Red Dirt Rentals Perth

Rooftop tent 4x4 car gets you almost everywhere and provides you with all basic camping equipment you might need (complete camping kitchen, gas, towels, bed sheets, tools,). Perfect especially for overseas travellers with limited luggage.
Engine and battery had a few hiccups on the 8000 kilometers we did but phone and email support was quick and helpful.
Rooftop tent is super easy to handle. Takes less than 2 minutes. Setting up (or pack) the whole camping equipment takes maybe 15mins after getting used to.
Company staff is also easy going, friendly and uncomplicated.

STAY AWAY FROM THIS COMPANY! Paid a deposit for a trip of $2000. We had to cancel the trip which we were devastated about and we were well within their guidelines and requirements to receive a full refund. We were then told we would have all the money back within 6 weeks. Almost two years on with countless phone calls and emails we still haven’t got a single dollar back! They come up with excuse after excuse as to why they need more time. After looking at their other reviews it seems other people have had similar issues with their bonds and refunds.

Our experience with Andrew and Red Dirt Rentals has been poor, and it has come time to share our concerns and warn others. It has been over 18 months and we are still awaiting a promised refund of greater than $2K due to an unavoidable COVID-19 cancellation (our refund entitlement is clearly written in writing from Andrew himself through email communication and clearly stated in our booking contact). We have continuously made phone calls to check in on the progress of our refund, beginning May 2021, and as of January 2023, we have consistently been given a later date for when our refund will arrive. Most recently, we have attempted to use email communication to resolve this matter, however it has been 4 weeks with no reply. An email titled ‘Refund update’ from Andrew himself in August 2021 stated refunds would be made in 8-12 weeks, however, 18 months later, we have nothing, nor have we been given any update unless we have sought one. We have been lenient for 18 months, however, we are now currently in the process of seeking further legal action. Whilst things seemed positive when first booking, I can no longer recommend this company and would warn others to be aware.

Update: We have involved WA Consumer Protection who wrote to Red Dirt 4WD Rentals requesting they make contact with us within 7 days to resolve our complaint. We have now exceeded those 7 days, and we are yet to hear from anyone at Red Dirt 4WD Rentals.

We spent an amazing month discovering the West Coast with our Red Dirt 4W!

Everything was perfect from the beginning to the end: they took time to explain every features of the car, they were available when we had questions during the trip, they advise us nice spots on the road and no additional / hidden fees!

The 4wheels is in perfect state, you have enough space everywhere for storing your stuff such clothes, food and car material.
The tent is strong (even with the wind) and easy to install.

We recommend!

This is a good deal on a serious 4wd car that can bring you heaps of joy. Having some offorad experience will help you to understand the oral instructions a lot better. I would recommend to do a basic offroad course before you attempt to go on long remote trips through the outback. Can not confirm the bad reviews (esp.on Andrew), overall had a very good experience.

Good
+ relatively cheap compared to other rental places, no cap on the kilometers
+ very capable car (LC200)
+ very good rooftop tent and top notch awning
+ almost everything you need is included with the car (compressor, tools, water canister etc). The only items we bought on top were a better tool to deflate the tires, recovery tracks and a diesel can. None of these are essential but it saves a lot of time on the deflation + we felt safer having some recovery gear
+ polite and very quick customer service regardless if you phone or mail them
+ generous in terms of what you are allowed to do with the car in comparison to other rental places
+ needed repairs brought to attention were done very (very!) swift and with no questions asked
+ very easy return, got our deposit money back within 14 days
+ we forgot to put some items back in after cleaning, received a mail with some pictures of the missing items. Found an returned them 5 days later than the car, no extra charge, no arguing.

Neutral
- pretty dirty seats and rooftop tent matrace on pickup but I simply rewashed the sheets and gave the seats a quick cleaning, 2 hours of work. I think this is a neutral because this means you dont have to be too careful not to make verything dirty on the trip which will definetly happen if you go offroad
- very good but only oral instructions on the car, I think for many less experienced people an introduction video that explains the car and it's equipment and can be rewatched would be a great thing.
- Secondary battery died slowly after a couple of days. This can happen and I don't think you can fault anyone for it. Repair handling was top notch and we got back en route within 2 hours.
- no winch, we bought recovery tracks to be on the safe side
- you can hire a PLB for 5$ per day, I think this should be included with the rent because many people will cheap out on it and this is simply an item everyone should have on them when going to remote locations in the outback
- you have to return the car cleaned. I can understand the reasoning behind this and think it is ok that this is required. Paid 200AUD on top for the car cleaning but that was worth it not to have to get all that red sand off ourselves. Would be nice if this came as an upgradable option with the rental so you don't have to waste a half day of your rental time on it.

Bad
- Front tire alignment was off, this could have caused a breakdown in remote places since the tires were running thin on the inside. A mechanic should have seen this when inspecting the car. However the handling of this after I brought it to Andrews attention was absolutely perfect and we got new tires and an alignment within the same day, Andrew made sure this was done properly and very quickly.

I felt the rental conditions on where you are allowed to go were very straightforward and pretty generous considering what can break if you dont know how to handle such a car. We mailed in a request for a special crossing (the contract states you should do this if unsure). Got a positive reply within the hour including some tips/instructions on how to properly proceed to not damage the car, again by Andrew himself. Very impressed with this one.

The LC200 is a beast and will take you everywhere if you let your tires down properly (~ 30psi for currogated roads, less for sand). Had the trip of a lifetime, went absolutely everywhere we wanted without getting to the cars limits.

Overall i think this was a 4.5 / 5 experience, but I can't give half stars and since the customer service was top notch I'm giving 5 stars.
Average diesel consumption around 15l on the highway, probably more offroad. Did 30 days / 6000km.