世論 What Japan Thinks

It’s the weekend, so what nicer than joining the Japanese in one of their favourite pastimes, going for a drive. Before one can go for a drive, one needs a car of course, so why not rent one? But, what points are important when renting a car? goo Rankings tried to find out in this ranking survey conducted between the 20th and 22nd of March 2007.

I rent a car once every few months or so, and I always select Toyota Rentacar, as they are convenient, have car navigation systems as standard, and I especially like renting the Prius as although it might be a bit more expensive, the low fuel costs make up for it, and I do like driving it. A non-smoking car is a given, naturally, and only recently did Toyota introduce booking a specific model as non-smoking, hopefully due to complaints from customers like me.

Just in case you want to rent but your Japanese is not up to it, Hertz use Toyota as their agent in Japan, so you can call them instead to do your booking.

Ranking results

Q: What is most important when renting a car?

Rank		Score
1	Cheap price	100
2	Free/cheap car navigation system	77.5
3	Free or reasonable one-way rentals	55.3
4	Many models available	50.5
5	Convenient location	49.3
6	Don’t need to fill up with petrol before return	46.6
7	Can book over internet	46.3
8	Can pay by credit card	43.1
9	Cheap or free insurance	42.6
10	Many locations	40.9
11	24 hour operation	39.0
12	Good customer service	38.2
13	Can choose smoking or non-smoking car	35.0
14	Built-in Electronic Toll Collection (ETC)	28.6
15	Discount for Gold Licence holders (no infractions for five years)	27.2
16	Has favourite maker’s card	26.5
17	Can collect points or miles	23.7
18	Well-known car rental company	21.9
19	Can match rental times with public transport (eg: plane arrival times)	16.4
20	Free child seat	15.5