National Car Rental - Detroit Metro Airport (DTW)

Reviews

• WM

  Walid Mashra

  2 days ago
  1.0
  Very disappointing experience with National Car Rental. My car was in the shop, and I was supposed to pick up a replacement vehicle under warranty through the same company. Unfortunately, there were no available options in the Emerald Aisle. When I spoke with the front desk staff, they were rude and lacked basic customer service skills. I believe National seriously needs to provide better customer service training for their employees. They eventually found me a vehicle, but it was clearly not cleaned properly. The car had a very strong odor that smelled like weed and heavy cigarette smoke, which made the experience even worse. To make matters worse, I was previously an Executive Elite member, but somehow my status was removed. Overall, this was a very frustrating and unprofessional experience. I expected much better from a company like National.
• PM

  Peter Martinello

  6 days ago
  1.0
  I am a business traveler and have rented many cars in the past. I just had the worst car rental experience of my life. I had a confirmed reservation made 12 hours prior for a one way rental. I show up after a long day of travel expecting my reservation to be honored and they told me because it was a one way rental they would not honor it. The manager Drew had no empathy for my situation in this choice stranding me. He continued to say "I cannot get you going today" meanwhile I witness several others with reservations being placed in cars and many cars on the lot. Drew and most of the team seemed to relish in the conflict and were very unprofessional. I called the National customer service line, provided my confirmation number and they were surprised that my reservation was not honored. It was a busy time at the airport, other car agencies did not have spots available, and the off-airport sites had all closed leading to a lot of disruptions in commitments I had expecting to have a car. I will point out there was one employee outside that showed some amount of empathy for what was happening and i was thankful for that. I am escalating this through National customer service and hope that it leads to behavior change. Be wary of this site.
• JJ

  Jeffrey Oliva (Jeff)

  May 13, 2026
  2.0
  I travel roughly 240 days a year for work and exclusively rent with National Car Rental because of the convenience and consistency I normally receive as an Executive Elite member. One of the main reasons I stay loyal to National is the ability to walk directly to the Executive aisle and select any open, unreserved vehicle without hassle. Unfortunately, that was not the experience at the Detroit location. I selected an Expedition from the Executive area as I normally would at other National locations, only to be stopped at the gate and told by management that I would need to pay for an upgrade. This immediately created confusion and frustration because it completely contradicted the experience and expectations I’ve had as an Executive Elite member across the country. Trying to resolve the situation only made matters worse. When I requested a larger midsize SUV instead, that also seemed to become an issue for the staff. Eventually they provided me with a vehicle that was parked in front of the office, but the entire interaction felt as though they were doing me a personal favor rather than honoring the benefits tied to the status I’ve spent years earning through constant travel and loyalty. Overall, the experience left a very poor impression and completely soured this rental. I’m especially disappointed because I’ve traveled through the Detroit National location before and never previously encountered issues like this. Consistency is important for frequent travelers, and this experience fell far below the standard I’ve come to expect from National.
• AH

  Amanda Hart

  May 10, 2026
  5.0
  The team at this location is the absolute best! I realized I was missing my rain coat about a minute after boarding the airport shuttle and assumed I had more than likely accidentally left it in my rental car. My shuttle driver quickly assured me that I had time to try to find it, at which point I immediately ran towards the location of my rental car dropoff / informed every employee along the way that I was searching for a coat I had most likely left behind in my rental car. I found my rental car after a few minutes of searching, but, unfortunately, my rain coat was no longer in it. I returned to the shuttle disappointedly. Just as I began to try to convince myself that carelessly losing yet another belonging was not entirely my fault, a National employee boarded the shuttle with my coat in hand. Going above and beyond is never expected but always appreciated. Thank you!
• CG

  Charles Gilbert

  May 8, 2026
  5.0
  The staff at the airport were very helpful and kind both upon arriving and when dropping off the rental call. The car was clean and full of gas. I chose National because the report I read in a consumer report rated your group highly. I did note that National was also the most expensive of the comparison rental companies and I thought that Emerald Club would members would get a discount. I will rent from National again.

Frequently Asked Questions About National Car Rental - Detroit Metro Airport (DTW)