Advantage Rent A Car ranked third and Sixt fifth in JD Power’s 2026 North America Rental Car Satisfaction Study, placing both ahead of several established national brands as Enterprise and National retained the top two positions.

Enterprise led once again with 739 points on a 1,000-point scale, followed by National at 726. Advantage scored 717, just ahead of Alamo at 716, while Sixt scored 714. Hertz followed at 711, above the study average of 707.

Enterprise’s first-place finish extends a long record of leading the study. The brand has ranked highest in 18 of the 23 annual studies since 2004. Smaller brands have occasionally challenged that lead, including ACE Rent A Car, which finished first in 2011.

The results also extend Advantage and Sixt’s presence near the top of the rankings since JD Power redesigned the study in 2024. Sixt placed third that year and Advantage fourth. In 2025, the two tied for third at 711 points.

A Change in How Satisfaction Is Measured

JD Power redesigned the study in 2024 and changed how it evaluates the rental experience. Earlier studies measured six factors: reservations, shuttle service, pickup, the vehicle, return, and costs and fees.

The current study measures seven dimensions, listed in order of importance: ease of rental, pickup/drop-off, level of trust, vehicle, staff, value for price paid, and digital tools. Trust, staff, and digital tools now appear as separate dimensions, while pickup and return are combined.

The redesign limits historical comparisons. JD Power says scores under the new methodology are not comparable with those from before 2024.

The published rankings include more brands as well — 13 in 2026, compared with eight in 2023. Advantage, Sixt, ACE, Payless, and Fox appear in the newer rankings but were absent from the 2023 chart. Their inclusion does not show they previously performed worse, nor do the published results show whether the methodology change contributed to their current positions.

Vehicle Availability and Choice Matter

The 2026 findings also highlight the relationship between vehicle selection and customer satisfaction.

Ninety percent of surveyed customers said the vehicle class they reserved was available when they arrived, up three percentage points from 2025. Eighty-five percent said they could choose a specific vehicle within the class they were given, up five percentage points.

When the reserved class was unavailable, overall satisfaction fell by 111 points, according to JD Power.

“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.

The 2026 study was based on responses from 7,845 business and leisure travelers who rented at airport locations. JD Power fielded it from August 2025 through August 2026. JD Power notes that rankings reflect numerical scores and do not necessarily indicate statistically significant differences.

ARN’s Perspective

Auto Rental News has been publishing the JD Power Car Rental Study since its inception.

For years, much of the rental industry’s effort to improve customer satisfaction centered on speed: shorten the line, simplify the paperwork, and get the customer on the road. Those fundamentals still matter. But these findings highlight another expectation: getting a vehicle the customer actually wants.

Customers traditionally reserved a vehicle class and learned which car they would receive at pickup. Programs that allow renters to choose from available vehicles give them more control. For operators, the opportunity is to offer that choice while keeping pickup simple and delivering on the reservation.

The results also offer encouragement for smaller operators. Advantage’s third-place finish and Sixt’s fifth-place finish show that the top positions are competitive beyond the familiar leaders. The inclusion of ACE, Payless, and Fox adds context that was missing from the narrower 2023 rankings.

From ARN’s perspective, access to technology is helping level the playing field. Smaller operators can use rental management platforms with online booking, digital agreements, and payment tools to improve the customer experience. The study does not establish that technology caused these rankings, but the results reinforce why operators should not assume that delivering a convenient rental experience requires the resources of a major national brand.

The study’s 2024 redesign and changes in the brands ranked prevent a direct comparison of historical scores. Still, the current results give every operator reason to examine how consistently it delivers the experience customers expect.