Australian 4WD Hire

Hired a car and equipment from this company and was very disappointed.

One hour down the highway our car had a punctured tire and when we went to get it fixed we were advised that it looked like it was due to a poorly repaired previous puncture. The tread was also already worn down to a bee’s member.

When we called to ask about getting a new tire from the company, we were told we’d have to fork out for a new one and they didn’t care how it was replaced. If we didn’t replace it then we’d be charged for it at the end.

They also threatened th...

The booking process and the follow-up before we arrived at location in Perth was ok. However, we had booked a one-way, and although we knew that we would have to take some extra stuff on behalf of the company because of that, we were absolutely not prepared for what we met. The car was completely full, without any room for our luggage! When pointing this out to the guy at the scene, he only shrugged and did not lift a finger to help. We had to drive to a separate store to buy load ties and extra equipment to secure luggage on the roof of the ca...

I rented a vehicle from this company in Broome. Upon return I was charged for speeding and damage to the front suspension. Checking the report the company sent me when they seized my security bond, I found the vast majority of the speeding violations were barely a few KM over the limit, often within what could be judged instrumentation error. In Australia, only the police have the right to legally extract fines for speed violations.

The photo of the damage was of fatigue wear rather than impact damage and I have reason to believe it existe...

Some of the reviews here are true and some are fake. Make your own judgment. We were purely ripped off. They make you pay a very high bond and then retain it under bogus pretence while you are back home on the other side of the world. Do not get near them if you care for your money!!!!

It was very easy to make the booking.

The customer service from Broome car hire center was very bad, we didnt got any copies from all the documents I had to sign.

There was a risk because it was not possible to insure tyres windscreens or axles.

We were very Happy about the quality of the car.

But we had still a very good time in the Kimberleys, thank you 4WD Hire!

The guy who checked out the car for us didn't explain basic things like where the jack was stored which would have come in handy when we got a puncture.

They also charged hundreds of dollars when we returned the car because it "wasn't clean". This despite it being full of red dust to begin with. It's a totally ridiculous policy for an outback vehicle hire company but they trust that people (like us) don't read the small print, basically guaranteeing themselves a fee from every customer.

Don't use them, you get what you pay for.

Australian 4WD, now trading as "Explore 4WD Hire" stole all of our money without providing the vehicle. We had paid in full for $3,200 as we were leaving in two weeks time. COVID-19 then closed all borders and we were unable to proceed with the trip. Instead of negotiating a change of date or credit, this company refused to answer any communication via email or phone and we were forced to lodge a Fair Trading complaint which was unsuccessful as they also could not contact the company. We lost the full amount of money. Do not go near this company.

We rented a 4wd in Perth in 2018 for 3 weeks. Had no problems. Returned the car freshly cleaned, they inspected the car and ticked off the form.
A week or two later we received an email saying that there was damage to the car door and they actually accused us of breaking into the car at some point on our holiday - "It appears as though there was an attempt to unlock the vehicle using a foreign object, such as a metal wire or hanger." (direct quote from email).
Conveniently for them, their mechanic's quote was roughly the same amount as our $2...

Don't even think about renting a vehicle from this company or its successor. After two bankruptcies, the third company (registration number ACN 638 025 911 Pty Ltd.) is now running the business under the slightly changed name "explore4wdhire". Between the time when the press reported the bankruptcy of the former company and the information of the new company that the lease agreement would be maintained, a month passed. During this time neither the website nor office was available. As a customer, you had to assume that the company would no longe...

At first we were a little sceptical about our recent Darwin trip with this vehicle company. We rang the office to express these concerns about all the reviews on this page and on another. I was quite worried about giving the $5000 straight up, not a pending payment.
Once we returned from our trip. The vehicle was looked over, then was lifted up to see internally. 2 days later an email was received. Then the next day the $5000 came up into our account.
Happy with this outcome as I was very worried going into this.

Do not use this company or the new owners "Explore 4WD Hire" - explore4wdhire.com.au - they took our $2500 bond and keep giving us the run around saying that it is with their accounts and it will be refunded but it never is. Now they are not responding to our emails or our calls. Extremely unprofessional stealing money from people! Especially at a time like this!

The car had pretty much bald tyres, drove 175 Klm in then Fridge was US and the drive back to Darwin paid $100 for a nights accommodation so we could have a fridge, to keep our $150 of cold stuff from going off. The battery was faulty and replaced. drove 300Klm to Kakadu, only to find they had not put the tent poles in so sleeping in this was like an oven. decided to stay in a hotel for the second night as was too hot after first night. Took the car back another 300KLM and told them the vehicle was unusable and returned early. I was happy...

We had an issue where the vehicle we booked could not be provided due to circumstances outside their control. The request to cancel based on this information was not well received and we were made to feel like we were committing some gross injustice with the request for a refund. Although their actions are defendable within consumer law, their conduct was not becoming. We felt harassed and told our decision to seek further counsel on the matter was taken as a threat. Furthermore, some quick research demonstrated a string of previous unscrupulou...

Update:
We tried to reach the company via the old website and phone number which seem not to exist anymore. Thanks to this website here I got I. Contact with another actual customer and got the new website.
Today I got my bond back in our account.
Will have an eye on my credit card if there are any further charges and update my experience here.

We paid a security bond of 1.500 $. 4WDHire has not paid the money back yet. Expect the money as soon as possible, otherwise we will take all possible legal actions.

They sold business as we were on our vacation. As we returned the car we've been assured, everything was well. After a few days I wrote them a friendly reminder but they just sent me over to the liquidator, telling me they are "a whole new company".
Phoenixing failed, as they completely disappeared. Their website has been taken off and all their email addresses aren't reachable anymore.