Last year in New Zealand it was the first time that we decided to rent a campervan for our vacation and we totally loved it to be so close to nature. So naturally this time in Patagonia we wanted to have that experience again. Due to the lack of alternatives we decided to go with Wicked South America, as they are the only ones offering this type of vehicle in that area. We rent the car for 15 days including the permit to cross the border to Argentina and insurance. The package set us back about € 1.800,- which was quite a lot considering that we payed only € 2.100,- for our way better equipped Spaceship campervan in New Zealand for 4 weeks. However, we were really happy with the service of Wicked South America as a whole. The communication with the office before our trip was great and Alejandro, the guy responsible for the rental business in Punta Arenas, did an amazing job in showing us around the Wicked campervan and giving us useful tipps for driving in Patagonia.
What do you get for your money?
- Well, obviously a campervan. The car is a Chevrolet N300 Max and fits 2 people. Bigger vans for up to 6 persons are also available. Check directly with Wicked for a detailed overview.
- A mattress in the rear for a good night sleep
- A lot of storage in the back
- A camping table and two chairs
- A camping stove
- A camping cooler
- Cookware, cuttlery and dishes
- A fuel canister and an emergency kit in case of a breakdown
So actually you are good to go camping the way you receive the van. The only items you need to bring are sleeping bags (good ones as it can get really cool at night) and pillows. Beneath you can find some pictures of the van and the equipment. The outside of the car is already quite dirty since I took the pictures after having driven already 3.000km through Patagonia with no breakdowns at all.
By the way, all Wicked Campervans have their own unique design. Ours was the so called 3D Van. On the back it said “Si ves doble es porque estas borracho!” meaning if you see double it’s because you are drunk. It was actually quite funny and other tourists often told us that they have already seen us on the streets and remember us because they love the design.
Interiour
The cockpit is really basic with no bangs or whistles except a Radio with a CD player that reads MP3s. No AUX input or Bluetooth to connect your phone and listen to music while driving. No speedometer, automatic windows and not many space in the cockpit to put some smaller items.
Generally, we received the car in a good and clean condition (considering the car already had 120.000km on the clock). The back was fully converted for all camping needs like a lot of storage for bags on which you put the mattresses while sleeping. It was actually quite comfortable to sleep as the car itself is very tall and you got a lot of room for your legs. Where you open the tailgate you can find a little kitchen with an integrated sink. The water comes from a water reservoir you connect it to (we used a big 5 litre water bottle we bought at a local supermarket).
Driving experience
Given the many kilometres the car already had on the clock, riding in the Wicked campervan was not the fanciest experience ever. The clutch had no real biting point and the first days it was always a guessing game where the spot really was. However, I got used to it and at the end it didn’t even bother me anymore. The car was well maintained from an engine point of view and we had no problems at all during the time we rented it. It is worth noting, that the car has no power steering so parallel parking in the cities was quite tough. Suspension was not very comfortable and very basic. But nothing broke while driving the various gravel roads so that’s probably a plus.
Generally, we never drove faster than 85 km/h as at around 90 km/h the steering wheel started to wobble around and the motor got quite loud since the car only had 5 gears. Fuel consumption at that speed was also really good and you can drive the car very economically.
For the little time being, the small annoyances didn’t bother us and the car never broke down. So we were really happy.
Conclusion – can we recommend a Wicked Campervan?
We really enjoyed the experience with Wicked South America as a whole. However, we also encountered a few drawbacks that nevertheless didn’t stop us from enjoying our stay in Patagonia at its fullest. The van itself was quite spacious to sleep in, was well equipped with camping gear and it takes (almost) all the roads you are faced with in Patagonia at a very low fuel consumption rate. So all that is definitely a huge plus. However, where there is light there is also shadow and from our point of view the camper vans are a little overpriced for what they offer. They are equipped very basically electrical-wise and the insurance package they come with let’s you hope that you don’t have an accident or break the windshield, since the bond they keep is quite high. It would be great if the vans were equipped with a second battery that runs a small refrigerator, so you could also buy some dairy products or other things that need cooling. Keeping everything we just wrote in mind, would we rent the van again? Probably yes, since there are no real alternatives and all in all we had a great experience.
We’re considering getting a Wicked Camper for 4 weeks in Patagonia this December. There just doesn’t seem to be a lot of other affordable hire options. We had some concerns so I found your review really helpful! Thanks.
We had the same problem before we rented the van, there simply are no reviews on the internet. Great to hear that our review helped you in the decision making process! Have a great down in Patagonia 🙂
Thanks a lot for this review!
Wicked Campers apreciate a lot the real experience from actual travellers.
And keep in mind that we are improving our service each and every day!
Wicked Campers Team
You are welcome! We had a great time down there in Patagonia!
DON’T RENT YOUR VAN HERE! This is a very unprofessional company, beware!!!
Our story: it saddens me to write a bad review on our Wicked Van experience. We rented a van for 36 days and paid over 2000euro. You could say we were good customers. On the first day we noticed we didn’t have front lights, that the radio wasn’t working and that the alignment of the van was very bad, even after inflating the almost flat tire they sent us on the road with! We asked roadside assistance if we could fix all this in a nearby garage. We had to pay up front and guess what, a month after we returned the van, we don’t hear back from them to get the costs back. We have now sent them 12 emails and have contacted them via WhatsApp. “We are too busy at the moment” was the only thing we got out of them. We find this unacceptable!!!! So this is a kind of company that sends you on the road with stuff you need to fix and promises you they will pay you back. Only to find out that when you are back home, far away from Chile, they disconnect any contact!! This is a very unprofessional company, be ware and don’t rent your van here! In comparison to other vans we saw on the road, ours was very basic in comfort. They care more about looking “cool”.
PS: we also couldn’t choose our own van, so we got a politically offensive one about South Korea. Asians we met on the road were offended and we didn’t like being the center of attention. One morning we woke up with one of our tires slashed.
We are sorry to read about your bad experience with them.
For the sake of completeness I must point out the option of SoulVans Chile. A small business (about 20 cars total) run by Mauro, a devoted local, who has a lot of experience with overlanding. We rented for 50 days for 2500 USD with him (inflation has now driven the prices up a bit + we had a long term discount). When we had issues, he would always take care of everything by phone (e.g. engine light came on and he contacted a garage on the way who took care of it free of charge for us).
I am not saying anything about Wicked, as I have not rented with them, but Mauro’s rental agency SoulVans is a little more difficult to find since it’s a more local and small. You can find his offers and contact on the web and contact him, he is always quick to reply with honest comments.