I don't follow. Are you asking why I stuck with the rent-a-wreck I received or why they would hold back inventory?

I rented a car through AVIS. I stayed with whatever car they handed me the keys for. The line was approx 15 people long (shorter for preferred as they came out and asked for preferred customers occasionally one by one, there was no "preferred line/desk") and moved like molasses. Being preferred saved me around 20 minutes based on my place in line. I wasn't about to go stand in line again because of the cars condition. There was no "walk out and pick your car" going on. I haven't seen that at any rental agency since April/May of 2020.

I'm simply commenting on the notion that the sky high rental prices in Hawaii are that way because they "sold lots of their inventory". My eyes told a different story when I arrived at the rental center on a day/time when there would normally be slim pickings. Price should be a function of supply/demand, but there appeared to be an abundance of supply that didn't reflect the pricing.

If they have 100 cars and can rent 50 of them for $100 a day, that is better than renting 70 for $60/day. Not only do they make more money with the higher rate at lower volume, but also save wear and tear on the cars just sitting on the lot. Again, perfectly fine if they want to do that, but I could do without the "we sold our cars because of COVID" sob story which is the narrative set by the travel industry right now.