These Are The Best Rental Car Companies, According To Consumer Reports

Relying on public transportation is a wonderful way to lower your carbon footprint when traveling, but some trips require a personal vehicle. Whether you're embarking on the ultimate thrilling road trip to explore breathtaking national parks across America, or flying overseas to visit loved ones, you'll probably need to rent a car at some point. Car rentals have significantly increased in price since the COVID-19 pandemic — in 2024 they were up 35% according to NerdWallet. If you're forced to pay higher prices for rental cars, you should at least try to make sure you get your money's worth. Luckily, Consumer Reports offers excellent advice on the best car rentals to choose.

Consumer Reports is a "non-profit membership organization" that has been around since 1936. Its purpose is to inform consumers. Instead of relying on ad revenue for funding, they charge a monthly membership fee of around $10. "Consumer Reports works to create a fair and just marketplace for all. As a mission-driven, independent, nonprofit member organization, CR empowers and informs consumers, incentivizes corporations to act responsibly, and helps policymakers prioritize the rights and interests of consumers in order to shape a truly consumer-driven marketplace," their website states.

In 2024, Consumer Reports conducted a survey to uncover the best and worst rental car companies. They discovered that respondents spent an average of $86 per day (including all fees and taxes) on rental cars, or $600 per week. Not all customers were impressed with their rental car companies. Consumer Reports asked customers about all aspects of their experiences and discovered that National, Enterprise, and Alamo were the best rental car companies overall.

National Car Rental stood out from the rest according to the research conducted by Consumer Reports. "National emerged as the clear winner overall," according to Consumer Reports. Not only was it the highest rated company across the board, it was also one of the least expensive options. "CR members who rented through National, which earned the highest overall satisfaction score of 93, reported paying the least, an average of $73 a day including taxes and fees."

Overall, National Car Rental received a score of 93 out of 100. Those who participated in the survey were pleased with the company's customer service, giving it a score of 5 out of 5. National also got a perfect score when it came to processes of picking up and returning cars. The categories of cleanliness, booking, and condition of the vehicles were all rated 5 out of 5.

The only areas in which National didn't receive a perfect score were value and selection. They might not have as many car options as some other companies, but overall are a great choice according to Consumer Reports' research.

Enterprise Rent-A-Car also received high scores in many areas, with an overall ranking of 75 out of 100. Although the overall score was significantly less than National, many customers were relatively satisfied with their experience. The company earned 4 out of 5 scores in the following categories: customer service, value, condition, picking up, pricing transparency, booking, and cleanliness.

Enterprise lost points in the selection quality, only receiving a 3 out of 5 rating. If you're looking for a specific car, it might not be the right choice for you. The return process was apparently easy with Enterprise, and the company was awarded a 5 out of 5 rating.

It's worth noting that Enterprise and National are both owned by the same parent company — Enterprise Holdings, so it makes sense they're both at the top of the list of best rental car companies. The parent likely has similar standards and practices for both brands.

Like Enterprise and National, Alamo is owned by the Enterprise Holdings parent company. Alamo has 1,769 locations all over the globe. Alamo received an overall score of 72 out of 100, and was the third-best rental car company according to Consumer Reports.

Alamo received perfect 5 out of 5 scores in several categories including condition, booking, and returning. The company lost points in the value category, only receiving 3 out of 5. According to Kayak, the average rental car price at Alamo is $96 per day. When it came to pricing transparency, customer service, pickup, and selection Alamo received a 4 out of 5 rating.

Perhaps one of the reasons Alamo lost points in the value category is because employees are actively trying to upsell customers. "First I'd like to let the cat out of the bag. Yes, we car rental agents do work for commissions! If we can get you to pay more for an upgrade, insurance, gasoline, a GPS, even an additional driver, we get a cut of the extra charges," an anonymous Alamo employee said in an article published on the Consumer Reports website.

In addition to ranking all the major rental car companies, Consumer Reports offered customers excellent advice on how to make the right selection. Taking advantage of discount codes, for example, can save you a lot of money. "Three-quarters of CR members in the survey used discounts, many of them offered by membership organizations such as AAA and AARP, membership warehouse club retailers like BJ's, Costco, and Sam's, or rental company loyalty programs," the article advises. Loyalty programs offer discounts, and perks like selecting your own vehicle and cutting the long lines at the rental car counter — which can be a huge bonus after a long travel day. 

Consumer Reports also recommends booking directly through the companies instead of using a third party website like Expedia or Booking.com. "One advantage of booking directly is flexibility. If you book through a third-party travel website such as Expedia, Travelocity, or Priceline, or through a club retailer like Costco or Sam's Club, it can be relatively hard to cancel or change your reservation on the fly because you often must do it through the third party," a writer for Consumer Reports suggested. A car rental through Costco Travel may be worth it for your next road trip when it comes to price, but it could be a hassle to change your reservation. 

Some rental car companies offer a discount if you pay in full at the time of booking, but according to Consumer Reports, the prices of rental cars fluctuate often, and it's better to choose the pay later option in case you want to cancel. Finally compare the total price (including taxes and fees) before paying for a rental car.

In order to formulate our list of the best rental car companies, we relied on data published by Consumer Reports from their Spring 2024 member survey. Consumer Reports created a survey and over 6,000 members responded. Those who participated in the study had rented a car within the twelve months prior to the survey.

Participants were asked to share insights about their experience with ten different rental car companies, and rated them based on customer service, value, condition of the car, the pickup and drop-off experience, and price transparency. Consumer reports used the ratings to formulate an overall score for each company.

We sifted through the data for each of the top scoring companies in order to explain why they made the list of best rental car companies. For more information on choosing the right rental car, check out our guide to renting a car for the first time.