Voxy Google Auto rental: A Little More Trunk Space

The silver Voxy is parked on a palm-lined street in American Village.

Haisai! I’m CULT.
Today I’m reviewing a rental car in Okinawa. I’ve got a Toyota Voxy that’s.. a little special. You’d usually struggle to get even 8-10 km/L driving a minivan, right? But this one manages 12 km/L with ease. With me behind the wheel, it gets around 15-16 km/L. It was the absolute lowest of the low season when I rented it, so the rental fee was cheap, and the brake and accelerator pedals were wonderfully smooth, making it easy to drive.
At the time, it cost just 6,500 yen per day, which was incredibly cheap. The typhoon had passed and the weather was good too, so it was worth considering.

Today’s review is of another car from White One Rent-a-Car. I use them often because they’re cheap and deliver to my home for free. In many ways, no rental company in Okinawa can beat them for value.. but there’s one drawback. They don’t offer airport pickup.
You can arrive at Naha Airport, head to your hotel in town, and have the car delivered outside. Or you can take the monorail one stop from Naha Airport and collect the car there. Samsung Pay and Apple Pay both work now, so just hop on for one stop as you would on the subway in Korea, then collect your car. Including the wait, it should take less than 20 minutes. If the train leaves straight away, the ride itself takes about 4 minutes.

You can return the car at your hotel too. Just tell them on KakaoTalk where you’d like to return it! A staff member will come to the hotel to collect it. After you’ve returned it, they can give you a ride to the airport in that car if you’d like.

As I said earlier, the only drawback.. is the lack of airport pickup.

When I rented it in November, the daily rate was 6,500 yen. They didn’t offer one-day rentals; the minimum was two days, with deductible waiver + NOC insurance costing 2,200 yen per day. It was probably because it was low season, but the price was really cheap. Of course, prices change in peak season, so you might see a different rate when you enter your dates on the website. That’s because those dates count as peak season; prices are generally low throughout November.
They even had kei cars available for 3,000 yen a day, so it’s worth taking a look.

The front seats are just like those in any other Voxy. I’ve driven the Voxy and Noah so much.. they feel familiar by now. There’s a wide gap between the driver and passenger seats, big enough for a 20-inch carry-on suitcase. I put my camera bag there, of course. You pick up a few tricks after driving them so often.. There are also two USB Type-A charging ports, though they’re not in the photo.
White One Rent-a-Car.. doesn’t have cars loaded with fancy features. They have fairly basic equipment, just enough for a rental car trip around Okinawa. But this car is a little special.

It has built-in navigation that supports Google Auto and CarPlay.
As far as I know, Google Auto is only available in newer Toyota models from 2023-2025, not older ones. The latest models cost a fortune to rent..
But this one is cheap and supports Google Auto.

When you’re looking for a rental car, I’d like you to ignore the promise of “Korean-language navigation.” Back when I did photo shoots, so many clients arrived late because they’d trusted that damn Korean-language navigation. It was always the same rental company too.. I won’t name names.. When you’re abroad, what matters most is whether the car supports Google Auto / Apple CarPlay, rather than Korean-language navigation.
Of course, even without those, it’s easier just to open Google Maps and look at your phone..

But this.. is built in, which makes it so convenient! I really like it.

First, I reset the trip distance. The tank was full, with a range of 389 km. Average fuel economy should have read 0 km/L after the reset, but I drove a few meters and got the reading you see here. I’ll tell you more about how it performed below.

There’s a dashcam and a rear camera too. But the dashcam.. needs to be switched on manually. Japan has pretty strict privacy laws for rental car dashcams.. so they’re OFF by default.

It doesn’t have those state-of-the-art cup holders I like. There is a two-tier cup holder.. I was so busy and distracted with photo shoots around this time that all I seemed to consume was energy drinks. I think it was the first time I’d had a sugary energy drink in almost 2 years.. A lot of convenience stores, vending machines and shops in the north don’t stock Monster Zero at all. No idea why.. Even Coke Zero is hard to find..

Here are the second-row seats. They seat two people. Pull the lever and they slide back and forth with ease, making it easy to get into the third row.

The left rear door is a power sliding door. The right one is manual.
Japan drives on the left, so a power sliding door on the left is really all you need, and the driver can control it. Give it a gentle pull and it opens on its own; pull it again and it closes on its own.

Here are the third-row seats. There’s an extra headrest in the trunk; fit that and three people can sit here.

The trunk behind the rear seats is, of course, the same as in a regular Voxy or Noah.

It’s a 7-seater.. and if everyone brings only 20-inch carry-on suitcases, you can see at a glance that 8 will fit. Bigger suitcases make things a little trickier. But what’s a little special about this Voxy is..

The golf bag compartment is huge. Two 20-inch carry-on suitcases fit easily. If you bring only 20-inch cases, there’s actually room for more than 10. This Voxy is.. a little special. I’ve reviewed the Voxy several times and driven it in other regions too, but this one’s unusual.
So, in total, you can fit one 28-inch suitcase and six 20-inch ones, or two 24-inch suitcases and four 20-inch ones.. You could call it a special Voxy.

So, how did it feel to drive.. When I first got this car, I felt there was something a little special about it. How can I put it.. It felt really well looked after? It felt like someone with driving habits similar to mine had been driving it.
I used to drive a 1333cc Fiat 500 for 9 years. I got around 20-25 km/L in town and almost 25-30 km/L at highway speeds. Even though it ran entirely on gasoline, the fuel economy was excellent. That comes down to driving habits, and I can tell this car was driven by someone with good habits.
It had been on a long-term lease. Once the lease ended, it was acquired for use as a rental car. That’s why it’s in such good condition.

Of course, its performance will probably get a bit of a nerf a few months after I write this.

Funny how the weather often clears up when I head out for a photo shoot.. but as soon as I want to photograph a car, it’s rain, clouds, the works. This is Hilton Sesoko, where I was doing a lot of shoots at the resort around this time. It’s quite an easy place for baby photo shoots. Easy for mom and dad, I mean.
There’s hardly any walking involved, and all the pretty scenery is right there..

Parking costs 1,000 yen.. even if you only park for an hour.. This is probably the most expensive parking lot in Okinawa.
Sesoko Beach is pretty, but everything’s expensive.. so I don’t particularly recommend it myself. Of course, if you’re loaded, you’ll be fine.

This is Bise Fukugi, at the entrance to Bisezaki.
There’s still plenty of bougainvillea in bloom. I was told it usually all falls off in November, but it’s still going strong.

I took this after finishing a photo shoot in the north, before heading home to Naha in the south.
If you’re a good driver and it’s your first time in Okinawa, I generally recommend taking the regular roads rather than the expressway. But driving at night is different. Japan has a very, very old population. There are so many people with aging eyesight that a huge number of drivers leave their high beams on along the regular roads.
That makes night driving pretty irritating. So I grab an energy drink and stick to the expressway, and I rarely even use the passing lane, lane 1. I can’t stand the high beams coming the other way.. Enjoy Route 58 during the day, and at night.. just take the expressway whenever you can.

This is Yajiro 846, where I went for amazake. It’s a good restaurant near Sesoko Island; the food here is delicious.
The funny thing is.. I had a shoot on Sesoko Island the day before, then Bisezaki.. I could’ve just stayed overnight, because the next day I had another shoot at Hilton Sesoko.. My tolls, my gas money :'(
Anyway, the amazake at Yajiro 846 is delicious, so go and try some.

American Village is, of course, the place I visit most often. I’m actually writing this at Zhyvago Coffee in American Village. Ah, Zhyvago Coffee tastes good every time. If you’re at Depot Island, make sure you have a cup.

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The Best Coffee Taste, Zhyvago Coffee Roastery

In American Village, there's a famous café called Zhivago Coffee. It's a special place with a pretty interior, but above all, the coffee tastes excellent, so if you're in Okinawa, I highly recommend visiting this café at least once.

When I arranged a meeting place for photo shoots in American Village, it was usually Starbucks. This is the parking lot next to it. I like it because it’s the largest public parking lot in Okinawa. Of course, there isn’t a single space on Saturday afternoons..

American Village again. I practically came here for work every day. By then, I’d got to know some of the shopkeepers and we’d say hello. Even in 2024, people were saying you could skip American Village, asking why anyone would go there. I put a lot of effort into changing that perception.

“Why are you telling everyone else not to go just because you don’t know how to enjoy yourselves? I find loads of delicious food there and take some damn amazing photos!”

This is the parking lot at Moon Beach Palace in northern Okinawa.
It’s a good place for baby photo shoots. The staff are welcoming about photography, and best of all, there aren’t many areas where it’s prohibited.

I should have a photo from FamilyMart too.. but I was so, so busy and distracted that I forgot..

The fuel door release lever is midway down on the right of the driver’s seat. It’s the right-hand lever; the left one opens the hood.. Pull that and you’ll have the hassle of opening the hood all the way and closing it again, so check carefully before you pull.

I filled up twice in total. Once when the low-fuel warning came on, and once before returning the car.

I put in 39.72 liters the first time. 6,911 yen.. This gas station is a little expensive. Out of town, you can get it for 165 yen per liter :'(

When I first got the car, it showed a range of 389 km and average fuel economy of 8.9 km/L.
After the first fill-up, the range was 486 km, and average fuel economy was.. 16.1 km/L. Well.. its performance has doubled..

I put in 18.28 liters the second time. This was out of town, so it was cheap at 165 yen per liter.

Here’s the final reading before returning the car. The range is 530 km, and fuel economy is 15.7 km/L.

I drove 868.6 km in total, about 250 km of it on the expressway.
Fuel used: 58 liters. Distance: 868.6 km. Fuel economy: 14.97 km/L. There’s a slight discrepancy because of the ECU.
Of course, bear in mind that I travel alone, so the lighter load helps with fuel economy. You’re renting this car to travel with family or friends, right? So I think you might get around 8-12 km/L.
Driving in Korea is honestly pretty stressful, isn’t it? There are plenty of times when you have to brake hard, and if you try to ease onto the accelerator, some idiot behind you starts honking. You pick up habits that hurt fuel economy.. Driving a little more calmly could be a nice experience and make for an enjoyable trip.

Affordable and wonderfully convenient to drive, with Google Auto and Apple CarPlay support, the Voxy will be a companion for a budget-friendly trip around Okinawa.

That’s all for today. I’ll leave it there and be back tomorrow with more Okinawa travel information. Mata yasai

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White One car rental pickup: Finding your way from airport to return

Finding the rental car pickup point at Naha Airport, past the Shuri Castle picture