Kea Platinum M721 Review

Paul Owen reviews the Kea Platinum, a New Zealand-made motorhome that’s proved its mettle by its sheer reliability, practicality and driving ease.

If you ask a seven-year-old to draw a motorhome, there’s a good chance that what you’d get would look remarkably like the side profile of this Kea Platinum. That’s because the Luton-bodied Platinum has been around for a long time, and has been designed and made in New Zealand. It populates our roads, camping grounds, and scenic location carparks like no other large motorhome, often bearing the brand of a rental company, and often, when stripped of all the decals that refer to its rental past, with a pair of satisfied private owners grinning happily in the cab.

There are multiple ways to engage with the biggest Kea. You could take an extended test drive by renting one, and several Tourism Holdings Ltd rental fleets will be happy to oblige. Be warned that you are most likely to decide to own one, as there’s a sublime simplicity to the Platinum and it’s built to last several years of rental use by people who are unfamiliar with the many nuances of motorhomes.

When you do decide to take the plunge, the next bridge to cross is whether to buy one that’s brand new or secondhand. The former purchase option is back on the table now that the Hamilton-based manufacturer of the Platinum, Action Manufacturing, has resecured access to the rear-drive Mercedes Sprinter 519 cab-chassis that forms the platform for the Platinum. Next year will see the welcome return of Kea’s king-sized model in volume, and you’ll be able to buy a new one from any of the RV Super Centre branches situated across both islands, which are also owned by Action’s parent company, Tourism Holdings Ltd. New Platinums will be available from around the end of March 2023, should you wish to secure your own unused example of this well-proven motorhome that has been purpose-built to withstand New Zealand touring conditions.

If you can’t wait that long, the RV Super Centres based in Auckland, Christchurch and Queenstown also sell second-hand models of the Kea Platinum that have been fastidiously maintained and groomed throughout their time as rental vehicles. This example, with less than 6,000km on the clock, lists for $174,990, while approximately $140,000 will secure the keys to a Platinum that has around 150,000km under its wheels. On average, the mileage that a Platinum can accrue during its time on Tourism Holdings Ltd’s rental fleets of is around 300,000km. These then command a sticker price of $129,990. North Island sales manager, Vicky Joubert, says there is high demand for Platinums due to the well-established reputation of the model. Most owners, once they are in possession of their Kea, don’t let them go. They are very happy with their choice of vehicle, and see no reason to change it.

So, what are the keys to the success of one of New Zealand’s most trusted motorhomes, and why does it generate such passionate loyalty from its owners?

Smooth Mercedes V6 Diesel

The Mercedes Sprinter 519 dual cab chassis that forms the basis of the Kea Platinum can be used to create a vehicle that has a gross vehicle mass of five tonnes, thus giving plenty of scope for the creation of a large, spacious motorhome. The Platinum does not quite go the whole hog, and has a GVM of 4,950kg, which includes a very generous payload of 840kg. This is more than adequate even for a six-berth motorhome, especially one that may be rented by a complete sextet of excited and well-fed adult tourists when the Women’s Football World Cup kicks off in 2023.

For private owners, that payload figure means there is plenty of scope when it comes to loading up their Platinum to the gunwales with all the necessary toys and tools, and staying within the absolute weight limit for both the motorhome and what it is carrying in terms of human cargo and materiel.

A big motorhome needs a big engine to power it, and the Mercedes 3.0L V6 turbodiesel shoulders the burden with little effort, sending maximum outputs of 140kW (190bhp) and 440Nm of driving force to the rear wheels via a seven-speed automatic gearbox. It’s a well-calibrated powertrain, smooth and willing, and the higher gearing of the rear differential allows more relaxed cruising at open road speeds than four-cylinder Sprinter diesels.

The 519 is also quite a package when it comes to fitted equipment. The driving interface includes keyless start, a multifunction steering wheel, cruise control, and an excellent multi-media system with a seven inch touchscreen. There’s semi-automatic climate control for the cab, and driving aids include Active Brake Assist, Lane Keeping Assist, Crosswind Assist, driver attention monitoring, and Hillstart Assist.

Room to stretch out

At 3.26 metres high, the Platinum towers over most other motorhomes. That’s not quite high enough to require monitoring of maximum height limit warnings when approaching low bridges, but it is high enough to ensure that the Luton bed above the cab is one of the most spacious and well-considered of its type. This is no token measure, and the 2.1m x 1.45m above cab bed is possibly the one that will be most coveted on tour. Just be careful when using the upright ladder to get down from such a height.

Following the Luton is the rest of the motorhome, with the roof still located at an impressive 2.16m from the floor. This height goes some way to adding to the impression of space inside the Kea. At the back is the U-shaped lounge that Platinum owners often point out as one of their favourite features. Large sliding windows offer excellent views from the bench seats of the lounge, and at night the cushions, squabs, and table can be rearranged to form a spacious double bed measuring 2.1m x 1.42m.

If you’re feeling lazy, the rear sleeping quarters of the Platinum can be left made up, as there’s a four-seater (at a pinch) dinette opposite the longitudinal kitchen. There are still decent views to be enjoyed from the dinette seats via the large side windows on either side of the Kea, and the area also makes a comfortable workstation for nomadic keyboard warriors. If there’s still more folk needing a bed after those ahead of them in the cabin pecking order have claimed the full-fat adult-sized double beds, the dinette converts into a compact 1.85m x 1.2m double bed.

A foodie’s kitchen

If you measure the value of a motorhome by the amount of its kitchen bench space, the Kea Platinum wins the lottery. By laying out the kitchen in a straight line and keeping all the major food prep hardware – a 130L Isotherm fridge, separate oven and grille, four-burner gas hob, and a microwave oven – below the bench line, Kea has created a bench area that is more than two metres long. There’s still room for a few bags of supermarket shopping in the drawers located around the below bench appliances, and the large lockers overhead offer plenty of extra storage. These have shelves with lips at their leading edge to prevent stuff dropping out of them. It’s a nice, simple detail that a lot of motorhome makers forget to add. While we’re on the subject, let’s give a shout-out to the simple push-button latches that Kea/Action fit to their drawers and cupboards. As someone who has toured well over 150,000km in a Kea Traveller I can confirm that these latches last the distance.

Oh the simplicity!

If you see touchscreens and the menus they display as the frustrating inventions of technocrats who are willfully intending to confuse and obscure, the electronics of the Platinum will please and delight you. The battery monitor is a simple analogue gauge with an easily read needle; the monitors for the 82L fresh- and greywater tanks are vertical lines of LED lights that can be registered at a glance; and a line of robust mechanical flick-switches operates things like the water pump, entertainment system and lights. Rolls Royce continues to view simplicity as one of the cornerstones of luxury and I’m sure they would probably applaud such a user-friendly approach.

Many of the aspects that make the Kea a more workable large motorhome than many, results from the feedback of the thousands of customers who have rented a Platinum. It’s a product that has evolved a little over time, the only massive change being the shift to the Mercedes Sprinter 519 platform six years ago. Meanwhile, a former fold-out seat near to the entrance door has been ditched to create a more useful large vertical cupboard, and the bathroom has been shrunk just a little, to give the U-shaped lounge another window and the ability to seat another person there.

It’s a trade-off with little to no negative effect on room required for personal grooming and convenience, as there’s still enough space to do whatever you need to do in there. Heating is now supplied by a diesel unit mounted beneath the rearmost seat of the lounge instead of gas.

Finishing touches

The Kea Platinum comes with a 4.2m long Cvana awning as standard, which automatically retracts should the wind prove too strong for it. There’s also a very sturdy two-bike rack mounted on the rear of the vehicle, and a 170w solar panel trickles energy from the sun into the 120Ah AGM house battery. There’s a 12-month RVSC guarantee that any issues will be rectified during that time, and the Mercedes Sprinter 519 dual cab-chassis platform comes with a three year/200,000km warranty which includes roadside assistance. It all adds up to a motorhome that’s destined to become a Kiwi classic.

For more information, visit https://www.rvsupercentre.co.nz