Suzuki Hustler Review: A Popular Rental Kei Car for Two in Okinawa

A review of the Suzuki Hustler, Japan’s most popular kei car, which I rented in Okinawa. With photos, I cover its acceleration (better than boxy kei cars despite its 660cc engine), the tight back seat and trunk, parking, fuel economy, and what to check when you pick up the car.

👋 Haisai! I’m CULT.
This is about a car I used in March 2025. Today, boxy kei cars (like the Honda N-BOX) aside.. it’s the Suzuki Hustler, the most popular kei car in Japan 🚘

It’s cheap, and it’s a compact size that is realistically a two-seater for tourists traveling with suitcases. It’s too small to recommend if you’re traveling with kids. When I used it in March 2025, it was 3,500 yen per day, or 4,600 yen with NOC insurance. The rental company may change which dates count as peak or off-peak season, so prices aren’t fixed.
People sometimes ask whether you really have to get NOC. Even if the other driver rams into your car, you’re the one who has to pay the compensation. That’s because when a rental car goes in for repairs, the rental company owner has to cancel every reservation after yours, right? So it’s a must.

Of course, you must bring your passport and your International Driving Permit. Quite a few people don’t bring their International Driving Permit and can’t pick up their car. Se.ri.ous.ly. 😱

Scuffs around the trunk are inevitable on rental cars. They’re all a little scraped up like that. If your suitcase is heavy, it keeps hitting that spot, so there’s nothing to be done. Cars often have scratches like these, so if you’re worried, take a few photos.
Side mirror scratches are also surprisingly common. Plenty of people scrape them because they mix up left and right.

Also, the Bluetooth menu is set to Japanese by default.. Anyone can pair a phone, but since the menu is in Japanese, you’ll probably be pretty thrown if you try pressing buttons without help.

I don’t really know the other specs; just remember that it’s 660cc and the car is light. It’s genuinely light, so when I pressed the accelerator, it accelerated remarkably well for a car with a 660cc engine.

Here it is, casually parked on Senaga Island. I quite like the design. For one thing, it’s red, which stands out among all the white rental cars, and I like that.
I drove it for a bit.. and the acceleration was good enough that I wondered, is this really 660cc? Boxy kei cars.. are seriously, painfully slow. It’s the same kind of kei car, but this one feels like a kei car with some real power. Same cc, so why such a difference? I wonder 🧐

I’d like to take some nice photos of the car, but the weather isn’t helping at all.
Anyway, personally speaking, I think the Hustler is the best car for two people. It’s sportier than boxy kei cars, but its cargo space is small, so I suspect it might be a bit uncomfortable for three or more.

I like this crisp, angular look too. The red color stands out nicely, which I like. This car.. comes in a really wide range of colors.

I love that the Hustler is sporty for a kei car, but it has one fatal flaw. And that is.. it has almost no trunk. That’s why I said earlier that this car is best when there are two of you. So in that case..

You just flip the back seat down. It works so well that it feels as if the car was designed to be used this way ☺️

The reason I keep saying it’s best for two is that.. it’s not just the trunk, the back seat is tight too.
It honestly feels like.. a Macan. Seriously, the Macan’s back seat is hell.. this one has that feel too.. 😫

These are the driver’s and passenger’s seats.
If the driver is tall, they can slide the seat back to drive comfortably. Which means there’s even less room in the back.. so the conclusion is that this is a car for two..

The leather steering wheel felt a little odd at first, but I got used to it after about 30 minutes.

It’s hot in Okinawa, so of course it has A/C. It’s not all that hot yet, but it gets humid when it rains, you know? You have to set the A/C to 26°C and use it as a dehumidifier, so it’s obviously a necessity. Well.. cars without A/C do exist in this world…
For reference, no USB charging cable is included, so you’ll need to bring your own. It’s 2.1A, so even with a Galaxy S25 or an iPhone 16 Pro, the battery won’t drain while you drive with navigation on.

You have to pull out the cup holder, and there’s a hidden compartment where you can stash snacks.

The car is so small.. skilled drivers probably don’t even need the rear camera.. This car is even smaller than the boxy kei cars. So it’s even easier to park than boxy kei cars, which are already easy to park. How should I put it.. once you’ve parked, it feels like there’s a huge amount of the parking space left over..?

What I felt driving the Hustler.. is that it has way more power than a boxy kei car with the same 660cc. It gets up to 100 km/h in no time. I started to wonder whether it really had a 660cc engine. Maybe it’s the balance, but I felt less of an outward pull on curves than in the Serena, boxy kei cars, or the Yaris.
For two people traveling together, the Hustler is great. But because it’s sporty, it bounces slightly when you press the accelerator or the brake, so I wouldn’t really recommend it to people on a babymoon. The baby would get startled.. 😖
The cars that don’t bounce.. are the boxy kei cars.. they’re simply too underpowered to bounce..

On my way back after returning the car, I snapped a few random parked cars. There are so many Hustlers. It’s a surprisingly fun car to drive, so if you’re coming to Okinawa and traveling as just two people, it’s good value for money and I strongly recommend it 👍

Starting from Naha, I went to Umikaji Terrace, stopped by American Village, and headed straight back to Naha to return the car. By my map calculation, the loop from central Naha to Umikaji Terrace and Depot Island and back is roughly 55 km. The fuel economy seems to be roughly 12-15 km per liter. The fuel I put in afterward cost 623 yen.
If I’d gone in the company car I had back then, which had terrible fuel economy, the fuel bill would’ve easily exceeded 1,200 yen…

When you return the car, they do a quick check of its condition, the fuel level, and so on. After refueling, be sure to keep the receipt.

To sum it up, I recommend the Hustler for two people traveling in Okinawa.
It’s cheap, and it accelerates better than boxy kei cars. Most of all, it’s just cute 😋
Parking is easy too, and since kei cars also have extra kei-car-only parking spaces, that takes a little of the stress out of parking.

It’s a solid car, so go enjoy a drive. I’ll be back again with more Okinawa travel info. Mata yasai! 👋