Car hire broker comparison 2024

Using a broker means you're not booking directly with the company that will give you a car when you arrive at your destination. You'll usually get a better price, and with a good broker, extra protection. But choosing a bad broker could make it very difficult to get a resolution if something goes wrong.

A good broker can save you money, negotiating bulk rates with suppliers. But crucially, given the unscrupulous practices prevalent in the car hire industry, a good broker will also act as a buffer between customer and car hire supplier. It provides assistance if things go wrong, investigating issues and potentially resolving them more quickly than a provider would.

It can also ask car hire suppliers to review cases where it doesn't think the customer has been treated fairly.

To help you choose, we have rated six of the most-used car hire brokers, on criteria such as the clarity of the price, ease of booking and how satisfied customers were with the car hire company that actually provided the car.

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Car hire brokers rated

Only one company met our criteria to be awarded Which? Recommended Provider status.

Why Zest Car Rental is the best car hire broker

Hiring with Zest buys you the peace of mind that you’ve got someone on your side if anything goes wrong. It’s exactly how car hire brokers should behave and it sets an example to other firms:

• It goes above and beyond for its customers, receiving five stars for its customer service
• It only works with car hire providers who will treat their customers fairly and it has an ongoing monitoring programme to ensure that standards don't slip
• It's the only broker with a five-star rating for the clarity of the final hire cost
• Excess reimbursement insurance is included as standard, as well as a free second driver at some locations  
• Cancellation is free (up to 48 hours before collection) and easy to do online, and free amendments can be made at any time. 

Read our full Zest Car Rental review.

How we research car hire brokers

In January 2023 we asked 2,657 members of Which? Connect and the general public to complete an online survey about their experience of using a car hire company in the past two years.

Only those car hire companies that were top of the table and met our consumer-focused criteria are eligible for Which? Recommended Provider status.