Car Rental and Sunroofs

[RSchwartz]

My wife and I will be spending our 22 stay on Hawaii next month. Each time there we rent a car; sometimes a compact, sometimes a full size car, and on occasion, a convertible. Even though we have asked the car rental agency for a car having a sun/moon roof, we have never had one nor do we think we have ever seen a sun/moon roof car on the lot. Have you?

On our personal cars, here even in Minnesota, we order with the sun/moon roof option and I think people renting cars on Hawaii would love this option as well. Renting a convertible in Hawaii can be great but can also be a pain with the amount and frequency of rain found almost daily on the islands. Having part of a roof that opens and closes quickly would be a great feature that most drivers, I think, would enjoy.

Any idea why this option is not offered on Hawaiian rental cars or am I just not renting from the right car company? Think it might be an insurance issue?

 

[Luanne]

My bet is the reason you don't see cars with sunroofs as rentals is because they are more expensive and probably not offered at part of the fleets. I don't think I've seen a rental with a sun roof in years.

 

[rifleman69]

Don't want a leaky roof in a state that is as wet as Hawaii. I can see why they don't have them.

 

[Luanne]

Don't want a leaky roof in a state that is as wet as Hawaii. I can see why they don't have them.

What about convertibles, where the top gets left down?

 

[BJRSanDiego]

What about convertibles, where the top gets left down?

When we showed up at the Alamo rental, they asked if we would like to drive a brand new bright red convertible Mustang. I think that when they saw my gray hair they thought that I was going to be a better choice than a 25 year old. :hysterical:

I took it but quickly realized that it was a big mistake. My wife has a big suitcase and no matter how I tried, it wouldn't go in the trunk. So then I decided to put it in the back seat. With the passenger seat all the way forward and the door wide open it would still not go in. So we had to drop the top, put in the suitcase, and raised the top. If you are only bringing carry-ons, you'll be fine.

BTW, even keeping to the slow speeds of Kauai (25 mph?) we got around 16 to 18 mpg. On the same trip we rented a Chevy HHR and got 26 mpg (Maui).

 

[rifleman69]

What about convertibles, where the top gets left down?

Notice what fabric is in the convertibles compared to the regular rental cars.

 

[rifleman69]

When we showed up at the Alamo rental, they asked if we would like to drive a brand new bright red convertible Mustang. I think that when they saw my gray hair they thought that I was going to be a better choice than a 25 year old. :hysterical:

I took it but quickly realized that it was a big mistake. My wife has a big suitcase and no matter how I tried, it wouldn't go in the trunk. So then I decided to put it in the back seat. With the passenger seat all the way forward and the door wide open it would still not go in. So we had to drop the top, put in the suitcase, and raised the top. If you are only bringing carry-ons, you'll be fine.

BTW, even keeping to the slow speeds of Kauai (25 mph?) we got around 16 to 18 mpg. On the same trip we rented a Chevy HHR and got 26 mpg (Maui).

Sounds like you learned from your mistake...most of us have done it once ourselves!