Best car hire companies in the UK reviewed and rated
Car hire needs to be affordable and convenient with no hidden costs. We've looked at the offerings of nine different national companies to see which is the best...
If you need a vehicle for a holiday, to visit family or friends, or even to transport a bulky bit of furniture, you may need to hire a car.
There are plenty of options if you search for car rental online, but it pays to choose wisely because hiring a car can cost from around £30 a day, and if you want one for a week or more and need to add on extras, such as an additional driver and a child car seat, it can run into £100s.
Choosing a poor car hire provider can have big repercussions, too. You could end up with an unroadworthy vehicle or even not get a vehicle at all – because whilst some companies may offer enticingly low prices, you could find there are no cars available when you arrive to collect your wheels.
And, although many deals you’ll see online look extremely cheap, once you’ve checked the small print and added some extras they can work out far more expensive than they first seem.
It’s also important that a hire company has a branch at a convenient location, otherwise you could end up spending the best part of a day collecting and returning the car.
And the best car hire company in the UK? Following our research, we expert says it's Hertz. You can find out why below, and discover the best alternatives.
How we rated the car hire companies
To find out which is the cheapest and best national car hire company in the UK, we trawled the internet to get prices from nine national players: Alamo, Avis, Budget, Enterprise, Europcar, Green Motion, Hertz, Sixt and Thrifty. We searched for the cheapest car they had available at two locations: Heathrow Airport in London and Cardiff Airport in Barry, South Wales, and noted down the cost of hiring it for a week.
In order to get the best deals, our booking was for four weeks after the date of obtaining prices. We did this because prices tend to creep up if you book just before your holiday date.
Most offered small hatchbacks, such as the Fiat 500 or Toyota Aygo with petrol engines and manual gearboxes, rather than an automatic; cars also came with air con.
All the companies offered a discount for payment in advance, but most charged a fee for cancellation close to the booking date, so we’ve taken this into account when choosing the best provider.
We also noted down the cost of each provider’s excess insurance cover, although we’d always recommend buying this separately as it’s often far cheaper (see FAQs for more information on this).
There are two extras we did take into account: the cost of adding a second driver and the fee for borrowing a child car seat. These are essential elements for many families who are hiring a car, and in some cases they can more than double the cost.
It is possible to pay over the odds for fuel when you hire a car, and the best way to avoid this is to opt to have the car’s fuel tank full when you collect it, so you'll need to brim it when you return the car. So we checked each company’s policy on fuel to ensure this was an option.
Finally, we also checked to see if each car hire provider offered an affordable electric vehicle, as this is a requirement for a growing number of people, especially if you’ll be driving in Greater London's ULEZ or similar clean air zones, where there may be restrictions on non-electric vehicles. We didn’t take this into account to create our ratings, though.
Read on to find out how much the other car hire companies charged, and the pros and cons.
Prices correct at time of publishing.
Best car hire companies in the UK
1. Hertz
Cheapest car Kia Picanto 5dr or similar
Cost (Heathrow) £189
Cost (Cardiff) £150
Additional driver £126
Child car seat £105
Cost for family (Heathrow) £420
Hertz offered the lowest cost for Cardiff and the second lowest for Heathrow, and if we had signed up for free membership to its Gold Plus scheme we’d have got 10% off these prices. Green Motion offered lower cost hire from Heathrow, but its deal had some big limitations, so we think Hertz deserves its place at the top of our list.
Hertz isn’t the most affordable for a second driver or a child car seat, though, charging £126 for the driver and £105 for the seat for the week. This takes the overall cost for a family up to £420, which is £21 pricier than Thrifty, which is the cheapest with these extras added.
However, Hertz is a convenient option with 368 branches around the UK including ones at both of the airports we’d chosen. It also offers a return full fuel policy and gives a full refund up to 48 hours prior to the start of the rental if you pay up front and need to cancel. This provider is also the cheapest for hiring an electric car, offering a Vauxhall Corsa Electric for £189 for a week.
2. Avis
Cheapest car Fiat 500 petrol or similar
Cost (Heathrow) £211
Cost (Cardiff) £196
Additional driver £98
Child car seat £91
Cost for family (Heathrow) £400
Although Avis’s prices are a little higher than those offered by Hertz, it is possible to get a 10% discount on them by signing up for a free Avis Preferred membership. This takes the Heathrow price down to £199 and the Cardiff cost to £176.
Avis also charges less for a second driver and to hire a child seat, making the overall cost for a family £20 less than Hertz, so it may be a better option if you want these extras.
The cancellation policy is good, allowing you to cancel without a penalty up to 48 hours before you’re due to collect your car, and there’s a clear return full fuel policy. Although it only has 52 branches, Heathrow and Cardiff airports are covered. The only omission we spotted is that it doesn’t have any fully electric models on its books.
3. Budget
Cheapest car Fiat 500 petrol or similar
Cost (Heathrow) £221
Cost (Cardiff) £207
Additional driver £98
Child car seat £91
Cost for family (Heathrow) £410
Despite its name, Budget is not the cheapest option for hiring a car. In fact, in our price comparison only three other companies were more costly on the price of the car alone. Budget is owned by Avis so many of the other costs are the same, though, and that means competitive pricing for adding a second driver and the use of a child seat.
Paying in advance is £33 cheaper than paying when you collect the car, and like Avis, this company won’t charge you a fee if you cancel up to 48 hours before your booking is due to start. With 108 branches around the UK, it should have a convenient collection point for most people. As is the case with Avis, it doesn’t offer any EVs.
4. Thrifty
Cheapest car Ford Fiesta petrol or similar
Cost (Heathrow) £239
Cost (Cardiff) £254
Additional driver £70
Child car seat £90
Cost for family (Heathrow) £399
When you look at the initial rental cost with no extras, Thrifty doesn't look like the most frugal choice. However, if you want the use of a fairly practical hatchback for a family for a week, it’s worth considering because its price for two drivers and with a child seat and unlimited mileage is the cheapest overall. It's also worth noting that the car you’ll get is likely to be a small hatchback rather than a city car like most other companies’ cheapest options.
There are downsides to choosing Thrifty, though. Although it has 88 branches, they’re not necessary at the most convenient locations for travellers; the Heathrow site is at a nearby hotel and the Cardiff branch is in the city centre.
The terms and conditions on the website aren’t clear, either. We found it hard to find a fuel policy and the cancellation terms only state that it’s not free to cancel within 48 hours of the start of the booking, but not how much you’ll have to pay; other companies have these two bits of information in plain English in accessible places on their websites. It currently doesn’t offer EVs.
Cost (Heathrow) £214
Cost (Cardiff) £154
Additional driver (Heathrow) £128, (Cardiff) £108
Child car seat (Heathrow) £122, (Cardiff) £105
Cost for family (Heathrow) £464
This is a well-priced option if you only want to hire a car, especially if you’re looking for cover when there’s a special offer available. We took advantage of a summer special that knocked the Heathrow price down to £182. However, it’s not the best choice if you need to add on extras because this significantly hikes the cost. It’s also worth noting that it’s more expensive to add a driver and a child seat if you’re hiring from Heathrow than Cardiff.
The return full fuel policy is well signposted as is the free cancellation up to 48 hours prior to the booking date. Europcar has more than 100 branches and has one at both of our airport pick-up locations. It also offers electric cars; an MG4 could be yours for £305 for a week without extras.
Europcar is the only company here to offer a delivery and collection service for UK hirers. It costs £25 each way, so £50 in total, and is available from most branches, excluding those at airports.
6. Alamo
Cheapest car Toyota Aygo or similar
Cost (Heathrow) £206
Cost (Cardiff) £200
Additional driver £133
Child car seat £105
Cost for family (Heathrow) £444
While Alamo looks like reasonable value for a single hirer picking the car up from Heathrow, it’s £50 pricier than the cheapest option from Cardiff Airport. It’s the most expensive option if you want to add a second driver, costing an additional £19 a day, and the cost of adding a child car seat is higher than some alternatives.
There are only 44 branches around the UK, but we could collect a car from both Heathrow and Cardiff airports. We couldn’t find its fuel policy, though, and the cancellation fees it charges are far higher than the savings you make from paying in advance, so it’s not worth paying up front if you think you might need to change your plans. There’s only a £20 saving for paying in advance and you’ll pay £39 if you cancel within 48 hours of the collection time and £77 if you cancel 24 hours ahead of it.
7. Enterprise
Cheapest car Toyota Aygo or similar
Cost (Heathrow) £228
Cost (Cardiff) £181
Additional driver £131
Child car seat £105
Cost for family (Heathrow) £464
This company is pricier than most of the others in our comparison both for a single hirer and for a family. It’s £39 more expensive than the cheapest option for the car alone, and the fees for an additional driver and child car seat are also among the highest. On a positive note, it has plenty of branches (420), and its fuel policy states that you can collect and return the car with a full tank.
Enterprise's cancellation policy isn’t as generous as others, only offering a full refund three or more days before the rental is due to start. It does offer EVs; the cheapest from Heathrow is a Nissan Leaf for £455, and you can get a Vauxhall Mokka Electric from Cardiff for £396.
8. Sixt
Cheapest car Peugeot 308 or similar
Cost (Heathrow) £281
Cost (Cardiff) £220
Additional driver £109
Child car seat £81
Cost for family (Heathrow) £471
Although you get a larger can than you would with most of the other companies in our comparison and some additional items are included in the rental fee, it’s hard to see how that justifies the £72 price premium over the cheapest hire company. Sixt also has a mileage restriction of 1050 miles for the hire period; exceed this and you’ll have to pay 44p for every additional mile.
The fees for a second driver and child car seat are reasonable, but the cancellation fees aren’t specified on the website and it’s not stated that you can return the car full of fuel for free. It has 53 branches, including one at Heathrow Airport, but the closest to Cardiff is in Bristol. It does offer EVs from Heathrow; you can book a BMW iX1 for £532.
9. Green Motion
Cheapest car Kia Picanto or similar
Cost (Heathrow) £152
Cost (Cardiff) £208
Additional driver £70
Child car seat £91
Cost for family (Heathrow) £313
The headline prices from Green Motion look very appealing, but once you delve into the T&Cs and potential additional costs they’re not as good as they seem. The £152 Heathrow price is the most basic level of hire, which comes with a £1505 insurance excess liability, a £1505 security deposit and a mileage limit of 700 miles. To lower the excess and security deposit to £400 you need to upgrade to the next level of cover and pay £265, or you can up your payment to £288 to reduce the excess liability and security deposit to £200, and to gain unlimited mileage. However, this makes the payment for the week the highest of all the companies in our comparison.
The fees for adding a second driver and child car seat are reasonable, but it has the fewest locations (41) of any of the companies we’ve looked at. Unless you’re happy with the large security deposit and limited mileage, this is one company we’d steer clear of.
About the report author
Claire Evans has been a motoring journalist for more than 30 years, working on consumer issues for a great deal of that time. After a stint as the advice columnist for Carweek magazine in the 1990s, she also spent six years working on motoring content for Which?. It is here she oversaw the running of the charity's annual used car reliability survey.
Claire launched the What Car? Reliability Survey in 2017, and since then has helped thousands of buyers choose the most reliable new cars and SUVs, as well as the most dependable used cars.
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