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re: Is It OK to Buy A Rental Car?

Posted on 3/28/17 at 5:08 pm to
Posted by Allyn McKeen
Key West, FL
Member since Jun 2012
4948 posts
Posted on 3/28/17 at 5:08 pm to
I did it one time in the late-80's. I bought a low mileage Toyota Camry, and it was a very good car for me. I moved to Asia and had no need for a car, so I sold it to my younger brother. He drove it for another 5 or 6 years. I got it from Hertz, and they took care of the car for a couple of years after I got it. Their service dept. was great.
Posted by dat yat
Chef Pass
Member since Jun 2011
5044 posts
Posted on 3/28/17 at 5:14 pm to
No worries.

I bought a 1989 Ford Taurus from Hertz in 1990. It caught on fire in front of my son's daycare one morning He cried while a bus driver and I put it out using fire extinguishers.

I cannot stress this enough: DO NOT BUY A FORD!
Posted by pioneerbasketball
Team Bunchie
Member since Oct 2005
139098 posts
Posted on 3/28/17 at 5:15 pm to
(no message)
This post was edited on 4/15/17 at 3:47 am
Posted by TheWalrus
Land of the Hogs
Member since Dec 2012
48115 posts
Posted on 3/28/17 at 5:22 pm to
I did and I'm thrilled with it. Maybe it poops out a little early, but I wasn't looking to get more than five or six years out of it.
Posted by CajunInFL
New Orleans, LA
Member since May 2007
2118 posts
Posted on 3/28/17 at 5:46 pm to
Normally the Carfax would state that it's been a rental.
Posted by Sparkplug#1
Member since May 2013
7352 posts
Posted on 3/28/17 at 5:48 pm to
I rent a lot of cars for work. I've rented at least 20 with under 250 miles on them. I'm not sure on break-in periods, but I hammered every one of them.

Hope this helps
Posted by shotcaller1
Member since Oct 2014
7501 posts
Posted on 3/28/17 at 5:49 pm to
I did once in college. Had 30k miles. Only issues i ever had with it were ones that i caused
Posted by bovine1
Member since Dec 2004
1383 posts
Posted on 3/28/17 at 5:55 pm to
I bought one in Jan 2011. 2005 Chevy Classic. It had 93000 and was a previous rental. Now it's got 169000 miles and going strong. Only thing I've had to do was change the fuel pump. In the early 80's my FIL bought my wife a Hertz Mercury Capri. It was a piece of crap but I think all those cars were.
Posted by CaliforniaTiger
The Land of Fruits and Nuts
Member since Dec 2007
5330 posts
Posted on 3/28/17 at 5:57 pm to
I would NOT
Posted by ReauxlTide222
St. Petersburg
Member since Nov 2010
92343 posts
Posted on 3/28/17 at 6:01 pm to
quote:

I normally just rent them.
Posted by Rust Cohle
Baton rouge
Member since Mar 2014
2167 posts
Posted on 3/28/17 at 6:06 pm to
I bought one, 6k under blue book, used car guru. still has 30k miles on the warranty
Posted by pioneerbasketball
Team Bunchie
Member since Oct 2005
139098 posts
Posted on 3/28/17 at 6:23 pm to
(no message)
This post was edited on 4/15/17 at 3:46 am
Posted by Twenty 49
Shreveport
Member since Jun 2014
21521 posts
Posted on 3/28/17 at 7:00 pm to
I was looking for a low mileage Avalon several years ago, and I saw that several east Texas dealers had 1 year old ones. I asked, and the dealer freely disclosed that there had been an auction of former rentals in Dallas, and they stocked up. Carfax also showed it had been a rental.

The car looked clean and drove good, so I bought it for a fair price. It's been running like a champ for many years.

I might not buy a Challenger or other sports or pimp car that kids would rent and dog, but you figure the average Avalon renter is a 55 year old salesman or vacationing older couple who don't drag race it.

I have a friend who works for Enterprise. She and a crew of retirees deliver retired rentals all over LA and Ark, on a daily basis, to the dealers who buy them to put on their used car lots. She says they are almost all nice, clean cars.
Posted by wildtigercat93
Member since Jul 2011
116453 posts
Posted on 3/28/17 at 7:22 pm to
I know people that used to run sales at enterprise. Buying from there is one of the safest things you can do. Extremely well maintained, and despite what you think, a lot of them don't see rough mileage. Most rentals are used by people that need transportation while their car is being fixed moreso than the "vacation" type of rental car.

However if you go try to buy a rental car from a rental car place, you will pay the highest possible amount for that car vs any carlot you'll find anywhere else. They sell them wholesale to dealerships. A lot of people in this thread that would "never buy a rental" are probably currently driving a former rental
This post was edited on 3/28/17 at 7:25 pm
Posted by OweO
Plaquemine, La
Member since Sep 2009
122525 posts
Posted on 3/28/17 at 7:44 pm to
quote:


wtf do you weridos do while driving


I had a friend went mud riding in a kia optima rental. He went with someone else who had a truck and they ended up having to pull him out, but he hit the gas once and dropped it into park. I am sure that doesn't really help a car's transmission. There is no telling what type of other shite people do to rentals.

A company I use to work for use to rent vehicles instead of having company vehicles. They would only keep so many rentals at the office, but if there were more people scheduled to go out to the plants one day, the day before the rental company would deliver more rentals. One day, a co-worker of mine, who worked in the same area as me, had to go out to the plant and he got one of the vehicles that was delivered the day before.

When he got into the car, he said the smell was horrible. All of a sudden, when he moved the seat back, he said it was unbearable. He had to go tell them there was no way he could drive that car to wherever he was going because there was a horrible smell and he could not find out where it was coming from. They asked the runner guy to go drop it off and pick up another one, but he couldn't take the smell and decided to look until he found out the problem.. Evidently he looked around for about 30 mins then noticed something under the drivers seat, he apparently overlooked. It was a dead turtle.

At some point before the company dropped the vehicle off, a dead turtle was put under the seat. This was in the middle of summer and there was about a 15-16 hr period between the time the car was dropped of and when the guy got in it to go to the plant. Apparently, after the turtle was removed, the smell still lingered. They probably had to put some time into getting the smell out, but you really don't know what a rental car has been through.
Posted by pioneerbasketball
Team Bunchie
Member since Oct 2005
139098 posts
Posted on 3/28/17 at 8:10 pm to
(no message)
This post was edited on 4/15/17 at 3:45 am
Posted by 4Ghost
Member since Sep 2016
8565 posts
Posted on 3/28/17 at 8:17 pm to
30 years ago when I was a young Marine starting out I rolled the dice on a couple, worked out for me.
Posted by member12
Bob's Country Bunker
Member since May 2008
33146 posts
Posted on 3/28/17 at 9:06 pm to
I rent cars every week...usually Camrys, Altimas, and Fusions. Sometimes I get a 4Runner or Impala. I would not hesitate to buy one used.

I think most renters are business people, and they are not out joy riding. Most rental companies keep their cars for under 20,000 miles and maintain/wash them at least as good as most private owners.
Posted by pioneerbasketball
Team Bunchie
Member since Oct 2005
139098 posts
Posted on 3/29/17 at 2:22 am to
(no message)
This post was edited on 4/15/17 at 3:41 am
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