Budget Car Rental

Christopher Kuhlers a month ago

DO NOT USE. Their vehicle left us stranded on the side of the interstate for almost 4 hours as we tried to get the offshore call center lady to understand that the car went into limp mode on the side of rural road. Then they had the audacity to try to charge us for damages and not bringing back the TOWED car with a full tank of gas. Full Story: They gave us a Chrysler Voyager with beat up panels and leaking tires, so we just bought an air pump and filled it up each day. On the final day before our 8am flight, the car threw a flashing check engine light, gave transmission faults, and went into limp mode on the interstate. It took over an hour to get the Indian call center lady to understand that we couldn't get a Uber or Lyft to us because of our location, all while telling us that the car is our responsibility if we try to leave it and figure the situation out by ourselves. It ultimately took 3.5 hours to get a tow truck to our location and a total of 10 hours to get us back to where we started. Budget offered no reconciliation or apologies for stranding us with their unmaintained vehicle. A week later, we received a message that they were going to charge for damages on the vehicle that we didn't do and charge for not returning the towed vehicle with a full tank of gas! Funny enough, we (family of 6) had filled up the tank prior but burned through a couple of gallons of gas letting the car idle as we were stranded. Budget and Avis is a total scam company. I would not recommend and will never use this company again.

Don Miceli 4 months ago

I’ve been a loyal Budget Rental Car fan for over 20+ years but times have changed seemingly since COVID. Here’s a quick summary of my last five rentals from Budget mostly in CO, and in AZ. Twice now in CO, I had to have my first car towed because the car kept shifting on its own out of gear. It’s a hard thing to be on vacation away from the airport and get a replacement car. Budget finally swapped the car after many phone calls to Customer No Service who puts you on extended call hoping you will hang up. My second car in CO was a complete screwup despite FastBreak service. When we pulled out, we were told we had the wrong car despite it being assigned to our FB parking spot. They gave us a new car but completely dirty both inside and out. Due to frustration I took it and found it had a bad wheel shimmy at 80mph. This last rental at Phoenix was a combination of the previous two. They gave me a FB rental in my spot but when I got to the gate they told me to take it back it was the wrong car again. We got a replacement car that had no heat but didn’t find this out until we travels from Sottsdale AZ to Sedona. We didn’t need heat until Sedona. We called Customer No Service again who put us in hold for over 30 mins. When the agent got on she pretended like she couldn’t hear, so I told her to get the stuff out of her ears and listen. She pouted and said we could take the car one hour plus north to Prescott for a swap. We told her that was unacceptable as we were on vacation. They refused to bring a new car so we drove an unsafe car who had issues keeping the windows defogged. Yes I accepted the risk, but we were on vacation 2+ hours from the Airport. We rented the car through Costco and called their Customer Service for an assist. They were helpful but could not resolve our issue. Budget finally offered us a $50 off coupon for our next rental. Like that will happen? Budget knows how to take reservations, they just can’t provide clean nor reliable cars. We will no longer rent from Budget nor Avis. We will probably switch to Hertz to go with our Delta Skymiles. Bottom line is you get a budget vehicle when you rent from Budget. Dirty, unreliable cars backed by Customer No Service. The first photo is of the windshield after letting the car heat up for 15 mins. The second photo was two small holes in the ice that got us to a gas start where I defrosted the windshield. Oh yeah, no ice scrapper either.

Terry Johnson 5 months ago

I don't often provide reviews, but my experience Saturday afternoon and well into the night warrant giving fellow travelers a heads up. Arrived at the Budget Phoenix sky harbor location about 4:30 PM. Was greeted by an incredibly long line. I'd estimate about 100 travelers deep. Made reservations for a vehicle about three months in advance. Waited in line for about four hours. This put my handicapped wife in a very difficult position. The poor counter help was doing their best, but they just didn't have enough help. When I finally got to the counter, there was only one Budget employee left. Terrible experience! I feel sorry for the Budget employees and my fellow travelers. Never again.

Matt L 2 months ago

Subject: Formal Complaint: Incompetence and Failure at Phoenix Sky Harbor Location This is the third time I have attempted to rent from your Phoenix Sky Harbor location, and for the third time, the experience was a complete disaster. Let me be perfectly clear: your operation here is a joke, and I have absolutely zero intention of ever returning. Last night was the final straw. I was forced to wait over 40 minutes just to reach the counter. Watching 6–8 agents stand there while a line of 30 people stretched out the door was a masterclass in pure, unadulterated incompetence. It is glaringly obvious that your location is riddled with waste and completely incapable of handling basic process management. To make matters worse, your practice of "overselling" vehicles is fraudulent. I book my reservations months in advance specifically to secure a certain vehicle, yet every single time, you fail to deliver. Being forced into a 12-passenger van because you cannot manage a simple fleet is not a solution—it is an insult to your paying customers. The way your customer service agents handled today’s situation was unprofessional and dismissive. I am done wasting my time and money on a company that clearly has no respect for its clients. Consider this my final interaction with Budget, and I will be advising everyone I know to steer clear of your pathetic Phoenix Sky Harbor location.

Nahshon Graumann 3 months ago

Unfortunately one of the longest check-in processes I have ever experienced in rental car pickups was at the Sky Harbor Budget rentals on 4/2/26. Long lines. 3 attendants. Average time with each customer 10-12 minutes. 14 groups of customers ahead of me. Another 4 groups behind me. You can do the math. Other customers noticeably agitated. I felt sorry for the agents. I’m sure they were trying their best. It was not an enjoyable experience.