Mode Rentals
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I always shop for the least expensive…
I always shop for the least expensive rental when I visit New Zealand in the (northern) winter months. This year (2025) Mode won. They weren’t a whole lot less expensive than the other competitors, but a bit. The car I got was pretty much what I expected, had about 150,000 km on the odometer, but was basically fine – a bottom-of-the-line Toyota. The customer service at the Mode kiosks isn’t great, but it isn’t terrible either. A few days after I had the car (I had it for about 5 weeks), I noticed something dripping from the engine overnight. I think it was coolant. Probably not a big deal, but slightly worrisome. The Mode person I emailed about it didn’t seem terribly concerned, and in the end it didn’t turn out to be a serious problem. Still, it would have been helpful if the customer agent had been a bit more on the ball about it. At one point in my rental I drove along a toll road. The Mode agent had warned me about toll roads, but I took that to mean that if I did that, I should pay the toll myself, which can be done online. So I did. I found the NZ website and figured out how to pay the toll ($2.50). So I more than a little irritated when I got an email from Mode that I had been charged $27.50 by them... $2.50 for the toll, and another $25 for the "admin fee." So I paid the toll twice, plus the ridiculous admin fee. Be aware of this if you decide to rent from Mode. When I complained to Mode, they "helpfully" told me how I could possibly go about getting the $2.50 back from the NZ roading authority! I dropped the car off at a separate place from where I got it, which Mode charged me an extra $400. The Wellington terminal where I dropped the car off was pretty grungy – basically a metal container turned into an office. So, all-in-all, Mode was maybe a bit less impressive than I would have expected, even given I was going for the least expensive option.