Compare Hire Car companies in New Zealand at Canstar Blue. Snap Rentals, GO Rentals, Hertz, Jucy, Apex, Ezi Car Rental, Thrifty, Avis, Budget, Europcar were compared on Overall Satisfaction, Availability of Vehicle, Booking Process, Cost Transparency, Customer Service and Value for Money.
Snap Rentals is driving customer satisfaction, rated the country’s No.1 hire car company by consumers.
Our review compares hire car companies on customer satisfaction, so you can discover what other Kiwis think about our compared companies before you hire your next car. Think of it like asking hundreds of your closest family, friends and colleagues which hire car company they think is best!
Canstar Blue surveyed 791 Kiwis who had hired a car in New Zealand in the past 12 months and asked for their feedback on the companies they’d used.
Respondents rate their satisfaction with their providers from zero to ten, where zero is extremely dissatisfied and ten is extremely satisfied. Brand satisfaction was rated by respondents on the following criteria:
The winning brand is the one that receives the highest Overall Satisfaction rating once all the scores from the Overall Satisfaction criteria are combined and averaged.
Brands must have received at least 30 responses to be included, so not all brands available in the market have been compared in this survey. The brands rated in this survey are listed below in order of best overall satisfaction.
Find more information on our Most Satisfied Customer methodology.
This is the first time that Snap Rentals has won our Hire Cars Award, and it does so with a perfect set of consumer ratings. Sitting atop our award table, Snap earns 5-Star ratings across all our award categories. What makes Snap’s award win even more remarkable is that it’s the only hire car company in this year’s ratings to earn 5 Star ratings from its customers.
Snap Rentals has five offices spread across the motu: in Auckland city and at the airports in Auckland, Christchurch, Nelson, Queenstown and Wellington.
Its range of cars includes models for all budgets, from smaller Toyotas, such as the Yaris and Corolla, and Suzuki Swifts, to hybrids, minibuses and late model premium vehicles, including Mitsubishi Pajeros and Outlanders, and Toyota Highlanders.
In addition to regular rental terms, Snap Rentals offers long-term monthly rentals.
GO Rentals is a four-time winner of our Hire Cars Award, and this year it places second on our award table, thanks to a great set of 4-Star ratings across all categories.
Established in 1997, GO Rentals now operates nine offices across the country, allowing you to pick-up and drop-off at different locations: Auckland City, Auckland Airport, Christchurch Airport, Dunedin Airport, Invercargill Airport, Nelson Airport, Queenstown Airport, Waiheke Island and Wellington Airport.
GO Rentals offers a choice of modern vehicles, from small cars and SUVs to 4WDs and vans, plus it has a large fleet of Teslas. To add to its green credentials, you can also offset the carbon emissions of your trip via CarbonClick.
Placing third on our award table due to its Overall Satisfaction score, Hertz earns great 4-Star ratings across all our award categories.
Hertz is a US car rental company, and one of the biggest car rental companies in the world, operating in 160 countries. In New Zealand, it has locations in all major cities and airports.
As well as small and medium-size family hatchbacks, Hertz offers EVs and hybrid vehicles and sporty Ford Mustangs, as well as vans and utes.
Jucy earns great 4-Star ratings across all our award categories.
As well as its iconic campervans, Jucy offers two types of rental vehicles: small hatchbacks and compact SUVs. While its small cars are available from all three of its airport locations – Auckland, Christchurch and Queenstown – small SUVs are only available to rent from its Queenstown branch.
Apex Car Rentals earns great 4-Star ratings across all our award categories.
Apex Car Rentals has 14 offices spread across the North and South Islands. Apex’s airport locations are situated close to airport terminals, and provide free airport shuttle services between the terminals and the Apex branches. Its car fleet covers vehicles from mid-range hatchbacks to large 4WDs, people-movers and minibuses.
Ezi Car Rental earns great 4-Star ratings across all our award categories.
100% Kiwi-owned and operated, Ezi Car Rental has 24 branches across New Zealand, from Auckland to Invercargill, including many airport terminal locations.
Ezi’s wide choice of vehicles includes small hatchbacks and large 4WDs, plus utes and people movers. For the ecologically minded, it also has a choice of hybrid vehicles, and the Toyota bZ4X EV.
Thrifty Car Rental earns great 4-Star ratings across all our award categories.
Thrifty has 46 locations across the country, and offers a wide choice of vehicles, from small economy models, including the Toyota Yaris, up to sporty Ford Mustangs, large SUVs, utes, vans and minibuses. Thrifty Car Rental is part of the Hertz group of companies.
The global car-hire brand earns high praise from its customers, earning a clean sweep of great 4-Star ratings across all our award categories.
Founded in the US nearly 80 years ago, Avis is now a multinational company. In New Zealand it operates 32 offices, many in airport terminals. Its fleet ranges from small economy cars, such as the Toyota Corolla hatch, through mid-size hatchbacks, up to large 4WDs, EVs, hybrids, utes and trucks.
Budget earns great 4-Star ratings across all our award categories.
Budget Car Rental, which is owned by Avis Budget Group, is one of the world’s best-known car rental brands, boasting approximately 3500 locations in over 120 countries. Here in New Zealand, Budget has 30 offices, including at all major airports.
Rounding out our award table, Europcar’s customers award it 3 Stars in each of our ratings categories. While not a top rating, 3 Stars is still not a measure of dissatisfaction. Rather it shows that Europcar’s customers are happy with the levels of service and value they received.
Europcar is a massive worldwide car rental company that was founded in France. It has 15 locations across the country, stretching from Auckland to Invercargill, including in the terminal buildings at Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Queenstown airports. Europcar has a wide range of vehicles in its fleet, including luxury vehicles from BMW, Audi and Mercedes Benz.
Other hire car companiesNot all hire car companies in the market qualify for our ratings (based on minimum survey sample size), but that doesn’t mean they’re not worth considering. Here are more hire car companies to check out before you hire your next vehicle.
Ace Rental Cars operates four offices in the North Island: in Auckland and Wellington, and at those cities’ airports. In the South Island, Ace Rental Cars can be found at Dunedin, Queenstown and Christchurch airports, as well as at the Picton car ferry terminal, Greymouth and downtown Christchurch.
Omega Rental Cars operates a wide fleet of vehicles, including small hatchbacks, mid-range sedans and family and luxury SUVs.
In New Zealand, it has 10 offices: two each in Auckland and Wellington, including at each city’s airport, and six in the South Island: Picton, Nelson, Blenheim, Christchurch Airport, Queenstown and Queenstown Airport.
RaD has 21 rental offices spread across both islands, in all main centres and near major airports. It offers two levels of car hire: Classic and Premium. Its Classic fleet includes small economy hatchbacks, and mid-range sedans, SUVs and 4WDs, as well as large people movers, minibuses, utes and trucks. Its premium range of late model vehicles includes Subaru Outbacks and Jeep Cherokees, as well as 4WD Nissan X-Trails and Kia Stonics, plus new Hondas and Toyotas.
While hiring a car online is a pretty streamline process, things can hit a snag when you arrive to pick up the keys. Sometimes the car isn’t the one you expected, or you can be left waiting due to excess paperwork or a lack of staff … and then there’s the drop-off process. It’s not surprising, then, that customer service is the most important factor for car hire customers, rated the No.1 driver of satisfaction by over a third of those in our survey.
Of course, Value for Money is also important, and that rates second, cited by a quarter (24%) of our survey respondents as the top driver of their satisfaction when hiring a rental car.
Overall, here’s what the consumers in our survey say are their most important considerations when rating their hire car companies:
Bruce Pitchers is Canstar NZ’s Content Manager. An experienced finance reporter, he has three decades’ experience as a journalist and has worked for major media companies in Australia, the UK and NZ, including ACP, Are Media, Bauer Media Group, Fairfax, Pacific Magazines, News Corp and TVNZ. As a freelancer, he has worked for The Australian Financial Review, the NZ Financial Markets Authority and major banks and investment companies on both sides of the Tasman.
In his role at Canstar, he has been a regular commentator in the NZ media, including on the Driven, Stuff and One Roof websites, the NZ Herald, Radio NZ, and Newstalk ZB.
Away from Canstar, Bruce creates puzzles for magazines and newspapers, including Woman’s Day and New Idea. He is also the co-author of the murder-mystery puzzle book 5 Minute Murder.
Ease of pick-up/drop-off is the main consideration when hiring a car: 73%
Ease of online booking is the main consideration when hiring a car: 59%
Consider a vehicle’s safety rating when hiring a car: 44%
Always pay for additional insurance offered by rental company: 42%
Canstar Blue surveyed 5037 New Zealand consumers across a range of categories to measure and track customer satisfaction, via ISO 26362 accredited research panels managed by PureProfile. The outcomes reported are the results from respondents who had rented a hire car in the past 12 months. In this case, 791 New Zealanders. Brands must have received at least 30 responses to be included. Results are comparative and it should be noted that brands receiving three stars have still achieved a satisfaction measure of at least six out of 10. Not all brands available in the market have been compared in this survey. The ratings table is first sorted by star ratings and then by mean overall satisfaction. A rated brand may receive a ‘N/A’ (Not Applicable) rating if it does not receive the minimum number of responses for that criterion.
Past winners of Canstar Blue’s hire car awards:
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