When choosing a car, I recommend inspecting it carefully and recording a video before you drive away. The first car we looked at had a bald front tire, and it was it was dirty. It almost seems like they have given up on providing a good customer experience, which is disappointing. read more

Waited over two hours to final get to the counter. I had a reservation a month ahead of time. Two ladies working the counter did the best they could. Very under manned. Line going down the walk way. They called for more help and no one came. read more

We flew in today after a 1 hour and 45 min flight and arranged through Costco to get a Budget rental. We arrived in the car rental area and found one employee and over 50 people waiting in line. We waited for a bit and the cancelled Budget and got another rental from Alamo instantly. We asked Alamo about the long line and they said it's alway terrible. We have never flown into Indianapolis before but fly frequently and this was the worst experience we have ever experienced. How is it the other rental car companies have amazing experience and Budget at Indianapolis is the worst ever. We will never use Budget and Indianapolis should do something to make this company treat customers appropriately or remove them from the airport. A terrible experience with Budget at Indianapolis airport at 640pm on a Friday. read more

August 2026 Absolute worse car rental experience in 25 years. I flew from California to take my daughter to college her freshman year. I waited in exceptionally long line for an hour because they didn't have any cars. Then my credit card was denied for what the credit card thought was fraud. Budget said I could not use a debit card which was the only other card I had. I had 4 suitcases and my daughter on crutches. After about 10 minutes going back and forth the gentleman agent next to my agent said he could make an exception so I could use my debit as long as I gave them the flight number of my return flight?!!! After, they sent me to the car pick up area in the garage I waited another hour + to get my car because they were busy. To almost strand a parent who traveled across the country to drop their child at school was unfathomable! The worse experience ever. DO NOT RENT HERE! read more

Omg where do we start? Let's say you will ALWAYS wait for an hour in line. And this is not a budget wide problem just in Indianapolis. My husband looked up his review from last October and it was the same problem. 1person in the desk when they obviously have over a dozen reservations for the time frame. The poor employee is as courteous as he can be...this time tho they take the cake with a dirty car. They didn't even attempt to clean all the bugs off. The "savings" aren't worth the aggravation. Use one of the others. They are all one next to ea other. Before anyone asks... It was the last flight in. We were already delayed. No way we were going to "let them fix it" or "bring up to management"... we did tell the parking lot checkout lady who said we were the third clients to complain. Price 4 stars Service 1 star Location 5 stars Car cleanliness/value for $ 1star They will get a 3 star but really is 2.5 level. read more

Budget - Car full of bugs. This is after my husband cleaned windshield. - Car Rental Near Me - Indianapolis, Indiana

I don't ever write one star reviews but my experience really speaks for itself. What's the point of reserving a car if they don't plan to have it available for you when you arrive? The manager in the garage tried her best to help us and she was very sincere but ultimately didn't make up for the nightmare we went through. I called the day before arrival to confirm my rental. When we arrived, we were told they didn't have the car I reserved (Toyota Sequoia), but had a minivan. We didn't want to wait any more so we took the minivan because we just needed at least a seven seater car. It was a nice van, in great shape. We loaded it up with our luggage and the toddler seat we got from Budget and took off. We didn't even make it out of the airport because as we were driving away, we realized the AC wasn't working. We turned around immediately to exchange the car because it was supposed to be an extremely hot weekend and we couldn't have two young kids in a car that didn't have AC. When we got back, first it was so hard to find anyone to help us. Once I finally chased someone down, we were notified they had no seven seater cars left at all. Their solution was to give us two cars instead? Definitely not ideal but we had no other choice. We then wanted to take the toddler car seat out of the minivan but it was stuck. Again, no one was around to help. I was running around the garage like crazy trying to see if we could find someone to help us. Finally, a guy came and was trying to take the seat out but we had been there so long at this point, I just asked if we could get a new seat put in the car we were given. Turns out they only had ONE extra toddler seat and it was dirty. This whole operation is just such a mess. No help to be found, and no inventory apparently? I will not be renting from Budget again. read more

Yikes that was a long line. See other reviews. Our two-day rental was $40 cheaper at Budget than it would have been at SIXT which had no line (I checked as we waited and was ready to switch), so we waited about a half hour in the line to save that much. It's basically your worst nightmare of a bad rental car checkin situation, although the guy who waited on us was reasonably pleasant until he informed us that after our initial wait and then dealing with him, we would have to go to another checkpoint and wait again to be assigned a specific car. He was not apologetic at all, and humorless. The good news? The car we rented was not available, so we got a nice upgrade at the second checkpoint and a smile, plus quick and easy return dropoff at the end of the rental, avoiding the dreaded one-star review. read more

Customer service was terrible. They refused to work with me because the name on my card was a nickname. I had other ID, they even ran a credit check, but they refused to work with me. Funny they took my deposit even though the name didn't match. Pretty sure I won't get that back. The manager wouldn't even talk to me, just told her worker she wouldn't authorize it. I will NEVER use Budget or Avis again. Worst travel experience ever. read more

Stranded at Indy Airport ... Stranded at Indy Airport for multiple reasons but mainly bc Budget Car Rental said there are no cars left and that even though they took money for the reservation and gave us a confirmation code that I misunderstood and that was NOT a rental. Silly me. They also told me to go to Walmart to buy a car seat bc they can't give me the one I reserved because they cancelled our car reservation and they can't give me the seat without a car. Hmmmm but how do I get to the said Walmart and bring my baby with me? Customer service is dead. My baby is soooo sleepy. Thank God for my dad for getting a car seat and coming to the rescue in the middle of the night for a 2 hour drive, 4 hours round trip! ---- Budget Car Rental company "We simply just don't care!" What you may not know that Avis and budget merged or one bought the other at some point. You may remember that Avis used to be the number two car rental company in the United States. And their motto : "We try harder" Well obviously after the merger Budget Rent-A-Car has changed their motto to "We simply just don't care!" The story of my 70 year-old wife and my three year-old grandchild along with my daughter and son-in-law in the airport at 2 o'clock in the morning the counter person telling my daughter that they didn't have the car that she reserved online. And then went on to explain to her that my daughter must not be very bright, and that reserve doesn't mean rented. No matter what they didn't have any cars. And there was nothing they could do. That's funny to me when they say there's nothing they could do. They have seven other budget lots in Indianapolis. Not only could they not get a car over in time for my children's flight they couldn't go get one when they realized they didn't have one and they rented the reserve car. We simply just don't care. It's as simple as that. It's overtly and obviously the budget Rent-A-Car Moto. My daughter called Budget Rent a car customer service today. Thinking maybe they could do something with the fuel bill. The four hours of inconvenience. The lack of human decency and common courtesy from the staff. And the customer service lady said in essence "We simply just don't care!" I get it. The reason there is very little customer service left is we don't demand it. What Budget/Hertz Rent-A-Car knows is" It doesn't matter how many 'one stars' they have. Doesn't matter that their Facebook page is filled with complaints. They don't even bother to hide them anymore. It doesn't matter if people are inconvenienced, that people are mad at them, because the facts remain. #1. People have short memories. #2. And The Big One For Them Is That They Know When The Top Car Rental Providers seel out of Cars When they are the Only Ones That Have Cars Left No Matter How Mad People Are At Them people will come to them to have a car. THey don't care if their customers don't come back to them!! There's 346 million people in the USA they'll still have a customer. So When if it doesn't matter if your rental car is there when you get there to pick it up then Budget Rent-A-Car is the place for you. To Budget Rent a car if your reserved car is there great! if it's not that's OK too. Because Budget rent a car their motto must be: "We simply just don't care" read more

Budget - A 70 year old grand mas and a 3 years old baby as well as my SIL were stranded at 2 am at the indy air port No car for their prepaid resevat - Car Rental Near Me - Indianapolis, Indiana

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50 people in line.... 2-3 people working. Zero line at Hertz or Enterprise. 40 minute wait.... So far. Avoid the Budget/Avis/Payless counters at all costs. read more

Absolute worse expereince ever! I rented an xl suv almost a month prior to my departure. I needed the space and amount of seats it offered. Waited in line for ridiculous amount of time as they had one person at front desk. When it was finally my turn I was told they had no vehicle for me. They only offered to down grade me vehicles well under my vehicle class. As I went to see if I could manage the seats space it offered the vehicle had multiple dents paint missing and smelled like an ash tray. When I I looked online they had a 15 passenger van on premise that would have worked but cost me more in fuel which I was OK with. Was told my one and only option was they beat up smokey pacifica. I booked a Ford expedition max smh. Needless to say I was stranded at airport for few hours trying to get on my way read more

Fail. There's a reason they have one star. Come down the escalator to a line and didn't have to see the sign to tell myself that I'm screwed. Two reps working a line of about 20 people...doing their best with what they have; courteous. They were the cheaper option but at this expense, I guess. Nobody in line at Hertz, Dollar, Thrifty, Alamo, National, or SixT. According to the email I received they do have a fast pass option, but when you get here, it consists of scanning a QR code to input your drivers license and method of payment to shorten your time at the counter. Thank you, Budget! Fast Break office exists, but it is closed. The skeleton leftover from Halloween sitting on the bench out front exemplifies the customer wait. read more

Budget - Car Rental Near Me - Indianapolis, Indiana

Took 3 hours for us to even get to the counter so we stood on feet for 3 hours then we booked a car and they just brought it back as we got done at the counter then we told them we wanted the electric mustang and paid for that Car but got a electric Honda instead read more

I will never rent from Budget again. I pre-paid for a car at the Indianapolis airport. They ran out of cars and closed the counter early, before I got there. I had to Uber to my hotel and return to the airport the next morning to get my car. I lost a half day of my rental time and a half day of my vacation. They never reimbursed me for the lost time. Horrible company read more

Don't rent here.....or Avis which is the same thing. When I arrived to pick up my reserved rental at 12am, I was told that there were no cars available and that I would need to uber to my sisters house and come back in the morning. I was promised that my uber would be covered. Upon returning my rental, the reciept showed no reimbursement for my uber or the unused time on the reservation. I called customer service and was told that I couldn't be reimbursed for the unused time because it was a prepaid reservation through USAA. I had to escalate to a supervisor, wait on hold for 40 minutes, to ultimate be told that they would reimburse the unused time but they would only reimburse $50 for the uber rides that cost me $90. read more

Waited an hour and talked to a human after picking the "quick-no-human-contact-option" Then a disgruntled employee puts us in a "elite 7 seater suv" which was in fact not elite and additionally had 5 seats. We drove out mildly angered in our TOYOTA 4Runner, far from elite. read more

Everything. I just waited in line for 45 minutes to be told that I was not a preferred member and had to come inside now. I'm waiting in a line that is even longer. Horrible company do not rent a car here. read more

Staff the counter. Line of 40 people. One Staff member is not enough. Just raise your prices and pay folks.

Tareh at the main desk was very helpful and extremely polite. She's definitely carrying the business on her shoulders

Rented a car no problem here almost two months ago. Recently got an email saying there was damage to the car and I was being charged $75. I reached out asking for proof of the damage. They refused saying it's not in their policy to provide proof for damage under $1k. Will never use budget again and disputing with my credit card company. read more

Budget Indy Airport!!!! Good god! 1 agent for line of 100 people. Never using Budget again. I guess Avis the same way!

DO NOT RENT FROM BUDGET -- They Do NOT Honor Reservations Just spent $45 to not rent a car from Budget. Why? Because they decided not to honor my prepaid reservation due to "inventory issues." But they had ALL DAY to call, text, or email me -- and did nothing. I showed up, 4th in line, only to be told there were no cars. The man in front of me? He didn't have a reservation. But he had his kid with him. I overheard "Sam" (Budget employee) tell him no cars were available -- then suddenly Sam "makes it happen" for him. I watched as he was handed keys to a red SUV and walked away smiling. My turn at the counter: I'm told by "Amadou" that my reservation -- made earlier that day -- won't be honored. I asked about the guy before me. Amadou brushes me off, until I insist on speaking to Sam. Sam and Amadou argue for two minutes. Then suddenly the story changes: "Oh, that guy did have a reservation." No. He didn't. I confirmed it myself by speaking with him outside. Sam gave him my car. I missed something important for my own child that day. All while Budget played games and handed my car to someone else -- likely because they thought I wouldn't say anything. I spent $45 on Ubers to and from Budget, just to be stranded. So listen: If you're planning a vacation, Budget might ruin it. If you need a car for a child's major life event, Budget might rob you of that moment. If you need to transport someone to medical treatment, pray they survive your interaction with Budget. And worst of all: you won't realize this is a pattern until it happens to you. This isn't rare -- just read the other reviews. Budget: you've earned this one-star and then some. read more

Flight delayed from DFW due to radio frequencies down. They didn't stay open even after we called and requested they do so. NATIONAL was open. We had to pay for an extra hotel room. When we returned in the morning, we waited 45 minutes only to be told our full size suv class car was not available, even though we had a reservation! My husband sees an suv in the lot, which is what we reserved, but they say it is being held for another reservation!. What?!? What about my reservation, and the fact we are there? NEVER rent here! read more

They are short staffed. Car was not available when we got there. When one was located it was not cleaned or inspected. We were sent out by ourselves it was covered in dirt and salt. The weather was awful. There was no damage that I saw with my naked eye. They then three days later accused me of some damage to the bumper. Absolutely False !!!!!!!! Beware of this company. They are under staffed crooks. read more

Budget was terrible. Don't rent from them. Waited in line for 90 minutes with a reservation in hand. Had two people working with at least 50 people in line. Help came but they weren't much help as they had to keep asking the others how to find things on the computer. Worst rental experience I've ever had. read more

Horrible, incompetent, rude staff!!! Waited in line an hour while staff chatted with customers. Car I reserved wasn't available. Gave me a car with an expired tag. Unapologetic and unprofessional when returning the car. Was promised compensation for one day of the rental and was instead charged for fuel, when I returned the car with a full tank. Nightmare experience and will never give this horrible company another dime! Stop chatting and do your effin job, morons! read more

During our rental period, we were advised to take photos and video of our rental car at the return, because the Indianapolis branch has a habit or policy of charging for damage. So we took photos and video and returned the vehicle with the key and the tank full of gas. True to form, the receipt was delivered with a $60 fee for misc. charges. The email that delivered the receipt made a note that we should always return the key with the car, so I assume that's what the charge was for, though it was not specified. On our receipt, they didn't even have the correct vehicle that we had rented; they showed a black Explorer 4WD, but what we had during our rental was a gray Chrysler minivan. It appears that the former employee was correct, that they always charge you for something, and it's possible that one reason is that their record-keeping is so poor that they charge the client for another person's mistakes ... or just charge anything for any reason; who knows. Here is the walk-around of our chrysler van. https://youtube.com/shorts/Tapi5dpkOcc?si=FDhFEmpNiWpGTIMY read more

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Waiting in line for 1.5 hours to get a car. You only have one employee working at 10pm. There are 20 plus people behind me right now. I still have 10 people waiting to get a car. Needs major improvements. Will never use you again read more

1 person working the counter and 50 people on line. you've got to be kidding! i will never use budget again!

After a long flight, we got to Indianapolis budget car rental to be told they had no cars available. Our car rental was booked well in advance. Then they told us to come back tomorrow to pickup our car. We had to uber to our housing and the next day uber back to the airport. On arrival to budget the next day we received our rental car. No sorry, no how can we help pay for your Ubers, how can we compensate you for the day we didn't have a car. Nothing very disappointed. Will not rent from Budget again. read more

The absolute worst experience at a car rental in my entire life. The guy at the counter stuck extra insurance. When confronted claimed it was in the reservation (it wasn't). I managed to get help from a second person who removed it. Then the delivery of the car was chaotic. Waited for 30+ minutes after the long discussion at the counter. Never again. read more

Worst service ever in the history of car rental. The 5 star reviews must be employees or the lucky ones. Budget, Avis, and Payless all the same company so don't be fooled. Completely overbooked the volume. There was at one point 3 of us waiting for larger vehicles that they did not have and never got. Employees tell you to call the manager and all he can do if he calls you back is apologize for overbooking. The desk help is the worst. Rude, bitchy, condescending, and just plane lie to your face. When you call them on it the deny all they said. Then had a family member look on line and it allowed him to book with Payless, took his money and there was no car still. That makes 5 people promised a car that didn't exist. DO NOT USE THEM!!'nn read more

Zero stars. IU homecoming weekend and yet only 1-2 people working the combined Avis/Budget/Payless counter. 50+ people in line and, after over an hour of waiting, they tell us there might be no cars, no one is guaranteed a car, and there is no timeline for finding out. I don't blame the local employees. I blame poor management and a terrible lack of planning. This is my second awful Budget experience of this kind (other one was in Boston). We rented from SIXT instead. SIXT has always been a great experience. read more

It was frustratingly understaffed with 3 employees working (10 monitors available that could have employees) on a holiday weekend. The line to wait for a car took over an hour even though I had reserved and paid ahead. However the staff were friendly, the car was nice, and it seemed like a reasonable price. read more

Used the Costco rental program. Check in was good and friendly but when we got to our rental it was driving off with someone else. They gave us a different rental but no new paperwork, just a sticky note. It took 10 days for them to process our rental return and told me it could be rented to other people while under my name. It all worked out fine but it was stressful. read more

I wasn't told that we would need to put down a 250.00 deposit and we had to have a credit card only. We put the deposit down and now they are saying they refunded the deposit and we haven't received it back on my card. I have called 3 times and even had my bank call and they still want to argue with me. This is a poor business to deal with and I will be contacting the BBB and an attorney. read more

Longest line ever. One person working the counter. These criminals also lied to me about returning at a different location, prepaid gas and liability insurance. Will take these lessons when I rent from someone else. What a terrible experience. read more

In my 40+ years of personal and business travel, I've never waited for more than 20 minutes in an airport rental car line. That changed earlier this week after our plane landed and bags were out at around 11:30 PM. I rushed to the rental car center, not wanting to test their published Midnight closing time. What I found was what turned out to be an hour and a half wait, with a line maybe 50 people deep, and with only 2 guys behind the desk. Apparently, all the other car rental companies were out of cars, and Budget was the only late game in town. For the record, Gayle and I had a reservation. Tip: The display inviting you to scan the QR Code and pre-register with name, address, and credit card? Worthless. However, I'll bump my tired and cranky experience to 3 Stars: - In recognition of the branch manager's outreach - The desk guy's friendly, helpful, calm, and professional manner. - A really nice rental car. Here's the communication string: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Welcome to Indianapolis, and Thank You for renting with Budget! Hi, My name is Bryson. I am the Airport Manager, and I would like to offer an apology for the delay you may have experienced yesterday during your visit . This week we have been the only company with available cars and this has caused some issues with our fleet readiness causing delays for the added additional volume for this time of year. We are working diligently to learn, listen, and fix the issues that happened yesterday to prevent them in the future. I appreciate your patience with us as we further investigate this issue. I'm confident your next experience with us will be up to your expectations. Please let me know what I can for you to make up for this. I sincerely apologize and thank you for the feedback. Please let me know if I can assist you with anything during this rental or a future one. Should you need to directly reach out to our location, please call or text us at 317-260-5810 or email me directly at Bryson.Ellis@avisbudget.com. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Except for one of the guys at the counter (not the slow one), our experience was horrible. In my 40+ years of business and personal travel, I have never experienced what turned out to be an hour and a half wait for a car! But hey, who doesn't want to get in line at 11:30 (after a late flight), wait in line, drive dog tired to Bloomington and get to the Hotel a little after 2 AM? --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thank you for letting us know about the delay you experienced at our Budget location at INDIANAPOLIS AIRPORT. I sincerely apologize for the time you had to spend waiting for your vehicle. I understand your frustration. Budget is monitoring our demand closely and adjusting our staffing to meet our customer's needs. We appreciate your patience as we strive to improve our customer's experience. I am glad we were ultimately able to get you in a vehicle and on your way. We look forward to serving your future rental needs. Please give us another chance to exceed your expectations with Budget soon. We are determined to earn your trust. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Under you offer of "make it up to you", a voucher for future travel or a discount on the current rental are 2 ideas. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yes I removed a day of charges off your current rental for the delay you experienced and to offset the time in line. Your rate was cut in half. read more

if I could give budget Rental Car a O at the Indianapolis international airport, I would!! Their service is appalling, their ability to process clients is dreadful, and their communication is non-existent. They need to fire every single one that works at that counter, retrain an entire staff and bring them on. Monkeys could work harder and better than the three people this evening. I've never in my entire career of 42 years as an exec. exp rudeness and lack of professionalism. Do yourself a favor and DO NOT RENT FROM BUDGET at the Indianapolis airport. I stood in line for 42 minutes and then stood at the counter for another 15 minutes(while Jay talked to his buddies, went away for 10 minutes and wasted another six minutes fiddling) I eventually gave up and got an Uber!!! read more

If I had the option of giving less than 1, I would certainly do so. After reserving a car and paying in advance, I show up in Indy to prepare for my Mother's funeral, I was told there was no car for me unless I purchased their insurance coverage. I do not need it because I am fully covered. I was also given the option of returning the next day. I needed to travel to family about 50 miles away. As I was grieving, I didn't have it in me to argue. This added over $300 to my bill. Completely shady and unethical. It was unbelievable. Never again will I use this company. read more