New Zealand or Bust

We went to Mini Stocks racing the other evening for youngsters aged from 12 to 15, nice to see the girls make up a good portion of the drivers.

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Next day we went to the practice day at the Jetsprint world championships at Whanganui.
Most boats are around 13 foot long, weighing lest than 400kg and power by an American V8 pushing out around 1200 bhp. :oops:

 
Well it hasn’t started well 😮 we weren’t expecting a Morelo BUT,

This e-mail has gone off to THL/Maui,

Hi

We picked up a Motorhome this morning, registration plate QCN681, I am not sure what is normal for these vehicles but this one rattles and bangs as if it’s going to fall apart which indeed it is.

The drawer under the sink in the kitchen area will not stay closed when driving, my wife has to keep getting up and putting it back but I don’t consider this be safe, if she doesn’t get up straight away it bangs about and is most distracting for the driver which again is not safe, the front of the drawer was all wobbly from the start but when I look at it I see the screws are missing/loose and really this should have sorted before we took over the vehicle.

The bathroom door had fallen off by the time we reached Coromandel, I have put it back on but I guess it will fall off again.

The door of the fridge freezer compartment is broken and falls off so the freezer compartment defrosts and water runs out into the fridge, I imagine this also overworks the compressor which puts heat into the habitation and no doubt will flatten the habitation battery.

The engine bit was OK at first but after a few miles every time I stop at a roundabout or junction it stops and the message says “start stop unavailable please restart the engine” not good with traffic behind getting impatient.

As you can imagine we are not “over the moon” with this vehicle and the thought of spending another 7weeks with it does not fill us with excited.

I am sure I could find other problems but I am not looking too hard, oh the waste tank says it’s full already and we haven’t used any water.

I look forward to your suggestions to resolve these issues, we do not really want to backtrack to Auckland to swap this for something fit for purpose but we can’t use it as it is so we might have limited options.


Regards
 
funflair said:
Well it hasn’t started well 😮 we weren’t expecting a Morelo BUT,

This e-mail has gone off to THL/Maui,

Hi

We picked up a Motorhome this morning, registration plate QCN681, I am not sure what is normal for these vehicles but this one rattles and bangs as if it’s going to fall apart which indeed it is.

The drawer under the sink in the kitchen area will not stay closed when driving, my wife has to keep getting up and putting it back but I don’t consider this be safe, if she doesn’t get up straight away it bangs about and is most distracting for the driver which again is not safe, the front of the drawer was all wobbly from the start but when I look at it I see the screws are missing/loose and really this should have sorted before we took over the vehicle.

The bathroom door had fallen off by the time we reached Coromandel, I have put it back on but I guess it will fall off again.

The door of the fridge freezer compartment is broken and falls off so the freezer compartment defrosts and water runs out into the fridge, I imagine this also overworks the compressor which puts heat into the habitation and no doubt will flatten the habitation battery.

The engine bit was OK at first but after a few miles every time I stop at a roundabout or junction it stops and the message says “start stop unavailable please restart the engine” not good with traffic behind getting impatient.

As you can imagine we are not “over the moon” with this vehicle and the thought of spending another 7weeks with it does not fill us with excited.

I am sure I could find other problems but I am not looking too hard, oh the waste tank says it’s full already and we haven’t used any water.

I look forward to your suggestions to resolve these issues, we do not really want to backtrack to Auckland to swap this for something fit for purpose but we can’t use it as it is so we might have limited options.


Regards
Click to expand...

Hope that you can get it sorted out quickly Martin, and it’s not putting too much of a dampner on you trip at present. :cry:
 
What van is it please.
Our last one from LetsGo was a heap. Told them thats the last we will have from them unless they guarantee us a decent one like the three we had prior.

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We’re also in a Maui with THL. They are incredibly noisy. Our cutlery draw kept coming out and fell on the floor a few times. The fridge door wouldn’t close properly. There was a screw sticking out of the wood panel by the fridge (they’d used the wrong length screw to fit the fridge). The fly screen door wouldn’t close without a lot of effort. To be fair to THL, they arranged for us to have these items fixed in Rotorua (apart from the noise!).

The fly screen door is too short for the door opening so there’s a big gap at the bottom. That couldn’t be fixed at our pit stop. We were told that the water heater was gas and electric. We complained the electric heater wasn’t working. It turns out it is gas only! 🤦‍♂️

These vans wouldn’t sell in Europe. They are quite heavy. Not sure they are well insulated. The sink looks like it came from B&Q as did the shower door. The microwave came from Curry’s - the clock resets every time you disconnect from EHU. I’ve given up resetting the time.

It does have character though and I’m enjoying the experience. I do like driving the Iveco automatic . It’s’ a much nicer drive than my Ducato. I wouldn’t swap this for my motorhome back home.
 
Maui is the rental company.
Could you please advise what MH build it is, ie Jayco Conquest etc.
 
bobnick said:
Maui is the rental company.
Could you please advise what MH build it is, ie Jayco Conquest etc.
Click to expand...
It just has Maui on it. I think THL build their own motor homes (and call them Maui).

I’ve found a badge on the motorhome - it says KEA which is a company owned by THL.
 
Last edited:
bobnick said:
Maui is the rental company.
Could you please advise what MH build it is, ie Jayco Conquest etc.
Click to expand...
It might say KEA on the cushions but other than that it just says Maui.
 
OK, Maui/Appolo in Aussie used a lot of Jayco's. Must be different in NZ for some reason.
 
A bit of a catch up on our travels..

We headed on south, calling in at Foxton to have a look around the flax museum.
Flax production was a big industry in the area in the past.
There is also a Dutch windmill that is still grinding flour at present.

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From Foxton, we headed onto our digs in New Plymouth.
Luckily it was the last night of the New Plymouth Festival of Lights.

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Just outside of New Plymouth is the Southward Car Museum, which is one man's enormous car, motorcycle and vehicle collection.

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This car is bizarre, the original owner bought this Dodge Coupe new in 1920, and in 1921 decided to rebody the car in copper sheet.

1738917218727.webp



From the car museum, we continued south to Wellington where we caught the ferry to Picton on the south island.

1738917889663.webp


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Two on Tour said:
Just outside of New Plymouth is the Southward Car Museum, which is one man's enormous car, motorcycle and vehicle collection.

View attachment 1009597

View attachment 1009600

View attachment 1009603

View attachment 1009605


This car is bizarre, the original owner bought this Dodge Coupe new in 1920, and in 1921 decided to rebody the car in copper sheet.

View attachment 1009619


From the car museum, we continued south to Wellington where we caught the ferry to Picton on the south island.

View attachment 1009620

View attachment 1009621
Click to expand...
Your trip is worthy of its own thread - can't have too many travelogues
 
funflair said:
Well it hasn’t started well 😮 we weren’t expecting a Morelo BUT,

This e-mail has gone off to THL/Maui,

Hi

We picked up a Motorhome this morning, registration plate QCN681, I am not sure what is normal for these vehicles but this one rattles and bangs as if it’s going to fall apart which indeed it is.

The drawer under the sink in the kitchen area will not stay closed when driving, my wife has to keep getting up and putting it back but I don’t consider this be safe, if she doesn’t get up straight away it bangs about and is most distracting for the driver which again is not safe, the front of the drawer was all wobbly from the start but when I look at it I see the screws are missing/loose and really this should have sorted before we took over the vehicle.

The bathroom door had fallen off by the time we reached Coromandel, I have put it back on but I guess it will fall off again.

The door of the fridge freezer compartment is broken and falls off so the freezer compartment defrosts and water runs out into the fridge, I imagine this also overworks the compressor which puts heat into the habitation and no doubt will flatten the habitation battery.

The engine bit was OK at first but after a few miles every time I stop at a roundabout or junction it stops and the message says “start stop unavailable please restart the engine” not good with traffic behind getting impatient.

As you can imagine we are not “over the moon” with this vehicle and the thought of spending another 7weeks with it does not fill us with excited.

I am sure I could find other problems but I am not looking too hard, oh the waste tank says it’s full already and we haven’t used any water.

I look forward to your suggestions to resolve these issues, we do not really want to backtrack to Auckland to swap this for something fit for purpose but we can’t use it as it is so we might have limited options.


Regards
Click to expand...
What a shame I would see if you can get it swapped Martin, it will drive you mad. even if it costs you more, you're only likely to be there once and you don’t want that spoiling the experience. I do remember warning you that NZ campers are crap but I would have expected the market leader to come up with something at least serviceabĺe.

When we did it, we came back wondering about doing itvagain but importing something better but its quite difficult. The Jaycos do have a better name if you can find one, or there are a few Burstners about.
 
Two on Tour said:
Just outside of New Plymouth is the Southward Car Museum, which is one man's enormous car, motorcycle and vehicle collection.

View attachment 1009597

View attachment 1009600

View attachment 1009603

View attachment 1009605


This car is bizarre, the original owner bought this Dodge Coupe new in 1920, and in 1921 decided to rebody the car in copper sheet.

View attachment 1009619


From the car museum, we continued south to Wellington where we caught the ferry to Picton on the south island.

View attachment 1009620

View attachment 1009621
Click to expand...
Looks a cracking museum
Two on Tour said:
Just outside of New Plymouth is the Southward Car Museum, which is one man's enormous car, motorcycle and vehicle collection.

View attachment 1009597

View attachment 1009600

View attachment 1009603

View attachment 1009605


This car is bizarre, the original owner bought this Dodge Coupe new in 1920, and in 1921 decided to rebody the car in copper sheet.

View attachment 1009619


From the car museum, we continued south to Wellington where we caught the ferry to Picton on the south island.

View attachment 1009620

View attachment 1009621
Click to expand...
Looks a cracking museum, saw some carvers this summer, the owners club attended the microcar rally.

Theres another really big museum just outside Invercargill. Lots of US stuff in there but converted to rhd
 
I am enjoying this thread although I am not sure I would want to do a motorhome trip in NZ . I like my own van and suspect a hire van might be less comfortable ….

Your experience of the quality of the hire van is confirming my worst fears, fingers crossed you get it sorted asap .
 
Enjoying the thread and can attest to the point about variable rental quality. On our first ever experience of hiring a van we spent a month in NZ over 20 years ago and got a pretty small HiTop 2 berth van. (Not as good as a Maui/Kea or even a Britz or Apollo) We were total newbies and loved NZ and the whole life on the open road experience. However, the van itself left a lot to be desired -like the film Speed, it was fine when driving above 50mph, but when you dropped under 30 a high pitched alarm went off (weeeeeeee) constantly, till you either accelerated back over 30mph or turned the engine off! It made parking in camp sites more stressful than it needed to be, as we disturbed the semi-professional NZ campers with their expensive MHs and advanced gadgetry!
We had a fabulous though very noisy month!
 
Went out for a walk last night, back about 9:30 and absolutely no pier in the van so we went to bed by trusty iPhone torch, they did say spend the first night hooked up but we drove for 4 hours and solar as well, 10 minutes running the engine this morning and it’s still got power 🤔 not much sleep last night as the bed is too small 😀 and it was too hot.
 
Jenben said:
I am enjoying this thread although I am not sure I would want to do a motorhome trip in NZ . I like my own van and suspect a hire van might be less comfortable ….

Your experience of the quality of the hire van is confirming my worst fears, fingers crossed you get it sorted asap .
Click to expand...
It has been suggested that we are a bit fussy 🤔 well possibly we accept we have a cheap/crap van although we paid good money for it but if it was presented in good working order it would be a start.
 
jongood said:
What a shame I would see if you can get it swapped Martin, it will drive you mad. even if it costs you more, you're only likely to be there once and you don’t want that spoiling the experience. I do remember warning you that NZ campers are crap but I would have expected the market leader to come up with something at least serviceabĺe.

When we did it, we came back wondering about doing itvagain but importing something better but its quite difficult. The Jaycos do have a better name if you can find one, or there are a few Burstners about.
Click to expand...
I know you said NZ campers were crap Jon so we got the best that Trailfinders offer 😀 yes there are Burstners around indeed I am sat looking at one.

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