almostbob wrote:
gravel roads, road trains, roos, completely different to what most
tourists have encountered b4, high likelihood of glass damage
but still more like buying the car again $230/week
$33/day isnt bad, for the rental co

Fair point (although I am not sure why road trains are a bigger risk
than French artics tail-gating me at 110 kph in the rain on the
autoroute). But damage to the car from gravel* etc are all covered by
the policies I am looking at. The main issue I have is whether or not
to include the SLI.

That said, another issue is whether car hirers in Oz are willing to sign
off a car on its return. Or do they - like those in the USA - insist on
you dropping the car off and leaving them to "find" scratches etc
later - possibly after the cars been scraped in their yard?

*though I'm too old to chance driving unpaved roads in a hire car in
remote locations so we'll be sticking to the Stuart Highway etc
--
R