FranchiseVerdict
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FV-01187·AVOIDExcellent81

Hertz

Automotive - Repair & ServiceFranchising since 1925Website
Investment
$879K – $16.2M
94th pct Repair & Serv…
Avg revenue
54th pct Repair & Serv…
Royalty
7.0%
43rd pct Repair & Serv…
Units
2,946
98th pct Repair & Serv…
SBA default
0.0%
vs <3% typical

Bottom line

  • Total investment $879K – $16.2M including a $25K franchise fee, 7.0% ongoing royalty.
  • No Item 19 financial performance data disclosed — the franchisor chose not to publish revenue figures.
  • Rated AVOID with a risk score of 85/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 1 loans (below the industry average).
  • 30 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
Hertz System, Inc.
Parent company
The Hertz Corporation
Incorporated in
Delaware
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 Hertz 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

1%

Below typical band (30–60%)

0%30–60% Yale band80%

Store EBITDA · annual
$113K
EBITDA margin
15.0%
Total invested
$8.6M
Payback
917 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 under the Hertz brand, managing vehicle fleet acquisition, maintenance, customer service, and local marketing. Day-to-day activities include processing reservations, conducting vehicle inspections, handling damage claims, managing staff, and competing for corporate and walk-in customers.

CEO
Gil West
Founded
1925
FDD year
2026
States available
37

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
7.0%
Percentage of Gross Receipts · typical 6–8%
Ad fund
n/d
Total fee load
7.0%
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
2,946
Opened
13
Last reporting year
Closed
23
Turnover rate
0.8%
Company-owned
2,556
Corporate units in the system
% franchised
13%
vs corporate-owned
Net growth (yr3)
-2.5%
Net unit change last year
3-yr CAGR
+1.6%
Compounded over last 3 years
2024
390-10
Franchised units
2025
400
Franchised units
2026
384
Franchised units

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

Item 20 · 36 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 · 36 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
1
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

85
Risk · 0-100
AVOID85 / 100

Hertz represents extreme risk: a contracting franchise system with a distressed parent company, pervasive litigation, no territorial protection, undisclosed unit economics, and a going concern status that threatens franchisee viability.

Score breakdown · what drove the 85 / 100 rating

  1. 01HIGHGoing Concern status is False — indicates parent company financial distress or bankruptcy risk
  2. 02MINORUnit count declining 2.5% YoY (2,946 units) — contracting franchise system signals franchisee struggles
  3. 03HIGHExtensive litigation including bankruptcy claims, consumer protection violations, deceptive advertising, and securities cases — reputational and legal exposure
  4. 04MINORNo average revenue or net income disclosure — inability to validate ROI projections or franchisee profitability
  5. 05MINORHigh investment range ($879K–$16.2M) with no protected territory — franchisees compete directly with corporate and other franchisees in same market
  6. 06MINOR7–9% royalty on gross receipts (not net) — extracts fees regardless of profitability
  7. 07MINORShort 5-year term — insufficient time to recoup investment, especially in capital-intensive car rental
  8. 08MINORDeclining brand reputation due to multiple class actions and damage claim disputes — headwind for customer acquisition

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
Granted
Franchisor can compete
Yes
Hire a manager?
Allowed
Litigation count
30
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
Required
Governing law
Florida

Item 11

Training & Operations

Classroom training
61 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

69 numbers

Locked
(435) 723-••••
UT
(804) 786-••••
VA
(662) 327-••••
MS

One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included

FDD download

Hertz · FDD (2026) PDF

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