Travel Cars NZ LTD — Local services in Albert-Eden

I had a very unsatisfying experience with Travelcars. My rating is not related to the car itself - we were aware we bought a used car - but I was unhappy with Luis‘ workmanship and his understanding of his responsibilities. We bought a campervan, our layout was properly built within a few days from the first look at it. But as soon as we started traveling the issues started.

I) After a few days the ABS sign came on. We asked Luis what to do about it, he said it is only a sensor and we shouldn’t worry about it. When we returned to Auckland because of other issues he said we wouldn’t have to get it fixed. When I said, the signal might have an impact on the price we’d get once we wanted to sell the car he said: „just go to a mechanic and reset the error. Then it won’t show for some time.“ I do not have proof this is exactly what he did before he sold the car to us but it sure gives an idea how he tends to solve mechanical issues. We had it repaired (it was not a sensor), cost us 200 NZD.

II) We had a second battery installed. After a short time we noticed, it is not loading. We returned to Luis to have it fixed. He was not helpful. He let his Handyman change the second battery and said this is all he could do. I asked him if it shouldn’t be visible that the battery is loading when you start the motor and he said „no“. After we had it repaired by someone else it clearly showed when it was loading. It seemed to us Luis was not very knowledgeable of the parts he installed in this car. But it got even worse. After getting so little help from Luis, we decided to have an auto electrician look at the setup. Turns out the wiring for the second battery was so poorly installed it got very hot and in worst case could have caught fire. 2 very different and not matching cables had been installed, one was loose. That’s why I would never recommend Travelcars, it can bring you into a dangerous situation. The electrician cost another 400 NZD and Luis is not willing to bear these costs because he didn’t give his prior approval to the repair. Well I don’t know, but we were at his place, didn’t get proper help from him, he said „this is all I can do“ so clearly we went to see a professional.

III) The shelf which carried the fridge fell off while I was driving. The screws used we not suitable to carry the weight. Again, this could have been a dangerous situation because it was right behind my head. Had it come off when I was breaking it could have injured me.

There were further issues with Travelcars: The car was super dirty when we looked at it. Luis promised it would be clean when the built in was finished which wasn’t the case. The new stuff had only been put on top of the dirt. We cleaned the car for several days. Luis gave us all the paperwork for change of ownership and rego. He said the car doesn’t have a rego. This we found out was not true. Luis only reaction on this was a shrug. Overall he makes promises he doesn’t keep and when it’s time to fix something he or is handymen have done wrong he doesn’t or doesn’t know how to do it. He is quick at replying via WhatsApp but the quality of help is very poor. If you do buy a car here factor in enough time in Auckland to ensure everything works the way you...

⚠️⚠️Please read before it’s too late ⚠️⚠️ i had a very questionable experience with Luis and it kept getting worse, here are the facts; for context, we came to his place in an evening to see a few cars that he had, were interested in one, paid for a deposit and planned an appointment the morning after at 8am, which we had to delay to 4pm the same day for many reasons including figuring out how to deal with banks abroad for such an amount of money.

Then here is what happened: he came with the self contained certificate as he didn’t have it the day before, certificate stating water tanks of 25L each whereas in reality they are 20L, and the government asks for 12L/person (we’re two) which started to look a bit shady.

Then during the ownership change, Luis didn’t have any of the documents the guy at the counter asked for to verify his identity, which happened as the car wasn’t under any name nor business related to Luis, then he started being rude, and when we told him we could wait for him to bring the paperwork required, he started to make excuses over and over for everything and blaming everyone but himself, then asked us to go to another place and bypass the system, which we refused.

He stated himself how dodgy he looked.

For those who don’t know, it costs 23$ to register a business in New Zealand, which leads to many scams, and when you sell more than 6 cars every 12 months you’re supposed to be registered as a car dealer (about the amount i invite you to check his page and website and make yourself an opinion if he should have it or not), and receive a specific identification number immediately, having this holds you liable for some issues with the vehicle (issues that don’t happen when it’s clear) and we believe this is why Luis wouldn’t provide it by any mean.

After that, Luis did offer to send back the deposit within the following morning which we accepted telling him we don’t want to argue, however he then kept arguing, blaming everyone but himself again, we never received the money back. To be clear, it’s a blurry line but he is still within the limits of his legal right as being dishonest isn’t illegal. To this day, over a week later, Luis stopped answering and never refunded the money.

edit following Luis’ answer: all i said was facts, as a traveler who believe in fairness and trust and wanted to relate my experience and let people make their own opinion, obviously you believe or not what you see,

In this matter i didn’t appreciate Luis answer and will only point out the following: he doesn’t care about me, a customer disgusted by his service and lack of honesty and only answer talking to people reading reviews who are for him potential customer, which shows one thing, he does not care about people being happy of his service but only about the money you can give him, it’s up to you to deal with this business if you support...

It is now over one year ago that we bought a Campervan from this dealer. First of all, we really can`t recommend this company.

The car was way too expensive for its conditon. After two weeks, we had to replace the battery. Also, our Campervan had huge problems with the engine oil during our six months stay in NZ. All in all, we had to pay an extra of more than 1000$ for all the repair. Moreover, this broker seems to be very helpful but the service he offers is totally a joke.

He did not help us with any of our problems within the first month. When we bought it, he said he`d help us if there were any repairs etc. Don´t let his kindness overwhelm you. Especially for young, inexperienced backpackers: Look out for a better dealer. This one will cost you a fortune.

All in all: he reserved our Car and we could buy it instantly

car in a very bad shape way too expensive service was inappropiate we were fooled

P.S.: I hope they´re not trying to play this "we can´t find your name"-game again. I can assure you that we bought our Van there last November. We were very frustrated with the car and...