Automotive observations from Maui. 

"Alex B" (alexb420) 07/23/2015 at 13:08 • Filed to: None

1

19

California plate!

(Above: Our rental Altima) (Below: A neighbor’s rental Altima)

(Another rental Altima!)

Well, I’m four days into my trip to Maui, Hawaii. Going into it, I was unsure of what the automotive scene would be like. So without further ado:

Nissan Altima S’s seem to be everywhere. It seems to be the rental car of choice. Just in our development alone there are 3 including ours.

Teslas have made their way onto the Island. As far as I know, Tesla does not have a store here.

Nissan, overall seems to have a presence here.

Lots of LEAFs. In PA I see a LEAF everyday, but that is because it is my family’s. ;-)

I have seen one Range Rover here so far. A 3rd generation pre-facelift.

I saw a brand new Porsche Cayenne GTS in this green color. While not particularly rare back home, I was surprised to see one here!

Suburban/Yukon/Escalade seems to be the rental SUV of choice here.

Of course, the Wrangler is also very popular.

I saw a 2016 Lexus RX (the new generation) f-sport in blue at the Lexus dealer, it looks good!

I have seen a few cars from California here.

So yeah! I’ll see how it changes as I ascend into the Upcountry.

Rainbow > Alex B 07/23/2015 at 13:17

0

How annoying is it going 45 on the interstate?

Alex B > Rainbow 07/23/2015 at 13:19

0

Honestly, I haven’t noticed that. Traffic moves around 55-60mph on larger roads.

Rainbow > Alex B 07/23/2015 at 13:23

0

Huh. I suppose I figured it would. It just boggles my mind how Hawaii’s state-wide maximum is only 45.

Ash78, voting early and often > Alex B 07/23/2015 at 13:29

1

I have seen a few cars from California here.

If you hit that one hairpin on Mulholland going a little too fast, it can happen.

Alex B > Rainbow 07/23/2015 at 13:29

0

It is quite low. Although on the curvy coastal roads it is very reasonable.

Alex B > Ash78, voting early and often 07/23/2015 at 13:32

0

AM3R shamefully returns > Alex B 07/23/2015 at 13:43

0

Are you gonna be doing a write up on your trip? Looking for trip ideas for my dads birthday.. Hawaii is looking very promising but I could use some advice on where to stay and everything.

Under_Score > Alex B 07/23/2015 at 14:20

0

Leafs are everywhere around here, and I’m 5,000+ miles from Hawaii.

Also, are there a lot of subcompact cars, due to the high cost of living and the expensive gasoline?

Amoore100 > Alex B 07/23/2015 at 14:30

0

We just came back from Maui a few weeks ago! Our rental was a Quest SV (like the one pictured) and we stayed in the Kihei area...my dad and I did some diving, and as it turns out the Quest’s permanent rear storage well came in handy for wet gear, and overall we came away preferring the Quest over a normal Grand Caravan rental...

Alex B > Under_Score 07/23/2015 at 14:31

0

I live on the east coast in an affluent area. Our primary around town car got crashed in summer of 2013. We bought our Leaf late summer of 2013. Waiting for a Tesla was just too long. But anyway, I saw all that to say that the Model S is the electric car to have. With the i3 close behind.

Gas isn’t as expensive as I thought it would be! It's about 3.43 a gallon. I haven't really noticed that there are a ton of compact cars. I think it might be because right now we are in the west coast, which is generally more resort-y/touristy.

Alex B > Amoore100 07/23/2015 at 14:36

0

Neat! I did notice that the Odyssey and Sienna are pretty rare here. The Quest and Chrysler twins seem dominant. I know I would much rather have the Quest!

We are renting a “villa” in the Napili area until Saturday. Then we are moving to the Upcountry until Thursday (house link: supposedly it was inhabited by some princess. http://www.maui.cc/HaleakalaPrinc… )

What are some things that you think you must do here on Maui?

Under_Score > Alex B 07/23/2015 at 14:49

0

That’s good; at least the gas is cheap. What did y’all have before the Leaf?

Amoore100 > Alex B 07/23/2015 at 15:14

0

Well driving up the volcano is pretty nice, and my dad and I did the self-guided sunrise bicycle tour from Haleakala Bike Co which was pretty fun albeit a pain having to leave at 3 AM...besides that we also spent a few days in a house rental in Hana, which was very lovely with hiking and the seven pools nearby (we even took grandma!) Obviously the ocean is a draw, so if you can do it snorkeling/diving is recommended.

I did notice that most of the late model Odyssey and Siennas on the island are run as taxis, presumably to help pay off the purchase price while providing a family hauler...the Quest was great for our purposes though the awful small-frontal overlap rating was a bit worrying as we drove on the road between Kahului and Kapalua...

Dasupersprint - base trim is enough > Alex B 07/23/2015 at 15:46

0

Aloha! I once saw this in Waimea Bay’s parking lot, O’ahu:

Alex B > Amoore100 07/23/2015 at 21:34

1

Yeah, we are going to try and to the Volcano sunrise when we are up in Kula. We are very much thinking about doing some kind of bike ride down Haleakala as well. Getting up at 3 AM isn’t the worst. We are from the east coast so we get up kind of early anyway! We have already done some snorkeling. The beaches are great.

Yes! That seems very logical.

Did you do the road to Hana?

Alex B > Under_Score 07/23/2015 at 21:43

0

A 2004 Liberty Sport. Loved that car. It had no pretensions. It just seemed happy to drive around and be out. MPG was atrocious (13 mpg), especially considering it was just an around town car.

My parents got the Jeep bug when they lived out in Colorado. They had 2 Cherokees I think... One was a two door. Then they got a 93 Grand Cherokee which made it to PA.

It was great for hauling the kayak to and from the lake. :-)

Alex B > AM3R shamefully returns 07/24/2015 at 13:02

0

I wasn’t planning on it, but I can give you some info on where we are staying and what we have done so far...

So our trip is 10 days. For the first 5 nights we are staying in the Napili Bay area (west Maui), we are renting a “villa”. Napili beach is a very calm, family friendly beach. Plus, there is snorkeling not far off shore. Sea turtles can even be seen here! Nearby is D.T. Fleming Beach. This is a great beach for boogie boarding. And beyond that is Slaughterhouse beach, you have to travel down many steps to get to it so I am not sure how well it would work for your father.

Here are some other things to consider: Dragon’s teeth, Nakalele blowhole - a little hike to get down to though, Lahaina and driving along the coastal roads you will find lots of cool scenic lookout points.

The last 5 nights of our stay will be spent in the Upcountry (Kula). We are planing to do a sunrise on Haleakala, Snorkeling at Molokini, the road to Hana. This is tentative though.. We will see how it turns out!

Alex B > Dasupersprint - base trim is enough 07/24/2015 at 13:02

1

Haha, just saw a double parked VW Passat from Nevada last night. :-)

Amoore100 > Alex B 07/24/2015 at 14:23

0

Well we had to drive the road to Hana to get to our house rental...it really isn’t that bad, much better than the road from Kahului and Kapalua...