Travel time up Mauna Kea (Hilo, Waipio: renter, hotel, to buy)

[Dreaming of Hawaii]

Snikt, I thought when you first started coming on this forum and asking questions, that you were doing some good pre-trip planning. However, it has become abundantly clear from this thread and the other 4-wheel driving thread that YOU AREN'T LISTENING. What's the point of coming on to a forum, asking questions of locals, then arguing with their answers? We aren't the ones making up the rules; we're trying to prepare you for what to expect and to keep you out of trouble.

It doesn't matter where you've been or what you've done or how silly you think the rules are, this is HAWAII and they do things differently here. Those of us who have vacationed and lived here for years are trying to share our knowledge with you. My husband grew up in Colorado and has spent his whole life (he's now 67) driving in the mountains all over that state. We live in Hawaii now and he is the first to point out how different off-roading is here. Yes, having your Colorado experience is a valuable aid, but you'll be in an unfamiliar car on unfamiliar terrain.

You can choose to totally ignore the advice offered here, but please don't argue with us for trying to be helpful.

[mdand3boys]

I have been up to the summit dozens of times, sometimes in a car. If there is no snow, a car can do it, but it won't go very fast during the last couple of miles. Most of the rental cars that I have seen going up, cannot do more than 5-10mph in that last steep section. My older Camry will do almost 20mph in that same stretch. I always use low gear going down and am very careful not to ride the brakes. I also make a couple of stops for several minutes each time to cool the brakes/rotors down.

Low range 4x4 will be a great help going up and down. When going up it gives you better power, down gives you engine braking so you do not fry the brakes, lose control and die while going over the side of the mountain which has no guard rails on most sections. (I would never take a non-4x4 down Waipio)

If you warp the rotors on your rental vehicle, you WILL get a nice fat extra charge on your credit card for the repairs. I know people at the rental companies and they check for that...

ps - Don't go up on a 1/2 tank of fuel or less either.

[Snikt]

Originally Posted by Dreaming of Hawaii

Snikt, I thought when you first started coming on this forum and asking questions, that you were doing some good pre-trip planning. However, it has become abundantly clear from this thread and the other 4-wheel driving thread that YOU AREN'T LISTENING. What's the point of coming on to a forum, asking questions of locals, then arguing with their answers? We aren't the ones making up the rules; we're trying to prepare you for what to expect and to keep you out of trouble.

It doesn't matter where you've been or what you've done or how silly you think the rules are, this is HAWAII and they do things differently here. Those of us who have vacationed and lived here for years are trying to share our knowledge with you. My husband grew up in Colorado and has spent his whole life (he's now 67) driving in the mountains all over that state. We live in Hawaii now and he is the first to point out how different off-roading is here. Yes, having your Colorado experience is a valuable aid, but you'll be in an unfamiliar car on unfamiliar terrain.

You can choose to totally ignore the advice offered here, but please don't argue with us for trying to be helpful.

You don't have to go on the offensive, if you recall I didn't even mention 4WD or anything in my original post. I don't feel like I'm arguing either, I can still discuss or say a rental policy or whatever is stupid and still listen to advice.

I called the rental place and they said they do rent true 4x4 vehicles but you can't go off-road as expected. But that's standard stuff that any rental place will say I'm sure. So mechanical wise I should be ok anyway.

[mdand3boys]

Check out the webcams, this one in particular:

View of Mauna Kea from Mauna Loa animation

Check out the number of obvious rental vehicles (mainly Jeep Wranglers).
It is a view of the most used parking lot for sunrise/sunset visitors.

[Snikt]

Originally Posted by mdand3boys

Check out the webcams, this one in particular:

View of Mauna Kea from Mauna Loa animation

Check out the number of obvious rental vehicles (mainly Jeep Wranglers).
It is a view of the most used parking lot for sunrise/sunset visitors.

Yeah I'm beginning to see it's just one of those things everyone does anyway. I'm sure if you rent a Ferrari in Vegas the policy will say you can't speed or go fast, but nobody would listen to it

[mdand3boys]

Check out that cam at sunrise and sunset... It will have a lot of vehicles in the parking lot. Not so many during the day hours.

[whtviper1]

After you take your rental car to places you aren't supposed to - you can then start asking us how to build an unpermitted cabin on the Big Island.

[mdand3boys]

Originally Posted by whtviper1

after you take your rental car to places you aren't supposed to - you can then start asking us how to build an unpermitted cabin on the big island.

l m a o !

[CyberCity]

LMAO. me too!

Anyway. There are a couple of other considerations to breaking car rental contract. IF you end up on Saddle Road broken down, flat tire, hitting a rock, etc, the car rental company will not come and help you. IF you end up heading up to the summit, and your car does not run right due to the elevation, etc, the car rental company will not come and help you. "No problem" you say, you'll just get a tow? Try calling a couple of tow truck companies and ask them how much for their services at the summit.

As others have warned, make sure you know what you are signing before you rent. Car rental companies are not naive about damages and contract infractions.

[HiloDiver]

It hasn't been mentioned in this thread, but don't the car rental companies have GPS in the cars and catch you in forbidden areas based on your recorded travel history? Just sayin'.