South Africa Bushlore 4x4 Review 2022

The main part of our Overlanding questions revolve around which vehicle to get. Our hearts were set on a Land Cruiser but our budget is not. One of the main questions on this holiday was whether we should bite the bullet and get a Land Cruiser or a Toyota Hilux.
While the Land Cruiser won us over for shear practicability, it was very, very thirsty and our main outlay on this holiday was diesel. So, although the jury is still out, it looks like we are going to go the Hilux route. (Our next holiday we will be hiring a Hilux so that we can compare the two vehicles)
We hired our vehicle from Bushlore 4x4 and overall, we had a good experience with them. The negative aspects were purely down to the canopy and electrics, we felt that they were a little tired and could have been in better condition. We had a lot of trouble with the fridge and lost some food due to not knowing if the fridge was working or not (the alarm kept going off and we were not sure if we could trust it) We spent a lot of time buying ice to try and keep the fridge cold.
The car itself was in great condition, although I would caution anyone using the "home" facility on the SatNav - we were trying to get to Johannesburg from Kruger National Park and eventually figured out that it was trying to take us to Maun, Botswana! Luckily we were using Google Maps as well!!

[@richarddare3593]

Yes, we rented that model a few years ago and that awning was definitely a pain to set up. I think we used it once. Batwing awnings and clamshell tents are the way to go. These vehicles can really get beat up in the bush, and you're not likely to get the immaculate one seen on the website, but everything will be basically functional. One of the gas struts on a side door broke off but it still stayed open. The large pull out drawer in back failed to latch so we wedged a small log between the drawer front and rear door while driving. Some client operated the vehicle without securing one spare tire carrier and caused the connection to the bumper to torque badly, causing the tire to bump into the side canopy door all the time Just random memories, wish I were out there now. Bushlore is still probably the go to company in Southern Africa.

[@issy-colin]

These vehicles really do take a pounding but I agree, wish we were out there too. All the niggles do make for interesting memories.

[@peteroberts12]

Hi, My wife and I are from the UK also, we've hired a vehicle from Bushlore this year as well. We opted for the HiLC4 vehicle, this is a Toyota Hilux also with a roof tent, this variant is different in the fact that you get into the sleeping area from inside the car so there's no need for an external ladder, it's also much, much easier to set up and pack away. Like yourselves we found Bushlore to be an excellent hire company and we will certainly use them again and I'd request the HilC4 too, I believe they have some new cars now too

[@issy-colin]

Hi Peter, thank for the comment, great to hear that you had a good experience too. The rooftop tent was also part of the experiment … needless to say, we will be opting for one of the clamshells or camper types when we buy our vehicle 😁. Getting out of the tent was a little hairy 😂 and setting up/closing down was definitely more of a pain for us shorties 😁

[@peteroberts12]

Yes, I'm quite short myself, when we picked up the car and the guys were showing us round, one of them actually asked me if I'd like a small step ladder, which I gratefully accepted, it was just a small 3 step ladder but was perfect and barely took up any room 😁👍

[@issy-colin]

@@peteroberts12 In hindsight, we should have asked for one too 😂. But then two oldies trying to climb up and down the car lead to quite a few laughs 😁. Did you have enough packing room in the camper? We’d like to try one next time (possibly a trip in Namibia)

[@peteroberts12]

Yes we had plenty of room for our stuff, we tend to live out of a suitcase anyway, but having the double cab (like you had) gives that extra space for personal day to day stuff or wood etc that you may want to put away later.
We did once hire a small camper van from Britz (they called it the Navi) which was brilliant except that the vehicle was quite old and the driving cab was like an old work van, if they had newer more comfortable vehicles I'd consider it again

[@issy-colin]

@@peteroberts12 Thanks Pete, that’s good to know 😁