Budget Car Rental

Most Recent Comments

• November 2023 by Gwen Staples
  Budget in NY/NJ makes up their own rules for adding your additional driver through your Costco rental. Budget requires them to put their own credit card on the contract-I called Costco and they never heard of this, neither had the Costco/Budget liaison.The car we picked up in New Jersey was filthy!Returning the car was total guesswork/ no attendants available to direct us, just a few overhead signs stating to leave the keys in the car.
• November 2023 by Angela Eck
  The vehicle I got was clean and had a full tank of gas. Everything worked as it should. However, the Budget Car Rental location at the Newark airport is not what I would call easy to find and access, and their rental office is in a trailer as opposed to being in the airport building itself. Picking up the car once I found the rental office was okay, but returning the car was confusing, as there is not clear signage or instructions about where to go when you arrive for the return. I drove around the parking lot slowly in confusion for at least a full 5 minutes before an employee flagged me down and showed me where to go. After that, the process was quick and simple. However, the signage and return instructions definitely need to be clearer.
• November 2023 by Peter Gregory
  Excellent vehicle upgrade in Newark to a Chrysler Pacifica mini van. Drove it all the way to St Louis via Chicago down route 66. Very pleased with the service, the quality of the car, the cleanliness, short wait time at Newark, extremely quick drop off at St Louis airport. Have already hired another car from Budget.
• November 2023 by Robert Lee
  The people were great and helpful, but the car should not have left the lot in this condition, especially the wiper blades that were in such bad shape the basically didn't work.
• November 2023 by Muller A.
  Words cannot adequately express my disappointment with Budget car rental. From start to finish, my rental experience was nothing short of a nightmare.Firstly, upon picking up the vehicle, I was shocked to discover that my car had been upgraded without my permission, resulting in a staggering increase in the total cost. This unscrupulous tactic of sneaking in unauthorized upgrades is not only dishonest but also demonstrates a complete disregard for customer consent and transparency.To make matters worse, upon returning the car, I was confronted with an inaccurate and exorbitant receipt totaling a jaw-dropping $1,960.21 instead of the agreed-upon $484.24. Despite presenting my clearly outlined itinerary, I was subjected to a lengthy and frustrating argument at the office, which only ended with a slightly reduced charge of $682.74. This level of incompetence and disregard for accuracy is simply unacceptable.But the nightmare didn't end there. In the midst of my ongoing dispute over the inflated charges, I momentarily forgot about my camera that I had left inside the car's center console. When I approached the rental office to inquire about retrieving it, I was met with not only indifference but also a complete lack of cooperation. They brushed off my concerns, claiming that the car had already been transferred to AVIS car rental, absolving themselves of any responsibility for lost items. To add insult to injury, I was denied access to the office, preventing me from further pursuing the matter and retrieving my valuable camera.This entire experience has left me utterly disillusioned and frustrated with Budget car rental. Their deceptive upgrade tactics, inaccurate pricing, and utter disregard for customer satisfaction and lost belongings are clear indicators of their lack of professionalism, integrity, and basic customer care.I strongly urge potential customers to steer clear of Budget car rental if you value honesty, transparency, and quality customer service. It is disheartening to witness such subpar treatment and lack of accountability from a company that claims to prioritize customer satisfaction.
• October 2023 by David D.
  Had 2 problems with this rental but still giving 4 stars because Budget cured them. Here is what to look out for:We arrived at Newark Airport United and took the free AirTram Train right to the Budget. Takes about 10 to 15 minutes. AVIS is next door to Budget. No rental cars at the terminals in Newark.I had a reservation for a Jeep Wrangler Unlimited and I saw it parked in space number 1 with my name on it. This Jeep was a Rubicon--even better! Only had 5000+ miles on it --still smelled new I looked inside. I got on the long 10 person line inside.By the time I got to the counter for my Jeep--they gave it away to another customer before me on line who reserved an SUV because they ran out of SUV's!A very unhappy David let the clerk know that he was very unhappy about this. She told me they have no more Jeeps that was the last one! They got a supervisor on the line and in 15 minutes I was told to walk next door to AVIS and they will have a Jeep washed and ready over there for me under the Budget contract same price. It was not a Rubicon, but it was also new with 6K miles and had leather seats which I preferred. It was a beautiful jeep plug in. (Was never able to find anywhere to charge it so just used the gas.)I drove it about 600 miles over 5 days and it was a ton of fun. But after I realized that while I was thinking about buying one--it was not a great vehicle to have as a daily driver--way too bumpy a ride. It was a lot of fun through and made the trip exciting.A week later I get a toll bill from using the EZ Pass Transponder on the Jeep. They charged my credit card $133 for tolls! Impossible! I did use it on 2 days for tolls to drive into Manhattan and to Long Island. The tolls on those days were correct. But they added almost $70 in tolls for a day I was at my sister's house all day with the Jeep which did not involve driving through tolls! What happened? They charged me for going back and forth over the Verrazano Bridge 3x on the the same day and times I was at my sister and charged me for another Bridge I never heard of or went over.I appealed these toll charges to Budget and 2 weeks later Budget wrote back that there was a "system error" and they refunded the entire $133 which included the tolls I did incur.Make sure to check your toll bill carefully!In sum, if you don't mind fighting a little and dealing with some S, Budget at Newark is not a bad place to rent a car.
• September 2023 by Trace Fulton
  The shuttle from the terminal building to the rental pod was quick and easy. My reservation was ready and exactly what I requested. Plus, I did not have to put my credit card information out to make the reservation. When I arrived for drop off they checked me in as soon as I pulled up by hand held device and in minutes I was aging taken to the terminal building quickly and easily. It was my best rental experience at any airport, or anywhere else for that matter.
• September 2023 by Anand Asher
  EWR Location1. Checkout was horrible. Waited for about 1.5 hours to get the car. There were about 6 counters and only 2 agents. At a time there were around 20-25 people on the line waiting for a car.2. I booked a full size hybrid, got a mid size car. No discount, no upgrade, no apology, just a downgraded car. Even the android auto was not working in the car, it was spotty and disconnecting.I had to call customer service and explain and argue with them, that they gave a discount of $55.3. Hidden charges: I booked for $238. When I walked out it showed about $400. Not adding the one-way fees.4. One-way fees: I dropped off at Boston, because of the cancellations in New York during the weekend. I was charged $248.5. Usually it's only around 50-100, this just feels like exploiting and stealing.5. I asked for the toll only if I need, but they billed me with Unlimited Toll which ended up as $89.26 for 3 days.6. Agent did not add the co-driver even after repeatedly asking. The behavior was very rude.Very very unpleasant experience.
• September 2023 by Lori Enzor
  Newark Airport Budget location is the most poorly run auto rental company we have ever used. We used them in 8/2021 and gave lots of grace due to Covid era hardships but 8/2023 was no different. The staff was SLOW, there was no manager present in the building to help with problems. We arrived at Newark at 12 noon on a Thursday. We waited for over 2 hrs to get a car. There were probably 15 people in front of us and there was only 1 staff member helping for most of the time....occasionally a second person. We had prepaid for a car, had signed in online and updated insurance and drivers licenses. Staff was rude and SLOW. Budget may operate better at other locations but we will NEVER use them again because of our 2 horrible experiences in Newark. POORLY Operated and Managed!!!
• September 2023 by Mohammad Asif
  UPDATE FROM 10 MINS LATER: THE ONE EMPLOYEE HELPING THE ONE CUSTOMER ALSO LEFT AS SOON AS HE FINISHED. WE ARE STANDING IN LINE WITH NO ONE MANNING THE COUNTERS.Absolute horrendous experience. This is an airport, not a side street location. So many people waiting in line for one super slow employee to handle everyone. There was another one but he promptly left after he served 1 whole customer. We have been waiting in line for an hour and literally 3 customers have went through. Do anything besides renting from here. 100% do not recommend.
• August 2023 by Dylan S.
  Terrible. Flight arrived and we made our way to Budget rentals at the P3 airtran stop and encountered one worker and 23 people in line. Waited 90 minutes to pick up my rental. Their precheck software does not work, stating that the "rate code" was incorrect, even though it was not an input.
• August 2023 by William Dickson
  IF YOU ARE RENTING A CAR FROM BUDGET AT NEWARK AIRPORT, RENT ELSWHERE!!!2 hour long line at the counter. One poor agent manning the counter for most of my time here. Another agent came out and helped 2 customers, before getting in a verbal altercation with a customer and leaving.As you can see from my photos, the other rental agencies at EWR are well staffed, and have little or no line.This is not an acceptable level of customer service.
• August 2023 by David S.
  I don't think I had ever rented a car from Budget before, but it's my new employer's preferred rental car company, so I gave them a shot. I don't think I will give them another. At the very least, I won't rent from Budget at EWR again. I made a reservation weeks ahead of time and chose to pay at the counter. The amount the Budget employee wanted to charge me was higher than what I was quoted, so we spent a while going back and forth trying to convince each other we were right. On top of that, I work for a non-profit organization, so I showed our 501c3 certificate from the IRS so that taxes would be removed from the estimate. The person helping me had not encountered this before and didn't know what to do with it. Her supervisor was not any help, either; he told me to call the Budget reservations line. Trying to not spend all evening there, I told him I would do that later. Then the fun really began. I was given the keys and I went out to the lot where I was supposed to pick up the car. The one I had been assigned did not look super clean -- I'm not sure how long it had been sitting there -- but I didn't see any major concerns when I walked around the outside. The inside was even less clean, but I was tired and hungry by this point, so I documented all of it and decided it was good enough. When I turned on the ignition, however, a light popped up indicating that the car needed an oil change -- see photo. I had to drive hours away to rural Pennsylvania, so I wasn't in the mood to take any chances. I went back to the counter and asked for a different car. I also asked for the pickup time to be adjusted on my printout so that my return time would be a bit later without a penalty. Perhaps not wanting to put in any more effort, she replied that there was a 29-minute grace period without a penalty. I didn't have any more energy to argue, so I went on my way. The new car was even dirtier on the outside -- several birds had used it for target practice -- but at least there were no obvious maintenance/safety issues. I wound up not liking the car, as it was very low to the ground and scraped against the pavement at speed bumps and other changes in the road. I called Budget later that week and spent quite a bit of time on hold before explaining the tax and other discrepancies in the charges. It was not the way I wanted to spend time on my work trip. My final receipt, incredibly, still had taxes included. I wrote back via email and got those removed. As unprofessional as the whole situation felt, Budget at least held my reservation. (Seinfeld, anyone?) I feel like the fact that I drove away with a rental car that fit my needs earned them two stars rather than just one.
• August 2023 by Tony K.
  I am a long time Fastbreak member so always use Budget. In all my travels Newark is the only airport I go to where the Fastbreak is NEVER up and running and you wait in line with everyone else. And the line is long. An hour is not unusual, even if you are Fastbreak. And it's been this way for years, and no effort has been made by Budget to remedy the situation. DON'T USE BUDGET AT NEWARK AIRPORT!!!
• August 2023 by K J.
  for this location and for these reps, it takes 25min to take care of 1client. many clients after being assigned a car, returned back to front desk, due to wrong car being assign or some other issue. older lady had booked a car, but they couldn't find her in the system, gentleman told that. it was his fault. I have been standing in line now for 2hours. the worst experiencw! dont think I will rent in a future with Buchef at Nework.