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Budget car hire review
Guy is an award-winning travel writer with 20+ years' experience. He runs a crack team of researchers, unearthing everything from the best beaches to the worst car hire companies.
What is Budget?
The low-cost arm of big brand Avis, Budget offers rentals at more than 3,350 locations across more than 120 countries.
Which? verdict
There's a lot of room for improvement for Budget. Poor collection speeds, hidden additional charges and hit-and-miss customer service keep the brand towards the bottom of our table.
Visit budget.co.uk.
Budget customer ratings
If you want to see how Budget measures up against its rivals, read our best and worst car hire companies page.
| Car hire company | Which? Recommended Provider? | Overall score |
|---|---|---|
| Budget | No | 65% |
Overall score is a combination of the customer score (overall satisfaction and how likely people are to recommend the company) and our expert analysis. Survey carried out in Feb/March 2026.
What’s Budget like?
Despite its name, Budget’s prices – an average of £56 per day – were not really any cheaper than rivals in our survey
Customers were disappointed with Budget’s collection speed, rating it just two stars. One customer told us they faced ‘a very long wait to collect the car, because they had no vehicles’.
The brand was also rated a poor two stars for its additional charges. Several customers complained about hidden extras such as being ‘double charged for an extra driver’ and being ‘charged for an upgrade we didn’t want’. Worryingly, one respondent said: ‘My £300 deposit is yet to be returned one month later.' Another customer told us that Budget ‘charged an arbitrary amount to our credit card’ and that ‘even though they have agreed this was wrong, they have refused to refund’.
Couple this with the mediocre value and customer service ratings, and our survey presents a picture of a car hire company that offers very mixed experiences.
Should I book with Budget?
No. Customer service is hit and miss, and it’s not even that cheap. For the lowest prices, we'd recommend booking a trusted local provider via Zest Car Rental instead.
Find out how to get cheaper car hire.