Will renting a convertible in Hawaii drive you buggy?
“I don’t think I’d have to spend too much time trying to decide between the North Shore of Kauai versus North Dakota!”
That was Sheila Beal’s response to my blog post about AAA’s 2008 Vacation Costs Survey on the most expensive places in the U.S. to visit (Hawaii) and the least expensive (North Dakota). Beal is a bit of a ringer because she writes a travel blog about the Aloha State.
And I agreed that Hawaii pretty much does have a franchise on paradise.
That’s when she dropped the bomb: Not when you rent a convertible, it doesn’t.
What? Sheila — and at least one reader who wrote to her — apparently found their top-down convertibles overrun with roaches. Not on the outside, on the inside!
“It was particularly disgusting to have to get into the car at night,” she wrote on her blog in March in a letter addressed to a car-rental company. “At least a half a dozen roaches would scatter when the interior lights came on as we opened the door.”
OK, a fair number of folks have been to Hawaii, which has many types of roaches. Anybody have this problem with car rentals?
And remember: It doesn’t count if you encounter bugs outside the car — that’s where they’re supposed to live. It’s called habitat.
—Mary Forgione, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
[Photo: Aloha Termite & Pest Control website]
10 Comments on “Will renting a convertible in Hawaii drive you buggy?”
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May 7th, 2008 at 5:24 pm
I live in Hawaii- and I have problems with ants in both of my cars. (One of which is brand spankin’ new!) I’ve never had bugs in my car anywhere else that I’ve lived.
May 7th, 2008 at 5:45 pm
Cockroaches in your car is pretty much a way of life in Hawaii and isn’t exclusive to convertibles. I think every Hawaii rental I’ve ever been in has had roaches and most of my friends that live there don’t think twice when one runs around the inside of their car.
May 7th, 2008 at 6:10 pm
That’s what’s great about Sheila’s site. She’s clearly a huge fan of Hawaii but is also not afraid to tell it like it is.
I’ve had many Hawaii experiences that include opening the rental car door and trying to play “whack a roach.”
I bet the rental car companies keep it quiet unless confronted–otherwise we’d all rent bicycles! ;-)
May 7th, 2008 at 9:09 pm
I told Sheila this when she was asking around but I had a similar experience with a Dollar Jeep Liberty on the Big Island too. We had left a finished Starbucks cup in the cupholder of our car as we left it parked somewhere on Alii Drive. When we got back about an hour later, there were bugs crawling all over the cup, dash, seats, floormats, everywhere! We were wondering if the bugs were there to begin with or if they came in smelling the sweet siren call of Starbucks… not really sure but it was still unnerving. The bugs were still there four days later. Hawaii is still incredible though! :)
May 8th, 2008 at 7:57 am
We’ve visited Kauai 16 times in the last 10 years renting a car(s) each time. Only had one with roaches. …and it was not a convertible. I attributed the roaches to some previous renter leaving food and/or trash in the car with the windows down. Guess what. Tropical climate plus food = roaches. It’d help if everyone kept their rental car clean and windows closed all night. Don’t know if fumigation is standard practice with any of the rental companies. …or if it’s wise.
May 8th, 2008 at 9:07 am
Yes, I too had this problem, which I shared with Sheila Beal recently for her blog. I certainly learned my lesson to not leave the top down on the convertible rental car when you park and leave the car for a few hours. I had no idea that all those roaches would flock to the car like that. When we all hopped back in the car my daughter says “mommy the floor is moving.” It’s really funny now, but we were all freaked out when it happened. And Hawaii has some BIG roaches!!! However, Maui is still one of my favorite vacation spots and I’ll continue to return for many future vacations.
May 8th, 2008 at 11:46 am
Hi Mary - Thank you for mentioning my blog and for bringing more awareness to this problem.
I’m not sure that the rental car companies can put a complete end to roach mobiles, but it would be good if they would be more aggressive with cleaning the cars and doing something to control bugs. I’d rather be enjoying a scenic drive rather than holding a flip flop in my hand ready to smash a roach.
Renters certainly contribute to the problem by leaving the top down on a convertible or leaving the windows open. Renters also eat in the cars which inevitably provides food for the bugs.
As much as bugs freak me out, it’s not going to stop me from returning to Hawaii which I love so much. (By the way, I recognize how silly it is that I’m afraid of bugs!)
November 3rd, 2008 at 10:16 am
Just wanted to update you on the rental car roach scene…
We just returned from visiting Oahu and Kauai. We rented with Avis and had two bug-free cars. Yay! Here’s more: http://www.govisithawaii.com/2008/11/03/avis-tries-harder-to-be-bug-free-in-hawaii/
November 7th, 2008 at 4:17 pm
thinking of moving to honolulu but the roaches situation keeps me buggie and unsure. can anyone reassure me?
October 6th, 2009 at 8:11 am
I live on oahu and roaches are pretty much going to happen no
matter how clean you are. I frequently have a roach/flipflop/raid spray battle in my car in the mornings even after the newly imposed no-eating-in-the-car rule? And several deep cleans… When I first moved here I was sure it was because I missed some crumbs or a spill, but its now known that roaches are inevitable around here. You can definitly kill them quietly without much guts or effort by buying traps and sprays but eventuallyy you’ll be confronted one way or another. Another issue I’ve had was frogs! So gross! I definitly would rather kill a roach than throw a frog out the back door! Geckos and lizards don’t bother me, they kill smaller bugs so we have a little treaty with those buggers. But this definitly made me laugh thinking about so many others doing the roach kill dance early in the morning when they step into the car, I’ve definitely been-there-done-that! Good luck bug fighters! Ps… I still squal like a baby everytime I squish a ro
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