Best 4WD rental company in Western Australia

Hi Jack,
I can't recommend a rental company as I'm from the eastern states.
I would strongly suggest you re-think your plan to travel the CSR in January. Several reasons, January is the hottest month (40+C) - unless you are extremely prepared and experienced it would be fool hardy, people have died because of the conditions. Summer is our cyclone season, flooding in the northern section could leave you stranded for several weeks. the CSR starts a long way from Perth, is 2000km long (yes- 2 thousand), and while you can drive it in 2 weeks (one way) most take 3 or more weeks one way. Then you have to get back to Perth.
Perhaps you should look more to the Goldfields region, still very hot and you must be prepared but more towns closer (although not many) and usually better roads. Or better still, the area south and south east of Perth would be more do-able.
Cheers
Tony

Hi JackUs

A simple answer to your question is that you do not want to be on the Canning Stock Route in January, you will cook with temperatures up in the high 40's or more.

Enjoy sites on the coast and keep out of the deserts at that time of the year, you will not need a 4x.

Cheers
Merv

I have just read a story in the NT local news regarding a problem with the hire vehicle being totally unroadworthy , The German couple lost there vehicle . So get your vehicle checked by the local road service before you leave the city
I will try to follow the story and see what happens so be careful who and what type of vehicle you hire .
Re the heat I live in Broken Hill and this is a remote mining town and in summer if can often hit 45c and it is a very very dry heat some thing you need time to get used to it
The other thing is being summer and less traffic in remote area there is less chance of getting help from other tourists and i do know of one case where this ended up in the death of two people who broke down in summer in a remote are .

the simpson desert is closed over the summer mths the border track is also
for very good reason ,Its too hot an dangerous ,
mechpete

Hope he's read these replies

If you are reading these replies, Jackus, you really need to take them seriously. There are lots issues that you need to come to terms with and it takes a bit of time to familiarise yourself with. I certainly would not going into those areas at that time of year. Plenty of off-roading to do near or on the coast in more temperate areas. You need a lot of preparation in the cooler months never mind January.

Britz specialise in overseas visitors and provide most things except compressors (so I believe).
WRT travelling into Australia's deserts in summer you'd be crazy to do so. Stick to the coastal areas up to Exmouth or Steep Point and maybe as far north east as the Kennedy Range and Mt Augustus. Way to hot & dangerous otherwise and if the heat doesn't kill you the flies will.
Happy & safe travels.
Dunc

Jack - No-one with any sense goes touring out into the interior of Australia in January - and certainly not touring along remote and isolated tracks such as the Canning Stock Route.

This is not Route 66, it is merely a winding track through desert and semi desert country, crossing approximately 950 soft sand dunes up to a couple of hundred feet in height.

There are numerous very attractive places along the CSR - interspersed with many dozens of miles of pretty barren, unattractive country. There are salt lakes, rocky terrain that is hard on tyres, and very soft sand where lowered tyre pressures and a run-up at dune faces is required.

The local spinifex grass grows thickly in the centre of the track and it catches and builds up in the chassis and exhaust system of vehicles, and it has to be removed on a regular basis (sometimes every half hour) - or your vehicle will go up in flames in seconds.
Spinifex fires are very difficult to extinguish because of the bitumenous resin in the grass that continues to re-ignite after you think you have the fire out.

Temperatures in January in the desert and semi-desert interior of Australia can reach 48-50 deg C (118-122 deg F). Think Death Valley in Eastern CA in mid-Summer and you have a similar environment along the CSR in January.

In the link below is a website that shows conditions along the CSR in the benign Winter period. Naturally, it's impossible to show the heat in Summer in the interior of Australia.

The CSR

There are not many 4WD companies that will hire a 4WD for a trip through the CSR in January. It will not be a case of the best company, it will be a case of finding a company willing to trust you with a hired 4WD.

I'd suggest one of the few companies that will hire you a 4WD for remote region use is the one in the link below.
This is a national company, they operate in every state.

DriveBeyond.com.au

Be aware that serious recovery charges apply if you damage the 4WD in a remote region, and it becomes undriveable and needs to be recovered.
I'm thinking about something like hitting an animal or hitting something like a big rock that damages the driveability of the vehicle.

Hired 4WD's are often rolled over by tourists, and some companies refuse to cover the cost of the rollover damage, if the rollover only involves the hired 4WD.

The level of insurance coverage you need is also something that you need to think about.
You either take the hire companys offered insurance or use your own travel insurance to avoid being heavily penalised in case of damage.

Regards, Ron.

I had a good experience hiring from Hertz and a far less than ideal experience with Australian 4WD Hire. Read terms and conditions before signing up, often makes for interesting reading. No matter what goes wrong or what they supply it's your problem. And when you turn up to take the vehicle they may ask you to sign other conditions and if you don't you cannot take the vehicle.

Britz seem to have a good reputation, but I've never used them.

Also note, January is mid summer, very hot, and this makes outback travel not only less enjoyable but also more risky. There will also be fewer other vehicles to assist you.
Good luck.

Folks, first let me say a big THANK YOU for the prompt flow of useful and friendly replies. I used this forum back in 2011 (prior to a memorable January tour of the Oodnadatta track and the Meerenie loop) and remember it to be very valuable. Nice to confirm here.

Ok, admittedly the Canning in January is overly-ambitious, so I’ll have to scale back the plans a bit; for example, I will definitively avoid the Northern sections of the route + maybe do a 100 miles in and out starting from Wiluna? Just for the bragging rights :-)

I really don’t mind the oppressive heat and am used to it from past experiences in the Mojave, the Sonoran and the outskirts of the Simpson desert; in fact, that is an aspect of the desert environment that I masochistically crave, for a few days per year…
And I will not travel solo: my 4WD buddy, who is an experienced driver living in the Emirates, will join for the outback tour.

Thank you all again for the great tips!
Jack

when you arrive you will need to keep a good eye on the weather if there is a cyclone any where along the WA coast there is a possibility that in will head inland if that happens the area you want to travel in will become a swimming pool , and roads totally impassable

you can get 200ml a day easy out that way