Two weeks of spring roads from Auckland Domestic Airport
Spring is stretching awake around Auckland Domestic Airport, with a shower rolling over the runway one minute and low gold sunlight bouncing off wet tarmac the next. These 14 nights run from 24 September to 8 October, so the Mid-Autumn Festival lands inside your window and the terminal fills with families meeting up and heading off together. If you're weighing Auckland Domestic Airport car rental for a fortnight, this is the stretch when a Waikato farm lunch, a Coromandel beach and a Bay of Islands detour all fit into one loop. Lambs are in the paddocks, the pohutukawa are a few weeks from flowering, and the roads are quiet enough to enjoy.
Only Ezi returned prices for this window, and just 4 of the 17 listings had a number on them, so availability is tighter than the search page suggests. The cheapest is the Ford Puma at $975.75 (about $70 a night), while the Prado tops out at $2361.75, roughly 2.4 times as much. If you're after car hire at Auckland Domestic Airport, lock in one of the cheaper cars early and work out what you really need before the last few vehicles disappear.
Nine of the 17 vehicles are hybrids, which suits the long Waikato and Northland hills and keeps fuel stops short. Most cars seat five, so pack soft bags if you're travelling with family, because a hard suitcase for each person won't fit in a Puma boot. Spring rain only makes the Hilux and Prado worth it if you plan gravel roads or carry bulky gear, and for everyone else the Corolla Cross at $1059.75 is the sensible pick among cheap rental cars from Auckland Domestic Airport. Collect your car in daylight if you can, since that first motorway run toward the city is much easier when you can see the lane markings clearly.