Rental Car Customer Satisfaction Drops as Vehicle Shortage Causes Prices to Surge, J.D. Power Finds

Average Customer-Cited Price-Per-Day Rental Fee Climbs 58% in Past Nine Months

Overall customer satisfaction with North American airport-based rental car companies declines significantly this year as a global shortage of new vehicles caused prices to increase 58% during the last nine months of the study. The J.D. Power 2021 North America Rental Car Satisfaction Study,^SM released today—which tracked customer experience with rental car companies between August 2020 and August 2021—­finds that the average customer-cited price-per-day rental fee rose to $90.40 by the summer of this year. During the 12 months of the study, overall customer satisfaction declined a total of 11 points (on a 1,000-point scale).

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2021 North America Rental Car Satisfaction Study (Graphic: Business Wire)

“Rental car companies have been facing significant challenges, both in terms of vehicle supply and staffing—and a combination of rising costs and long lines at the airport is having a negative effect on customer satisfaction,” said Michael Taylor, travel intelligence lead at J.D. Power. “The fact that the average price per day for vehicle rental is now above $90 sounds almost hard to believe, but I’ve seen instances in which a subcompact—booked a month in advance—cost $140 a day. Even when customers are aware of the macroeconomic challenges, their personal experiences quickly outweigh economic theory, and the result is lower customer satisfaction.”

Study Ranking

Enterprise ranks highest in overall customer satisfaction, with a score of 861. National (852) ranks second and Alamo (837) ranks third. Overall customer satisfaction for the industry is 830, down from 841 in 2020.

The 2021 North America Rental Car Satisfaction Study is based on responses gathered from September 2020 through August 2021 from 4,279 business and leisure travelers who rented a vehicle at an airport location from August 2020 through August 2021.

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

To view the online press release, please visit http://www.jdpower.com/pr-id/2021133.

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.

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