What's a reasonable rate to rent a car in the South Island?

The best I've found so far for a full size car with automatic transmission is Hertz at 77 NZD/day, all in, for 14 days, including fees to return in a different location than pickup.

That depends on where you are renting from/returning to, many of the local companies like Apex have smaller network. Also why do you need a full size car? That can be not terribly desirable in terms of gas cost as well as driving on narrow roads.

Check for a better rate if you use an airline, credit card, Costco, etc., Apex, and a smaller vehicle.

Current thoughts are to rent in Nelson and return in Queenstown.

Full size cars are not that large these days. We will be doing a lot of driving on roads which may not be the best, and a full size car is often more comfortable.

Apex has a Toyota Corolla for NZD 715, which is a nicer price.

On our last visit to the SI in 2008 we paid NZ $870 for 15 days, with a $25 surcharge to drop off at the airport. We rented through APEX - a spacious automatic Corolla. We picked up in Christchurch and dropped off at the Christchurch airport.

We waived the additional insurance and relied on the insurance offered through our credit card company.

I personally think a full size car is overkill, unless you have four adults or a couple of kids. Gas is not cheap in NZ.

Beware APEX and their penchant for applying DCC - ask them to charge your credit card in NZ dollars, otherwise they'll automatically charge in your own country's currency - you'll get a much better exchange rate from your bank than from theirs (ANZ). Trust me on this.

What is the reputation of "Go Rentals," and does anyone have any experience renting its "Super Cheapie" cars. The charge for this car is only $28 per day, but the car is a 1996 model with high "mileage."