Go Campers vs Geysir Car Rental

Go Campers is a mid-market local operator founded in 2014 by Icelandic locals, and its defining trait is that it designs, builds, and maintains its entire fleet in-house rather than sourcing vehicles from third parties. That fleet is organized into five practical categories: compact budget vans (homepage rates anchor around $84/day), medium campers for couples (~$94/day), large family builds like the Go Big (~$189/day), dedicated 4x4 F-road campers (Go 4x4 LUX, PRO, and Wrangler tiers), and a lightweight rooftop-tent 4x4 -- the Go 4x4 TOP Camper, a Dacia Duster that sleeps two. The company does not publish a headline vehicle count, but the breadth spans solo Ring Road travelers to highland-bound groups, and every rental now includes unlimited mileage. It is a value-leaning operator, cheaper than premium design-led players and broadly in line with other locals, though the low headline rate is the non-refundable price.

Geysir Car Rental takes the opposite approach: a much older, more focused house. It is one of Iceland's oldest independents, tracing back to 1973 and independent since 2003, and it runs its campers under a sister brand, Motorhome.is (same operator). At any given time roughly five to eight models are live, split into two distinct families. The first is a set of iKamper roof-tent 4x4 SUVs -- a manual-diesel Dacia Duster and a plug-in-hybrid Jeep Compass (each sleeps two) plus a Jeep Wrangler Rubicon 4xe carrying a larger Skycamp tent (sleeps three to four) -- all genuine 4WD and gravel/F-road capable, but with no built-in kitchen, toilet, or shower, so you cook outside and rely on campsites. The second is a range of built-in motorhomes, from an X-van for two up to a six-berth Family Motorhome, each with a gas stove, fridge, Truma propane heating (which warms both cabin and water), a fresh-water tank and sink, and 220V hookup; the six-berth adds a shower and toilet. Those motorhomes are road-going and, unlike the roof-tent SUVs, not rated for F-roads.

On equipment, both vendors leave some comfort items as paid extras, but the gaps differ. Go Campers' vans come trip-ready on heating (a Webasto diesel heater that runs engine-off), power, and cooling, yet its sleeping kit is a genuine weak spot -- thin fleece blankets and small cushions that are not suited to near-freezing nights, with a duvet upgrade running roughly EUR 15-23; gas canisters are also sold separately (budget another ~EUR 35), and Wi-Fi is a EUR 9/day hotspot add-on. Geysir similarly treats bed linen and a camping set (tables and chairs) as optional paid extras, but its motorhomes bundle the kitchen, heating, and water systems into the vehicle itself. Pickup logistics are where the two most clearly diverge. Go Campers operates airport-side at Fuglavik 43 in Reykjanesbaer with a free five-minute shuttle and 24/7 self-service key collection outside staffed hours, plus a Reykjavik office -- though that Reykjavik pickup carries a EUR 50 fee and is limited to three small models, with no large vans or 4x4s. Geysir handles every motorhome handover in person at its Bogatrod depot about ten minutes from the terminal, staffed 08:00-18:00 with no 24/7 key box, and its campers are effectively Keflavik-only.

Reputation and terms round out the contrast. Go Campers cites more than 400,000 travelers served and runs the market's most explicit sustainability program (carbon offsets via Kolvidur reforestation since 2019); its public reviews are solid, around 4.7 on Google and roughly 4.0-4.1 on Trustpilot, with praise for friendly staff, detailed vehicle handovers, and clean vehicles, and recurring gripes about airport pickup coordination rather than the vans themselves. Geysir's picture is more mixed and heritage-driven: its geysir.is car-rental listing carries a polarized 3.2 on Trustpilot from roughly three dozen reviews -- split between condition and drop-off-charge complaints and praise for fast staffed pickup and transparent pricing -- while its campers run under the separately reviewed Motorhome.is brand, which scores higher, and there is no reliable Google count. Both vendors use lowered-but-non-zero insurance excess with paid buy-downs, but their cancellation defaults differ sharply: Go Campers' scraped price is non-refundable (a refundable rate costs more, and non-refundable cancellations convert to a voucher, not cash), whereas Geysir's prepaid rentals stay fully refundable and editable until midnight of the day 48 hours before pickup. Geysir also sets a firm 25-and-over minimum age, while Go Campers rents from 20 (reserving its premium and 4x4 builds for 25+).