April 21, 2024 - This week the cheapest Maui car rental from any local company is $25/day with all taxes and fees included. The company offering this deal is - you guessed it - Frank's Friendly Cars. 

$/week..Company
$175.00 Frank's Friendly Cars ($25/day)
$188.59 Makoa Rentacar ($26.94/day)
$189.35 Kihei Rentacar ($27.05/day)
$190.57 Maui Budget Cars ($27.22/day)
$197.38 OGG Off-Airport ($28.20/day)
$230.54 Aloha Rentacar ($32.93/day)
$237.36 Kimo's Rentacar ($33.91/day)
$240.26 Manaloha Rentacar ($34.32/day)
$296.78 Rent-for-less Maui ($42.40/day)
$299.43 OGG Airport ($42.78/day)
$340.76 Cruisin' Maui Rentacar ($48.68/day)
$404.69 North Shore Maui Rentacar ($75.81/day)

These rates are the result of a comprehensive survey of nine of the most visible local Maui car rental companies. We also included the airport rates for comparison. The rates are for a one-week rate with all taxes and fees. Check the accompanying illustration to see the result in graphical form.

HOW WE CHOSE THE SURVEY COMPANIES

These are the companies that appear in the top of the local pack in Google Maps when you search for "Maui car rental." These companies are identified as a local business in Google maps. A screenshot of the search result is included. 

WHAT IS A LOCAL MAUI CAR RENTAL COMPANY? 

What do we mean by "local companies?" These are companies that are locally owned and operated, and not part of a national chain like Hertz, Avis, Budget, Enterprise, Alamo, National, SixT, or other. Maui has a unique "cottage industry" of these local companies, that arose over time as an alternative to the higher-priced national chains. Some of the early pioneers - now long gone or absorbed into newer companies - were Maui Vans, Al West's, Word-of-Mouth, and Maui Car Rentals. The latter was the last one of the early pioneers to close its doors. After 40 years in business, in January 2024, itwas merged into Aloha Rent-a-car - just like the others mentioned here, who also merged with Aloha. 

HOW DID WE GET THE RATES FOR THE SURVEY

The rates were for a one-week rental beginning on April 22, quoted from each company's website. We navigated each website looking for the cheapest rate, just as a typical customer would do. These rates include all applicable taxes and fees. For reference, we're including screenshots of the rate quote page for each company. 

One more company we would have liked to include was Maui Cruisers - company that turmpets iself as "Maui’s Cheapest Local Used Car Rental Service" (if you've ever wondered what search engine spam looks like, there you have it)- but their website does not list a rate. How you do business in this day and age without publishing a price for your product or service is a mystery. The only way you can get a rate from this company is to request it by email. 

TAKEAWAYS OF OUR LOCAL MAUI CAR RENTAL RATE SURVEY

First, many if not most of these companies lay claim very prominently on their websites to THE cheapest rate for car rental in Maui. In reality, there can be only one cheapest rate, and one company that offers it - and that's the rate from Frank's Friendly Cars.

Secondly, not all local Maui car rental companies offer cheap rates. Many are even higher than the airport company rates. 

Finally, not all companies disclose all the costs of rental up-front. Several lead with the rate before tax, with the final result including tax visible only after the customer proceeds with the booking. We can't really call this a "hidden fee," but it would be more straightforward if the rate with everything included were displayed up-front. Taxes and fees can be substantial, in some cases adding more than $50 per week. Keep this in mind when you are searching for the cheapest Maui car rental rate. 

It is worthwhile to note that this week, the difference between the OGG off-airport rate and the OGG airport rate is about $100 - more than can be explained with the "official" difference in taxes and fees between airport and off-airport rental locations. For more details about why these rates can differ so much, see our blog post of January 28, 2024 - Maui Car Rental Airport Fees.  

HOW TO RENT FROM A LOCAL MAUI CAR RENTAL COMPANY

These companies are not included in travel aggregators like Travelocity, Expedia, Kayak, or Rentalcars.com, so you have to do your own legwork to find them. The best way is by searching for "Maui car rental" in Google Maps. In Maps, Google gives priority to companies that it identifies as a "local business," so this keeps the search result focused on the type of business that you are looking for. As noted, most of the local car rental companies have a booking function on their website. You can use this to shop for the cheapest Maui car rental rate. 

PICKING UP AND RETURNING YOUR LOCAL MAUI RENTAL CAR

Most companies we surveyed offer an airport pickup and return service. In some cases this means they pick you up at the airport with a shuttle and bring you to their facility to take delivery of your car. But in many cases, it means that they bring the car to the airport public parking lot in time for your arrival, and you pick it up right there in the parking lot. For the return, you drive yourself to the airport and leave the car parked in the airport public parking lot. Be aware that in some cases there may be an extra fee for this convenient airport pick-up and return option. In most cases this fee was flagged clearly on the booking websites. This rental company fee for airport service would be in addition to any parking fees due when you exit the parking lot with your rental car. You can find the fees for Kahului Airport parking listed in our blog post of December 31, 2023 - Huge Rate Hike for Maui's Kahului Airport (OGG) Public Parking,  

OUR REGULAR WEEKLY CAR RENTAL RATE SURVEY FOR MAUI'S KAHULUI AIRPORT (OGG)

Finally, to complete this post, our weekly survey of the lowest advertised rate from national level companies, for a one-week rental from Maui's Kahului Airport (OGG), beginning Monday, April 21:
Off-airport (with shuttle) $197.36 (down $2)
Airport Rentacar Center $299.43 (up $65)
Source: rentalcars.com

See the weekly chart for a graphic view of the trends of OGG's airport and off-airport rates over the last nine months.