Hertz - Hawaii Rental: Corvette or Volvo C70?

So i'm headed to Maui with the wife in a month and trying to figure out which car to rent for the week, a Corvette or the Volvo C70? I'd love to try Corvette but i know trunk space is little and i'm not a huge van of american cars to be honest...but then again I might like it. Anyone rented the new C70? Opinions from any of you? What do do :confused:

So i'm headed to Maui with the wife in a month and trying to figure out which car to rent for the week, a Corvette or the Volvo C70? I'd love to try Corvette but i know trunk space is little and i'm not a huge van of american cars to be honest...but then again I might like it. Anyone rented the new C70? Opinions from any of you? What do do :confused:


I'm not a fan of the C70 it's like they took a borring beige old persons car and tried to make it interesting.

That said I've never driven a corvette so it might be the better choice :)

That's a very easy choice. The V70 is an underpowered sedan, the Corvette is by far the most fun rental car Hertz has (and it has almost twice the HP and is lighter). Both are essentially American, so that doesn't really make a difference.

Definitely go for the Corvette. Trunk space isn't that bad as long as you don't have any real tall items (like a suitcase)....

Ok then..i guess i just asked a dumb question! :)

We are gonna have some big bags and since I plan to pick up the car at the airport in maui (OGG), i wonder how i'm gonna get the bags to the hotel! There is no rear seats in the Corvette too. Anyone know of a solution to this?

Ok then..i guess i just asked a dumb question! :)
No. Sorry if my response came across as such...

We are gonna have some big bags and since I plan to pick up the car at the airport in maui (OGG), i wonder how i'm gonna get the bags to the hotel! There is no rear seats in the Corvette too. Anyone know of a solution to this?
There actually is quite a bit of space for bags, as long as they're not rigid and can be "bend" into shape a bit. Otherwise, I'd pick up the car and come back with an empty passenger seat for the bags....it's not really that long a drive to anywhere on Maui. The hotel might have a shuttle to the airport that could take your bags, too...

I rented a Corvette in Maui for a week in August. I'm not normally a big American car person, but it was a lot of fun and the trunk room was actually really decent. Be warned though, that mine had about 15,000 miles on it, and that's a lot for a rental Corvette. You could really tell that it had been beat up mechanically.

Also, I upgraded at the counter for $40 a day, which is cheaper than booking it.

Both are essentially American, so that doesn't really make a difference.

The Corvette is built buy an American company in the United States, while the Volvo is built buy Volvo which is owned by an American company (Ford) but fully built and assembled with European parts and imported from Sweden. They are very different in that aspect.

In regards to which I would choose, I think in this case I would go with the Corvette for driving around Maui, however the Volvo is a very nice hard top convertible.

but fully built and assembled with European parts and imported from Sweden. They are very different in that aspect.
That's factually incorrect. The new Volvo S40, for example, is based on the ford Focus platform. The current V70 is based on the Ford EUCD platform, and shares its suspension, engine, and most interior fixtures with Fords. You're falling for badge marketing if you don't take a minute to find this out from Wikipedia.

So, both are essentially American cars. One is considered a competitor to some European sports cars, and one is considered a badge engineering job. I thought I'd point that out for the OP's benefit - don't really care if you disagree with he facts :)

While I haven't driven these two cars, I have driven the Corvette ZHZ and I also drove the Volvo S40 a lot, which runs on the same platform. The S40 was a comfortable car good for a drive out in the country. It wasn't powerful by any means, in fact my 2005 Toyota Corolla could beat it to 60 MPH. But I liked it because it was something different.

The Corvette has a phenomenal amount of power. And I agree, it's probably the most fun you can have in a rental car. However, during my day in the ZHZ, I found it to be a tiring car to drive, mainly because you're aware of how much power is under your right foot and trying not to screw up knowing they have your credit card. That and being 6'0" and too many pounds made getting in and out a chore.

So personally, I have nothing against the Corvette, I'd love to rent one again, but for a week in Maui I'd choose the Volvo C70. Honestly, any convertible is great in Hawaii, so I'd just go for something comfortable.

Ok then..i guess i just asked a dumb question! :)

We are gonna have some big bags and since I plan to pick up the car at the airport in maui (OGG), i wonder how i'm gonna get the bags to the hotel! There is no rear seats in the Corvette too. Anyone know of a solution to this?

If your hotel is anywhere near the airport, then you could drive and your wife could get the shuttle with the bags. :eek:

Or alternatively, you might want to consider letting your wife drive while you get the shuttle. ;)

A 'Vette vs. a Volvo? Seriously...you need FlyerTalkers to help you make this decision?!? :D

For a one-week rental, I'd take the 'Vette every time. If I was looking to buy one of the two, that's a different story...

My week with a Corvette convertible on Oahu was my favorite driving experience ever... can't recommend enough.

OK, don't hate me for saying I don't think the decision is all that easy. Virtually anywhere else, I would say hands down the Corvette.

But on Maui I think it depends on what your plans are. If you are for example taking the road to Hana and planning on ignoring the parts you are not supposed to take a rental on and drive all the way around, I would probably want the volvo for the dirt road portion. If I was heading up to the volcano and it was pouring rain on the way up, again I would want the volvo over the corvette.

But for anything else, there really isn't that much of a choice, the Vette would be way more fun to drive.

That's factually incorrect. The new Volvo S40, for example, is based on the ford Focus platform. The current V70 is based on the Ford EUCD platform, and shares its suspension, engine, and most interior fixtures with Fords. You're falling for badge marketing if you don't take a minute to find this out from Wikipedia.

So, both are essentially American cars. One is considered a competitor to some European sports cars, and one is considered a badge engineering job. I thought I'd point that out for the OP's benefit - don't really care if you disagree with he facts :)

You're referring to the C1 platform, which is Ford's World platform, designed by Ford, Mazda and Volvo engineers and developed and produced in Germany. The platform is not used in any current model American cars, only the European version of the Ford Focus. The 2010 Focus will use this platform.

The V70 you refer to is a station wagon, most similar to a Volvo S80 in terms of interior, the C70 is also very similar to the S80 interior, which is pure Volvo in terms of aesthetics and design. The platform/frame technology is also very basic in terms of design, allowing for flexibility based on the end manufacturer to add additional tech to it.

We can continue this banter if you'd like, but the Volvo is as far from American design as MB was in the relationship between Chrysler. That's not really part of the conversation, rather just correcting you on your insistance that Volvo is American, I'd call a Toyota Camry American before a Volvo.

If it's a coupe (coupes have removable roofs), you should be able to fit 2 -22" roll-aboards in the vette + 2 laptop bags. Anything more than that and you're probably hosed.

The new c6 corvette interiors are MUCH better than the pre-2005 cars.

I'd recommend a jeep over the volvo convertible! More personality!

http://702exoticrental.com/assets/fleet/Chevrolet/Corvette_C6_Convertible-int-front.png

I'd recommend a jeep over the volvo convertible! More personality!


And as a bonus, you'll get to match half of all the tourists on the island!

(The other half will be in either a Sebring or a Mustang.)

It's surprising what will fit in the Corvette.

http://img25.imageshack.us/img25/5839/img1843small.jpg

Wow..thanks for all the replies!

I'm still a bit confused I guess as I plan on taking the car to Hana and up the mountain. Another thing is fuel economy on the corvette..gonna be a gas guzzler!!

Wow..thanks for all the replies!

I'm still a bit confused I guess as I plan on taking the car to Hana and up the mountain. Another thing is fuel economy on the corvette..gonna be a gas guzzler!!

Highway driving Corvettes are actually really economical in terms of fuel consumption, but city and stop and go, not so much and the V8 will suck down fuel quickly under a hard acceleration.

I upgraded to C70 a couple times on Oahu and have no regrets. It's a nice solid comfortable car.
Perhaps somewhere in LAS I'd pick a Corvette but there is really no space to accelerate and have fun in it in HI.
If you get this option try A4 convertible - I'd pick it above the other two.

Having owned a vette convertible and have recently driven the C70, Id take the vette. Even w my top down, i still had room for 2 pieces of luggage. What rates did you all get on the vette? Im off to Maui for my bday in a few weeks.

The volvo is boring - grab the vette and just hope most of your vacation is on pavement :)

For 4500 points, it's a steal. I actually just booked the vette for my week in Oahu in June (I figure book early so I don't cry later if it's not available)

Thanks everyone! I've gotte the vette booked for a week using my hertz points, i leave sunday!!!

The volvo is boring - grab the vette and just hope most of your vacation is on pavement :)

For 4500 points, it's a steal. I actually just booked the vette for my week in Oahu in June (I figure book early so I don't cry later if it's not available)

Convertible or Standard ?

I went ahead and got the convertible which has even LESS space. I found that last time, if you leave the top up and temporarily pull down the piece of cardboard dividing actual trunk from top, you can jam a few things in there. I probably wouldn't do this if I was changing hotels a lot during the week.

But on Maui I think it depends on what your plans are. If you are for example taking the road to Hana and planning on ignoring the parts you are not supposed to take a rental on and drive all the way around, I would probably want the volvo for the dirt road portion. If I was heading up to the volcano and it was pouring rain on the way up, again I would want the volvo over the corvette.

Have the opened the road up again yet? Last I had heard you still couldn't finish the drive the rest of the way around because there was still bridge problems. Now, I'll admit, I haven't really looked recently, but it'd be nice to know if they have, because I'm considering going back next summer.