Rental Car Customers Don’t Want Any Car, They Want That Car

Vehicle Choice and Availability of Vehicles in Reserved Class Drive Significant Gains in Customer Satisfaction in JD Power North America Rental Car Study

• Overall rental car customer satisfaction rises in 2026
• 90% of customers say the vehicle class they reserved was available upon arrival, up 3 percentage points from last year
• 85% of customers say they were able to pick a specific vehicle within the class they were given, up 5 percentage points from last year

TROY, Mich.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Maybe it’s a specific color, a brand preference or just a familiar model with all of the buttons and controls laid out a certain way – when it comes to choosing a rental car, customers care about the specifics, and not just any car will do. According to the JD Power 2026 North America Rental Car Satisfaction Study,^SM released today, overall customer satisfaction rises 10 points (on a 1,000-point scale) when the reserved class of vehicle is available and rises 18 points when customers are able to pick a specific vehicle from the rental car lot.

“The ability of rental car companies to deliver on customers’ specific vehicle preferences is an important part of the overall rental experience, and when the reserved class of vehicle is not available, the overall satisfaction score falls by 111 points,” said Michael Taylor, managing director of travel, hospitality and retail at JD Power. “On the whole, the industry is getting better at delivering on this level of vehicle-specific customer preference, with 90% of customers now indicating they received a vehicle in the class they reserved and 85% indicating they were able to choose a specific vehicle from the lot – both of which are improvements over last year.”

Study Ranking

Enterprise ranks highest in overall customer satisfaction for a second consecutive year, with a score of 739. National (726) ranks second and Advantage Rent A Car (717) ranks third.

To view the complete rankings, visit: http://www.jdpower.com/pr-id/2026099.

The North America Rental Car Satisfaction Study examines the customer experience with rental car companies across seven core dimensions (in order of importance): ease of rental; pick-up/drop-off; level of trust; vehicle; staff; value for price paid; and digital tools. It is based on responses gathered from 7,845 business and leisure travelers who rented a vehicle at an airport location. The 2026 study was fielded from August 2025 through August 2026.

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

About JD Power

JD Power delivers mission-critical data, analytics and intelligence that help businesses improve customer experience and operational performance with confidence and clarity. Using proprietary, comprehensive data–including millions of consumer interactions and authoritative automotive datasets–combined with advanced analytics, artificial intelligence and deep industry expertise, JD Power enables leaders to respond to market shifts, make smarter decisions and drive measurable performance improvements.

As an objective source of deep insight into real-world customer interactions with brands and products, JD Power provides the independent intelligence organizations need to anticipate change, strengthen customer engagement and advance growth. Learn more at JDPower.com.