November 16, 2025 - Prices for most rental vehicles in Maui, that had peaked last week for the Veterans' Day Holiday, dropped back down to more moderate levels. The exceptions were minivans and 7-seat SUV's that rose even higher from last week. This may be due to a delayed effect of this summer's minivan safety recall. Prices are expected to peak for Thanksgiving and then again even more for Christmas. Keep reading for all the details.

Fig. 1. Maui car rental prices at Kahului Airport (OGG) this week and last week, with the percentage change..

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO RENT A CAR IN MAUI ON NOVEMBER 17, 2025?

Every week, we list the lowest advertised prices for a one-week car rental from Maui's Kahului Airport (OGG), for a selection of vehicle categories, with the change from the previous week, and the company offering the best price. This is our overview of Maui car rental prices for the week of November 17, 2025.

Category Price Change Company

Economy $282 -49% Payless

Midsize $395 -43% SiXT

Jeep $510 -46% Payless

Convertbl $907 -1% Hertz

SUV $422 -59% SiXT

7 St SUV $1,487 +21% Hertz

Minivan $2,682 141% Dollar

The prices quoted here include all applicable taxes and fees.

HOW DID PRICES CHANGE FROM LAST WEEK?

For the week of Monday 11/17/2025, the cheapest rental car from Maui's Kahului Airport (OGG) is $282/week for one week from Payless; that's 49% less than last week. The lowest price for a midsize car is $395/week from Sixt, down 43% last week. Jeeps were down 46%, to $510/week, from Payless. Convertibles were nearly unchanged, down just 1%, to $907/week, from Hertz. The price for the cheapest SUV was down 50% to $422/week, from SiXT. However, 7-seat SUV's were up 21%, to $1,487/week, from Hertz. Minivans surged 141%, more than double, to $2,682/week, from Dollar..

Fig. 2. Comparison of current rental prices to the 52-week median for various car types in Maui, with current premium or discount to median.

HOW DO THIS WEEK'S PRICES COMPARE TO THE 52-WEEK MEDIAN PRICE?

Prices in all vehicle categories are well above their median price over the last 52 weeks. This is illustrated in Figure 2 and in the table below.

Vehicle Price Median Premium/Discount

Economy $282 $269 5%

Midsize $395 $340 16%

Jeep $510 $539 -5%

Convertbl $907 $634 43%

SUV $422 $422 0%

7 st SUV $1,487 $616 141%

Minivan $2,682 $768 249%

This week, prices for many vehicles are at or near their median price for the last 52-weeks. This includes compact cars, mid-size cars, Jeeps, and standard SUV's. This is consistent with the expected seasonal price level at this time.

However, prices convertibles, 7-seat SUV's, and minivans are at a premium to their 52-week median level. For convertibles, the current price is at a 43% premium to the 52-week median price. For 7-seat SUV's the premium is at an extraordinary 141%, and for minivans, it is an even more extraordinary 249%. These premiums are even more extraordinary considering that prices should have come down after the Veterans' Day holiday - instead, they went up.

Before we delve into the reasons for these unusual prices on minivans and 7-seat SUV's, we compare prices of all vehicles this week to their prices exactly one year ago - below.

Fig. 3. Maui car rental prices for multiple vehicle types: current vs. one year ago, with % change.

HOW DO PRICES COMPARE TO ONE YEAR AGO?

This week's prices are compared with the prices of one year ago in Figure 4 and the table below.

Vehicle Now Last Year Change
Economy $282 $512 -45%

Midsize $395 $585 -32%

Jeep $510 $751 -32%

Convertbl $907 $599 51%

SUV $422 $616 -31%

7 st SUV $1,487 $616 141%

Minivan $2,682 $650 313%

Consistent with the pattern of current prices versus last week and current prices versus median, the prices for this week versus one year ago are lower for compact, midsize, Jeep, and SUV, but higher for convertibles, 7-seat SUV's, and minivans.

All of our price movement metrics are in agreement that there are extraordinary factors affecting the prices of convertibles, 7-seat SUV's and minivans, and causing them to diverge from the expected seasonal price movement that is usually seen this time of year.

Fig. 4. Week-by-week Maui car rental prices for compact, midsize, Jeep, convertible, SUV, and minivan categories, from September 2024 to the present.

WHAT FACTORS ARE AFFECTING THE PRICES OF CONVERTIBLES, 7-SEAT SUV's, AND MINIVANS?

Week-by-week prices over the last year for the vehicle categories we track are illustrated in Figure 4, Prices for convertibles have been higher than usual for several weeks now. Last week they were 45% over their median price. The week before, they were 90% over their median price. And one week before that, they were 53% above the median - this while prices that week for all other categories were at a discount their median price. At the rental car base-yards at the airport, we've seen large numbers of brand new convertibles sitting idle all the while. We don't know the reason, but there seems to be some operational factor that is keeping these vehicles out of service, and causing a shortage in the number of convertibles available to rent - this is what is keeping prices so high.

Prices for minivans and 7-seat SUV's, on the other hand, have been following the seasonal price pattern along with other vehicles for several weeks. This week's price movement for these vehicles comes as a surprise. However, in July, a vehicle safety recall on minivans caused the price of multi-passenger vehicles to surge higher than normal for several weeks. Federal law prohibits renting out vehicles that are subject to recall. So the affected vehicles were idled and prices for the category soared because of severely limited supply. In just a matter of weeks from the recall announcement, these vehicles were put back into service and prices returned to normal - but this happened far sooner than we expected. It now appears that the vehicles were returned into service not because the recall repairs were completed, but because the rental companies were able to get an extension or temporary exemption allowing them to put the minivans back into service. And now this exemption has expired, before the repairs are completed. So this means the minivans are idled again, limiting supply, and driving up prices.

Fig. 5. Maui car rental prices from the last 13 months plus price forecast for the next five weeks.

MAUI CAR RENTAL PRICE FORECAST FOR NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2025

As of today, November 16, 2025, the lowest advertised prices for a one week rental made in advance, both from the airport rentals and off-airport, are as follows for the future dates shown:

DATE OFF-OGG OGG

11/17/25 $263 $282

11/25/25 $219 $589

12/01/25 $270 $300

12/08/25 $216 $318

12/15/25 $221 $317

12/22/25 $1,513 $1,739

These advance reservation prices, marked as "Forecast," are illustrated in the area highlighted in Figure 5, which also shows the lowest price evolution over the last 13 months.

For the coming weeks, online reservation systems, are suggesting that prices will rise from their current level and peak for the week of the Thanksgiving holiday, then moderate again in December, before they hit their peak for the year, that occurs at the time of the Christmas and New Year's holidays.

Over the past few weeks, we posted on good deals for the upcoming Thanksgiving holidays - discounts on convertibles, and on compact cars, for the week of Thanksgiving. These deals are all gone, and prices on all categories are set to peak for Thanksgiving.

The price peak for Christmas will be even more pronounced. Advance prices for the holiday are already at about the same level as the extraordinarily elevated prices we saw last year during the holidays - and we expect them to go even higher.

Figure 6. Price trends for a one-week car rental in Maui from December 2024 to November 2025 show variations based on booking timings: one day, one week, and five weeks in advance.

IS IT CHEAPER TO BOOK IN ADVANCE VS LAST MINUTE?

In mid-December of 2024, we began to track the movement of advance booking prices as the reservation date approaches. Every week, we check the price one week out, two weeks out, three weeks out, up to five weeks out, and save the numbers for comparison.

From mid-February of this year until early October, the prices available one day in advance and one week in advance have been consistently lower than the price five weeks in advance (see figure 6).

However, for most of October and going into early November, last minute prices have been higher than advance prices, and the trend continues this week. This indicates strong demand pressure driving up prices.

This week, last-minute prices for bookings are again higher than advance booking prices. And peering into next week, it is expected that the gap between last-minute prices and advance prices will increase even further.

For anyone who does not yet have a reservation for the Thanksgiving holiday, this is not the time to delay. Make your reservation now.

Fig. 7. The cost for tomorrow's rental booked in advance was significantly lower than the last-minute price 1-day in advance.

HOW HAVE PRICE CHANGED FOR TOMORROW'S RENTAL?

The progression of advance reservation prices for a one week rental starting tomorrow, November 10, is illustrated in the price chart in Figure 7.

Off-OGG OGG Days in Advance

$263.00 $282.00 1 (last-minute)

$192.00 $250.00 8 (one week)

$226.00 $261.00 15 (two weeks)

$173.00 $219.00 22 (three weeks)

$169.00 $238.00 29 (four weeks)

$182.00 $299.00 36 (five weeks)

For airport rentals, the price for tomorrow's rental dipped from where it was five weeks ago, to end up just 6% lower today than it was five weeks ago. The best price, $219/week, was three weeks ago. For off-airport rentals, the price for tomorrow's rental also dipped then rose again. From $182/wee five weeks ago to $263/week today represents a 45% increase. However note that the best price, about $170/week was available 3 and 4 weeks ago.

Advance prices for both airport rentals and off-airport rentals showed some volatility over the last five weeks, alternating between increases and decreases from week to week, as can be seen in Figure 7.

Fig. 8. Price of one-week car rental in Maui, comparing off-airport locations with airport locations for popular vehicle types.

DOES IT COST LESS TO RENT OFF-AIRPORT?

The cost of renting a car off-airport for a one-week rental beginning on Nov. 17 is shown below, and compared to an airport rental, with the percentage difference. This is illustrated in figure 8.

OGG Off-OGG Savings (%)

Economy $282 $263 7%

Midsize $395 $311 21%

Jeep $510 $543 -6%

Convertbl $907 - -

SUV $422 $438 -4%

7 St SUV $1,487 - -

Minivan $2,682 $451 83%

This week there were savings on off-airport rentals for compact cars (7%) and mid-size cars (21%). Prices for Jeeps and standard SUV's were just a few percent lower at the airport. The biggest off-airport savings were for minivans - the off-airport price was just 17% - less than one-fifth - of the airport price. This disparity is because off-airport operators with small fleet sizes are automatically exempt from recall orders that idle affected vehicles. However there is nothing to prevent them from raising their prices opportunistically once they get wind of what's going on with the airport vehicles.

Note that for convertibles and 7-seat SUV's, there is no availability of these vehicles being reported off-airport, so airport rentals are the only option.

WHY ARE SOME OFF-AIRPORT PRICES HIGHER?

By conventional wisdom, airport prices are expected to be higher than off-airport prices due to higher airport taxes and fees and a convenience premium .

However, over the past two years, it has become apparent that this rule does not hold true all the time across all vehicle categories. We have found that for some vehicles, notably Jeeps, convertibles, and 7-seat SUV's, prices are consistently lower at the airport. This is probably caused by limited supply at the smaller off-airport locations that closed or cut back operations following the Lahaina wildfires.

The price differential between airport rentals and off-airport rentals can vary from week-to-week and diverge from the expected pattern due to various unpredictable factors - it is a dynamic and rapidly changing picture.

These prices are from our survey taken on 11/1625, for a one-week rental from Maui's Kahului Airport (OGG), beginning on Monday, 11/17/25, for seven vehicle categories, Economy/compact Car, Midsize Car, Convertible, Jeep, SUV, 7-passenger SUV, and Minivan. The rental companies covered in the survey are Ace, Alamo, Allsave, Avis, Budget, Dollar, Enterprise, Fox, Hertz, National, NU, Payless, SiXT, and Thrifty. For more info on the companies we cover, see our blog post on customer satisfaction ratings for these Maui car rental companies .

IS MAUI THE MOST EXPENSIVE HAWAIIAN ISLAND FOR CAR RENTAL?

Figure 9. Cost of one week car rental at major Hawaii airports, this week and last week, with percentage change week-to-week.

Here's a quick survey of the cheapest one-week rental cost from each of the five major Hawaii airports, for a rental beginning on Monday, November 17, 2025. For each airport, we report the lowest price this week and last week, and the difference percentage between the two. This is illustrated in Fig. 9.

11/17 11/10 CHANGE AIRPORT

$235 $243 -3% Honolulu

$263 $234 12% Maui

$248 $443 -44% Kauai

$290 $498 -42% Kona

$263 $497 -47% Hilo

This week prices for car rentals at Kauai, Kona, and Hilo all dropped from last week - about 45%. Honolulu was down 3%, and Maui up 12%. With these changes, Maui is only the third cheapest Hawaii destination for renting a car, tied with Hilo. Honolulu and Kauai both cost less. Previously, Maui was the cheapest for 24 out of 31 successive weeks, and second cheapest for seven others. This is the first time it has come in third in 32 weeks.

HOW DO WE GET OUR MAUI CAR RENTAL PRICE DATA?

Prices for Maui car rentals vary from week to week, and the company offering the lowest price also changes from week to week. Furthermore, one company may be offering the lowest price in one vehicle category, for example mid-size cars, while a different company has a better price on another category, for example mini-vans.

Beginning in July 2024, we've tracked the prices on seven vehicle categories - compact, mid-size, Jeep, convertible, SUV, 7-seat SUV, and minivan - from 10 different companies at Maui's Kahului Airport (OGG): Alamo, Avis, Budget, Dollar, Enterprise, Hertz, National, Payless, SiXT, and Thrifty. Each week, for every vehicle type, we noted which company offered the lowest price. Our weekly price-tracking for the lowest price economy car category goes back to July 2023 - more than one year. These are the data for the charts we post every week.

Figure 10. Week-by-week variation of Maui car rental prices averaged over five years, from 2013 to 2018.

Previously we conducted a five-year price-tracking study for the lowest price economy car category beginning in February 2013 and continuing to February 2018. A sample of these results is in Figure 10, that shows the five-year average of the price over a one-year duration. For details of this massive price-tracking undertaking, and the most important findings on how and when to rent a car, see our blog post of July 14, 2024 titled "When is the best time to rent a car in Maui? "

HOW TO CHECK RATES AND AVAILABILITY FOR MAUI CAR RENTAL

Either click through to to our Cars & Rates section, or check our booking site at rentals.mauicarrental.biz. This site gives you access to all vehicles from eight different companies - Ace, Alamo, Avis, Budget, Dollar, Enterprise, Payless, and Thrifty - at all their Maui locations, that include the Airport rentacar center, Kahului town locations nearby the airport, and resort locations in Kihei/Wailea, and Ka'anapali. With so many options to choose from, you are assured to find the rental car that matches your preferences and your budget for your Maui trip - and there is never a cancellation penalty if you have to change plans.

ABOUT THIS BLOG

Frank Saab is the editor of this blog published by Frank's Friendly Cars Maui Car Rental LLC, an independent car rental company operating in Maui, Hawaii, since 2006. Frank's offers low prices on used local cars and discount prices on new cars, with a "Lowest Price Guarantee" that assures you of getting the best deal on your rental. Visit our website at www.mauicarrental.biz, or call us at 808-280-1196.

Price Data Sources: rentalcars.com, rentals.mauicarrental.biz