Compare Hire Car companies in New Zealand at Canstar Blue. GO Rentals, Apex, Avis, Budget, Europcar, Ezi Car Rental, Hertz, Jucy, Omega and Thrifty were compared on Overall Satisfaction, Availability of Vehicle, Booking Process, Customer Service, Transparency of Cost and Fees, Value for Money.
GO Rentals rated number one for customer satisfaction
Even if you own your own car, there are times when a hire car is a necessity. If you’re flying domestically for work or pleasure, it’s great to have a hire car waiting for you at your destination. Or if your own car is out of action, or isn’t up to your road-trip plans, a hire car is a super convenient way to get you where you want to go.
But if you’ve ever hired a car, you’ll know that there’s a lot of difference in the levels of service, value and car quality offered by car hire companies. Often cheap isn’t cheerful when it comes to rental fleet cars. And even more expensive options can fail to deliver smooth pick-up and drop-off experiences.
So to help Kiwis find the best rental car deals, as part of our mission to inform consumers of the best NZ has to offer, this year Canstar Blue canvassed the opinions of 666 New Zealanders who had rented a hire car in the past 12 months, and asked them to rate their purchases across a range of categories, to measure and track their levels of customer satisfaction.
To decide which hire car company offers the best level of customer satisfaction, each was rated across the following categories:
Coming out on top is GO Rentals, the clear winner of Canstar Blue’s award for Most Satisfied Customers | Hire Cars. In this year’s award ratings, GO Rentals is the only car hire firm to earn a top 5-Star award for Overall Satisfaction.
It’s a result built on a strong showing of 4-Star ratings across all categories, except for Customer Service, for which GO Rentals earns 5-Stars.
Also worth noting is that GO Rentals is the only car hire company in this year’s award to earn our top mark for Customer Service, which is a vital part of the hire car experience.
The only other car hire company to earn 5-Star scores is Omega. Omega earns a 4-Star Overall Satisfaction rating, but takes out top marks for Transparency of Cost and Fees, Booking Process and Availability of Vehicle. Omega is the only car hire business in this year’s ratings to earn a 5-Star award for Value for Money.
While nearly half (44%) of respondents say that ease of online booking is their main consideration when hiring a car, it’s the classic combination of Value for Money (32%) and Customer Service (31%) that drives their satisfaction levels.
That there’s very little between the two categories is a reflection of the car hire process. While cost is always a big consideration, the service you receive during the pick-up and drop-off process is equally as important. You don’t want to be left sitting around waiting for your car, or filling in tedious paperwork, when you could already be on the road.
Overall, the main drivers of satisfaction are:
This is the third time that GO Rentals has won our Car Hire Award, following on previous wins in 2018 and 2020, which is a testament to GO Rentals’ ongoing commitment to value and service.
One of NZ’s largest independent car rental companies, its modern fleet encompasses a wide range of vehicles. And if you are worried about your car’s emissions, don’t worry. If you don’t want to go fully EV in a Tesla, when you rent a car with GO, you also get the opportunity to offset your emissions with CarbonClick.
GO Rentals has eight locations across the country, and a Nelson branch is opening towards the end of 2022:
And its car ages range from new to five years, and cover three categories:
So, if you’re planning your next trip and need to hire a set of wheels at your destination, make sure you go straight to GO Rentals, for great value and customer service guaranteed.
Ease of online booking is the main consideration when hiring a car: 44%
Always pay for additional insurance offered by rental company: 40%
Always thoroughly read the Ts & Cs before hiring a car: 40%
Would hire a hybrid for environmental reasons: 39%
Should be tighter rules for overseas drivers to hire cars in NZ: 35%
Consider a vehicle’s safety rating when hiring a car: 35%
Pick-up / drop-off procedures should be made easier: 34%
Should be tougher penalties for at-fault drivers who cause accidents: 34%
Think reckless Kiwi drivers more of a concern than tourist drivers: 33%
Would use public transport if it was available, rather than hire a car: 23%
Canstar Blue surveyed 5004 New Zealand consumers across a range of categories to measure and track customer satisfaction, via ISO 26362 accredited research panels managed by Qualtrics. The outcomes reported are the results from respondents who had rented a hire car in the past 12 months. In this case, 666 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.
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