But it’s not all bad news. “Professionalism of staff is up slightly and rental car attributes are up significantly indicating some of the fleet and staffing challenges of 2021 are improving,” says Taylor.Enterprise ranked highest in overall customer satisfaction for the second year in a row, followed by National and Alamo in third place.
“Enterprise’s chief strength is delivering value for the price paid for the rental car,” says Taylor. “Although almost all rental car companies saw a decline in the index scores for cost and fees from a year ago, Enterprise still maintained the top spot for value.”The next three companies on the list—National, Alamo and Hertz also came in above the industry average. “Alamo and National share the same parent company with Enterprise ,” says Taylor.
At the bottom of the list was Thrifty. “Although Thrifty did improve in almost all other factors in the J. D. Power study, renters felt that Thrifty did not provide value for the money compared to other rental car brands,” says Taylor. “It’s not necessarily the lowest cost daily fee that ‘wins’ the cost and fees category, it’s really the value of the car and the service received.”
So where are things headed? “Our analysis shows a steady state for the rental car industry, although there is a risk that aging fleets will affect customer satisfaction, customer loyalty and profitability of the industry,” says Taylor. “Older cars incur higher maintenance costs and have a lower resale value.”
Read on to see the lists of the best and worst car rental companies in America; you can also get more details on the J.D. Power survey