Renting a car isn’t what it used to be. In some ways, it is easier, with online access to car rental agencies, rewards clubs and discounts. But discretionary taxes passed on to consumers, higher gasoline prices, and older vehicles are taking a toll on the rental car industry, which is suffering a substantial decline in 2007, according to customers renting vehicles at U.S. airport locations. In the annual J.D. Power and Associates 2007 Rental Car Customer Satisfaction Study^SM (RCCSS), now in its 12th year, all eight rental car brands officially ranked declined relative to last year’s study. Five brands fell significantly.

Declines are recorded in all six factors used to determine overall customer satisfaction with their rental car experience. In descending order, these factors are: cost and fees, pick-up process, rental car, return process, reservation process, and shuttle bus/van. At an industry level, four of these measures account for 88% of overall customer satisfaction: return process, rental car, pick-up process, and costs and fees.

Reasons for Choosing Rental Car Company
Price again tops the list for both business and leisure customers as the top reason for choosing a rental car company. More than half of leisure travelers (52%) say price is the primary reason they selected their rental car company, compared to 32% of business customers. The number of customers stating corporate policy as the reason doubled since last year (from 3% in 2006 to 6% in 2007), with corporate policy now among the top five reasons.

Top 5 Reasons for Choosing Rental Car Company

Top Performers
As rated by consumers, the following companies rank among the top three in rental car customer satisfaction:

Highest Ranked: Enterprise
For the fourth consecutive year, Enterprise ranks highest in overall customer satisfaction among rental car companies with a score of 777 index points (based on a 1,000-point scale). The company scores highest in five of the six measures and had the lowest problem incidence at 7%, marking a two-percentage-point improvement over last year. In business since 1957, the St. Louis, Mo.,-based Enterprise has more than 6,000 offices in North America, and boasts the “world’s largest fleet of fuel-efficient cars in the industry,” according to the company.

Ranked No. 2: Hertz
Hertz ranks No. 2 in overall customer satisfaction with a score of 762, with second-highest scores in five of six measures. However, the company ranks eighth in costs and fees. According to Hertz, the company is the number-one airport car rental brand in the U.S., and has operations in 7,900 locations in 145 countries worldwide.

Ranked No. 3: National
Tulsa, OK, -based National ranks No. 3 in overall customer satisfaction with its 754-point score. National also achieves the study’s highest index score in reservation process, primarily leading evaluations with its telephone reservation service. National has been in the car rental industry for 50 years (since 1957), with more than 2,000 locations in the U.S., Canada, Europe, Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia-Pacific, Africa and Australia.

Other study highlights:

• 69% of reservations are made by the individual renting the car.


• Corporate travel department reservations are up (from 7% in 2006 to 11% in 2007).
• Internet reservations are on the rise, up to 74% in 2007 vs. 69% in 2006.
• The greatest increase is in reservations made on the rental car company’s Web site (from 42% in 2006 to 47% in 2007).
• Customers are nearly 2.5 times as likely to make reservations on the rental car company Web site (47%), than independent Web sites (19%).
• Customers experiencing a significant problem decreased this year (9% in 2007, down from 11% in 2006).
• Almost half (42%) of those said the problem lay with the pick-up process.
• The wait-time increased slightly to 21.8 minutes this year (vs. 21.5 minutes last year). The issue frequently arises because of the reserved vehicle not being immediately available on the customer’s arrival.

Trends to Watch
Despite overall declines in satisfaction, rental selections toward more fuel-efficient vehicles are increasing in popularity, according to the study. Rental car companies are updating their fleets to be more fuel-efficient: buying higher-mpg vehicles or hybrids, and investing in alternative fuel research. When asked if they were offered the choice of renting an environmentally-friendly vehicle for the same daily price as a normal rental vehicle, 66% of those surveyed said they would rent it. Some 86% of respondents indicate it is “very or somewhat important” for rental car companies to offer environmentally-friendly cars. Of the environmentally-friendly cars offered, most customers (53%) prefer high-mpg cars, followed by hybrids (41%).

Rental car companies continue to innovate and differentiate their brands. Avis Connect provides WiFi in vehicles for $10.95 per day, and their PlatePass speeds electronic toll collection service in Florida and Colorado. Hertz’ EZ-Pass program offers similar service. Some companies, like Enterprise and Hertz, offer hourly rentals in some major cities.