How to get that shirt you need from right under the middle of the bed? From the back? From the front? Quickly, most backpackers give up and throw their gear all over their beds. It is a very, very messy way to live for any length of time.
The bins have different colors so we know what is what. My partner and I each have a bin for our personal stuff. Then there are boxes for toiletries, food, tools, etc.
Two Pop-Up Tables
It's really nice to have tables inside a van. In the "kitchen space" and in the back of the van, we have two great wooden tables that can fold back, freeing up the space.Table in "work space" / kitchen. This is where the gas stove sits most of the time, as well as our mugs for tea and other often-used items. Thanks to a hinge, the table can fold back alongside the right wall of the van. If you do that, it leaves you with an even larger work space.
Table in the back. When you open the back door of the van, you can unfold this table in one second and attach its chains to two hooks inside the van. It's very convenient if it's sunny and you want to cook outside.
Insect Netting
Have you heard about sand flies? These little insects are all over the South island. Thousands of them attack you every morning and night, leaving you with bites that burn for days.Does that mean you must lock yourself in the van and close all the windows? You will suffocate from the heat, especially if you use the stove to make tea. This is a major problem for most van travelers.
Our van has strong insect netting that can be affixed to all the major windows in a matter of seconds. That lets us open the windows and get a cross-breeze—wonderful on hot afternoons.
Other Niceties
The interior of the van has two unusual features that make it extremely easy to put stuff away.
Hooks. We have a few hooks along the inside of the van. Convenient for hanging lamps, hair ties, etc.
Equipment
We bought a lot of equipment for the van.
Bedding. Two new folding mattresses, two new pillows, two cushions, two pillowcases, one queen-size fitted sheet, two queen-size regular sheets, two doona (comforter) covers.
Other Kitchen Gear. Two stainless steel pots (one medium, one large). Salad bowl. Two plates, two bowls. Ladle, spoons, knife, cutting board. Strainer, tupperware containers and much more.
Mattock (= Instant Toilet). When we arrived in NZ, we learned that some locals have a poor opinion of backpackers who travel in their own van. Why? Supposedly, they camp on the side of the road and leave an unsightly mess behind. In fact, backpackers' campervans are sometimes called "crappervans". To me, that's a bit ironic given that the only people we saw leaving toilet paper behind their van while traveling in NZ were Kiwis (see this story). It seems more like a public relation campaign by the tourism industry designed to get travelers to spend more money by either (i) renting expensive vans with toilets or (ii) staying in campgrounds.
Electric Food Cooler ("fridge"). This is basically a large ice box (what Aussies call an 'eskie') with a long cable that plugs into the cigarette lighter adapter. If you buy vegetables on a hot day, you have a fridge. The rest of the time, it's a great seat in the "work space".
Table and Chairs. In addition to the two pop-up tables inside the van, we have a folding table that is convenient when we want to eat outside. It comes with two folding chairs.
Lonely Planet Guides and Full Set of Maps. Full set of detailed maps of NZ regions (19 maps, numbered). Lonely Planet NZ, 2008. Tramping in New Zealand (also Lonely Planet), 6th edition. Also the North and South Island guides of Department of Conservation campgrounds.
Tools. Screw drivers, hand saw, tomahawk, velcro, tape, rope, WD-40, spare bulb, extension cord and much more.
Six-Person Tent. We bought this tent in case we found a place where we would camp for several weeks. The idea was to use the tent as a bedroom and the van as living room and kitchen. A six-person tent is perfect size for two people!
It's a Toyota, Dude!
In Australia, they have another name for Mitsubishi: Bits Are Missing. This tells you something about the reliability of the L300, a popular backpacker van. Poor choice.You can find old vans made by Ford, Mazda, Nissan, but the question is this: why would you ever buy one? Toyota are known to make van engines that last forever. Some people strip the NZ vans and send the engines to Africa, where they start a new life and clock another million kilometres.
If you want to avoid hassle, buy a Toyota. It's that simple.
Ownership History
The van was made in Japan in 1987 and imported to New Zealand in 1992. The first NZ owner was the Flying Mini Bus company (close to Auckland). They kept the van for 17 years. That is a really good thing, because owners of buses really have to stay on top of mechanical maintenance. This van has been beautifully maintained. The body is "clean": if you look along the sides, you see a clean straight line, which means it has not been in a crash. If you lift your hands from the steering wheel, it will drive straight forever. There are very few rust spots, which suggests that the van has been garaged for most of its life.After the Flying Mini Bus Company, over a period of one month, the van was passed on to a string of dealers (five!) until it found its way to one who specializes in selling vans to travelers. That is how the van market works in NZ. Here is the list of dealers:
Classic Car Mart
Enterprise Motor Group (sold in one day).
Ahmad Naser (three weeks; we contacted this gentleman and confirmed that he is a dealer).
BMR Motorhomes (sold in one day).
Edward Henry Storey (11 days).
Therefore, we were the van's second NZ owner (apart from dealers). And we were the van's first traveler owner. That is a very good thing, because most vans on the NZ market tend to pass from backpacker to backpacker every few months. Most backpackers tend to do zero maintenance at all on their vans. So most vans on the market are junk. You don't know what you're buying and what's going to break down.
We paid $30 to purchase the Vehicle Information Report from vir.co.nz. On this page you can download that report as a pdf file.
On the report, there was one "warning" about the odometer readings (page 2): four readings over a period of one year (March 1999 to May 2000) were lower than before, then they jumped right back up. Looking at it closely, we could clearly see what had happened: the mechanic who had taken these four readings that year had dropped the last number (as though it was the 1/10th km indicator). If you add a zero to the four low readings, they are perfectly consistent and fall beautifully on the curve. That is the only way we found to explain the jump from 21,000 km in May 2000 to 218,000 in October. Here are the corrected readings:
Oct '97: 145,326
Mar '99: 183,000 (not 18,300)
Oct '99: 195,580 (not 19,558)
May '00: 210,030 (not 21,003)
Oct '00: 218,248
With this understanding, we felt perfectly safe about the odometer report. In fact, we felt lucky to have "cracked the code" that might worry other potential buyers about the van (we were competing with another couple).
Fuel Economy
Depending on whether we drive on a flat highway or mountain twisters, we use between 10 and 11 litres per 100 kilometres. That's extremely low for a vehicle this size and age. But there's a catch: We try not to drive over 80 kms / hour.We gave ourselves the 80kms rule on the first days, when we didn't yet feel very confident driving a big van and wanted to be safe. Then we realized that we enjoy feeling safe all the time! And there wasn't really any rush. So we've tried to stay at 80 or below, which can be a challenge as in fifth gear it's easy to go faster without noticing it.
Maintenance
It is said that the engines in Toyota vans can go a million kilometers if they are well maintained. This is an extremely easy van to run, but we do have a schedule that we follow religiously.Oil. We check it every morning. If we drive long distances everyday, we need to top up about once a week (older engines all consume a bit of oil). The van had an oil change when we bought it. They recommended doing the next oil change after 10,000 kms, but we like to keep our vehicle in top shape and we did it after 5,000. (For my records: the mechanic used 10W30.)
Water. As with oil, older vans all use a bit of water. The radiator is full of green cooling fluid. We check the radiator every morning and add a few drops of water when needed.
Work. When we bought the van, we spent a bit of time in Auckland to change a few parts to make the van even more reliable (even though it already had a Warrant of Fitness). We changed:
- the front ball joints,
- the radiator hose,
- the rear right shock.
Selling the Van
Update: We sold the van. We left New Zealand on 27 April, after the end of the tourist season. At the time, we were living in Nelson, and there happened to be an intense newspaper campaign against backpacker campervans not equipped with a toilet. Alledgedly, many freedom campers leave a mess behind. It was the wrong time and the wrong place to be selling a campervan. (More about that campaign later.)We were not able to sell the van before we left. We planned to return six months later and considered storing the van over the Winter (June through August in the southern hemisphere). The costs were high (at least $30 a week). But we met a car dealer we really liked. He offered to do a a "behalf sale" for us—what is called a consignment sale in the States. He would store the van on his lot, take care of the registration, help potential buyers with financing, pay the proceeds into our account. And if he didn't sell the van, we could have it back. It was very attractive for us.
It wasn't easy to find a buyer in the middle of Winter. But after two months, John wired the money into our bank account.
Just in case, here are John's details, bearing in mind that he may not be interested in taking other vans as that's not the focus of his business.
John Byrnam at 24/7 Cars
Corner Parkers Rd & Muritai St, Tahunanui, Nelson
Office 03 547 2651, Mobile 027 432 0042, email on the website.
In the end, we lost US$1,200 on the van over five months ($170 a month). We can't complain about that. And we could very well have made that amount instead of losing it—we were unlucky with timing.
Other Great Vans
While traveling in NZ, we looked at all the vans we came across. The main reason was that we were so in love with living in our van that we wanted to know the names of all models of potential vans to buy if we bought one again in Australia.
Nissan Homy DX 1987. Also a spacious van. Same comment as above.
Recent Toyota Hiace vans. There are recent Toyota hi-top, long-wheel base Hiace vans around. Some of them are four-wheel-drive (Hiace 4WD Full Time Grand Cabin), which would be a great benefit on muddy roads. In January 2010, we saw a beautiful 2000 Hiace van (hi-top, long-wheel base, two-wheel-drive) offered for $36,000. Gorgeous but out of reach for most travelers.
We saw only one other van like ours (rego SH4656). It was owned by a local, who had done a beautiful job on the interior (red cushy chairs!), though the set-up would not have been as practical for our needs.
The Campaign against Freedom Campers
As I mentioned in the section about the mattock, I have a hard time believing that the campaign against freedom campers is sincere, as the only people I saw leaving toilet paper and wine cartons behind their vehicles were Kiwis (see this story). To me, it smells a lot like a lobbying effort by the chamber of commerce to get backpackers into paid accommodation or expensive rental vans.In my view, this is a short-sighted effort that will probalby bite the New Zealand tourism industry in their behind. If I had to do it again, given the anti-freedom-camper climate, I don't know if I would buy a camper van. And in that case, given the time and expense of traveling to that part of the world, I don't know if I would visit New Zealand at all.
That being said, not everyone loves tourists, so many people would see that as a good thing. If I were a local and not connected to tourism, I might not be so excited about spending hours stuck behind tourist vans on mountain roads.
Also, I am certain that a number of freedom campers do leave a mess behind. Travel has changed so much in the last thirty years. Seeing the world is "a thing to do", so everyone does it. Every country is full of tourists who would never have left their home town a generation or two ago. Frankly, I'm not sure they should ever have left, as I see a great deal of cultural insensitivity in countries I visit. A lot of tourists act like morons, so locals don't respect visitors. That makes it hard for everyone. I actually don't want to travel anymore.
But back to New Zealand. What's the solution? Sure, banning freedom camping is one. But if I were dictator, I might lean in the direction of education. Perhaps there could be a freedom camping license: before you camp on the road with your van, you have to answer a few questions that show you've read a leaflet about how to deal with rubbish, grey water and human waste at your campsite. Also, you have to show that you have a shovel or mattock in your van. That earns you a sticker that you put on your back window. Yeah, it will never happen… but we're allowed to dream!
Wishing you a beautiful time touring NZ,
Smiles,
Andy
ps: If you have enjoyed this page, I would be immensely grateful if you would link to it, bookmark it or share it. You can also comment using the form below.
There are 2 comments
July 03, 2010 - 22:19
Subject: Campervan questions
Hi, Enjoyed your blog and the information about the camper van. Thanks. My wife and I planned to buy a toyota hiace high top and after reading about your set up we are sold on the idea. Would you mind if we corresponded about how you converted the van? It would be much appreciated. Specifically, I am interested if you converted it yourself or if you had anyone do it for you?
Thank you.
Robby and Court
July 04, 2010 - 20:01
Subject: Re: Campervan questions
Hi Robby,
Great to hear from you. Actually when we bought the van it had just been converted by two Iranian guys in Auckland who specialize in that. Great guys, fun to deal with. Here's their contact info for anyone who might be interested. -Andy
***Contact for Nasser & Saïd***
Workshop: +64-09-813-0148
25A Sabulite Rd, Kelston, Auckland
Saïd: 027-607-6528
Nasser: 027-472-6055
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