Holidayers dreaming of summer road trips have been veered off track by a spike in rental car prices up to double pre-pandemic rates.
The worldwide car shortage hitting new and used car retailers has jacked up rental prices by hundreds of dollars a week. Affordability is at its worst in Tasmania where rental cars cost tourists an average of $169 a day – more than anywhere else in Australia. There have been reports from around Australia of cars costing up to $400 a day. The shortage of rental cars in Tasmania has become so acute that the state government is offering local residents $1,000 to lend their cars out to visitors.
