Difference between Hertz and Enterprise
If you are looking to rent a car anywhere in the country, Hertz and Enterprise are probably the two top contenders in your list of options. After all, few car rental companies can beat out these two in terms of sheer name-recall value alone. And as far as service, selection and cost-effectiveness are concerned, these two have achieved the most favorable reviews. However, there are a number of advantages and disadvantages between the two that may affect your decision to go with either one, and here we detail some of the most important ones.
Service
One of the best things about dealing with Hertz is that the service is remarkably fast. In most cases, the exact model that you want is available within only a few minutes and they often come with nice amenities like a multi-disk CD changer. It is small touches like these that make Hertz better suited for families and long drives.
Enterprise on the other hand can take a quite a bit of time between placing your order and actually having the car made available to you. Granted this is sometimes because the Enterprise takes the time to make sure that the car gets to you in spic-and-span condition, but there are instances wherein getting your car as soon as possible is more important than putting up with a few smudges here and there.
In addition, many of the Enterprise outlets that we visited seem to be perpetually understaffed, further adding to the delay.
Price
One car that we rented from Hertz lacked the basic utilities such as windshield wiper fluid. While this can be, and was in fact an annoying omission, we were placated somewhat by the $25 markdown off the usual price. In our case, the car cost about $160 for a rental of period of eight days.
Enterprise offers similarly affordable rates, with a typical rental car costing about $187 for an entire week. Making the deal even better was the unlimited mileage offer, which covers any destination.
Cleanliness
Here is where Hertz drops the ball a bit. Many of the cars that we rented, while not being exactly filthy, wasn't exactly "fresh" smelling either, if you know what we mean. Nevertheless, it wasn't anything too offensive, and we generally just left it alone.
Enterprise for its part obviously makes sure that each and every car that rolls of the lot is in immaculate condition, and we certainly appreciated the extra effort that the staff put into it. In fact, renting a car from Enterprise is almost like renting a brand new car for a fraction of the price.
Summary
Hertz
- Speedy service
- Some amenities included in the cars
- Good price
- Sometimes lacking basic utilities
- Cleanliness could use a bit of improvement
- Good selection of cars
Enterprise
- Cars are in pristine condition
- Service can take a long time in some branches
- Decent selection of new and older model cars
- Very affordable price
