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I have a friend staying on Oahu for 3.5 months starting early May. He asked what the lowest price option would be to have a car for the term. He is considering buying and then selling but I told him that's a bad idea (hassle of buying/selling in very short time frame, registering/insuring/licensing/title transfer, hoping the car doesn't break down, etc etc) so he decided to just go with the lowest cost rental option. The rates run about $4,200-$4,600 from various websites (e.g. Budget, Enterprise, etc) for the 104-day period with a compact/budget (cheapest available) model car including all taxes and fees. This does not include any additional insurance coverage which I said is unnecessary to get.
Any advice as to where the cheapest rental car option would be? Is it more beneficial to reserve last minute or sooner the better?
Kayak and priceline returns $2,711 with taxes/fees from May 4 to August 7 with pickup at HNL. Booking the car rental sites directly always returns a higher price.
AAA Hawaii returns $2,471 with taxes/fees for the same timeframe.
Kayak and priceline returns $2,711 with taxes/fees from May 4 to August 7 with pickup at HNL. Booking the car rental sites directly always returns a higher price.
AAA Hawaii returns $2,471 with taxes/fees for the same timeframe.
For AAA (the cheapest legitimate option) I came up with the following from their site -
Summary of Charges
(Rental car prices are in USD)
$2,786.97 Monthly Rate (3 x 928.99):
$495.52 Extra Day Rate (16 x 30.97):
$3,282.49 Subtotal:
$520.40 Taxes and Fees:
AMOUNT DUE AT COUNTER
$3,802.89
I'm not sure how you are getting $2,471 from AAA. Are you plugging in 106 days? But $3,809 is still cheaper than the cheapest option he found so thank you.
The one that says $500/mo is actually $1,500/mo all-in. I've found that published rates by these fly-by-night companies are always off by a factor of 2-3X. Also, their phone lines are disconnected.
I'm not sure how you are getting such a high rate from the AAA Hawaii site. I plugged in an extra week to make sure I got 104 days. Make sure the sort order is low to high.
I have a friend staying on Oahu for 3.5 months starting early May. He asked what the lowest price option would be to have a car for the term. He is considering buying and then selling but I told him that's a bad idea (hassle of buying/selling in very short time frame, registering/insuring/licensing/title transfer, hoping the car doesn't break down, etc etc) so he decided to just go with the lowest cost rental option. The rates run about $4,200-$4,600 from various websites (e.g. Budget, Enterprise, etc) for the 104-day period with a compact/budget (cheapest available) model car including all taxes and fees. This does not include any additional insurance coverage which I said is unnecessary to get.
Any advice as to where the cheapest rental car option would be? Is it more beneficial to reserve last minute or sooner the better?
Just curious, why would you tell him not to buy a car? If he gets a good deal on the car, he should be able to sell it for the same price he paid for it, and just be out a few hundred dollars for the insurance and operating costs. Hell, for the price of a rental car, he could probably buy a pretty decent car, and just dump it in a junk yard when he is done with it.
Just curious, why would you tell him not to buy a car?
Perhaps this is why:
Quote:
Originally Posted by pj737
but I told him that's a bad idea (hassle of buying/selling in very short time frame, registering/insuring/licensing/title transfer, hoping the car doesn't break down, etc etc) so he decided to just go with the lowest cost rental option.
Does your friend own a car on the mainland? Unless they just have tons of cash or someone else is picking up the tab, it seems like it would either be cheaper to ship their own car to/from Hawaii or buy something for $3-4k, drive it, and sell for what you can get at the end.
I have a friend staying on Oahu for 3.5 months starting early May. He asked what the lowest price option would be to have a car for the term. He is considering buying and then selling but I told him that's a bad idea (hassle of buying/selling in very short time frame, registering/insuring/licensing/title transfer, hoping the car doesn't break down, etc etc) so he decided to just go with the lowest cost rental option. The rates run about $4,200-$4,600 from various websites (e.g. Budget, Enterprise, etc) for the 104-day period with a compact/budget (cheapest available) model car including all taxes and fees. This does not include any additional insurance coverage which I said is unnecessary to get.
Any advice as to where the cheapest rental car option would be? Is it more beneficial to reserve last minute or sooner the better?
Is your friend working or pleasure while staying for 3.5 months?
I'm kinda old fashion. I would do what i did when i arrived in Hawaii, the first time. Ride the bus. Get a monthly pass for $60.00. Take you anywhere in the Island. Then you wouldn't be spending $4,200-$4,600 dollars? Just a thought. TheBus - Fares & Passes
Car flippers here in CA never register the car under their names, they sell them with the pink and the sale contract. Is this applicable in your situation? Not asking what the DMV suggests you do, asking if the car flipping process is the same there. Seems like he should just buy and not rent.
Is your friend working or pleasure while staying for 3.5 months?
I'm kinda old fashion. I would do what i did when i arrived in Hawaii, the first time. Ride the bus. Get a monthly pass for $60.00. Take you anywhere in the Island. Then you wouldn't be spending $4,200-$4,600 dollars?
In my experience, if you can afford $4,000 for 3 months - you generally aren't interested in a bus that takes a long time. Time is money.
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