05-21-2024, 12:53 PM
(05-21-2024, 02:37 AM)Punatang Wrote: Hertz has an amazing program. They let you rent the car for a few days for peanuts and see if you like it. If you want to keep it they deduct the amount of the rental. Their prices are 1000s below retail and while you do not know how the car has been driven, you do know how it has been maintained. Personally, I do not see tourists driving crazy and I imagine that most people who can afford to visit Hawaii have a reasonably good head on their shoulders and don't chance unnecessary liabilities. The few that don't probably didn't get in your car and if they did they only had it for a few days.
Craigslist is full of scammers and also has great car deals. Act accordingly
Facebook has some good deals too.
Buying mainland is brilliant. There are unreal car leases on EVs right now where they practically pay you because they just are not selling. Go figure.
Buying from a local dealer only makes sense if you are a high earner, or are just lazy, and do not have time to deal with any of the above and/or you aren't in the market for what Hertz has.
Do not buy a former rental car. The title is essentially "branded" as fleet/rental and when you try to get rid of it later, dealerships will view it similar to having been in an accident. Rental cars are abused in so many ways here on the island, you would not believe it. Also, the rental car companies do their own body work/paint and the ones that have been in accidents, since they don't run through any insurance companies, will not reflect the accident history.
Watch out for the craigslist/Facebook flippers. A common scam is that they buy a used instrument cluster from a salvage yard and swap it out, reflecting much less than actual miles.