Renting a car from Palermo airport versus city center

Here’s from a RS blog

https://blog.ricksteves.com/cameron/2018/06/sicily-driving/

I also found some good you tube videos in my own planning for our Sicily trip later this spring

I would say yes to picking up on day 2 if you are flying in from the US and will be jet lagged. When I rented a car, I got it from Avis in town which was a few block from where I was staying so just wheeled my luggage, picked up my car and was on my way out of town.

I just returned last week from a Sicily trip. Driving in Sicily - and especially near Palermo - is not for the faint of heart! There are many narrow, wall-lined streets, traffic does not stop for right of way, and lines - even on freeways - are often suggestions. Numerous times we found ourselves on narrow two-way streets with room for just one car and more close calls than I ever expected. But, it was also a thrill and gave us the freedom we needed to visit locations that are difficult to visit with public transportation options.

If I were staying in Palermo, I would reconsider and pick up the car in Palermo center on the way out.

FWIW, we rented the car straight from the airport...but stayed in Monreale, not Palermo. We took the #389 bus in and out of Palermo Centro. With a car, we were able to easily visit Mondello Beach and Caccamo and its castle, as well as efficiently drive to and attend church services in the Palermo suburbs.

IMO, a car was extremely efficient - and nearly essential - for visiting the Valley of the Temples near Agrigento, the Villa Romana del Casale, and the stairs and ceramics of Caltagirone en route to Siracusa.

Also FWIW, I absolutely loved the Norman Palace and Monreale Cathedral's mosaics. I also enjoyed the Quattro Canti and Via Maqueda foot-traffic area and food options, Teatro Massimo, and a couple of the churches...but the rest of Palermo, including the street markets and most of Rick's city walk, are not must-see, IMO. 

The freeways, roads, and traffic in eastern Sicily is markedly better - though parking in Ortigia is difficult (but a savvy apartment host made it relatively easy for us).

Returning the car at the Catania airport was one of the easiest and most welcome car-return experiences I have ever had in Europe. Rented through Alamo. The hardest part was identifying the Alamo return location, because it is listed with a small logo next to National and one other US.-based car rental agency.

We found most people in Sicily welcoming and nice and appreciative of greetings and attempts to converse in broken Italian. Food was exceptional - much better than Rome.

I would rent from the city the day you leave to go to wherever you need to go. Picking up from the airport will certainly be more expensive (airport fees) and driving into Palermo, even if the hotel has parking, is not for the faint of heart. I wouldn't recommend it to any Americans, unless familiar with driving in Manhattan at rush hour, the only place in America that comes close to driving in Palermo.

It was even scary being a pedestrian in Palermo. The drivers ignore lane markers, so you're never confident of where they will go.