Choosing a dealer

With the excitement of purchasing a recreational vehicle on the horizon, a choice between buying brand new, used or a premium ex-rental often emerges. Ex-rental motorhomes can be a compelling option but are they value for money?

In this blog, we explore the advantages of buying a premium ex-rental motorhome, like affordability, after sales support and lower depreciation — and the perceived disadvantages such as high mileage and reliability.

Every year, a small minority of imported motorhomes are brought into New Zealand by private buyers. Some of these buyers purchase a motorhome in the UK, take a European holiday, and then ship it back home afterwards. Others import their own motorhome to save costs. But the number of parallel imported motorhomes has declined in the past few years. We talked to a couple of motorhome owners about their DIY importing experiences to see if importing your own motorhome still stacks up.

We can all picture it. A classic VW Kombi van parked up by an idyllic New Zealand beach, a long haired surfer untying his surfboard from the roof and heading into the water to catch the first waves of the day. That’s surely one of the most iconic Kiwiana images around. But while that VW camper has been a familiar sight for a long time, most other German motorhomes have only arrived on New Zealand shores in the last decade or so.

Locally manufactured motorhomes have dominated the New Zealand market since motorhoming became a thing after WWII. 



While a limited range of motorhomes were imported from Australia and the UK in the late 1990s and early 2000s, it wasn’t until around 2010 that the growing popularity of touring by motorhome prompted Kiwis to look to European alternatives.

The German motorhome industry’s reputation for quality, reliability, efficiency and innovation is globally unparalleled – just as it is for its world leading car brands. The country’s leading R&D infrastructure, end-to-end value-chain integration and highly skilled workforce together create an undefeatable international automotive domain. That’s why German motorhomes have quickly become highly sought after in New Zealand.

In the article about the difference between German and New Zealand made motorhomes, we looked at some of the key factors that separate those made in Germany and those made locally. In this article, we will give you an overview of the German motorhome brands available at New Zealand dealerships and the parts of the market that they target.