Rental companies compared

Each set of initials confirms a page of small print. It says who pays after a rollover, how fast you may drive on gravel and whether you may still be on the road after sunset. These clauses differ between companies far more than the daily rate does.

Seven companies rent out 4x4s in Namibia, almost all of them with camping gear too: Asco, Britz, Bushlore, Savanna, Namibia2Go, African Elegance and Caprivi Car Hire. Whether you need a 4x4 at all, and how prices move through the year, is covered on the car hire page.

Speed on gravel

60 to 80 km/hunder the contract, even where a sign allows 100

Minimum age

18 to 30depending on company, vehicle and engine

Single-vehicle accident at Savanna

up to N$ 165,000liability without the top cover level, as of October 2026

Night driving

banned or uninsuredat Namibia2Go and African Elegance

The terms side by side

Each company publishes different parts of its terms. "Not stated" means the documents online in October 2026 say nothing about it.

Terms as published: Britz valid 1 November 2025 to 31 October 2026, Asco dated 1 June 2026, Bushlore 2026, all others retrieved on 13 October 2026; the African Elegance sheet and the Gondwana terms for Namibia2Go carry no date. The rand is pegged one to one to the Namibian dollar, so amounts in rand and N$ compare directly. Check every row against the contract you actually sign.

The companies one by one

Asco

Asco rents Toyota Hilux and Land Cruiser vehicles with camping gear from Windhoek. Its terms of 1 June 2026 offer four levels of cover, from standard through two reduced excesses to Super Cover. Only Super Cover pays for an accident with no other party, for tyres and for the underbody. The amounts are not in the terms but in the rate sheet.

Water is your risk at every level. And the Kaokoveld has its own list: on Van Zyl's Pass and the D3707 and D3703 you pay for all damage yourself, even with Super Cover. Dunes and the drive to Sandwich Harbour are banned.

Britz

Britz has the widest network: main depots at Windhoek airport, Johannesburg, Cape Town, Maun and Kasane, with delivery to Swakopmund and Walvis Bay on request. Minimum rental is seven days from Windhoek. From the coast it is ten. The zero-excess Super Cover is included and even covers an accident with no other party. Only rollovers are excluded, under every option, including tipping onto the side.

The terms contradict themselves on speed. In one place Britz can recall the car by tracking if you repeatedly exceed 120 km/h on tar, 60 on gravel or 40 in a national park. Elsewhere the same figures appear as a recommendation. Britz strongly advises against driving at night but does not ban it.

Beyond Namibia, Britz allows South Africa, Lesotho, Eswatini, Botswana, Zambia as far as Livingstone, Zimbabwe as far as Harare and Mozambique as far as Vilanculos. In Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Zambia its third-party cover does not apply. You buy that at the border. One-way from Windhoek to Swakopmund or Walvis Bay costs N$ 6,300, to Cape Town or Johannesburg N$ 7,000, as of October 2026. And after an accident, a replacement vehicle comes with standard cover only and a new deposit of N$ 55,000.

Bushlore

Bushlore is based in Johannesburg and has a depot in Windhoek. Drivers must be between 22 and 75, and the minimum rental is usually seven days. The 2026 terms set an excess of 30,000 rand, which two extra levels of cover halve or cut to zero. At the zero level a deposit of 5,000 rand remains, and a rollover still costs you 30,000. As of October 2026.

Without extra cover, the excess doubles for a rollover with no other party and for hitting an animal at night. Bushlore does not pay for tyres and glass under basic cover or the first level, nor for water damage at all. If you pick up in South Africa, the border crossing costs a one-off 800 rand, as of October 2026.

Savanna

Savanna gives 1994 as its founding year on its own website, along with more than 200 vehicles and its own workshop in Windhoek. A 2014 article in Travel News Namibia mentioned 85 vehicles and 1993 as the start. The campers are Hilux or Ford Ranger with a drawer system. Several Land Cruiser models come on top.

The excess depends on vehicle class and is blocked on your credit card. Levels 1 to 3 reduce it but only cover a collision with an animal, a person or another vehicle. Only level 4 adds glass, two tyres, sandblasting, underbody and rollover. No level covers rims.

On single-vehicle accidents the terms contradict themselves. Level 4 includes rollover as long as you were not negligent, yet two paragraphs later you are liable for up to N$ 165,000 plus recovery after any accident with no other party, as of October 2026. Ask in writing whether the N$ 165,000 also applies with level 4.

Savanna is strict on speed: 80 km/h on gravel, 60 in towns and national parks, 120 on tar, even where a sign shows 100. Go faster and you lose all cover, and a black box records it. Water above axle height counts as negligence.

Namibia2Go

Namibia2Go belongs to the Gondwana Collection, which also runs lodges in Namibia. Its Hilux camper takes four, with two soft rooftop tents in the Budget version or hard-shell tents. For the season from November 2026 the Budget version costs N$ 2,700 a day, from July 2027 N$ 3,600, a little less from 15 days, as of October 2026. You must be 23 and have held a licence for at least a year.

The vehicle page says zero excess, no deposit, tyres and glass included. The Gondwana Group terms read differently. If damage results from negligence or a breach of contract, you pay an excess of N$ 55,000, as of October 2026. Negligence there includes going faster than 80 km/h on gravel, driving on gravel or outside towns after sunset, and crossing water deeper than 25 centimetres.

Two more clauses do not match the advert. Tyre damage not caused by wear and tear is excluded under the terms. And for bookings through Gondwana's own travel agency, a single-vehicle accident may be deemed negligent, which makes you fully liable.

Watch outNamibia2Go bans driving before sunrise and after sunset on gravel and outside towns. Plan your stages to arrive before dusk, or you lose the cover you booked.

African Elegance

African Elegance Rentals is based in Windhoek and rents Hilux, Isuzu and Fortuner vehicles, including seven- and nine-seaters. Its insurance sheet is undated and contradicts itself twice. You may rent from 18, with a surcharge under 22. Yet the exclusions list drivers under 22.

The second contradiction concerns single-vehicle accidents. Platinum Cover lists accidents with no other party among its benefits, while the section on single-vehicle accidents says a rollover is not covered by any insurance, not even when swerving to avoid an animal. With Platinum Cover the excess is N$ 2,500 for damage up to N$ 25,000 and ten per cent of the damage above that, as of October 2026. Rims and the camping gear, rooftop tent included, are never insured.

On roads the sheet is more precise than any other. Only numbered public roads are allowed, and anything north of Purros or west of Opuwo counts as off-road. The D2342 and D2303 are closed. Dunes and Van Zyl's Pass are strictly banned. After sunset outside towns you are only insured with permission, and above 80 km/h on gravel all cover lapses. Cross-border trips are limited to neighbouring SADC countries, with the excess doubled.

Caprivi Car Hire

Caprivi Car Hire rents Toyota Hilux double cabs, with camping gear and one or two rooftop tents on request. On 13 October 2026 its home page quoted from N$ 1,599 a day for the vehicle and from N$ 1,760 with camping gear, with no season or rental length given, as of October 2026. Its terms are posted as a PDF on the site. Ask about the excess, rollover and night driving in writing before you book.

What about comparison sites?

On Sunny Cars and billiger-mietwagen, two large German car hire comparison sites, a 4x4 with rooftop tent in Windhoek could not be selected on 13 October 2026. Billiger-mietwagen itself suggests asking the rental company. CamperDays lists 4x4 campers from Windhoek, Asco's among them; whether a rooftop tent is included only shows in the vehicle description. Book through a travel agent and your contract is still with the rental company, as Gondwana spells out for its own agency.

What to check in the contract

• The single-vehicle accident clause. Covered, capped as at Savanna or treated as negligence as in the Gondwana terms: this decides whether you could be liable for the whole vehicle.
• The advert against the terms. Zero excess at Namibia2Go only holds as long as you do not breach the contract.
• The speed in the contract, not on the sign. At Savanna and African Elegance you lose all cover above 80 km/h on gravel; at Britz the limit is 60.
• The night driving clause. Is it a ban, an exclusion or just advice?
• Water. How deep may you go, and can water damage be insured at all?
• Closed roads on your route, in the north-west above all Van Zyl's Pass, D3707, D3703, D2342 and D2303.
• Tyres, rims and glass one by one. How many tyres are covered, does only the windscreen count, are rims excluded?
• The camping gear. At African Elegance it is never insured, rooftop tent included.
• The countries you may enter, and whether the excess rises abroad or third-party cover ends there.
• The replacement vehicle after an accident. At Britz it comes with standard cover only, at Savanna with a new excess that cannot be reduced.
• The age of every driver, including the second. A surcharge does not mean the insurance covers them.

Our tipAsk for the terms as a PDF before you book and mark the clauses on single-vehicle accidents, speed, night and water. Anything that stays unclear, ask by email, so you have the answer in writing if someone at the counter says otherwise. How to drive gravel so these clauses never matter is on the practical tips page.