Car Rentals in Knoxville – The best companies

Situated on Tennessee River in eastern Tennessee, the city of Knoxville has as its focal point a historic 19th-century Market Square in the downtown district that’s lined with shops and restaurants. Large numbers of visitors descend here each year, with the city served by Knoxville airport, which connects to a wide number of destinations across the US.

A view of Market Square in Knoxville (Photo: jill, jellidonut… whatever via Flickr / CC BY-SA 2.0)

There are several rental car companies dotted across Knoxville, most of which can be found either downtown or at the airport. If you’re planning a trip to Knoxville and would like to rent a car during your stay, we’ve done some research and selected the best rental companies across three categories: Best value at the airport, best value in the city, and best for luxury cars.

Best value at the airport: Alamo & National

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If you’re travelling to Knoxville and coming by air, there are plenty of options for finding a cheap car rental at the local airport, with lots of car hire desks located nearby. For the best value, we’ve picked out Alamo and National, with both offering numerous mid-range cars at affordable prices. Alamo’s most attractive deal is for a Mitsubishi Mirage, which is available for $231 for a week’s rental, with free cancellation and theft protection included in the policy. National, meanwhile, offer a 5-seat Hyundai Elantra – popular with those wanting extra boot space – for $266 per week. Both companies also have superb customer feedback with scores of above 8.5.

Best value in the city: Avis

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Budget car rental in the city of Knoxville itself is also fairly easy to find, thanks to the presence of several rental companies around the central district. For this category, we’ve selected Avis as delivering the best value. Avis offer several Ford models, including a Fiesta and the larger Focus, neither of which are likely to set pulses racing, but are nonetheless highly reliable models. Both cars were available for under $250 for one week’s rental when we searched online.

Best for luxury cars: Budget & Enterprise

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If you’d like to drive around Knoxville in something a little more eye-catching than the models mentioned above, you’ve got every chance of doing so. And the companies we’d recommend for upscale cars are Budget and Enterprise, both of which offer several higher-end models. If you’re a fan of larger and sportier Fords, then their SUV Escape is available for a very reasonable $290 per week, or how about a Lincoln MKZ for something a little sleeker, which can be yours for $530 per week? Enterprise, meanwhile, also have a popular SUV, the Hyundai Sante Fe, for $303 per week, as well as an American classic, a Cadillac XTS, which is offered for $332 per week.