Dollar Rent A Car franchise: cost, fees & unit track record
Opening a Dollar Rent A Car franchise takes $879,300 – $15,874,000 all-in, per its franchise disclosure filings (data as of 2026-05). The initial franchise fee is $25,000 – $125,000. Ongoing, franchisees pay a royalty of 8% on sales. To qualify, Dollar Rent A Car asks for $150,000 in liquid cash and a $250,000 net worth. Anything the filings do not state is marked "Not disclosed" below — never estimated.
Dollar Rent A Car franchise costs and fees
| Verification mark | Cost item | Low | High | Range |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Initial franchise feeOne-time, paid to the franchisor at signing | $25,000 | $125,000 | $25,000 to $125,000 | |
| Initial investment (all-in)FDD Item 7-derived range: build-out, equipment, opening costs | $879,300 | $15,874,000 | $879,300 to $15,874,000 | |
| Net worth requiredFranchisor's stated qualification minimum | $250,000 | $250,000 | $250,000 | |
| Liquid cash requiredFranchisor's stated qualification minimum | $150,000 | $150,000 | $150,000 | |
| Cash to open (all-in range) | $879,300 | $15,874,000 | $879,300 to $15,874,000 |
| RoyaltyOngoing, % of sales | 8% |
|---|---|
| Ad fundOngoing, % of sales | Not disclosed |
| Initial termLength of the first franchise agreement | 5 years |
See the full Dollar Rent A Car cost breakdown — what's in that number and what isn't
How Dollar Rent A Car's cost compares
A dollar figure means more with a yardstick. Here is where Dollar Rent A Car's disclosed cost sits against the Auto & Travel category:
- Minimum startup cost of $879,300 — about 5× the Auto & Travel median of $177,500.
- Initial franchise fee of $25,000 — about 26% below the Auto & Travel median of $33,740.
Category medians are computed from the Auto & Travel brands in our data that disclosed each figure — a benchmark for scale, not a quality judgment. See all Auto & Travel franchises
Free info kit — costs, fees, and unit track record. You choose who may follow up.
Figures look outdated? Report outdated info.
How Dollar Rent A Car's units have held up
Openings and closures from FDD Item 20-style unit history, 2013–2019: began the window at 110 units; 22 units opened, 53 closed, ending at 56 units. (partial records: 2018 is not in the source data — totals span the reported years only.)
What about earnings?
We don't publish per-brand earnings figures — for Dollar Rent A Car or anyone else. The only primary source is Item 19 of the brand's own franchise disclosure document (FDD), and no law requires a franchisor to publish one, so the "average owner income" numbers circulating elsewhere are usually unsourced or survivorship-biased. Ask Dollar Rent A Car for its current FDD and read Item 19 yourself — and if there is no Item 19, that silence is information too.
What this data can't tell you
Everything on this page comes from disclosure filings — fees, ranges, and unit counts. Four questions that matter just as much are not in any filing we can source, so we say so instead of guessing:
- The hours and the labor
- No dataset field says whether Dollar Rent A Car is a manage-from-a-laptop business or a 60-hour week in disguise. Item 15 of the FDD states whether you're obligated to run the business personally, and Item 11 lists what the franchisor actually does for you — then ask current owners what their week looks like (validation calls), not the sales team.
- How hands-on the ownership really is
- "Semi-absentee" is a pitch, not a filing field. Treat any hands-off claim as unverified until it's consistent with Item 15 and with what multiple current franchisees tell you — what absentee ownership actually means.
- Your territory — whether it's protected, and whether it's open
- Two territory questions sit outside our data. Whether Dollar Rent A Car grants a protected or exclusive area is set in Item 12 of the FDD and varies brand to brand — some grant none, and the carve-outs (online sales, national accounts) matter as much as the map. And filing data can't say what's open in your market this month; only Dollar Rent A Car can confirm current availability. Ask both before you inquire, and get the answer in writing.
- What owners earn
- Covered honestly above: our dataset has no earnings fields, the only primary source is the brand's own Item 19, and here is how to read that evidence.
About the Dollar Rent A Car franchise
Dollar Rent A Car is an auto & travel franchisor with 56 units at the end of 2019 (FDD Item 20-style unit history). Between 2013 and 2019, it began the window at 110 units; its filings record 22 unit openings and 53 closures, ending at 56 units (partial records: 2018 is not in the source data — totals span the reported years only). Its parent company is Dollar Rent A Car, Inc..
Disclosure filings report 1 franchise-related lawsuit. Review Item 3 of the FDD. (as of 2026-05)
From the franchisor's materials
You will operate a business that rents cars under the "Dollar" and/or "Dollar Rent A Car" names within a designated territory. Under certain circumstances, you may be offered the opportunity to enter into a Multiple Brand Franchising Addendum to operate additional car rental businesses under other brands.
Dollar Rent A Car franchise: quick answers
- How much does a Dollar Rent A Car franchise cost?
- $879,300 – $15,874,000 all-in to open, per Dollar Rent A Car's franchise disclosure filings (data as of 2026-05).
- How many Dollar Rent A Car units are there?
- 56 units at the end of 2019 (FDD Item 20-style unit history).
- How have Dollar Rent A Car's units held up?
- 87.1% of units at risk between 2016 and 2019 did not close, per our metric recomputed from FDD Item 20-style unit history (methodology published on our verification page).