Rental Car Customer Satisfaction Surges as Price and Inventory Normalize—For Now, J.D. Power Finds

Average Customer-Cited Price-Per-Day Rental Fee Stabilizes at $91

TROY, Mich.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Following a few years of inventory shortages, sky-high rates and staffing issues, North American airport-based rental car companies have gotten their groove back. According to the J.D. Power 2023 North America Rental Car Satisfaction Study,^SM released today, a combination of stabilized pricing, increased vehicle availability and improved staffing have helped overall customer satisfaction increase 14 points (on a 1,000-point scale) this year. However, with the outcome of the United Auto Workers (UAW) strike still uncertain, rental car vehicle supply may again become an issue.

“The post-pandemic period has been tough for North American rental car companies and their customers, but now that things have stabilized, customer satisfaction has started to increase significantly,” said Michael Taylor, managing director of travel, hospitality and retail at J.D. Power. “Given the tight correlation we see between vehicle availability, price and customer satisfaction, it’s going to be important to keep an eye on the UAW strike as a potential supply chain issue that could negatively affect customer satisfaction during the course of the next year.”

Study Ranking

Enterprise ranks highest in overall customer satisfaction for a third consecutive year, with a score of 866. National (865) ranks second and Alamo (862) ranks third. Overall customer satisfaction for the industry is 843, up from 829 in 2022.

The 2023 North America Rental Car Satisfaction Study is based on responses gathered from 8,632 business and leisure travelers who rented a vehicle at an airport location during the past year. The study was fielded from August 2022 through August 2023.

For more information about the North America Rental Car Satisfaction Study, visit https://www.jdpower.com/resource/north-america-rental-car-satisfaction-study.

See the online press release at http://www.jdpower.com/pr-id/2023133.

About J.D. Power

J.D. Power is a global leader in consumer insights, advisory services and data and analytics. A pioneer in the use of big data, artificial intelligence (AI) and algorithmic modeling capabilities to understand consumer behavior, J.D. Power has been delivering incisive industry intelligence on customer interactions with brands and products for more than 50 years. The world's leading businesses across major industries rely on J.D. Power to guide their customer-facing strategies.

J.D. Power has offices in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. To learn more about the company’s business offerings, visit JDPower.com/business. The J.D. Power auto shopping tool can be found at JDPower.com.

About J.D. Power and Advertising/Promotional Rules: www.jdpower.com/business/about-us/press-release-info