# The rental car shortage is not just in Hawaii **URL:** \ **Category:** General Discussion\ **Created:** [May 2, 2021, 11:53am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/the-rental-car-shortage-is-not-just-in-hawaii/176497 "2021-05-02T11:53:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![VDCdriver](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/vdcdriver/32/30_2.png) [@VDCdriver](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VDCdriver)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2021, 11:53am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/the-rental-car-shortage-is-not-just-in-hawaii/176497/1 "2021-05-02T11:53:04Z")
… and as a result, prices are up nationwide for rental cars. Recently, sedans were renting for $240 per day in Colorado. > **[How the pandemic led to a rental car crisis just as Americans are ready to...](https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2021/05/01/rental-car-shortage-economy/)** > > Consumers are fuming as prices have spiked after firms shed hundreds of thousands of cars, with fleets depleted until 2022. ---
**Author:** ![Mustangman](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/mustangman/32/44130_2.png) [@Mustangman](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Mustangman)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2021, 12:40pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/the-rental-car-shortage-is-not-just-in-hawaii/176497/2 "2021-05-02T12:40:28Z")
I can rent a truck with a big bench seat for $19.95 a day at Home Depot. Uber over and plunk down your credit card. ---
**Author:** ![VOLVO-V70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/8e8cbc/32.png) [@VOLVO-V70](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VOLVO-V70)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2021, 12:51pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/the-rental-car-shortage-is-not-just-in-hawaii/176497/3 "2021-05-02T12:51:57Z")
> [@Mustangman](#): > > I can rent a truck with a bug bench seat Why does a bug need a bench seat ? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Cavell](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/cavell/32/43396_2.png) [@Cavell](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Cavell)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2021, 12:58pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/the-rental-car-shortage-is-not-just-in-hawaii/176497/4 "2021-05-02T12:58:22Z")
Just checked Hawaii CL. There are folks renting personal cars for 80/day. ---
**Author:** ![VDCdriver](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/vdcdriver/32/30_2.png) [@VDCdriver](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VDCdriver)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2021, 1:11pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/the-rental-car-shortage-is-not-just-in-hawaii/176497/5 "2021-05-02T13:11:12Z")
> [@Mustangman](#): > > I can rent a truck with a big bench seat for $19.95 a day at Home Depot. Are you sure that’s for a full day? In my area, HD charges $19 for the first 75 minutes of pickup truck rental, and Lowe’s beats them by a small amount, at a rate of $19 for the first 90 minutes. And, those rates have been in effect for at least a few years. ---
**Author:** ![Mustangman](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/mustangman/32/44130_2.png) [@Mustangman](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Mustangman)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2021, 1:22pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/the-rental-car-shortage-is-not-just-in-hawaii/176497/6 "2021-05-02T13:22:20Z")
Oops, you are right! Not a full day rate from HD. I guess U-haul should be in your contacts list. ---
**Author:** ![MikeInNH](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a587f6/32.png) [@MikeInNH](https://community.cartalk.com/u/MikeInNH)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2021, 4:59pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/the-rental-car-shortage-is-not-just-in-hawaii/176497/7 "2021-05-02T16:59:48Z")
> [@VDCdriver](#): > > … and as a result, prices are up nationwide for rental cars. Recently, sedans were renting for $240 per day in Colorado. Since I do a lot of traveling (or at least I use to)…my company has a contract with Avis and Hertz for us that travel. We’re guaranteed rates. Contract ends in September. I can even use it for personal use. But I haven’t done any traveling for the company where I need a rental car. And even after this pandemic we’re seriously going to restrict travel. We’ve implemented many things in place that seems to be working just fine. The Pandemic has forced us to look at alternatives. We’re also looking to move (yet again) into a smaller place since we may allow all many of us to work at home (or any where they want to) permanent. We haven’t had most people in the office for over a year now. Some people have to. But most don’t. ---
**Author:** ![bing](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/bing/32/4619_2.png) [@bing](https://community.cartalk.com/u/bing)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2021, 6:57pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/the-rental-car-shortage-is-not-just-in-hawaii/176497/8 "2021-05-02T18:57:14Z")
I’ll take your word for it. That article is behind a pay wall. I suppose all those cars that burned up in Florida last year didn’t help the situation now. Inventory management is tough in fluctuating markets. Boom and bust. Same thing with plywood. Truck loads you can’t sell then bare shelves. Checked at Menards and looks like they have plenty of stock but just $50 instead of $25. Don’t need any though. Now one of my pet peeves is people screwing around with dates and phone numbers to try and be more like the the EU. I noticed the WP article date was “1 May 2021” instead of May 1, 2021 like it has been for 70 years. Now if they just use the numbers, is it “1/5/21” or “5/1/21”. Sure, for the military it makes some since for day, month, then year, but this isn’t the military. So what month is it if I write my check 5/1/21 like I usually do? Is it May or January. Even worse is using decimals like the EU instead of dashes for phone numbers. So instead of 512-442-2046, it’s 512.442.2046. So is that a phone number or a stock number? Did we learn nothing by trying to convert to metric and the mess that has created? Rant over but sometimes you can tell a lot about a paper like the WP just from the way they display the date. I quit reading it years ago. Just spoiled my breakfast. ---
**Author:** ![asemaster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@asemaster](https://community.cartalk.com/u/asemaster)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2021, 6:59pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/the-rental-car-shortage-is-not-just-in-hawaii/176497/9 "2021-05-02T18:59:57Z")
Well I hope they get the rental car problem figured out in the next few months. We’re planning a trip to Hawaii in August, and I’m sure as heck not driving around in a U-haul! ---
**Author:** ![VDCdriver](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/vdcdriver/32/30_2.png) [@VDCdriver](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VDCdriver)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2021, 7:35pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/the-rental-car-shortage-is-not-just-in-hawaii/176497/10 "2021-05-02T19:35:47Z")
> [@bing](#): > > I’ll take your word for it. That article is behind a pay wall. You don’t know how to disable JavaScript in order to defeat a paywall? 🤔 That tactic doesn’t work on all paywalls, but it does work on online version of _The Washington Pos_t and a few newspapers. ---
**Author:** ![pyrolord314](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/6a8cbe/32.png) [@pyrolord314](https://community.cartalk.com/u/pyrolord314)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2021, 8:26pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/the-rental-car-shortage-is-not-just-in-hawaii/176497/11 "2021-05-02T20:26:13Z")
> [@bing](#): > > Did we learn nothing by trying to convert to metric and the mess that has created? Outside of cooking and buying gas and milk, I’d rather have Metric. It’s far easier to use than the English system. I will admit that I also don’t like the Celsius system for temperature, it’s too compressed. ---
**Author:** ![texases](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/texases/32/862_2.png) [@texases](https://community.cartalk.com/u/texases)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2021, 9:11pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/the-rental-car-shortage-is-not-just-in-hawaii/176497/12 "2021-05-02T21:11:39Z")
And it’s not just high prices, folks with reservations are showing up to empty lots at the rental places, have to wait for returned cars. ---
**Author:** ![ChrisTruck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@ChrisTruck](https://community.cartalk.com/u/ChrisTruck)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2021, 10:42pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/the-rental-car-shortage-is-not-just-in-hawaii/176497/13 "2021-05-02T22:42:38Z")
I don’t think I ever paid more than 50/day for a rental car in my life. Last car I rented was $150 for the week, 7 days, just 3 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Barkydog](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/barkydog/32/2470_2.png) [@Barkydog](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Barkydog)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2021, 10:45pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/the-rental-car-shortage-is-not-just-in-hawaii/176497/14 "2021-05-02T22:45:06Z")
I would not want to deal with renting my car and the renter got into an accident, or a drunken passenger threw up in the back seat. ---
**Author:** ![ChrisTruck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@ChrisTruck](https://community.cartalk.com/u/ChrisTruck)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2021, 10:47pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/the-rental-car-shortage-is-not-just-in-hawaii/176497/15 "2021-05-02T22:47:20Z")
> [@bing](#): > > Now one of my pet peeves is people screwing around with dates and phone numbers to try and be more like the the EU. I noticed the WP article date was “1 May 2021” instead of May 1, 2021 like it has been for 70 years. Now if they just use the numbers, is it “1/5/21” or “5/1/21”. Sure, for the military it makes some since for day, month, then year, but this isn’t the military. So what month is it if I write my check 5/1/21 like I usually do? Is it May or January. Even worse is using decimals like the EU instead of dashes for phone numbers. So instead of 512-442-2046, it’s 512.442.2046. So is that a phone number or a stock number? Did we learn nothing by trying to convert to metric and the mess that has created? I notice this as well. I’m also seeing British spelling used by Americans all the time now. Like color spelled colour, neighbor spelled neighbour ---
**Author:** ![bing](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/bing/32/4619_2.png) [@bing](https://community.cartalk.com/u/bing)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2021, 10:47pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/the-rental-car-shortage-is-not-just-in-hawaii/176497/16 "2021-05-02T22:47:32Z")
> [@pyrolord314](#): > > Outside of cooking and buying gas and milk, I’d rather have Metric. It’s far easier to use than the English system I dunno, I kind of got used to 4X8 sheets of plywood and 8’ ceilings. I just don’t like having to have two sets of sockets and wrenches to see which one fits. I should add that they were talking about this transformation since I was in 6th grade. It then looked like one big attempt and then everybody pulling back. But the result is that regardless of the product, oil or soup, everything has both on their labels. Kinda like having multiple languages on everything. Labels need to be bigger but the print has just gotten smaller. Well done my good and faithful servant, I needed a magnifying glass. ---
**Author:** ![MikeInNH](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a587f6/32.png) [@MikeInNH](https://community.cartalk.com/u/MikeInNH)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2021, 12:28am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/the-rental-car-shortage-is-not-just-in-hawaii/176497/17 "2021-05-03T00:28:54Z")
> [@VDCdriver](#): > > You don’t know how to disable JavaScript in order to defeat a paywall? Do you seriously think he even knows what JavaScript is? ---
**Author:** ![bing](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/bing/32/4619_2.png) [@bing](https://community.cartalk.com/u/bing)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2021, 2:33am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/the-rental-car-shortage-is-not-just-in-hawaii/176497/18 "2021-05-03T02:33:40Z")
> [@MikeInNH](#): > > Do you seriously think he even knows what JavaScript is? I think you should cancel yourself on that comment. ---
**Author:** ![wentwest](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/wentwest/32/6073_2.png) [@wentwest](https://community.cartalk.com/u/wentwest)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2021, 5:27am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/the-rental-car-shortage-is-not-just-in-hawaii/176497/19 "2021-05-03T05:27:02Z")
OK @bing I’m up for a healthy rant every now and again, but you’re beating a dead horse on this one. The US is just about the last major country to hold out against the metric system of measure, and there are very good reasons why we should just give up on this Don Quixote quest. The next time you decide you want to figure out how much 1/3 of 7’, 3 3/4" is, just let google convert it to metric and you can do it in your head. How this metric system rant relates to rental cars I don’t know, but the rental companies have been dying for the past year, and now they have some customers and not enough cars. The old supply and demand system has not been repealed, so prices go up. ---
**Author:** ![wolyrobb](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/wolyrobb/32/45497_2.png) [@wolyrobb](https://community.cartalk.com/u/wolyrobb)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2021, 5:29am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/the-rental-car-shortage-is-not-just-in-hawaii/176497/20 "2021-05-03T05:29:02Z")
Supply probably won’t be much better the rental companies sold off cars to stay alive but didn’t think it would be this hard to replace them. [Next page](https://community.cartalk.com/t/the-rental-car-shortage-is-not-just-in-hawaii/176497.md?page=2)