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The pandemic hit the rental-car industry hard last year, and many companies sold off excess vehicles.Now, with vaccines available and travelers returning to places like Hawaii, rental-car lots are pretty empty, which means surprisingly high prices. A Toyota Camry cost $700 a day on Maui last month, and even now, it’s difficult to find any rental car for under $200 a day in Honolulu.The solution, some travelers have discovered, is U-Haul, which will rent you a pickup truck for under $20 a day plus mileage.COVID-19 has changed our idea of what’s normal beyond what pretty much anyone could have imagined a year ago. One of the more unexpected repercussions of this invisible disease can be found in Hawaii, where a shortage of rental cars is giving tourists the idea that the best way to see its islands is from behind the wheel of a U-Haul moving truck.That’s the word from Hawaii News Now and also reported by Carscoops. The Hawaii news site said that demand for the limited supply of rental cars on Maui drove the price of a Toyota Camry to over $700 a day in March. The situation hasn’t improved in April, and prices are still high compared to pre-pandemic prices, so the next best thing, for some, is a rented moving van.HNN reported on the trend on Maui, but it’s possible on other islands as well since a little bit of Internet searching proves that the economics pan out. Rental-car options in Honolulu are indeed limited right now. We were able to find one—yes, just one—vehicle available for pickup this weekend at Honolulu International Airport from Budget. The single choice? A “GMC Yukon Denali or similar” for the low, low price of $171.99 a day. Using a broader search tool, in this case Expedia, returned a total of 29 cars, with the lowest price for a one-day rental pegged at $238. But when we looked into renting a U-Haul from a location just a few blocks from the airport, we found out you can get a pickup with an eight-foot bed for $19.95 a day, plus 89 cents a mile.

The fact that we’ve come to this odd stage of the pandemic could have been foreseen. As they dealt with the pandemic early last year, rental-car companies Hertz and Advantage filed for bankruptcy, and many companies got rid of excess supply at a time when few people were traveling and demand dropped. Local resident David Morrell of Kihei told Hawaii News Now he worries anyone who actually needs to rent a truck to move something could be out of luck right now. “I think it’s kind of weird because there were so many of them about six to eight months ago, they couldn’t find places to park all the rental cars,” he said.It’s unlikely that rental cars will return to two-digit prices in the near future. The supply of new cars remains limited by lower auto production caused by the worldwide semiconductor shortage. Locally, Hawaii residents are preparing for tourism numbers to return to normal, or at least to increase, in the near future, with state rules for coronavirus testing and vaccinated travelers are about to ease up a bit. Put all this together, and deciding to rent a U-Haul instead of a $700-a-day Camry ends up being some sort of logical move.
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Right now, used-car prices are up an average of 14 percent compared to the spring of 2020, with pickups up the most—27 percent. The average price of a used-car purchase is now nearly $24,000.That’s not as bad as new cars, which are going for an average of more than $40,000, and the selection on dealer lots is reduced because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the current semiconductor shortage, and high demand for vehicles.Higher-mileage vehicles may be the answer for buyers looking for a good deal on a vehicle, considering the durability of many vehicles on the used market.A year ago, as this bad trip known as the coronavirus pandemic did a Freeze Dance number on the economy, the auto world became a breeding ground of unknowns. Used cars emerged as one of the greatest unknowns, having what Automotive News called a “strange moment.” Wholesale and trade-in values had plummeted. But while no one was buying new cars, retail prices were off by just 1 percent in April 2020, leaving dealers unsure of how they should even value used cars.

By July, used-car values found their legs. And by October, used-car prices had made record-breaking leaps. Now, six months later, prices still hover at altitudes that require supplemental oxygen. CarGurus’ tool for tracking used-car price trends shows the average price of a used car is $23,723, up almost 14 percent compared to this time last year. That’s more than 10 times the 2020 rate of inflation. Every vehicle segment has seen gains, the smallest bump being about 5 percent for hatchbacks and wagons. Pickup values rose a whopping 27 percent, and vans—that’s right, vans—are up more than 20 percent.Remember when Reddit took its talents to GameStop stock? The Manheim Used Vehicle Value Index looks like the GameStop stock chart. If you have a trade-in or used car to sell, now is the time. If you’re a used car bargain hunter, your hunt will take longer and lead you farther afield. So, why are values stuck in the mesosphere, when will the market get back to normal, and where is the best place to look for a steal? Values remain high because the used market continues to endure same issues that caused the price run. New car production isn’t at full strength thanks to shortages of materials as varied as steel, semiconductor chips, and seating foam. “Combine this with manufacturers and dealers looking to ‘right size’ their inventories, sales lots are less crowded than before the pandemic and offering buyers a more limited selection of new vehicles,” Sam Fiorani, an AutoForecast Solutions, said. Without such resupply, Cox Automotive said new-car inventory at the end of March was 59 days, 41 percent lower than March 2020. Limited stock, as well as an increasing number of standard features and higher materials costs, have supercharged new-car prices. In July 2020, Kelley Blue Book pegged the average price of a new car at $38,378. In December 2020, that number crested $40,000 for the first time ever. Last month, the figure had risen further, to $40,472, a 4.3 percent increase over one year ago. Furthermore, as automakers give up on subcompacts, hatchbacks, and sedans here, there are fewer new vehicles available below $30,000. All of this continues to drive car buyers to the used market. At the top tier of the pre-owned market, CPO sales are up 14 percent in the first quarter of this year compared to the same time in 2020. However, fewer new car purchases mean fewer used cars to choose from. The National Automobile Dealer’s Association’s 2020 report said that nearly 42 percent of a dealer’s used inventory comes from trade-ins on a new vehicle. On a cheerless note, moratoriums on repossession have been another constraint on the wholesale market, shrinking stock that goes to auction. Dealers scouring new sources of used inventory have flocked to auctions already grinding through decreased supply, and dealers are competing with one another and with online sellers like Carvana and Vroom.This has left a lot more people chasing a smaller herd of used cars as the economy reopens, and people are ready to spend stimulus checks and savings from postponed big-ticket vacations. Also, spring traditionally uncorks the annual car-buying season, adding traditional price pressure to these new factors. Cox Automotive said used vehicle sales in March were up 117 percent compared to last year, sending used car inventory to 29 days at the end of March, 15 days below normal. Even the search term “Buy a used car” is hot. Last June it maxed out on the Google Trends chart, a measure of a term’s popularity as a percentage of all searches in every U.S. state. The phrase has done so again three times since June, most recently last month. These are the only such instances in the past five years. There are still bargains out there, lurking in a corner of the market many used car buyers typically avoid: vehicles with more than 100,000 miles. Both the novice and the savvy enthusiast used to view 50,000 miles as the bright line separating jewels from junk. But with vehicles having gotten so much better over the last 15 years, and absurd demand, dealers report that used cars with six figures on the odometer are finding good homes. “The quality of vehicles has improved so much that a 150,000-mile Toyota Camry brings serious money,” Fiorani said. And then there is the ridiculous rise in residual values on trucks, where a 10-year-old Ram pickup with 100,000 miles can still cost $20,000.”When will prices come back down? What an Edmunds analyst called “an unprecedented historical shift in the used vehicle market” is likely to continue. Cox Automotive predicts the used market will be short millions of vehicles through 2023, with elevated prices to match. J.D. Power believes. “We can expect these trends to continue for the foreseeable future, as even after the pandemic has passed, used car prices are likely to continue rising.” Fiorani isn’t quite that pessimistic—or optimistic. Depending on your point of view. “In the window beyond the next six months, production should stabilize, inventories of new vehicles will rise, and demand will fall to a more normal rate,” he said. “When that happens, used car prices will normalize.”

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With warmer weather on the horizon, the Window Shoppers take a look at some summer favorites: convertibles. We set a healthy budget of $20,000 to ensure the panel finds interesting examples, and in that, they didn’t disappoint.First up is contributor John Pearley Huffman, who stretches the definition of “convertible” to its breaking point by picking a Meyers Manx. The crew points out that without a top, the Manx doesn’t fit the bill. Besides, he’s way over budget. Editorial director Joe Brown makes his Window Shop debut this week and puts up a rare convertible pickup for consideration. He claims it’s connected to McLaren in a weird six-degrees-of-Kevin-Bacon way. The truck’s 125-hp V-6 puts some people off, but a few of us like the idea of getting a nice tan while driving to Home Depot. It won’t be so easy for contributor Jonathon Ramsey to catch some rays in his pick. Though the Ford Bronco has a removable top, the jury rightly takes issue with this. Ramsey presents an Alfa Romeo Spider as an alternative. Before you get too excited, know that this Spider isn’t like the one Dustin Hoffman drove in The Graduate. Ramsey’s is a 2007 model—an achingly beautiful but front-drive diesel-powered two-seater that isn’t legal in the U.S. for another 11 years.Deputy testing director K.C. Colwell makes an uncharacteristic choice: a 1965 Chevrolet Corvair convertible. The Bill Mitchell–designed rear-engine sports car elicits a few oohs and aahs before we jump into the rear suspension revisions of the ’65 model and marvel at its air-cooled flat-six engine. Lastly, deputy editor Tony Quiroga makes a somewhat sensible bet on a 2010 Audi S4 Cabriolet. But who would vote for that when they can have a real oddball? Watch to find out.

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In China, the 718 is Porsche’s best-selling sports car. Frank-Steffen Walliser, head of sports cars at Porsche, once told Road & Track that without China, the 718 likely wouldn’t exist at all. A big reason for the 718’s popularity is its base 2.0-liter flat-four. Cars in China are taxed by engine displacement, and it’s far more expensive to own a car with an engine larger than 2.0 liters, which is why Porsche is now offering the 718 Spyder with its smallest four-cylinder for the China market.

Revealed at this week’s Auto Shanghai 2021, the 718 Spyder ditches the glorious 4.0-liter flat-six it gets in other markets for a 300-hp 2.0-liter turbo flat-four paired with a seven-speed PDK. There’s also a bit more standard equipment, but the bodywork is identical to the 718 Spyder sold elsewhere, except for the bumpers, which come from the GTS models.

Porsche

The chassis is standard Boxster—not the Motorsport-designed setup you get with the Spyder elsewhere . It also has the finicky manual-folding roof, however, which resides under the double-bubble rear decklid. This particular car also has a particularly lurid exterior color, Frozen Berry Metallic, which was introduced with the Taycan and is now available in U.S.-market 718 models if you’re feeling brave.What’s funny about the China-market 718 Spyder is that with a 2.0-liter flat-four, it’s now has even more common with its Fifties race-car namesake. The original 718 RSK had Porsche’s famous twin-cam flat-four “Carrera” engine.

Porsche

And don’t think this is really an alternative to the six-cylinder 718 Spyder with all the looks and less of the cost. It’ll start at the equivalent of around $113,000 at today’s exchange rates. In the U.S., the 718 Spyder starts at a comparatively reasonable $99,650.

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