Buying a Car or Campervan
One option for budget travel is to buy a car or campervan. One company that has both types of
vehicles available in Cairns, Brisbane and Sydney is Travellers Auto Barn (1800 674 374). They
will also rent them.
As a generalisation, if the length of the trip is less than about 6 weeks then it is probably
more economic to rent a car than to buy it.
A possibility with Travellers Auto Barn is that they will buy back the car for an agreed percentage
of the price that you bought it from them for, so long as it's within an agreed time (usually 6
months).
The Commodore
The 6 cylinder wagons made in Australia such as the Ford Falcon, Holden Commodore and Totota Camry
are cheap and reliable.
But most importantly you can find parts for them even in remote areas, and most country towns will
have dealers for
Toyota, Holden and Ford. This Commodore cost $6,000 and can seat 5, although 4 would be better if
you will all be together in it for 2 months. It has a 4 litre petrol motor, automatic gearbox, air
conditioning, radio and CD - and for 4 people probably it would need a roof rack fitted.
Such a car would consume about 10 litres of unleaded petrol for every 100 kilometers travelled at
100kph with a roof rack fitted. Not having anything on the roof and slowing to 90kph could improve
the fuel consumption by 2 or 3 litres per 100k - quite significant.
Hiace Campervan
This Toyota Hiace campervan has a fixed top, airconditioning, new tyres, 120 litre fridge freezer,
gas stove with grill, and cost $11,000.
Like Holden and Ford, Toyota dealers can be found in most country towns.
