4WD cars for Mauna Kea

[bigislandjeeprental]

Given the demise of Harper's, does any know of a car rental company that will rent you a 4WD vehicle without insurance restrictions for driving it on Mauna Kea?

Given the demise of Harper's, does any know of a car rental company that will rent you a 4WD vehicle without insurance restrictions for driving it on Mauna Kea?

Aloha! Joe here. (resident Mauna Kea expert and owner of Big Island Jeep Rental)  
I am late to the game on this post but just ran across this forum so thought I'd chime in
Randomly - we (Big Island Jeep Rental) recently moved into Harpers' old spot behind Pine Tree cafe/Matsuyamas. 
And YES we let you go up Mauna Kea. 
And yes, you absolutely need a 4X4 with a 4-low transfer case. While others may say you can "get away" without it, the rangers up there are now actually testing people and having them show they are able to put their vehicles in 4-low before letting you up. 
I went up myself a few months ago and filmed the process, did an interview with a ranger up there, etc, etc and confirmed all of this. 
Having said all that, we want people to be SAFE about Mauna Kea and as well informed as can be. 
Here's a page dedicated to all things Mauna Kea (safety tips, how to use 4-low video, link to road conditions, live webcams, etc)
-https://www.bigislandjeeprental.com/maunakea

Also, since the Hybrid Wranglers have come out, we have started buying these up as they do even better with the down hill as the electric regeneration acts as an engine brake. We have people tell us the rangers were out doing temperature checks on brakes(yes, that's a thing now too) and the hybrids have the coolest brakes they've seen-
best 4x4 for Mauna Kea:

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PS. Some here have pointed out that "normal" cars can make it to the summit region of Mauna Kea and make it back down again. Of course, they can. However:

1) Whether you agree or disagree with them, current regulations mean you are not allowed to drive a non-4WD vehicle on the dirt road above the VIS;

2) Even if you rent a 4WD vehicle and take it to the summit area, you need to make sure the rental company allows you to take their vehicle beyond the VIS. If you break down or have an accident up there, you'll be paying the consequences.

This is why I asked about rental companies that allow their vehicles to be driven on Mauna Kea.

https://www.bigislandjeeprental.com/maunakea