Most Common Items Left in Rental Vehicles Revealed
Some of the more unusual items left behind in rental cars include a grocery bag of burner phones and a pet mouse.

At the top of the list, and the least surprising, cell phones account for 32% of items left in returned vehicles.
Photo via Depositphotos.
Running a rental agency often requires owning a large lost and found box. Now, CarRentals.com has released its list of some of the most common, and unusual, items left behind by customers in their rental vehicles.
At the top of the list, and the least surprising, cell phones account for 32% of items left in returned vehicles. Shockingly, paperwork containing personal or sensitive information came in second at 25%. The full list is as follows:
Phones (32%)
Paperwork with personal information (25%)
Keys (21%)
Wallet/credit card (8%)
Laptop/tablet (8%)
Drivers license and passports (6%)
Using online, public data from major car rental companies at Los Angeles International Airport and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta Airport, a list of the most unusual recovered items has been compiled. Below is a selection:
Professional paint set
"Happily Ever After" photo album
Grocery bag of burner phones
Credit card reader
Car license plates
Pet mouse
Gun holster
Strobe light
Pocket scale
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