Is the Dollar Rent A Car franchised territory exclusive or non-exclusive?
Dollar_Rent_A_Car Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
nchisor's Headquarters**" means our headquarters located at 8501 Williams Road, Estero, Florida 33928.
ITEM 12 TERRITORY
You will not receive an exclusive territory. You may face competition from other franchisees, from outlets that we own, or from other channels of distribution or competitive brands that we control.
You will be granted a non-exclusive, geographic Franchised Territory in which you will operate Your Franchised Business. The Franchised Territory varies from franchisee to franchisee, and will be identified by, at a minimum, the name of a city or other political subdivision(s) in Attachment A to your Franchise Agreement. We retain and reserve all rights not expressly granted to you in the Franchise Agreement. We retain, for ourselves, and our parents, subsidiaries, and affiliates the right, among others, to use, and to franchise others to use, the System and the Marks within and outside of your Franchised Territory, and to develop, use and franchise the use of other proprietary marks within and outside of your Franchised Territory in connection with the sale, rental, lease, or other use of the same, similar or different products and services, on any terms and conditions that we deem advisable, and without granting you any related rights. We also retain the right to sell our assets, engage in a public offering or private placement of ownership interests, merge with or acquire other companies or to be acquired by another company (including in each instance a company that may own or operate systems or chains that may be competitive with the System). We and our affiliates may develop, use and franchise methods, plans, programs or procedures for the operation of Vehicle Rental Businesses which are not part of the System (for example, the use of electronic kiosks for reservation and customer service functions) and you will have no rights to those methods, plans, programs or procedures unless we expressly make them part of the System franchised to you.
Due to the non-exclusive nature of your territory, we may use alternative distribution methods, including the Internet, within your Franchised Territory, whether using the Marks or other proprietary marks. We are not required to pay any compensation to you for soliciting or accepting reservations from within your Franchised Territory. Additionally, neither the use of Vehicles in the Franchised Territory that are rented from, and delivered to customers by us or other franchisees of the Franchised System outside the Franchised Territory, nor the delivery to customers or the use or return by customers of Vehicles in the Franchised Territory, that are leased from us or leased from other franchisees of the Franchised System outside the Franchised Territory, nor Vehicles to others within and outside the Franchised Territory including Your customers, competitors and commercial fleet operators by us or our affiliates shall be deemed an infringement of your rights in the Franchised Territory.
There are no restrictions on you from accepting reservations from outside of your Franchised Territory; however, you may not solicit reservations from customers (either through advertising or through any website, including through our designated Website) from outside of your Franchised Territory without our prior permission.
If you are unable to provide any product or service from Your Franchised Business (for example, a particular vehicle model, rental rate, pick-up location or any other customer preference), you must use all reasonable efforts to refer the customer to another Dollar business. Also, we may, in our discretion, refer the customer to another car renting, car leasing, car sales, car self-service/sharing, or truck rental business of ours, our affiliates, or our or our affiliates' franchisee that rents or leases the desired product or service.
If, at the time of signing of the Franchise Agreement, it is determined that additional locations are required to be opened within your Franchised Territory, such additional locations will be noted on Attachment A of your Franchise Agreement. You must open the additional locations by the date specified on Attachment A. Failure to meet the schedule set forth on Attachment A may result in termination of the Franchise Agreement, or may result in the reduction, modification, revision or the reclamation of the
Franchised Territory upon notice to you. If, during the term of your Franchise Agreement we determine that you must open an additional location within your Franchised Territory, we will provide notice to you and you will have 60 days to provide your intent to open the additional location; you will then have 180 days from the date of our notice to you to commencing operating Your Franchised Business from the additional location. If you fail to timely provide notice of your intent to open the additional location, or if you fail to commence operations within the required time period, we may operate, or franchise others to operate, a Vehicle Rental Business or other similar business using the Marks in the Franchised Territory.
You will not have any options or rights of first refusal to acquire additional franchises within the Franchised Territory or any contiguous geographic areas.
If you wish to relocate Your Franchised Business within the Franchised Territory, you will be required to follow the same procedure for approval of a new location. We will review and approve your site selection. We are not obligated to do so within a specific timeframe but anticipate that we will do so within 10 days after the site is identified. Our approval will be dependent on the site being adequate to meet our standards for proximity to facilities and businesses such as hotels, offices, airports and highways.
We estimate the typical length of time between the signing of the Franchise Agreement and the opening of Your Franchised Business is 60 days. Factors which may affect this time period include identifying a site, obtaining acceptable financing arrangements, remodeling, decorating, purchasing and installing equipment, fixtures and signs, hiring employees, and similar factors.
Source: Item 12 — TERRITORY (FDD pages 69–71)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to Dollar Rent A Car's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, franchisees are granted a non-exclusive territory. This means that Dollar Rent A Car franchisees may face competition from other franchisees, outlets that Dollar Rent A Car owns, other distribution channels, and competitive brands that Dollar Rent A Car controls. The franchised territory is geographically defined and varies from franchisee to franchisee, identified by the name of a city or other political subdivision in Attachment A of the Franchise Agreement. Dollar Rent A Car retains all rights not expressly granted to the franchisee in the Franchise Agreement.
Dollar Rent A Car and its parents, subsidiaries, and affiliates reserve the right to use and franchise others to use the Dollar Rent A Car system and marks within and outside the franchisee's territory. They can also develop, use, and franchise other proprietary marks within and outside the territory for similar or different products and services, without granting the franchisee any related rights. Dollar Rent A Car also retains the right to sell assets, engage in public or private offerings, merge with or acquire other companies, or be acquired by another company, even if those companies operate competitive systems. They may also develop methods for vehicle rental businesses that are not part of the franchised system, such as electronic kiosks, without granting franchisees rights to those methods.
Due to the non-exclusive nature of the territory, Dollar Rent A Car may use alternative distribution methods, including the Internet, within the franchisee's territory, without compensating the franchisee. The use of vehicles rented from outside the territory, or the delivery or return of vehicles in the territory that are leased from outside the territory, does not infringe on the franchisee's rights. Franchisees can accept reservations from outside their territory, but they cannot solicit reservations from outside their territory without prior permission. Franchisees are required to refer customers to other Dollar Rent A Car businesses if they cannot provide a requested product or service. Dollar Rent A Car may also refer customers to other car renting, leasing, sales, or truck rental businesses of theirs or their affiliates.
Dollar Rent A Car's affiliates operate Hertz and Thrifty businesses, which may compete with the franchisee's business within the franchised territory. Dollar Rent A Car does not have established procedures for resolving conflicts among Hertz, Dollar, and Thrifty franchisees, or other related entities, but would seek to resolve them through discussions among the affected parties. Dollar Rent A Car's parent company may also operate franchised businesses within the territory that rent cars by the hour, week, or month, sell used vehicles, or rent vehicles other than cars. Franchisees must pay other Dollar Rent A Car (and possibly Hertz and Thrifty) franchisees in accordance with the "Rent It Here-Leave It There" Manual when renting cars owned by those franchisees to customers on a local or inter-city basis.