When we lived in Australia, we used Bayswater for car rentals in WA and this site for elsewhere in Australia:

https://www.vroomvroomvroom.com.au/

Renting an older car sometimes makes sense...especially for visitors unaccustomed to driving on the left as the cars have already been put through their paces.

Do you have to be more vigilant about dings and scratches before you take out the car from the rental office then?

So that you don't get accused of damage that already existed?

Those dings and dents are usually already well-documented by the rental car company, but it never hurts to make note of them yourself before leaving the lot. Better safe than sorry.

I've personally never had a problem with any rental car company, although I've heard many stories from those who have. We never buy rental car insurance and have never needed it. We depend on our credit card insurance, but have never needed it either.

In NZ, WA and SA we much prefer older cars - even though we have lots of left side driving experience, we tend to travel roads off the beaten path. We fully accept the risk, which is easer with an older car, as the excess tends to be lower. We don't need new, we just need reliable.

When it comes to car rentals in Australia in NZ, the company with the lowest excess usually wins out for us.

Keep in mind that Australian rental car companies have some restrictions that you might not be accustomed to, such as restrictions on driving after dark in some areas (wildlife), restrictions on driving outside a certain mileage radius (usually solved by paying a surcharge), restrictions on driving on dirt roads (keeping in mind that there are different definitions for 'unformed' and 'unsealed'. They are not one and the same. Many roads into national parks are formed, but unsealed, so perfectly fine.

Most of my Australian rental car experience stems from rentals in WA and SA, and they're the wild west compared to the eastern states, so this may not apply to you. If one were to stick to the bitumen in WA for example, you'd miss 3/4 of the state.

And then there's the old windscreen and tyre damage exclusions. And once, in Perth, we were required to clean the car inside and out before returning it or face being charged for professional cleaning. First and only time I'd run into that one, and that rental car company no longer exists.

BTW, I'm considering a short visit to Melbourne, to visit Mornington among other things. I've been on the GOR but don't have enough days to revisit that.

There are all-day tours who will pick you up and bring you back. But I may rent a car for a day and do it myself, because I don't want to spend hours in a van with strangers.

we mostly use Europe cars and they are always newish models . Weve rented in Melbourne, Queensland and Western Australia ie Fremantle and Broome .(In Broome you can't drive on the beach in a rental car or go outside the town on an unmade road ). Their prices are competitive and we don't take out the insurance extra as our credit card covers this. Dints etc are always marked on an inspection sheet and we've not had any trouble with this..