November 23, 2025 - Maui car rental prices surged for the Thanksgiving holiday. Prices were expected to rise for this major holiday, but there were some surprises: minivans sold out completely, and prices for Jeeps and SUV's rose to extraordinary levels far above what could be expected. Prices are expected to moderate after the holiday, but minivans and large SUV's remain an unpredictable wildcard. Looking ahead prices and availability for Christmas are already headed to a complete sell-out on all vehicles. Keep reading for all the details.

Fig. 1. Lowest advertised Maui car rental prices for select vehicles charted for 14 months

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO RENT A CAR IN MAUI ON NOVEMBER 24, 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 24, 2025.

Category Price Change Company

Economy $532 +89% SiXT

Midsize $688 +74% Hertz

Jeep $2,595 +409% Dollar

Convertbl $919 +1% Avis

SUV $3,075 +629% SiXT

7 St SUV $3,414 +130% SiXT

Minivan - -

The prices quoted here include all applicable taxes and fees. Prices for these vehicle types charted week-to-week for the last 14 months are illustrated in Figure 1.

The price for the cheapest car from Kahului Airport (OGG) was $532/week, from SiXT. The cheapest midsize car cost $688/week from Hertz. Jeeps rose to an extraordinary level of $2,595 from Dollar. Convertibles started at $919/week, SUV's (both standard and 7-seat) were over $3,000/week, and minivans were completely sold out.

Prices at these levels for Jeeps and SUV's have not been seen since the peak period of Christmas 2024 nearly one year ago.

Fig. 2. Maui car rental prices at Kahului Airport (OGG) this week and last week, with the percentage change..

HOW DID PRICES CHANGE FROM LAST WEEK?

For the week of Monday 11/24/2025, ompact cars were up 89% from last week - nearly double. Midsize cars were up 74%, also nearly double. Jeeps rose 409% or 5x. SUV's rose 629% or more than 7x. 7-seat SUV's, that along with minivans, had already seen a very sharp rise last week, rose another 130% this week - more than double. And minivans from Kahului Airport (OGG) were sold out entirely for the week. Bucking the overall trend, convertibles rose only 1% - more on this divergence from the overall trend below.

Prices for this week and last week, with the percentage change week-to-week, are illustrated in Figure 2.

Prices at these levels for SUV's and Jeeps, along with the very sharp rise from last week, reflect a shortage condition, with exorbitant prices being set by the rental company algorithms. Nobody in their right mind can be expected to pay rental prices at this level

Fig. 3. 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?

The median price for a vehicle, calculated over a 52-week period, reflects an expected price for renting the vehicle. Current prices higher than the median (i.e. at a premium) reflect high season/high demand conditions. Prices lower than the medium (i.e. at a discount) reflect slow periods/excess supply.

This week, prices in all vehicle categories are well above their median price over the last 52 weeks. This is illustrated in Figure 3 and in the table below.

Vehicle Price Median Premium/Discount

Economy $532 $269 98%

Midsize $688 $340 102%

Jeep $2,595 $539 381%

Convertbl $919 $716 28%

SUV $3,075 $422 629%

7 st SUV $3,414 $647 428%

Minivan - $796 -

Prices for compact cars and are about double their 52-week median, which is not all that unusual. But what's unusual is Jeeps at 381% or nearly 4x the median, SUV's at 629% or more than 7 times the median, and 7-seat SUV's more than 5x their 52-week median. Meanwhile, minivans are completely sold out, and convertibles are only 28% above their median price - more on what could be going on with these last two categories below.

Fig. 4. Maui car rental prices for multiple vehicle types: current vs. one year ago, with % change.

HOW DO PRICES COMPARE TO ONE YEAR AGO?

Comparing this week's prices to prices at the corresponding week one year ago is another useful and informative way of gauging the condition o the market. See the comparison in Figure 4 and the table below.

Vehicle Now Last Year Change
Economy $532 $546 -3%

Midsize $688 $558 23%

Jeep $2,595 $1,710 52%

Convertbl $919 $792 16%

SUV $3,075 $600 413%

7 st SUV $3,414 $744 359%

Minivan - $1,082 -

Prices for compact cars, midsize, and convertibles are not too far off from where they were this time last year. Compacts are even slightly down. But the big anomalies are with SUV's: prices for both standard SUV's and 7-seat SUV's are about five times what they were one year ago in the week of Thanksgiving. As mentioned previously, minivans from OGG are sold out completely, so no year-to-year price comparison is possible.

WHAT FACTORS ARE DRIVING THE PRICES MAUI RENTAL CARS IN NOVEMBER 2025?

All of our price metrics tabulated and illustrated above indicate that there are unusual factors driving the current market.

Minivans and SUV's Are Affected By Last Summer's Safety Recall

his summer, availability for these vehicles was impacted by a minivan safety recall from Chrysler Corporation, that idled large numbers of rental fleet minivans. Recovery from this shock was unexpectedly quick, with prices returning into a normal range in a matter of weeks, quicker than expected given the known delays and lead times required for recall repairs of hundreds of thousands of vehicles nationwide. We believe that recalled vehicles were put back into service under a temporary exemption from the rules prohibiting the rental of vehicles subject to recall. And that exemption has now expired - just in time for the busiest period of the year. This has led to the complete evaporation of availability for minivans and the extraordinary price levels for SUV's that can substitute for minivans as multi-passenger vehicles.

New Convertibles Are Slow To Go Into Service

When it comes to convertibles, we have observed over the last few months several unusual availability and pricing dynamics. First, hundreds of newly arrived convertibles sat idle awaiting processing (licensing and fleet integration) in the rental base-yards. As the older models they replaced were taken out of service and taken off-island, rental prices for convertibles rose to unusual levels for the low season of late summer and early fall. Advance reservation systems seemed to expect that the new vehicles would be put back into service by Thanksgiving, with extraordinary discounts being offered in October for advance reservations of convertibles from mid-November on. It appears that the numbers of vehicles in service may be advancing but not as quickly as expected, which is keeping convertible prices stuck at the same level - neither up nor down - for the past few weeks - and much higher than the attractive discounted prices offered in advance.

Where do prices go from here? Keep reading.

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 23, 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

11/24/25 $275 $532

12/01/25 $207 $261

12/08/25 $195 $261

12/15/25 $228 $265

12/22/25 $1,711 $1,017

12/29/25 $907 $687

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.

So far this fall, prices are following the pattern of last year's roller-coaster price movement, with peaks in prices for Columbus Day, Veterans' Day, and Thanksgiving holidays. The difference this year is that price volatility is greater, with higher highs in the peaks than last year.

For the coming weeks, online reservation systems are suggesting that prices will continue to follow the same pattern - they will drop from the peak thanksgiving level to moderate early December to mid-December, then rise again for Christmas.

CHRISTMAS MAUI CAR RENTAL PRICE PREVIEW

Last year we saw what seemed at the time like an unprecedented Chrismas price shock. This year, we are expecting the Christmas shock to be even worse, for these reasons:

1. Throughout the year we have seen a higher level of volatility than last year.
2. Advance prices for Christmas are already in the same range as last year's shocking prices, and they can only go higher because
   a. We are already seeing sell-out conditions in the advance reservation system for select vehicles and providers, and,
   b. The minivan shortage, if it continues into Christmas, will have a very high impact on prices for the entire range of vehicles.

Given the higher level of volatility, and the already high price levels for Chr

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.

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 and/or supply limitations driving up prices.

This week, last-minute prices for bookings are again higher than advance booking prices. However, peering into next week, it is expected that the gap between last-minute prices and advance prices will decrease or maybe even evaporate altogether, as we enter the post-Thanksgiving lull.

However advance reservation prices for Christmas, now only a few weeks away, are already at astronomical levels. For the reasons discussed earlier, Christmas prices are expected to go only higher.

Anyone who has not made reservations for the Christmas Maui vacation is now in deep deep trouble - and there is nothing on the horizon that can ease things.

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?

Prices for a for a one week rental starting tomorrow, November 24, reserved in advance at earlier dates, is illustrated in the price chart in Figure 7.

Off-OGG OGG Days in Advance

$275.00 $532.00 1 (last-minute)

$219.00 $589.00 8 (one week)

$233.00 $280.00 15 (two weeks)

$192.00 $262.00 22 (three weeks)

$195.00 $220.00 29 (four weeks)

$305.00 $224.00 36 (five weeks)

For airport rentals, the price for tomorrow's rental rose steadily week-to-week for four weeks from its level five weeks ago, then moderated slightly in the last week ending today, finishing nearly double the price from five weeks ago. Big savings for anyone who booked early! For off-airport rentals, advance reservation systems were anticipating an unusually high price five weeks ago. Prices dropped from that level, only to regain almost the same level. The biggest savings were for anyone who booked four weeks ago, as prices increase steadily since then.

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. 24 is shown below, and compared to an airport rental, with the percentage difference. This is illustrated in figure 8.

OGG Off-OGG Savings (%)

Economy $532 $275 48%

Midsize $688 $487 29%

Jeep $2,595 - -

Convertbl $919 - -
SUV $3,075 $1,302 58%

7 St SUV $3,414 - -

Minivan - $1,301 -

This week there were savings on off-airport rentals for compact cars (48%) and mid-size cars (29%), and standard SUV's (58%) - all substantial savings. Minivans were completely sold out from the airport, with the only availability off-airport from providers whose small fleets are exempt from recall regulations. Jeeps, convertibles, and 7-seat SUV's were available from the airport only.

These prices are from our survey taken on 11/23/25, for a one-week rental from Maui's Kahului Airport (OGG), beginning on Monday, 11/24/25, 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.

11/24 11/17 CHANGE AIRPORT

$240 $235 +2% Honolulu

$275 $263 +5% Maui

$427 $248 +72% Kauai

$730 $290 +152% Kona

$670 $263 +155% Hilo

This week prices for car rentals at Kauai, Kona, and Hilo - that all dropped last week - have increased sharply! Cheapest cars are up 72% in Kauai (nearly double), up 152% (nearly triple) in Kona, and up 155% in Hilo. Honolulu and Maui were nearly unchanged from last week, with Honolulu coming in as the cheapest, and Maui second cheapest. Maui has been the cheapest for 24 out of the last 32 successive weeks, and second cheapest for eight others, and third cheapest only once.

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