Kangaroo Island Connect Car Hire & Campervan Hire

I wish I read the comments before renting from KIC.We had a terrible experience when we rented a car and I would not recommend this rental to anyone. When we picked up our car we specifically asked staff where on Kangaroo Island we could drive with our 4WD and if there was anything we needed to consider. To which the staff replied “no, you can go everywhere”. However, upon return we were given a $350 fine for having driven it on the beach (for only 10 meters). At the return we questioned staff why no one informed us about this at pickup, when we specifically asked where we could drive. To which we were given an answer saying they (KIC) had no liability to tell us anything and that the young man who answered our questions apparently did not even work for the car rental but worked for the ferry.. One of the staff, a lady, was incredibly rude throughout this whole experience and yelled at us despite us being friendly and wanting a respectful resolution. She also yelled rudely at multiple other customers at pickup. I would highly recommend renting somewhere else, where you can get reliable information from staff and not get scammed with fines.

Do not hire a car from this scammer company! As more people have written here, this was a terrible experience that ruined our kangaroo experience as well. When we arrived to pick up the car, it was absolute chaos. We just got our keys handed over by a man that gave us answers that later on proved to be completely wrong and that we later on got fined 350 AUD for! Later on we heard that he wasn’t even an employee of the firm and “didn’t know about the terms” which the lady in at the counter thought were our problem, not theirs. We didn’t get any answers to our emails as well, this is a scammer company for sure that makes money on ripping people off.There lady was also yelling at people and acting extremely rude to some the customers as well. We definitely felt uncomfortable renting the car. Please rent a car from somewhere else if you go to kangaroo island, there are a lot better options at the mainland for sure!

Be warned, prices double cruise ship day. Be very careful handing your card over, deposits get haphazardly refunded and you're left chasing your bank (for in our case almost $1000) and going down that road. You try and support small business, probably devastated by Covid, but stick to Avis or big companies. Unnecessary stress for a 7 hour car hire. Avoid this mob until their systems are improved.

We hired two standard bikes from here and after a three attempts we finally got riding. Firstly one of the tyres was completely flat so we went back and pumped it. Then next my bike’s gears weren’t changing. Swapped to a different bike and away we went! We rode out to Cape Willoughby which was so much fun. It was mostly dirt roads. Beautiful views. Was good that the bikes had bottle holders. Julia was very accommodating. Would definitely rent from them again.

I would never recommend this Business obviously it is a larger Business run by a local family. We originally chose this company believing we were supporting a local small business. Collected the vehicle with no inspection on pick up informed the vehicle was not to be driven Off Road, we believed this to mean no 4 x 4 driving. We travelled over a main tourist Road that happened to be a dirt Road that we assumed was a main route to a local tourist destination. We returned the vehicle and the Operator didn't even inspect the vehicle in our presence & stated your account will be refunded the deposit of $1,000 in the next couple of days. We originally left but returned not feeling comfortable with this approach we requested the Operator to inspect the vehicle before we left. The Operator inspector the vehicle telling us she new every aspect of the vehicle including damage she pointed out to us scratches on the bumper that were there prior to us taking the vehicle originally we had no idea. She then stated that our refund would be returned in the next couple of days. We received our refund once we had boarded our ship & departed Port less $350 a fine for driving on a dirt Road after the GPS was checked. We felt this was underhanded & deceitful we didn't have a right of reply face to face on the day and felt we had been taken advantage of as we were from a Cruise Ship & departing Kangaroo Island. The Hire of the car was $209 & we were fined $350 not for any damage incurred only for driving on a dirt Road to a designated Tourist Attraction on the Island. I responded with an e-mail and never received a reply. This Business is dodgy at best & takes advantage of travelers arriving & leaving by Ship. I would not leave until my deposit had been fully refunded, I found this Business & its operators to be dishonest & unanswerable as to their actions given the circumstances. I would suggest a more reputable Business such as Budget or Hertz who Operate from the Island give this Business a wide berth.

DO NOT GO HERE! All of these 1 star reviews about KIC scamming people out of their bonds are TRUE! I was also a victim of this places' shady practices, unfortunately I am unable to do anything due to them ghosting me after taking my bond. DO NOT GO HERE!

Tried this new service and no regret. Nice ferry, super comfortable seats, super friendly and helpful staff. We have rented their car also and just parked our car at Cape Jervis, just a very short walk to their Penneshaw office, very relax and no trouble at all. Both ferry and car rental prices are reasonable. Our 9.10am ferry arrived much earlier than the 9am ferry from the other company. Highly recommend their service.

Due to booking quite late, we were left with no options but to hire 3 cars from KIC.We were aware of the recent poor reviews so we were prepared to not get scammed. Make sure to take photos and videos of the car before and after, and document every little mark because they will try to get some more money out of you.Whilst the cars provided a smooth ride, the management and customer service here is poor. (Trust the reviews)We felt very uncomfortable to leave without getting our bonds ($500) returned in full as we were cruise passengers and we have seen reviews of KIC taking advantage people. Therefore, we insisted in seeing our bonds refunded on document/receipt and to no surprise did the older lady (Mary) lose her sh*t.Whether she felt insulted or was tired of the negative reviews, that is clearly a problem she needs to fix. We were your customers and you spoke to us with such a rude and condescending tone. Please use this feedback to satisfy future customers if you still have the business running.* Thank you to the younger lady who pulled through for us!

Absolutely appalling experience. Do not hire a car with this company.They sent me a msg on the day I was picking up their campervan to tell me there wouldn’t be anyone at their office at pick up time and to get key off cleaner. Arrived at office and no one there. Cleaner was “getting a coffee”. Was shown no instructions on how to use campervan and child seat was thrown in the back without any help or guidance from anyone. Was told to use “the green book” in the campervan. Arrived at my fist destination only 10 mins away from their office and discovered nothing in the camper worked. Fridge didn’t turn on, no gas or lights.Contacted KI connect and had to wait hours for them to come check it out. They took the gas bottle away to get refilled and came back and installed it again, reassuring me everything was working fine. As soon as they left I realised gas still not working and they had only turned on the battery charge which meant car would tun out of battery overnight. They yelled at me saying they’re doing their best and their boss is in Hong Kong (which is a lie). Then they told me to bring the van back for a refund and find accommodation and car elsewhere. They knew very well that I was travelling alone with my two year old son, in a place I had not been before and it was raining and cold and we couldn’t even cook food because nothing in the camper worked. This was at 6pm at night.The next day I luckily managed to get a last minute car and accommodation and returned the van. They managed to refund my deposit and payment for the van after a few days after I contacted them several times requesting some sort of written confirmation for refund, though tried to make me pay a “cleaning fee”. After all of the drama and the mismanaged situation - that was really the cherry on top.It appears that the owners of the company - JANE HARRIS is taking advantage of tourists and working their staff to the ground and providing no support. What a sad life, ruining people’s long awaited holidays.

Would not recommend this company. We hired a compact car for one day and travelled almost 300km. Our return trip took us about 7km on a major unsealed road after following the GPS directions. The next day we received a $350 fine for 'travelling on unsealed roads in breach of our contract'. After a number of emails explaining our circumstances (the first few ignored until we rang) we were told it was a rule applied to compact cars to 'avoid wear and tear' and 'no leniency would be shown'.If they were genuinely concerned that their cars would sustain unreasonable wear and tear by driving on dirt roads (many designated tourist roads on the island are unsealed) they would have a warning in the cabin, reminding hirers to stick to sealed roads and stating that the car is fitted with GPS tracking. Instead it appears to be a revenue raiser to catch drivers who have not read the fine print in the contract.The remaining portion of our bond took many weeks to be refunded. After us chasing it up we were told 'it was lost in the system'.Spoilt a lovely day at KI.