Generally, Brian and I plan to utilize public transportation or rent motorbikes or bicycles to get around during our travels. In the States, however, we’re accustomed to hopping in our cars and going wherever we want, whenever we want, so we figured that on Hawaii’s Big Island we’d prefer a car. What to do?
When I asked the nice folks in the KonaWeb forums whether we should rent or buy a car for our four-month stay, the verdict was resoundingly rent. They gave a lot of reasons — we could turn in the car whenever we felt like it, we wouldn’t have to worry about accidents or breakdowns, no registration hassles — but, being the contrarian I am, none of those really moved me. Plus the math just didn’t work. My preliminary research indicated that, even through the highly recommended Costco Travel, a monthly car rental would be at least $600 (or a total of $2,400+ over four months).
Buying a car seemed to be a better option for us. We could afford to get something more than a junker, so breakdowns would be unlikely; and although shit can happen, we’ve been accident-free so far. The car would maintain its value well over four months, so if we spent wisely, most of the purchase price could be recouped at sale time. But there would be the inconvenience of having to locate, buy, register, insure and then sell a car in just four months, not to mention any sales/excise tax that we’d incur.
Then I had another idea: what if we shipped one of our cars to Hawaii? It would certainly be less expensive than a rental. And, although we’d still have to sell the car at the end of our stay, we wouldn’t have to deal with identifying and purchasing a car, obtaining new insurance or paying sales tax. For about $1,000, we could have a car relocated from NorCal to Hilo, Hawaii. Because we already paid off the remaining loan balance on my Rav4 in anticipation of selling it before we left California, the price couldn’t be beat. For the same monthly cost as servicing my car loan, we’d get to keep my vehicle while in Hawaii and then we could sell it before we moved on. It would be like renting from ourselves and, other than re-titling and registering the car, virtually hassle-free.
Matson, Pasha Hawaii and Horizon were the three mainland-to-Hawaii auto transport companies I found. These are actual carriers, not brokers, and their prices are virtually identical. Here are the deets:
- Matson requires 17-21 days to ship from Oakland to Hilo, for $1,072. If we dropped the car off on March 23rd, for example, it would arrive between April 10th & 14th. I tried calling Matson and never reached them, but they were attentive via email. Reviews I found about Matson, however, indicated that some people weren’t happy with the condition in which their cars arrived.
- Pasha Hawaii is slightly faster than Matson. If I dropped my car off in Hayward on March 24th, they would transport it to San Diego, the ship would depart on April 2nd, arrive in Hilo on the 9th and my car would be ready for pick-up on Monday, April 12th. Price: $1,074. Pasha’s website is very helpful — you can complete the entire booking process on the web. I also called Pasha to clarify some points, but the customer service rep seemed harried and was not as helpful as I would have liked.
- Horizon is the fastest transport option I found. Although their online booking system didn’t work for me at all — perhaps they need to look at compatibility on Safari and Firefox — I called them because I found several positive reviews online. I was connected to a helpful customer service rep named Anthony. He patiently answered my questions and got my car booked for the March 31st ship, which conveniently departs the same day we do. I deliver my car to the Oakland port Monday, March 29th; it will ship on an enclosed carrier to Honolulu on Wednesday; and then, it will arrive in Hilo from Honolulu via barge for pick-up Monday, April 12th. All for $1,078.
Note: None of the auto carriers guarantees delivery by a certain date, but I figured the company offering the fastest time would remain the fastest even if delays arose. And, frankly, when you’re paying for a car rental in the interim, it’s nice to get your own car quickly.
After booking with Horizon, we were offered maritime insurance to cover the vehicle during its journey, which we ended up accepting. Bottom line: for a total of $1,278, my Rav4 is coming to Hawaii with us. I’ll post more about my experience with Horizon on the other side.
Cheers,
