Montana Rental Car Prices: We’re Back to Normal! (Even Bozeman)

Dare I say, some are even a bargain? After a solid 18 months of RIDICULOUSLY high rental car rates, prices seem to have come way back down to earth...for now. But who knows what ski season may bring.

I actually know a couple of my friends who BOUGHT a car in the last year just so their guests would have something to get around. Granted, they had been in the market for a decent used vehicle anyway, but the INSANE price of rental cars sealed the deal for them.

We took a peek at rental cars around the state with a simple search on Expedia.com. For no particular reason, we picked the dates Tuesday, November 2nd, 2021 through Sunday, November 7th, 2021.

Our first search was pick up and drop off in Bozeman, MT, and here's what we (pleasantly) found:

• Economy 5 passengers (Toyota Corolla or similar): $40 per day/$227 total with ACE Rental
• Economy 4 passengers (Mitsubishi Mirage or similar): $34 per day/ $230 total with Enterprise
• Compact 5 passengers (Nissan Versa or similar): $34 per day/$230 total with Alamo
• Compact SUV 4 passengers (Nissan Rogue or similar): $34 per day/$230 total with Hertz
• Fullsize 5 passengers (Chevrolet Malibu, Toyota Camry, or similar): $46 per day/$299 total with Hertz
• Standard 5 passengers (Volkswagen Jetta or similar): $59 per day/ $374 total with Avis

We also took a peek at some car rental prices in Missoula, MT which also saw a pretty good spike in price this summer:

• Midsize 5 passengers (Toyota Corolla or similar): $46 per day/$248 total through Enterprise
• Fullsize 5 passengers (Chevrolet Malibu or similar): $50 per day/$285 total with fees through Dollar

Hopefully, these down-to-earth prices will continue for a good while. This past summer, if you could even FIND a rental car in the Bozeman area, prices of $400/day were not uncommon. No joke. It was absolutely absurd and a perfect storm of very little supply and very high demand.