I'm still getting email and PM inquiries about MINI rentals in Hawaii.

Seems like all my past leads for any MINI rentals have gone dead so I wonder if it would be worth asking any of the rental companies here to take the plunge and get a MINI for rental.

Essentially at the moment I have no one to refer would be traveling renters to for a MINI to enjoy while being in Hawaii.

I see tons of rental mustang convertibles... oh well.

Anyway, once we get some interisland MINI club road rallys organized and with the superferry coming to Hawaii in a short time (however a few years wait) all of us local Hawaii folk wouldn't mind the idea of renting a MINI instead of shipping one interisland.

And for all those traveling from abroad it's nice to have you join us for a MINI club drive in a MINI not a mustang!

I searched some for other places that had MINIs for rent but they aren't so cheap nor abundant-
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ad.php?t=62248

So does anyone other than me like the idea of having MINIs to rent in Hawaii?

Post your comments here- give me some ideas.

 

Sounds like a good side-business op for you minihune!

 

--I actually ran the numbers based on MINI's existing lease program for a 2 year lease of MINI Coopers and it didn't look good. Unless MINI has a special program for rental companies it is no surprise that the companies that do rent MINI Cooper out charge a hefty fee. My model was based a mixture of regular Coopers, S models and convert with adjustable numbers for all models and total fleet size.

When I get back to Honolulu I can send it to you if you want. I'd love to talk to you more about it if you are serious about it.

 

can i just tell you how much i would adore renting a MINI??!!!

in fact, about two years ago, my beau and i did try to rent one from a vendor whose business was at the hawaiian regent hotel (was he korean? or was he japanese? or more correctly, was he a skinny korean guy with an audaciously overlayered and overhighlighted brown ****, trying to act as if he were japanese while wearing an ostentatious and too pretty to be for real leather motorcycle jacket? not that his ethnicity mattered; i'm merely trying to describe the guy's appearance and behavior).

the MINI dealership in town referred us to this poseur (who rents out cruisers also, by the way). we called him advance to find out availability and price and then drove down to meet him. it was clear that he wasn't pleased to see us when we drove up in the pathfinder. his disapproval became most apparent when we offered him our debit visa card. he vehemently refused it with the audacious declaration that "any bum on the street can get a debit card."

HANH??!!!!

more like, a bum on the street is more likely to have a credit card with a $1000 limit on it versus have many times that much cash in his checking account, which is not only easily verifiable, but directly accessible via the debit visa (as we did). to make a point, we left right away, even tho, peasants as we may have seemed to him, we would have happily produced a platinum credit card had he been nice about it.

maybe my beau was not japanese or korean enough, or maybe it was because i'm pinay and not japanese or korean at all. maybe it's because we didn't drive up in a lexus GX instead of a pathfinder. it certainly wasn't enough that i carried a gucci bag and wore a tiffany bracelet (ah yes, the hallmarks of the local-born pinay). his demeanor made it clear it wasn't really an issue of the method of payment but more about who we were or weren't in his eyes. it was enough to make this 4'11" girl wanna throw down and lay some kalihi on him.

either way, it was a shame, and a disservice to all things and people MINI. a pox on that guy. may he never eat kim chee that agrees with him ever again.

on another note, we did also call around last april to see if we could rent a MINI when we were last on maui. no such luck. if it weren't for the fact that i've been enamoured of MINIs since their introduction, i'd be test driving the MX-5 instead of forsaking all others and impatiently holding my pee for the day i can test drive then order the '07 MCS. :impatient

 

i wouldn't trust those fly-by-night rental agencies anyways... seem too shady for me... I haven't seen any places that do have Mini's in their rental inventory...

maybe if you post your dates of being here and you are lucky, someone that isn't going to use theirs might rent you theirs locally.... might be a long shot, but who knows...

 

hmm...if your post is in response to mine, yes, i don't trust any "fly by night" anything, rental company or not. however, as i pointed out, this guy was referred to us by the MINI dealership. admittedly, the dealership didn't flatly "endorse" the guy, they just gave us a referral as to whom they knew rented out MINIs (and actually, i think he had only one). i would have hoped that the dealership knew a little more about the way the jerk did business. tho i would never blame the dealership, this guy didn't do them any favors even if they were refering business to him. i mean, what better, and no-fuss, way to "test drive" a car but to rent it for a weekend? a friend who works at cutter says that she had several customers make a buying decision after they "lived" with a car when renting it. and, when we talked on the phone, i told him the dealership referred us to him, so in my opinion, he should have been glad for the referral...and good referrals beget more good referrals and therefore more $$$ in his pocket.

*sigh* luckily, even before buying, i've made some nice contacts with the sales department, so that eases some anxiety.

apologies for not being so lucid in this post--i finally got out of bed this lovely sunday morning after trying to ignore the beagle next door. he has this wonderful habit of barking and baying incessantly at early hours of the morn....*sigh*

 

If anyone can find a source of renting a MINI in Hawaii (anywhere in Hawaii) please post something here so that we know and can refer others to that source on trips.

Heck, If I am on the neighbor islands and need to rent I might go for a MINI.
Can't think of anything nicer to do on vacation.

We need something like "Vacation MINIs Hawaii".

 

Well Enterprise in downtown Seattle rents them. They have 3 MCs. I always thought I'd rent one to take to the AutoX and save the wear on my own MC
; )
Leaving for Hilo then Honolulu for 9 days tomorrow, wish I could get a MCC while on Oahu.

 

minihune - one of our newest HMMC members just started a MINI rental business in Hawaii. They are anticipating their first rental date on Feb. 20th. All of their insurance, credit card services, etc. are already in place and they will be renting 2006 Cabs. They may also have a restored late 60s Austin Mini for rent soon. If anyone is interested in future MINI rentals in Oahu, please contact them at Hawaii@alohamini.com and/or 808-292-5757.

 

Thanks. That's good news. Maybe we should visit them in our MINIs.????

 

Slight change in plans for the MINI rental business. To avoid any possible legal roadblocks, "Alohamini" is now going to be "Little Hawaii Car Rental Company" (www.littlehawaiirentals.com). You can contact Kenric at k@littlehawaiirentals.com or 808-292-5757 for reservations. They are now targeting next Monday (Feb. 5th) as their kick-off date. Please wish them luck!

 

Thanks.

That's great news (and not surprising)

I will be away that day but I hope to email or call to wish Kendric much success.

OK all NAMers out there in travel land.

On Oahu we have MINIs for rent! Wooo Hooo!



Hey, we should get a club discount going so when we have friends and family visiting we can get them in a MINI! What do you think????

 

Any idea if i can rent one on MAUI? I'm here right now and will be for the next month.

 

FYI.

MINI cabrio rentals on Oahu for $100 a day.

http://honolulu.craigslist.org/oah/car/492785554.html