VATBox Stats of the Week – Top 10 European Car Rental Agencies

Selecting a car rental agency can be tricky, with many different options to choose from. We ranked the top 10 car rental agencies across Europe based on our VAT reclaim data. We took a deeper dive into the agencies, comparing prices, daily rates, popular models and vehicle classes preferred by the business travelers. All-in, there is a lot more to car rental than meets the eye. 

Additional information provided:

1. VAT Recovery reclaim % from car rental in Europe,
2. The price per day for the rental of a BMW 3-series Touring (or similar),
3. Cheaper daily rates at different agencies,
4. The lowest daily rental rate per day, and the type of car you can rent for this rate
5. Consumer satisfaction ranking according rentalcar.com
6. Prices quoted are taken directly from the agencies, correct at the time of the post.

Some highlights

• Spain has the cheapest car rental in Europe, a Fiat 500 can be rented for €37 per day.
• Finland’s Europcar has the highest customer satisfaction ranking of 8.8.
• You can rent a BMW in Germany for €100.76 per day.

#10 Czech Republic

VAT Reclaim: 1%
Car Rental ppd – €195,94
Cheaper at Sixt for €176,16 ppd.
Cheapest car rental in Czech Republic: Skoda Citygo for €13,17 ppd via Thrifty.
Rating: 8.3 Very Good

#9 Finland

VAT Reclaim: 1%
Car Rental ppd – €221,96.
Cheaper at Europcar for €204,13, just not through their official website.
Cheapest car rental in Finland: Seat Ibiza for €71,37 ppd via addCarRental
Rating: 8.8 Excellent

#8 Sweden                

VAT Reclaim: 2%
Car Rental ppd – €160,74
Cheaper at Avis for €142,16 ppd.
Cheapest car rental in Sweden: Ford Ka for €62,88 ppd via Thrifty
Rating: 8.6 Very Good

#7 The Netherlands

VAT Reclaim: 3%
Car Rental ppd – €160,18.
Cheapest rental for this car is at Sixt
Cheapest car rental in The Netherlands: Kia Picanto for €57,85 ppd via Alamo
Rating: 8.5 Very Good

#6 Luxembourg

VAT Reclaim: 4%
Car Rental ppd – €133,23.
Cheapest rental for this car is at Sixt.
Cheapest car rental in Luxembourg: Renault Twingo for €58,50 ppd via Alamo
Rating: 8.5 Very Good

#5 Spain

VAT Reclaim: 4%
Car Rental ppd – €111,27.
Cheapest rental for this car is at Avis
Cheapest car rental in Spain: Fiat 500 for €11,53 ppd via Autoclick
Rating: 8.2 Good

#4 Italy

VAT Reclaim: 7%
Car Rental ppd – €161,-
Cheaper at Budget for €118,88 ppd.
Cheapest car rental in Italy: Fiat 500 for €21,66 ppd via InterRent
Rating: 7.8 Good

#3 United Kingdom

VAT Reclaim: 18%
Car Rental ppd – €219,-
Cheapest rental for this car is at Avis
Cheapest car rental in the UK: Toyota Aygo for €23,73 ppd via Alamo
Rating: 8.6 Very good

#2 Denmark

VAT Reclaim: 31%
Car Rental ppd – €292,-
Cheaper at Sixt for €127,38 ppd.
Cheapest car rental in Denmark: Volkswagen Up for €64,48 ppd via Europcar
Rating: 8.7 Very good

#1 Germany

VAT Reclaim: 31%
Car Rental ppd – €112,20
Cheaper at CarO Car Rental for €100.76 ppd.
Cheapest car rental in Germany: Skoda Citigo for €44,84 ppd via GLOBAL RentaCar.
Rating: 8.1 Good

Disclaimer: Material based on VAT invoices processed and recovered via VATBox, a cloud-based automated VAT recovery platform that streamlines the VAT recovery process through intelligent knowledge-based automation. Blog post contains information from third parties, which reflect their projections as of the date of issuance. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed in this blog post. We undertake no obligation to update these posts, which speak only as of the date hereof.