SCAM WARNING: 300,000km scrap car! Risking my 20-month-old baby's health!
DO NOT RENT FROM HERE. I paid a premium price of $6,163 for a safe family trip, but they gave me a 2016 Toyota RAV4 with over 300,000km.
Most importantly, I am traveling with my 20-month-old baby who has a severe dust allergy. The first car they gave me was so filthy and smelled of heavy dust that it was impossible to put my baby inside. The replacement they offered was this 300,000km junk car that is falling apart and unsafe.
As a mother, it breaks my heart and I feel so guilty for putting my baby in this situation. When I asked for a refund to find a safe car for my child, they simply said "we have no other cars" and told me to contact DiscoverCars, showing zero empathy. They are risking a baby's health for money. I am filing a formal claim with the MVDT. Save your family and stay away from this place.off.
김기현
-
April 28, 2025
After searching for about three weeks, I finally found this rental — it was very affordable and impressively well-maintained considering the mileage.
As someone who rents cars frequently, I took about 60 photos of the car’s interior before departure, just out of habit. I was pleased to see that the company also emailed me their own pre-departure photos, which gave me extra peace of mind.
The car had around 220,000 kilometers on it, but it was in excellent condition for its age and mileage. I mostly drove in Eco mode, but both Eco and Sport modes worked perfectly.
Some reviews mentioned concerns about the brakes, so I was a little worried, but in my experience, the brakes worked just fine.
For reference, I’ve been driving since October 2010 and, working in a sales department, I’ve driven a wide variety of vehicles extensively.
Overall, I was very satisfied with the value for money.
Although it would have been ideal to return the car directly with a staff member present, we had an early morning flight, so we used the after-hours return process by leaving the car at the parking lot.
The shuttle service to the airport was smooth and convenient, so there were no issues there either.
Also, the diposit refund was completed successfully without any issues, which I really appreciated.
Corey Love
-
March 09, 2026
DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY!!
If we could give this place zero stars, we would. This place is an absolute joke. The car looked like it belonged in a scrap yard. It was covered in dents, scratches and chunks of paint missing. The key was cello taped together and we were concerned about the key breaking off in the ignition. The cambelt was knackered and screeched and squealed for a couple of minutes every time we started the car up. We have rented better cars 20 year ago. We collected this car after hours and when we rang the next day to voice our concerns, they quite frankly couldn't have cared less. They said they didn't have a 2nd key - and we couldn't upgrade because they "didn't have ANY cars left". When we returned the car after 5 days, they also could not have cared less about our terrible experience with the car. Wish we'd seen some of the feedback about this company prior to using it.
Maruthi Panyam
-
January 04, 2026
Very disappointing experience. The condition of the 12-seater vehicle was extremely poor. It was not clean and had spider webs on the side mirrors. The dashboard lights were not working, the doors did not close properly and required 3–4 attempts every time, and the steering was not power steering. The seats were very dirty, the remote lock was not working so we had to manually lock the doors, and even the handbrake was not functioning.
I booked this 12-seater three months in advance and did not expect such a badly maintained vehicle for the amount I paid. The vehicle was full of dents and scratches. When I contacted customer care, their response was simply that they would refund the money if I didn’t want the vehicle. We were a group of eight people who had travelled all the way from Sydney, and this was the response we received at pickup.
Overall, a very poor experience. I would not recommend Discount Car Rentals to anyone.
PHIL Cockayne
-
December 20, 2025
I would normally say you get what you pay for but with these people we didn’t even get that. The service was below average and non existent. They didn’t take us to the car just pointed us in the general direction, with a comment that they had pics of all the dents. The rental agreement had no markings on the picture to indicate any damage but there was lots. Next car did not have a full tank of gas as stipulated. When we started to drive the car we noticed a brake noise so stopped by the office and were told to ignore as car was fine. Car had over 250,000kms, worn tyres and not clean. We persevered only to find a couple of days into our journey that the air conditioning didn’t work, not ideal in summer. Next we noticed a tyre was leaking air slowly, we nursed this for the next 4 weeks until our return to Christchurch where they swapped the tyre for another second hand tyre. Then to top it off we were returning the car early at 8 am so to catch our flight and there office wasn’t open so we left the car with the shuttle service to then be charged a $35 fee for returning to them out of hours. Do yourselves a favour pay a little more and hire with someone more reputable.
Our Address
6 Sir Keith Park Place, Harewood, Christchurch 8051, New Zealand
SCAM WARNING: 300,000km scrap car! Risking my 20-month-old baby's health! DO NOT RENT FROM HERE. I paid a premium price of $6,163 for a safe family trip, but they gave me a 2016 Toyota RAV4 with over 300,000km. Most importantly, I am traveling with my 20-month-old baby who has a severe dust allergy. The first car they gave me was so filthy and smelled of heavy dust that it was impossible to put my baby inside. The replacement they offered was this 300,000km junk car that is falling apart and unsafe. As a mother, it breaks my heart and I feel so guilty for putting my baby in this situation. When I asked for a refund to find a safe car for my child, they simply said "we have no other cars" and told me to contact DiscoverCars, showing zero empathy. They are risking a baby's health for money. I am filing a formal claim with the MVDT. Save your family and stay away from this place.off.
After searching for about three weeks, I finally found this rental — it was very affordable and impressively well-maintained considering the mileage. As someone who rents cars frequently, I took about 60 photos of the car’s interior before departure, just out of habit. I was pleased to see that the company also emailed me their own pre-departure photos, which gave me extra peace of mind. The car had around 220,000 kilometers on it, but it was in excellent condition for its age and mileage. I mostly drove in Eco mode, but both Eco and Sport modes worked perfectly. Some reviews mentioned concerns about the brakes, so I was a little worried, but in my experience, the brakes worked just fine. For reference, I’ve been driving since October 2010 and, working in a sales department, I’ve driven a wide variety of vehicles extensively. Overall, I was very satisfied with the value for money. Although it would have been ideal to return the car directly with a staff member present, we had an early morning flight, so we used the after-hours return process by leaving the car at the parking lot. The shuttle service to the airport was smooth and convenient, so there were no issues there either. Also, the diposit refund was completed successfully without any issues, which I really appreciated.
DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY!! If we could give this place zero stars, we would. This place is an absolute joke. The car looked like it belonged in a scrap yard. It was covered in dents, scratches and chunks of paint missing. The key was cello taped together and we were concerned about the key breaking off in the ignition. The cambelt was knackered and screeched and squealed for a couple of minutes every time we started the car up. We have rented better cars 20 year ago. We collected this car after hours and when we rang the next day to voice our concerns, they quite frankly couldn't have cared less. They said they didn't have a 2nd key - and we couldn't upgrade because they "didn't have ANY cars left". When we returned the car after 5 days, they also could not have cared less about our terrible experience with the car. Wish we'd seen some of the feedback about this company prior to using it.
Very disappointing experience. The condition of the 12-seater vehicle was extremely poor. It was not clean and had spider webs on the side mirrors. The dashboard lights were not working, the doors did not close properly and required 3–4 attempts every time, and the steering was not power steering. The seats were very dirty, the remote lock was not working so we had to manually lock the doors, and even the handbrake was not functioning. I booked this 12-seater three months in advance and did not expect such a badly maintained vehicle for the amount I paid. The vehicle was full of dents and scratches. When I contacted customer care, their response was simply that they would refund the money if I didn’t want the vehicle. We were a group of eight people who had travelled all the way from Sydney, and this was the response we received at pickup. Overall, a very poor experience. I would not recommend Discount Car Rentals to anyone.
I would normally say you get what you pay for but with these people we didn’t even get that. The service was below average and non existent. They didn’t take us to the car just pointed us in the general direction, with a comment that they had pics of all the dents. The rental agreement had no markings on the picture to indicate any damage but there was lots. Next car did not have a full tank of gas as stipulated. When we started to drive the car we noticed a brake noise so stopped by the office and were told to ignore as car was fine. Car had over 250,000kms, worn tyres and not clean. We persevered only to find a couple of days into our journey that the air conditioning didn’t work, not ideal in summer. Next we noticed a tyre was leaking air slowly, we nursed this for the next 4 weeks until our return to Christchurch where they swapped the tyre for another second hand tyre. Then to top it off we were returning the car early at 8 am so to catch our flight and there office wasn’t open so we left the car with the shuttle service to then be charged a $35 fee for returning to them out of hours. Do yourselves a favour pay a little more and hire with someone more reputable.