About Us

New Beginnings…

It all began with an idea back in 2018 when a German friend travelled across New Zealand in a campervan she had purchased locally. She would share her adventures, telling us how she’d been wanting to travel to New Zealand for such a long time and was so happy to finally be there.

Finally, after 3 months she returned to Auckland in hope to sell her campervan, but in came her biggest stress. She had invested a decent chunk of money into that campervan but was struggling to sell her van. The stress of selling it started to overshadow her actual experience in New Zealand. John (founder) decided to help her out and bought the van from her, so she could go home and not ruin her trip.

He then went on to list the campervan on places like TradeMe and Facebook to see that people were listing campervans for cheap that were not certified, vehicle checked and looked dodgy, and travellers were snapping them up! Then if you look at the New Zealand travel forums, there are travellers with broken-down vans looking for help to fix them.

After seeing that, John had an idea. Why not create a Campervan Rental company for New Zealand that is affordable and have all the bells and whistles (like unlimited wifi and apple car play), that’s small enough to navigate around NZ but functional enough to enjoy yourself and save travellers facing any issues.

And that’s how Cruzen Campers was born! 

A luxury micro-camper with all the comforts of home

As the Campervan’s generations have been created, they are becoming more and more versatile and increasing with features. You can pretty much call them, the “Swiss Army Knife” of campervans.

First, he found a vehicle that had Electric Driveline options to try and be as green as possible (coming in the future). Then he looked for a vehicle that wasn’t too long (good for parking) but had a long enough nose to ensure the safety of drivers in the case of a crash. That’s when he found the Nissan NV200. 

Once he bought his first NV200, he started mapping out what he would need, and where everything would go. As New Zealand has recently changed their Freedom Camping regulations, he needed to have a fixed flushing toilet, he wanted to have an inside cooking and cleaning station, a big bed, a fridge, a place for storage and electric pumps for an outdoor shower and sink.

This lead to multiple fit-outs and disassemblies to find the perfect design to fit everything, but still, be comfortable. He also created his own “shark-fin” roof extension for added storage and the capability to stand up in. He also came up with the slide-out and lock idea so you could have a full-length bed, without losing inside space.

After months of trial and testing, he finally ended up with with the first Generation Campervan. Now after each trip, he asks each person what they liked about the van and what they think could have been better, and he goes back to the workshop and starts working out added features for the next generation. 

We’ve had hundreds of happy customers through Cruzen Campers and we’re looking to eventually build our fleet. If you’re thinking of coming to New Zealand and want a stress-free experience, check out our range of Campervans and find the perfect campervan for you!