Vehicle hire and unsealed roads in Tasmania

[johnw]

I'm planning to come down again in August and spend about 3 weeks touring around. We intend to focus mainly on the NE and NW regions (eg Blue Tier, Tarkine) including doing a number of bushwalks (day trips only this time). Instead of using our own 4WD and coming over on the ferry, as we've done in the past for this type of trip, to avoid driving to Melbourne we plan to fly to Launceston and hire a vehicle.

From past experience many access roads into NPs, state forests and other reserves are unsealed and can be a bit rough/corrugated (eg Mersey Forest Rd). Of necessity we will be using roads like that at times and don't want to be restricted as to where we can go. Probably won't need a 4WD but AWD might be handy (Nissan X Trail or similar).

Does anyone have any recommendations or experiences (bad or good) with car rental companies in regard to allowing unsealed road driving (eg any disputes, unfair charges or ridiculous exclusions).

Is there a local company that specialises in hiring for this purpose (and may be more accommodating than the major operators)? I have already contacted one national rental company and they indicated that unsealed road usage is OK as long as they're mapped public roads. However their documented terms and conditions appear to read differently.

[tasadam]

All I know is what I have heard, and that is hire cars aren't allowed on unsealed roads, if you do you aren't insured. Not necessarily fact, just what I've heard.
Not worth the risk in my opinion.
Whether there are exceptions, I don't know.
If someone can't come up with anything helpful, sing out & I will contact a few local companies to find out what the go is.
Cheers!

[scockburn]

I think Tasadam is correct. I was using a hire car down there in May and was clearly of the opinion that I was not covered off the sealed roads. Worried me a little when the road suddenly turned into a dirt road . I think it is a risk to go off the black stuff as far as the policy is concerned. There might be some of the backpacker type companies who are willing to be flexible . Steve c

[Ent]

Content removed by poster

[tastrax]

.... I have already contacted one national rental company and they indicated that unsealed road usage is OK as long as they're mapped public roads. However their documented terms and conditions appear to read differently.....

That would lead me to be somewhat skeptical about where you could take the vehicle. Maybe spell out exactly where you would like to go and list the roads and make sure you get a response in writing/email.

If they only give you a 1:1,000,000 map then it wont have many "mapped public roads"! Now if you have a 1:25,000 map then its a different story - there are lots of "mapped ..... roads" on there but how do you tell if they are public? ...not behind a locked gate?

To give you an idea all the fire trails over Mt Wellington are on maps and from personal experience I can tell you that many of those are OK for 4WD but some are a figment of the cartographers imagination!

[Darren]

G'Day
I have hired quite a few cars in Tassie and always used them on dirt roads. Last chrissy when i was signing up the bloke behind the counter said dirt roads are ok just not tracks. Of course if i did some damage that conversation would have never happened. I generally just take the risk and use a little common sense when driving.
I also didn’t get extra insurance and left it up at the end of the Frenchman’s loop trail and was a little nervous.
Darren

[tasadam]

Every want to while away hours of you life sit in on a meeting between the respective authorities to find out who should maintain a road, Kath and Kim have nothing on the antics that go on at these meetings.

[Off topic] This statement reminded me of a bit of a political circus called the Senate that I was listening to on the radio yesterday.
The bells ring, the doors are locked, a couple of people do some counting, the result once again is 33 each so the amendment is defeated. Each vote taking 10 to 15 minutes and each one we could tell what the outcome would be, because you know where the numbers sit.
What an expensive farce - these people actually have to be in the room before the doors are locked to count for a vote, even though they weren't there to hear the bill amendment proposal.
And after the count they return to their offices to continue what they were doing while Abetz and the others continue their bill amendment discussions.

And we pay for that?[/Off topic]

[johnw]

I have hired quite a few cars in Tassie and always used them on dirt roads. Last chrissy when i was signing up the bloke behind the counter said dirt roads are ok just not tracks. Of course if i did some damage that conversation would have never happened. I generally just take the risk and use a little common sense when driving.

Yep, that's a similar response to what I got over the phone. "No you won't have any problems as long as they're mapped roads and you don't want to go above the snowline, such as up to Ben Lomond (etc)".

I think (hope) that most people would be sensible and usually nothing happens. I suspect the problems arise if something does goes awry and the definitions around what's restricted are delightfully ambiguous. The relevant bits from the hire company I'm considering:

"...The Vehicle must not be used by You or by any Authorised Driver (unless authorised by Us in writing):

(Except where Snowpak coverage is purchased) above the snow line being either the entrance to national parks in which snow falls or areas in which snow chains are required to be fitted (by the relevant authority).

On any unsealed road (being a road not sealed with a hard material such as tar, bitumen or concrete) unless the Vehicle is a 4WD in which case it may also be used on graded unsealed roads. No Vehicle (including 4WDs) may be used on off road conditions. Off road conditions include but not is limited to fire trails, beaches, sand, tracks, fields or paddocks."

Hmm, reminiscing - The very first time I visited Tasmania was with my wife back in 1980. Hadn't even taken up bushwalking then . We hired a car and drove around for two weeks, occasionally on some horrible dirt roads, without incident. Returned it filthy but undamaged, and without complaint from the hire company (which I'm pretty sure is the same one I've just been talking to). Times change .

[johnw]

If someone can't come up with anything helpful, sing out & I will contact a few local companies to find out what the go is.

Thanks Adam, still researching for now .

[Ent]

Content removed by poster

[johnw]

...only park that I can think of that you can get to without some gravel road except may be Mount Field...

Only down around the visitors centre. In fact I think even parts of that may be unsealed (might be wrong). But if you go up the Lake Dobson road, where most of the longer walks start, it's gravel all the way. About 17km of it from memory.

[johnw]

...only park that I can think of that you can get to without some gravel road except may be Mount Field...

Afterthought. Cradle Mtn, sealed all the way to Dove Lake. Although I wouldn't drive it anyway, always take the bus down.

[north-north-west]

...only park that I can think of that you can get to without some gravel road except may be Mount Field...

Afterthought. Cradle Mtn, sealed all the way to Dove Lake. Although I wouldn't drive it anyway, always take the bus down.

Ummmm . . . and Lake St Clair. And the start of the Frenchman's Cap track (well, they can climb Mt Mullens, can't they?) And parts of the Tasman. And then there's always Wellington . . .

[Orion]

From the Terms and Conditions for Budget/Avis:

WHERE YOU CAN AND CANNOT DRIVE THE VEHICLE
6.1 You and any Authorised Driver must only use the Vehicle on a road
which is properly formed and constructed as a sealed, metalled or
gravel road.

The guy at the counter added that any road we could find on a regular map would be okay.

But no accidents so we never tested the theory.

[wilcirrus]

The last time I checked in 2007, Budget allowed its cars to be driven on unsealed roads & it seemed to be the only hire car company to do so. I drove a Budget hire car from Launceston to the Walls of Jerulsalem car park & didn't have any problems.

[johnw]

From the Terms and Conditions for Budget/Avis:

WHERE YOU CAN AND CANNOT DRIVE THE VEHICLE
6.1 You and any Authorised Driver must only use the Vehicle on a road
which is properly formed and constructed as a sealed, metalled or
gravel road.

The guy at the counter added that any road we could find on a regular map would be okay.

The last time I checked in 2007, Budget allowed its cars to be driven on unsealed roads & it seemed to be the only hire car company to do so. I drove a Budget hire car from Launceston to the Walls of Jerulsalem car park & didn't have any problems.

Thanks to all who replied. I have dumped my original plan and gone with a 4WD from Budget after more research and ringing their office in Launnie the other day. The response was as above and they seem to be one of few who don't seem to have too many issues with unsealed road use, as long as it's a formed public road. I also gave the WOJ example and what I could identify as A, B or C roads on a tourist map; they said no problems with any of those. We're staying at Corinna for a couple of days and looks like there are no sealed roads into there. Also gave the OK for that. Only issue may be tracks in forestry areas (these are not considered public roads). Need to check if any access roads we might want to use are in that category. And you definitely can't ford any creeks regardless of the road type.

[johnw]

...gone with a 4WD from Budget after more research and ringing their office in Launnie the other day. The response was as above and they seem to be one of few who don't seem to have too many issues with unsealed road use...

This worked out quite well. We hired a Nissan Pathfinder diesel, which was probably overkill for what I wanted but satisfactory nevertheless. When picking up the vehicle the guy at Budget remembered me ringing him several weeks earlier and my concerns about unsealed roads etc. We carried out a thorough inspection with him before signing up, noting numerous scratches, other wear and tear issues, and a missing mudflap. He assured me that we would not have a problem with this vehicle, which was nearing the end of its rental life (2007 model I think).

He was quite empathetic to my bushwalking access roads needs; as a fisherman with his own 4WD often going up to the Great Lake. We didn't have any problems but I was very careful to ensure that was the case. I even washed it once to get the accumulated mud off. We picked it up in Launceston (city) to avoid the airport surcharge, and he told me we could then drop it off directly at the airport without incurring additional fees (that was worth knowing $).

Bottom line: Doing the research thoroughly, and asking questions here, revealed many restrictions (traps?) I was unaware of and ensured that we selected the best operator for our needs. Would I fly/hire again? Possibly/probably. I would definitely prefer to bring my own though.