- Delivered across Sydney
- Bond and fees shown before you pay
- Never swapped to a lesser car
Every other booking we take is planned. Someone picks a car, picks a weekend and looks forward to it. An accident replacement is the opposite: it is unplanned, it starts badly, the end date is unknown, and the person booking frequently has no car to come and collect one in. That changes how the job has to be run.
Need a replacement this week?
Tell us what is off the road, where you are, and what the repairer has quoted.
Why an Accident Replacement Is a Different Job
You usually cannot come to us
This is the obvious one that gets overlooked. If your car is at a tow yard in Revesby or sitting
in a repairer's queue at Silverwater, you have no vehicle to drive to a depot in. Asking someone
who has just lost their car to arrange transport to collect a replacement is an odd thing to do,
which is why we deliver these.
The end date genuinely is not known
A weekend hire has a return time. An accident replacement runs for the reasonable repair period,
and at the start almost nobody knows what that is. Prestige repairs in particular extend for
legitimate reasons: parts from overseas, driver assistance calibration, manufacturer-approved
repairer queues, hidden damage found on strip-down.
We would rather set the booking against the repairer's estimate and adjust as it moves than have
someone rebooking a car every four days while dealing with an insurer.
The vehicle has to match, not just be available
On a weekend booking, if the car you wanted is out you take something else. On an accident
replacement the whole point is comparability, because the entitlement is to the reasonable cost of
a broadly comparable or equivalent vehicle. Handing you whatever happens to be free defeats the
purpose and can weaken the claim.
Where We Deliver
We run depots at Mascot and Parramatta and a host network across the Sydney metropolitan area.
For accident replacements the practical coverage is broad, and the three delivery points people
actually ask for are these.
To your home
The most common. Bankstown, Bondi, Manly, Parramatta, the inner west, the north shore, the
Hills, the eastern suburbs and the St George area are all routine. Enter your address when you
enquire and we will confirm it and any fee before you commit.
To the repairer
Frequently the neatest arrangement. You drop your damaged car in, and the replacement is waiting
there. It removes an entire trip and it means the handover happens at a moment you are already
committing to. This works particularly well at the larger prestige repairers around Silverwater,
Rydalmere, Alexandria and Brookvale.
To your workplace
Useful when the repair timing lands mid-week. CBD, North Sydney, Macquarie Park, Norwest and the
airport precinct are all straightforward. Tell us the building and we will sort the logistics
rather than leaving you to negotiate with a loading dock.
What We Need From You
Short list, and having it ready compresses the whole thing into one conversation.
What the damaged vehicle is: year, make, model and variant. What it does for you, if that
matters, such as seven seats or a towing requirement. Where the car is now and where you want the
replacement delivered. The repairer's estimate of how long, even if rough. And how the hire is
being funded, because that determines the paperwork.
Matching the Vehicle Properly
We will tell you which of our cars is a fair match for yours, which is arguable, and which would
be a stretch. That last category matters, because taking something conspicuously grander than your
own vehicle undermines a claim rather than helping it.
Our fleet runs to large prestige SUVs including four Range Rover Sports, a Mercedes GLS, an
Audi Q7 and a Land Rover Defender, performance sedans, and an eight-seat people mover for when
capacity is the thing that was lost. If your car was a seven-seat diesel SUV, we will point you at
a seven-seat SUV rather than at whatever has the highest day rate.
If nothing we run is genuinely comparable to what you lost, we will say so. That is a more
useful answer than a booking you cannot properly justify later.
The Paperwork Side
We are a hire business, not a law practice and not a claims manager. We do not run your claim,
we do not advise on entitlement, and we will not tell you whether to use credit hire or fund it
yourself.
What we will do is be clear about our own terms before you commit: the daily rate, the security
bond, the kilometre allowance, what happens if the repair runs long, and what the return process
looks like. Those are the things within our control and you should have them in writing before you
take the car.
If a solicitor or claims manager is handling your matter and needs documentation from us for the
claim, ask and we will provide it.
Practical Things That Come Up
The repair blows out
Common, and usually legitimate. Tell us as soon as the repairer tells you. Extending an existing
booking is straightforward; discovering on the return date that you need another month is less so.
The car is written off part-way through
This changes the shape of things, because on a total loss the entitlement generally runs to
settlement within a reasonable time rather than until you have bought a replacement. Let us know
when total loss is confirmed so we can plan the end of the booking against settlement rather than
against a date nobody has set.
You get your car back early
Tell us and return it. Holding a replacement after your own vehicle is available is the easiest
way to create a duration argument, and there is no upside in it.
Someone else needs to drive it
Additional drivers must be listed on the booking and meet the same licence and history
requirements. An unlisted driver voids cover completely. This comes up constantly on family
vehicles, so raise it at the start rather than assuming.
The insurer offers to arrange a car instead
That happens, and it is worth taking seriously rather than dismissing. If the vehicle they
arrange is genuinely comparable to yours, accepting it removes every later argument about rate and
comparability and costs you nothing. Where it falls short is usually capability: five seats instead
of seven, or no towing. If that is the case, say so in writing with the specific reason rather than
simply declining, and then come to us.
You need it at the tow yard
Occasionally people want the replacement delivered to wherever the damaged car was taken, so the
swap happens in one movement while they are already there clearing personal belongings out of it.
We can do that, but confirm the yard allows access and tell us the opening hours, because holding
yards keep shorter hours than people expect and a wasted trip helps nobody.
Short Notice Is Normal Here
Nobody plans this. Same-week and next-day requests are the norm rather than the exception, and
we staff for it. What helps most is telling us the situation honestly at the first call, including
if you are not yet sure about funding or how long you need it. We would much rather build the
booking around real uncertainty than around a guess that unravels in a fortnight.
If the replacement vehicle is booked
We never move you down a tier. If your dates are taken, these are the luxury cars we will offer instead, and we will tell you plainly if none of them is free rather than substituting something lesser on the day.
Range Rover Sport
- 294kW
- 5.9s
- AWD
- 5 seats
The kind of broadly comparable replacement the principle contemplates when the damaged car was a prestige SUV.
Mercedes-Benz GLS
- 243kW
- 6.3s
- AWD
- 7 seats
Seven seats, for when the car off the road was the family vehicle and a hatchback genuinely will not do the job.
Do not know how long you need it?
Most people do not at the start. Tell us the estimate and we will structure it so you are not rebooking every few days.
General information only. Every claim turns on its own facts.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you deliver accident replacement vehicles across Sydney?
Yes. We run depots at Mascot and Parramatta plus a host network across the metropolitan area. Delivery to your home, to the repairer or to your workplace are all routine. Enter your address when you enquire and we will confirm coverage and any fee before you commit.
Can you deliver to the repair shop instead of my house?
Often the neatest option. You drop the damaged car in and the replacement is waiting, which removes a whole trip. It works particularly well at the larger prestige repairers around Silverwater, Rydalmere, Alexandria and Brookvale.
I do not know how long the repair will take. Can I still book?
Yes, and most people are in that position at the start. Give us the repairer's estimate, even a rough one, and we will structure the booking around it and adjust as it moves rather than having you rebook every few days.
How do you decide what car is comparable to mine?
By what the vehicle was and what it did: segment and size, seating, drivetrain where relevant, and capabilities like towing. We will tell you which of our cars is a fair match, which is arguable and which would be a stretch, because taking something conspicuously grander than your own car can undermine a claim.
What if nothing you have is comparable?
We will say so. That is more useful to you than a booking you cannot properly justify later.
Do you handle the claim or deal with the insurer for me?
No. We are a hire business, not a law practice or a claims manager. We will be clear about our own terms, and if your solicitor or claims manager needs documentation from us we will provide it.
My car has just been written off mid-hire. What happens?
Tell us as soon as total loss is confirmed. On a write-off the entitlement generally runs to settlement within a reasonable time rather than until you have bought a replacement, so we plan the end of the booking against settlement rather than an open date.
Can my partner drive it?
Only if listed as an additional driver on the booking and meeting the same licence and history requirements. An unlisted driver voids cover entirely, so raise it at the start. It comes up constantly on family vehicles.
How quickly can you get a car to me?
Same-week and next-day requests are the norm on accident replacements rather than the exception, and we staff for it. Tell us the situation honestly on the first call, including if you are unsure about funding or duration.
Is this legal advice?
No. This is general information about how replacement vehicle claims usually work in New South Wales. It does not take account of your circumstances and no solicitor-client relationship arises from reading it. For advice on your own claim, speak to a solicitor.
Does Drive Tribe run my claim?
No. We are a vehicle hire business. What we can do is supply a broadly equivalent replacement from a prestige fleet, and tell you honestly whether what we have is a reasonable match for what you were driving.