Rental Cars Maui
 

Prices are through the roof right now. Will they get better by the end of the year do you think?

I don't have a crystal ball -- but the rental car landscape has had a sea change in the last year. Not just in Hawaii but everywhere. Rental car fleets have been cut by hundreds of thousands of cars. Hertz and other biggies are in financial trouble. Rates are up 25% to over 200% all over the country. Locations regularly run out of cars. Whether they can right their ships by next winter or whether this is the new normal - who knows??

By the end of the year? No because the holidays are ultra-high season in Hawaii (unless of course the country is in the middle of another virus surge by then).

If you find something, book it with free cancellation. If prices go up you might be happy to have something if you end up needing it. if prices go down, cancel and re-book.

Try Costco's Travel section for auto rentals. I always find the best prices there, and reservations are easy to cancel if needed.

I had a reservation through Costco for mid May on the BI. I checked again yesterday and rates were down a couple hundred dollars from what I had books a few months ago, so I rebooked. Might not hurt to keep checking.

There was an article about people renting UHAULs instead of passenger cars in Hawaii. Keep booking and recheckiing. You may find a lower rate for a large car, or you may be given a large car even if you book a compact. Or you might decide to cancel your vacation.

Apparentlly there is a global shortage of microchips which is making restoring the rental fleet a problem.

I just read a very interesting article in today's Washington Post on this topic. They claim rental car prices will be tight until 2022. We just had friends cancel their trip to Maui because cars were running $450/day.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/busin...rtage-economy/

We are at my sister's condo in Palm Springs at the moment and needed to take her car to the dealers for mechanical work, and they pay for a lyft pick up and drop off. The driver's told us that the whole valley is experiencing 1 hour waits for pickup because folks can't get rental cars so are having to depend on lyft and uber, so of course, those prices are skyrocketing as well.

People here on Oahu are renting U-Haul pickup trucks to drive around.

Sure -- However I think the point is - there is aren't enough rental cars and a U-Haul could be one's only option.

My friend rented with costco and they didn't find it a huge amount. She worked for them till retirement but not sure that helped. I will say they also have a good public transportation system there. Taxi, uber and bus.

rental cars in Maui
 

I use AutoSlash.com to find best rates - it came back with tons of choices for September even though everyone else (Costco, Alamo, Hertz, Enterprise...) had nothing. Also try Turo.com - they had more options than I could count.

Hello Fodorites!! Has anyone had experience with Turo.com. car rentals? We are re-planning a trip for April 2022 that was put on hold due to COVID. We have our accommodations all set, flights all booked, but now are trying to find the best way and value to rent a car. I have been looking at all different sites and it has been pretty discouraging with the outrageous prices. I did a search on Turo.com and have found some decent pricing for a car that would fit our needs. Just wondering if anyone has had any dealings with Turo.com and whether they were satisfied with the results. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thank you so much and hopefully we will be able to make it to Oahu and Maui this time around.
Helen G

We just rented from them last month in Hawaii and were VERY happy with the experience! I felt like they took better care of their car than a rental agency would and he texted us a couple times to make sure there were no problems or concerns. We arranged to pick up the car at the airport - an extra fee for that but SO worth it when you've got luggage. I would rent through them again in a heartbeat 😊

cheezz: Thank you so much for your reply and positive feedback about Turo. Have "liked" several cars on their website and will probably decide to rent from them if the prices from the rest of the car rental companies stay as high as they are presently.
HelenG

Helen G ~ Just think of Turo as AirBnB for cars... so depends on the owner you are dealing with what the experience may be like.

My brother had to go thru Truro this year for Kona. There was nothing else. I'm going through Hilo instead of Kona.

I have been reserving through Priceline (VIP ) or direct from Budget. Not much difference and it varies from week to week.

Kauai remains very expensive.

Thank you suze and mlgb. I will keep re-checking for prices and hope they come down, but I had read additional reviews about Turo that were more positive than negative and it all had to do with the "host", so as of now we will use Turo. I will email all the hosts to see how early I can book their cars since there is free cancellation. Pricing on Oahu is much more reasonable than on Maui for similar cars.
Helen G