Tulsa, OK, July 12, 2002 - Thrifty Car Sales, Inc., a subsidiary of Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE: DTG), today announced that two leading innovators in automotive retailing, Ken Elias, former Vice President, Automotive Services of priceline.com® and David Thomas, formerly the dealer principal of Thomas Motors Inc., a privately held automotive retailer in the greater Portland, OR area, have teamed together and signed a development agreement with Thrifty Car Sales.

The agreement grants Elias and Thomas exclusive rights to develop no less than 20 Thrifty Car Sales dealerships in the states of Arizona and Colorado by June 2006. This agreement, the first of its kind signed by Thrifty Car Sales, marks the beginning of a significant effort to rapidly expand locations throughout the United States. Thrifty currently has 63 dealerships signed throughout the country.

At priceline.com, Elias, 42, helped the pioneering Internet company develop its automotive product suite.

According to Elias, priceline.com Automotive Services was one of the leading new car sites helping franchised new car dealers to sell more than $15 million worth of new vehicles a month across the nation. Prior to priceline.com, Elias founded Carqwik.com, one of the first Internet referral sites for displaying used vehicles for sale at franchised new car dealers in Southern California.

Thomas, 47, was a franchised dealer from 1977 to 2001 for 15 brands including Toyota, Honda, Mazda, Lincoln-Mercury, Subaru, Chevrolet, GMC, Pontiac, Buick, Oldsmobile, Cadillac, Chrysler-Plymouth, Dodge and Jeep. In his 25-year tenure with Thomas Motors, annual sales grew from less than $5 million to greater than $150 million. The dealership had five locations, and was ranked among Oregon's top 150 businesses. Thomas received numerous awards of excellence during his career including the Toyota President's Award for Excellence in dealership operations, Honda Motor Company President's Award, Mazda President's Award, Lincoln's Quality Commitment Award, Ford Motor Company Chairman's Award and designation as one of the Automotive News Top 10 Innovative Dealers).

"We wanted to be in the nationally-branded used car business," said Elias. "The used car business has lower entry costs than a new car dealership, offers greater possibilities to innovate and develop new sales programs, and the national brand offers customers greater peace of mind with their purchase. "We could have built our own brand but we realized we'd be faster out of the gate by associating with a brand that was already well-established," he continued. "We chose Thrifty because it has a great brand and is the most aggressive of all of the used car players."

"I've been a franchised dealer," said Thomas. "And, this is the next frontier in the car business. Thrifty Car Sales is playing where other guys aren't," he added. "They bring a franchised new car dealer standard to the used car business. The customer has a comfort knowing they're buying from a nationally-known company that's been around for a long time."

"We're very excited to have Ken and Dave on board," said Thrifty Car Sales president, Jay Betz. "They're a solid match with what Thrifty looks for in its dealers. They're aggressive, visionary, recognize the unlimited potential in the branded used car market and have an outstanding track record of success."

Added Kim Bucci, Executive Director, Business Development, "Cementing the Arizona and Colorado markets is a major step in executing the Thrifty Car Sales market development plan. Our goal is to develop major markets, statewide and in major metro areas. We are well on the way."

Three years ago, Thrifty saw a tremendous opportunity to leverage its car rental brand in pre-owned car sales and entered the business. Thrifty offers a comprehensive, branded dealership opportunity that encourages dealers to sell a mix of cars, not just those coming off its rental fleet, so they can offer the correct mix of cars in their individual markets.

Thrifty Car Sales dealers and customers also benefit from the company's private-labeled inspection and warranty program, Thrifty Certified® as well as Thrifty Care^SM, its extended service program providing optional coverage to 6 years or 100,000 miles on select vehicles. Other franchise benefits include access to national lenders; marketing and advertising programs and support; operational support; and other products and services, all designed to help Thrifty dealers compete.

Thrifty Car Sales, with its affiliate Thrifty Car Rental, are subsidiaries of Thrifty, Inc., headquartered in Tulsa, Okla. Thrifty Car Rental is one of the world's largest international car rental franchise networks, consisting of over 1,200 locations in 62 countries around the world.

Some of the statements contained in this press release may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Although Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, Inc. believes such forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and certain factors could cause results to differ materially from current expectations. These factors include: price and product competition; economic and competitive conditions in markets and countries where the companies' customers reside and where the companies and their franchisees operate; air travel patterns; changes in capital availability or cost; costs and other terms related to the acquisition and disposition of automobiles and conducting business; and certain regulatory and environmental matters. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties, among others, materialize, actual results could vary from those estimated, anticipated or projected. Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, Inc. undertakes no obligation to update or revise forward-looking statements to reflect changed assumptions, the occurrence of unanticipated events or changes to future operating results over time.

PRICELINE.COM, and PRICELINE, are registered service marks priceline.com Incorporated.