The best rental car companies, according to Consumer Reports — and the worst

No one does it quite like National Rent A Car. The Missouri-based firm has been around for about three quarters of a century — and it shows.

National was the only firm that Consumer Reports received near-universally positive results from. It’s also the only rental firm to score top marks for customer service, pricing transparency, and picking up vehicles. Plus, it’s the only company to receive nothing less than a 4/5 for a category, namely for the selection of its vehicles and how much bang customers got for their buck.

Enterprise — the sister firm to National Car Rental and Alamo Rent a Car — stole the silver medal. The flagship brand of Enterprise Holdings is also the middle child, being about a decade younger than National and two decades older than Alamo.

The company is National’s equal in just two areas surveyed by Consumer Reports — both have a 4/5 for value and a 5/5 for returning rentals. Enterprise scored a 4 in each of the remaining categories, bar a 3/5 for the selection of its cars.

And Alamo, outdone but not left in the dust by its better reviewed siblings, is the third best firm to rent from, according to Consumer Reports. The more budget-oriented brand under Enterprise Holdings actually scored more top-ratings than Enterprise, notching high marks for the conditions of its vehicles, as well as booking and returning rentals.

But Alamo faltered in the value category, where it scored a 3/5. The rest of its scores were 4/5, putting it comfortably behind Enterprise.

Hertz slides into fourth place, finally shining the spotlight on a company not owned by Enterprise Holdings. The flagship brand of Hertz Global Holdings is one of the oldest rental car companies in the country, with founder Walter Jacobs launching the firm in Illinois as Rent-a-Car some 106 years ago.

Hertz scored 4s across the board, except in three categories. The firm took home 3/5 scores for the selection of its vehicles, joining the higher-ranked Enterprise, as well as the value for the money customers paid, and customer service.

Hertz has run into issues over the last year with its fleet of electric vehicles, leading to it selling off tens of thousands of them. Many renters were unfamiliar with how to charge or otherwise properly use an EV, but chose to do so anyway because of what was available, CEO Gil West said in April. Hertz has also reportedly charged at least one EV renter for gas money.

Sixt is one of the few major rental car companies in the U.S. that aren’t owned by one of the big three conglomerates, as well as a foreign brand. The oldest company ranked by Consumer Reports was launched in Munich, Germany, just a few years before World War 1 broke out; its fleet was actually confiscated and used by the German army during the war (something which would be repeated during the Second World War). It wouldn’t be until 2011 that the company expanded into the U.S. before rapidly scaling its business.

Sixt is the lowest-rated firm to score top marks in any single category, namely cleanliness. It scored a 4/5 in the remaining categories except for value, picking up, and pricing transparency.

New Jersey-based Avis Rent-a-Car has been somewhat of a trailblazer over the almost eight decades it’s been around. It was the first car rental business to be located in an airport and, more than a quarter century later, pioneered Wizard, the first real-time information management and reservation system.

Avis, which since 2006 has been owned by the Avis Budget Group alongside the Budget brand, is the last firm with a score above the halfway mark. The brand scored 4/5s for the condition and cleanliness of its rentals, as well as the ease of booking and returning them. However, it scored a 3 for the remaining categories.

Budget Rent A Car is all about appealing to the price-conscious consumer — it’s right in the name. The firm was started in 1958 in Los Angeles, changing hands several times until 2006, when it was launched as a subsidiary of the Avis Budget Group. Unfortunately, for Budget, customers surveyed by Consumer Reports weren’t very impressed — not even by the prices.

Like its sibling, Budget scored 4/5s for the condition and cleanliness of its rentals, as well as the ease of booking and returning them. It also took home a 3/5 rating for the remaining four categories, except for a 2/5 for the ease of picking up rentals.

It took a while to get here, but four brands down the road Hertz is joined by one of its four siblings — Dollar Rent A Car. Hertz purchased the Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group for $2.3 billion in 2012, giving the company access to more than 10,000 locations world-wide. Like it’s older sibling, Thrifty, Dollar is focused on catering to budget-concious customers.

Dollar scored 4/5 ratings for the ease of booking rentals, returning cars, and the cleanliness and condition of the vehicles. But reviewers gave the company a 3 for pricing transparency, value of their services, and the options provided. Even worse, Dollar scored a 1/5 for ease of pick ups.

Fox Rent A Car is one of the rare rental car companies operating in the U.S. that’s not paired with Hertz, Enterprise, or Avis Budget Group. The company was founded in 1989 in Los Angeles near Los Angeles International Airport, expanding to more than 100 locations in 33 countries by 2017. Two years later, French rental firm Europcar Mobility Group acquired Fox.

Like almost every other company in this ranking, Fox scored a 4/5 for the condition of its vehicles, netting another positive score with the ease of its returns. But the ease of picking up the rentals, selection and value of vehicles, pricing transparency, and overall customer service, all won paltry reviews.

Thrifty Car Rental claims the bottom of the leaderboard, at least in this ranking. The Estero, Florida-based company has been around the block for more than 66 years, appealing to budget-conscious consumers across the U.S. Since 2012, it’s been owned by Hertz alongside Dollar.

Consumers largely approved of Thrifty’s ease for booking, returns and car conditions, but not much else. The retailer scored a 1/5 for customer service and for ease of picking up their cars. In value and pricing transparency — areas where Thrifty is supposed to have an edge — it scored a measly 2/5.