Last Updated on August 17, 2025 by Jonathan
Rental car startup Kyte, which provided door-to-door delivery service on both ends of your trip, has shut down. We saw it coming. Last fall, it pulled out of all but two major markets in the United States: the New York City area and San Francisco. Less than a year later, the company is out of business.
We had high hopes for Kyte, which promised to deliver a vehicle directly to you and then come pick it up at end of the rental period, as long as you were within one of their service areas. With a Kyte car rental, there were no worries about finding the pickup location, no lines, no hassles.
How Did Kyte Car Rental Work?
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With Kyte, you booked and paid for the rental car online ahead of time. On the first day of your rental, you just flashed your ID to the “Kyte Surfer” (a.k.a. vehicle delivery person) and then signed on the tablet to confirm receipt of the vehicle. That completed the handover.
If you canceled at least 48 hours prior to your scheduled delivery time, you were eligible for a full refund to your credit or debit card.
With Kyte, additional drivers were completely free, which is a more generous policy than any other rental company.
All Kyte rentals came with 300 miles per day. Kyte would automatically charge you for any tolls during the rental period. Unlike just about every other rental company, they did not charge a “convenience fee.”
Returning Your Vehicle
There was no need to fill up the tank at the end of the rental. Kyte had a customer-friendly policy of refueling at local market rates. While this was not always the cheapest price in town, it was a far cry from the $10 per gallon many rental companies charge if you don’t accept their prepaid fuel option, which is never a good deal.
Kyte Car Rental Locations
As of October 2024, Kyte only operated in the New York City area and San Francisco after exiting major markets like Atlanta, Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, and Seattle. In August 2025, it had closed shop for good.
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Kyte Car Rental Review
I used Kyte on multiple occasions to rent a car in New York City and it worked as advertised. The actual rental process was basically a non-event, which is to say it was a very refreshing change from my previous New York City rental where I biked to and from the rental office to pick up and drop off my car. It’s a shame this business didn’t survive.
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