FranchiseVerdict
Budget Rent A Car logo
FV-00410·CAUTIONExcellent86

Budget Rent A Car

Automotive - Repair & ServiceFranchising since 2003Website
Investment
$606K – $1.6M
90th pct Repair & Serv…
Avg revenue
54th pct Repair & Serv…
Royalty
7.5%
53rd pct Repair & Serv…
Units
1,374
94th pct Repair & Serv…
SBA default
0.0%
vs <3% typical

Bottom line

  • Total investment $606K – $1.6M including a $30K franchise fee, 7.5% ongoing royalty.
  • No Item 19 financial performance data disclosed — the franchisor chose not to publish revenue figures.
  • Rated CAUTION with a risk score of 72/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 6 loans (below the industry average).
  • 15 litigation matters disclosed in Item 3 — higher than typical. Review the summary for patterns (franchisor-initiated vs. franchisee-initiated).

Item 1 · who you're contracting with

The Franchisor

Legal entity
Budget Rent A Car System, Inc.
Parent company
Avis Budget Group, Inc.
Incorporated in
Delaware
HQ
379 Interpace Parkway, Parsippany, New Jersey 07054
Auditor
Deloitte & Touche LLP
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$12.0B
vs $12.0B prior year

Yale framework · single-unit ROIC

Returns Analysis

Pulls Item 7 (investment) and Item 19 (revenue) from this brand's FDD into the Yale unlevered-ROIC formula. Override any input to stress-test it against your own assumptions.

The model · Yale framework

What would one Budget Rent A Car unit return on the cash you put in?

Revenue · per unit, per year
$
Item 19 not disclosed — typing your own estimate
Franchisor take · royalty + ad fund
Royaltytyp 68%
%
Ad fundtyp 35%
%
Operating costs · category default: automotive
COGS
%
Labor
%
Rent / occupancy
%
Other operating
%
Total invested capital · what you actually put in
Initial investment
$
FDD Item 7: $606K–$1.6M
Working capital
$
FDD reports $55K–$72K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

11%

Below typical band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$131K
EBITDA margin
17.5%
Total invested
$1.2M
Payback
105 mo
Unit-level only. A multi-unit portfolio gives up roughly 5–15% of this to shared services (corporate G&A) before reaching the ~10-unit break-even Yale describes.

Overview

About

Budget franchisees operate car rental locations serving leisure and business travelers. Day-to-day responsibilities include vehicle fleet management, customer check-in/check-out, damage assessment, invoicing, fuel upselling, and coordination with the corporate reservation system. Franchisees must manage local marketing, staffing, facility maintenance, and compliance with corporate operating standards across a protected territory.

CEO
Joseph A. Ferraro
Founded
2002
FDD year
2024
States available
31

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$606K – $1.6M
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$55K – $72K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$30K
Royalty
7.5%
Gross Revenue · typical 6–8%
Ad fund
0.0%
typical 3–5%
Total fee load
49.5%
vs 9–13% typical

Item 19

Financial Performance

This franchisor did not disclose financial performance representations in Item 19, or our extractor could not parse them.

Item 20 · unit dynamics

The Growth Chart

Total units
1,374
Opened
7
Last reporting year
Closed
15
Turnover rate
1.1%
Company-owned
1,197
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
13%
vs corporate-owned
Net growth (yr3)
-6.8%
Net unit change last year
3-yr CAGR
-7.8%
Compounded over last 3 years
2022
177-13
Franchised units
2023
190
Franchised units
2024
192
Franchised units

Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.

Item 20 · 20 states with active franchisees

The Territory Map

Derived from franchisee contact records. Shows states with at least one current operator — not where the franchisor is registered to sell new units (that data is re-extracting in a future refresh).

AK
ME
VT
NH
MA
RI
CT
NY
NJ
PA
DE
MD
DC
WA
OR
CA
NV
ID
MT
WY
UT
CO
AZ
NM
ND
SD
NE
KS
OK
TX
MN
IA
MO
AR
LA
WI
IL
MS
TN
MI
IN
KY
AL
OH
WV
GA
VA
NC
SC
FL
HI
Registered · 20 states
Not registered

States derived from franchisee phone area codes (Item 20). Approximate — ported numbers may show the original state, not the franchisee's current location.

Government records

SBA Loan Data

Aggregated from SBA 7(a) loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.

Total loans
6
Loan volume
Avg loan
Default rate
0.0%
vs <3% typical · system-wide
5-yr default

FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17

Risk & Legal

72
Risk · 0-100
CAUTION72 / 100

Budget Rent A Car presents high risk due to a contracting franchise system, multiple active litigation exposures including consumer fraud class actions, FTC regulatory violations, and complete absence of financial disclosure—making ROI validation impossible before substantial capital commitment.

Score breakdown · what drove the 72 / 100 rating

  1. 01MINORDeclining unit count (-6.8% YoY) signals system contraction and reduced franchisee support infrastructure
  2. 02HIGHMultiple pending class actions for consumer fraud and deceptive practices indicate systemic operational or marketing issues
  3. 03MINORTwo FTC consent orders on fuel charges and damage disclosure suggest repeated regulatory violations and compliance failures
  4. 04MINORNo Item 19 financial performance disclosure prevents validation of claimed profitability and revenue potential
  5. 05MINORHigh initial investment ($605K-$1.57M) combined with 7.5% royalty creates significant fixed cost burden with unproven returns
  6. 06HIGHLabor law litigation and contractor misclassification claims suggest HR/compliance risk for franchisees
  7. 07MINORShrinking system with declining units reduces brand value, reservation volume, and corporate support resources

Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification

FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal

Contract & Territory Detail

Territory
Geographical Area
Protected territory
Yes
Initial term
10 years
Renewal term
5 years
Online sales rights
Granted
Franchisor can compete
Yes
Hire a manager?
Allowed
Litigation count
15
Right of first refusal
Yes
Franchisor can buy back on resale
Mandatory arbitration
No
Jury trial waiver
Yes
Non-compete
1 yrs
Post-termination restriction
Owner-operator
Optional
Governing law
New Jersey

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
73 hrs
On-the-job training
0 hrs
POS system
Wizard
Operating tech stack

Item 20

Franchisee Contacts

Phone numbers extracted directly from this brand's FDD Item 20. After purchase, you'll also receive a list of validation questions tailored to this brand.

Franchisee contacts

90 numbers

Locked
(913) 696-••••
KS
(319) 294-••••
IA
(678) 996-••••
GA

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

Budget Rent A Car · FDD (2024) PDF

Single-page checkout · instant download · CSV export of contacts available separately above