FranchiseVerdict
Dollar Rent A Car logo
FV-00774·CAUTIONExcellent81

Dollar Rent A Car

Automotive - Repair & ServiceFranchising since 2003Website
Investment
$879K – $16.2M
94th pct Repair & Serv…
Avg revenue
54th pct Repair & Serv…
Royalty
6.0%
17th pct Repair & Serv…
Units
262
77th pct Repair & Serv…
SBA default
0.0%
vs <3% typical

Bottom line

  • Total investment $879K – $16.2M including a $25K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
  • No Item 19 financial performance data disclosed — the franchisor chose not to publish revenue figures.
  • Rated CAUTION with a risk score of 75/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 6 loans (below the industry average).
  • 31 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
Dollar Rent A Car, Inc.
Parent company
The Hertz Corporation
Incorporated in
Oklahoma
HQ
8501 Williams Road, Estero, Florida 33928
Auditor
Ernst & Young LLP
Audited financials
Franchisor revenue
$9.0B
vs $8.5B 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 Dollar 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: $879K–$16.2M
Working capital
$
FDD reports $20K–$50K

Unlevered ROIC · per unit

2%

Below typical band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$143K
EBITDA margin
19.0%
Total invested
$8.6M
Payback
724 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

Franchisees operate car rental locations providing short-term vehicle leases to consumers, managing fleet maintenance, customer service, reservations, and damage/insurance processing. Daily operations include vehicle inspections, customer check-in/check-out, cleaning coordination, pricing management, and compliance with rental regulations and fee structures.

CEO
Gil West
Founded
2002
FDD year
2026
States available
30

Item 7 · what it costs

The Vitals

Total investment
$879K – $16.2M
All-in to open one unit
Liquid capital
$20K – $50K
Cash you must have on hand
Franchise fee
$25K
Royalty
6.0%
percentage of gross receipts · typical 6–8%
Ad fund
0.0%
typical 3–5%
Total fee load
6.0%
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
262
Opened
0
Last reporting year
Closed
2
Turnover rate
0.8%
Company-owned
196
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
25%
vs corporate-owned
Net growth (yr3)
-2.9%
Net unit change last year
3-yr CAGR
+3.1%
Compounded over last 3 years
2024
66+13
Franchised units
2025
68
Franchised units
2026
64
Franchised units

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

Item 20 · 29 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 · 29 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

75
Risk · 0-100
CAUTION75 / 100

Dollar Rent A Car presents HIGH RISK due to parent company going concern status, declining unit count, undisclosed financials, active litigation portfolio, and unprotected territory — this is a contracting system with significant legal and financial red flags.

Score breakdown · what drove the 75 / 100 rating

  1. 01HIGHGoing concern status is FALSE — parent company facing financial viability questions and note repayment litigation
  2. 02MINORUnit count declining 2.9% YoY (262 units) — shrinking franchise system indicates market contraction or franchisee exits
  3. 03MEDNo disclosed average revenue or net income (Item 19) — impossible to validate ROI or profitability claims
  4. 04HIGHMultiple ongoing litigation matters including international trademark disputes, franchisee terminations, and consumer fraud settlements suggesting operational and legal instability
  5. 05MINORLarge settlement history involving false arrests and consumer protection violations — reputational and operational risk exposure
  6. 06MINORUnprotected territory with 5-year term — franchisees face direct competition from other Dollar locations and no guaranteed market exclusivity
  7. 07MINORRoyalty rate 6-8% of gross receipts is high-end for car rental with no transparency on break-even thresholds
  8. 08MINORWide investment range ($879K–$16.2M) suggests inconsistent unit economics or disclosure clarity

Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification

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

Contract & Territory Detail

Territory
geographic
Protected territory
No
Initial term
5 years
Renewal term
5 years
Online sales rights
Restricted
Franchisor can compete
Yes
Hire a manager?
Allowed
Litigation count
31
Right of first refusal
Yes
Franchisor can buy back on resale
Mandatory arbitration
Yes
Jury trial waiver
Yes
Non-compete
1 yrs
Post-termination restriction
Owner-operator
Optional
Governing law
Florida

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
66 hrs
On-the-job training
8 hrs
POS system
Approved Counter System
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

51 numbers

Locked
(614) 239-••••
OH
(517) 373-••••
MI
(620) 276-••••
KS

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

Dollar Rent A Car · FDD (2026) PDF

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