Mar. 2, 2026. Maui car rental prices saw an overall decline for the second week in a row. Prices in most vehicle categories are roughly half (50%) of what they were one week ago, and in the range of 10% to 20% (one-tenth to one-fifth) of what they were at the February peak just three weeks ago. But prices remain high compared to one year ago - for most vehicles they are in the range of 50% higher, while for Jeeps and minivans, still affected by safety recalls that limits availability, prices are more than double. If the usual seasonal variation is a guide, prices are expected to peak again in the coming weeks as spring break hordes swarm to the islands in mid-March. Mau is not the only island where rental car prices have surged from the year before: our Hawaii rental car price survey shows dramatic price increases for nearly all the Hawaiian islands. Keep reading for all the details, and an exploration of the structural changes in the rental market that are driving today's high prices.

Fig. 1. Prices for Maui car rental at Kahului Airport (OGG) from December 2024 to now.

HOW MUCH IS THE CHEAPEST MAUI CAR RENTAL ON MARCH 2, 2026?

Every week, we list the lowest available prices for a one-week car rental from Maui's Kahului Airport (OGG), for a selection of vehicle categories, with the company offering the best price. This is our overview of Maui car rental prices for the week of March 2, 2026.

Category Price Company

Economy $527 SiXT

Midsize $586 SiXT

Jeep $1,144 Dollar

Convertbl $922 Sixt

SUV $615 SiXT

7 St SUV $1,007 SiXT

Minivan $1,392 Alamo

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.

These are the lowest prices in every car category: The lowest price for a compact car from Kahului Airport (OGG) was $527/week, from Sixt. Mid-size cars started at $586/week, also from SiXT. Jeeps were $1,144/week, at Dollar. Convertibles were starting at $922/week, from SiXT. The cheapest standard SUV's were $615/week, again from SiXT, and 7-seat SUV's started at $1,007/week, also from SiXT. Minivans were $1,392/week, from Alamo.

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

HOW MUCH DID MAUI CAR RENTAL PRICES CHANGE FROM LAST WEEK?

This is how the lowest price for a one week rental from Maui's Kahului Airport (OGG) starting on March 2, 2026 has changed from the week before, for every vehicle category:

Category This week Last Change
Economy $527 $1,157 -54%

Midsize $586 $1,261 -54%

Jeep $1,144 $1,601 -29%

Convertbl $922 $1,980 -53%

SUV $615 $1,899 -68%

7 st SUV $1,007 $2,019 -50%

Minivan $1,392 $1,066 31%

This week, the price for the cheapest car from Kahului Airport (OGG) was down 54% from last week. The cheapest midsize car also fell 54%. Jeeps fell 29%, convertibles were down 53%, standard SUV's fell 69%, 7-seat SUV's were down 50%, while minivans bucked the overall trend and actually increased 31% over last week..

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

Prices are following the same seasonal pattern they do every year, dropping from mid-February peaks to lower prices at the beginning of March. .

Minivan prices appear to go against the trend because of last week's temporary surge in availability, when a significant number of recalled minivans were put back into service, leading to a short-lived glut in supply that lowered minivan prices, but quickly dissipated..

Despite this week's overall drop, prices remain high - how high? Continue reading to find out.

Figure 3. Price comparison for Maui Car Rental as of March 2026 shows significant increases for most vehicles compared to the year before

HOW DO MAUI CAR RENTAL PRICES COMPARE TO ONE YEAR AGO?

We previously, reported that average prices over the first week of February this year were about double what they were one year ago in many categories, and significantly higher overall. This was after prices had been in the range of 30% to 45% higher year-over-year for the month of January.

This is how Maui car rental prices look in the first week of March 2026, compared to the corresponding week of last year, that began Monday March 3, 2025:

Vehicle Now Last Year Change
Economy $527 $315 67%

Midsize $586 $380 54%

Jeep $1,144 $539 112%

Convertbl $922 $853 8%

SUV $615 $392 57%

7 st SUV $1,007 $568 77%

Minivan $1,392 $624 123%

These numbers are charted in Figure 3.

With one exception, convertibles, Maui car rental prices in all vehicle categories were in the range of 50% higher to more than double what they were one year ago, on March 3, 2026. Economy cars were up 67%, midsize cars were up 54%, standard SUV's were up 57%, and 7-seat SUV's were up 77%. Categories affected by safety recalls, Jeeps and Minivans, were up 112% and 123% year-over-year, respectively.

For convertibles, the increase in the rental rate year-over-year was only 8% - very small compared to all the other categories. At the time off this writing, we do not have a full understanding of this divergence.

Regardless, these price increases dramatically exceed anything correlated with the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which is the generally accepted measure of price inflation. They point to a systemic imbalance in the dynamics of the Maui car rental market in 2026.

But is this price increase unique to Maui? Let's see how prices compare across the Hawaiian islands.

Figure 4. Cost of one week car rental at major Hawaii airports, ompared to one year ago

HOW DO MAUI CAR RENTAL PRICES COMPARE TO OTHER ISLANDS IN HAWAII?

For more than a year, we have been tracking the lowest available prices for a one-week rental at all major Hawaii airports. These are Honolulu Airport on Oahu (HNL), Lihue on Kauai (LIH), and Kona (KOA) and Hilo (ITO) on Hawaii Island. This week we compare how the price of a one-week rental at all these airports has changed compared to one year ago.

Airport Now Last Year Change

Honolulu $263 $298 -12%

Maui $482 $315 +54%

Kauai $435 $280 +55%

Kona $459 $341 +35%

Hilo $456 $356 +28%

The lowest price this year vs. one year ago is illustrated in Figure 4.

With one exception, the price of a one-week car rental at all major airports in Hawaii is significantly higher than it was at this time last year. The cheapest car in Maui costs 54% more than it did one year ago. Kauai is up 55%, Kona is up 35%, and Hilo is up 28%.

The only exception is Honolulu, where the price is actually lower, by 12%, than it was one year ago. The lower prices in Honolulu are available from Economy Rent-A-Car, a discount brand of the Hertz/Dollar/Thrifty group, that began operations in Honolulu recently, with a deep discount operating model. They were not operating one year ago.

in summary, the year-over-year price increases in car rental costs are not unique to Maui. All other Hawaiian islands are affected, to different extents. As one would expect, all rental outlets are affected by safety recalls that reduce their fleet numbers. But there are other factors at play.

IS THE GOLDEN AGE OF CHEAP MAUI CAR RENTAL GONE FOREVER?

A recent trade article, published just two weeks ago, identifies the factors that have cause rental car costs to soar across US major airports, in what is being called "structural inflation." Most of these factors we have independently identified through our own primary research, and we've called them out previously in this blog. They are:
1. Fleet shortages due to manufacturing and logistical delays. Vehicle delivery delays caused by component production delays, and backed up harbors - and vehicles idled due to massive safety recalls, of course.
2. Fleet reductions - whether labeled as downsizing or right-sizing, smaller fleet numbers do reduce capital costs, that are an essential feature of the conventional car rental business model, but can lead to a tipping point into scarcity and exorbitant rates during periods of high demand.
3. Labor costs due to scarcity of workers. Not just skilled workers - technicians, service personnel - are in short supply. With immigration enforcement increasing, unskilled laborers are also becoming scarce - these are the essential people who clean and wash cars and move them from staging to delivery areas.
4. Predatory dynamic pricing algorithms that ratchet up the price of rentals by pinning consumers against the wall. Now powered with AI, these computer programs set prices at hallucinatory levels that are sure to become public relations nightmares.
5. All of these we have been writing about since early 2025, after the first Christmas price shock hit Maui. To these the report adds another factor, the rise in insurance costs, that are said to have tripled over recent years.

This independent report from an industry-leading publication confirms our worst fears about Maui's car rental business, and leads us to ask: Will the age of affordable car rentals in Maui ever return, or is it gone for good?

MAUI CAR RENTAL PRICE FORECAST FOR MARCH 2026

We base our forecast for the coming month on the repeatable seasonal price movement pattern that is observed every year. So far this year, prices are hewing closely to this pattern, but at a higher level than previous years (see Figure 1). After falling at the end of February, prices come to another peak in mid-March, associated with Spring Break travel. For most vehicles, the price peak can be 50% to 75% higher than the current level. So we expect prices to be in the range of $1,000/week to $1,500/week in mid-March, and falling again to their current level by the end of the month. This does not take into account any impact of the recently announced safety recall on Ford SUV's and trucks. This recall was announced on Feb. 26, 2026. So far we have not seen any Maui rental vehicles being pulled out of service - but in general with rental vehicles the effects are not seen until a week or two after the recall is announced. If Maui rental vehicles are affected, this means that vehicles will begin to be side-lined at the very same time as the expected Spring Break peak travel dates, putting even more upward pressure on prices. So there could be some very interesting times ahead.

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 5. 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 5, 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.

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