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Benjamin Dahl
11-02-2007, 4:24 PM
A friend was just in a car accident and while I was dropping her to pick up the rental, I walked in the lot where they were selling some of their cars. the prices seemed fair and the vehicles looked to be in good shape. my initial reaction is that it is best to avoid those cars because there have been a number of drivers and that could lead to abuse of the vehicle. on the other hand, a few of them seemed fairly new (2006 models) with low mileage and are still under warranty. has anyone bought from a rental agency or have any advice for or against such a purchase?
Thanks,
Ben

Nancy Laird
11-02-2007, 4:30 PM
Ben, I have friends in PA who have never bought a car from anyone except a rental agency. They say that the maintenance on these vehicles is SO good--always on time and every little thing checked out. The great thing is that if the car is a lemon or has a problem when new, it will be worked out and the bugs sent flying before it's put up for sale. If the car has been abused by a number of drivers, they'll find it before you do. Also, a lot of these cars have been leased rather than rented so they won't have the multiple-driver problems. Besides, I don't know about you, but I'm always more careful and conscientious of my driving habits when I'm driving a car other than my everyday driver. I suspect that most renters are.

I'd say go for it.

Nancy (49 days)

Jeff Bower
11-02-2007, 4:31 PM
Benjamin, I work for a rental car company that also sells their cars. I have a couple of friends that have bought them as well. IMHO rental cars are a good choice. A rental car company has 2 huge assest, their employees and their cars. Because of this they make sure they take care of those assets, cars that is:rolleyes: The maintence is followed to manufacurer guidelines and they fix the cosmetic problems because they want their customers to see good looking cars.

The other factor to consider is that over 60% of used cars on lots today were formally owned by a rental angency. Many lots will call them "one owner" because of this. Do your due dilligence, but again IMHO you can't beat the price usually.

Greg Cole
11-02-2007, 4:45 PM
FWIW, almost any car you see on a dealers lot that is @ 2 years old and @ 30K for mileage is either a retired rental or a program vehicle. They want to unload them before they too many miles on them. My day job is sruurounded by one each Toyota, Nissan, Saturn, Volvo & Lexus dealers... I've gotten to know some of the people working at these places over the last few years as they've built up around us and the GM of the Saturn dealer let that slide one day in a chit chat...

I also have had a job with my current employer that got me about 75% travel time and 100,000K a year in the friendly skies....countless rental cars. The company motto for the road warriors was to make sure ya got your $ worth....:cool:

Greg

Benjamin Dahl
11-02-2007, 4:55 PM
Thanks for the advice, I will pass it on to my friend. I am trying to convince her not to buy a new car since you loose so much value when you drive it off the lot. The prices on the rental cars did seem pretty fair and the cars did look to be well maintained.
Ben

Ralph Wiggum
11-02-2007, 5:41 PM
My dad is retired, and as something to do he works for a rental car company(not sure if I can name it) and shuttles cars around. It's a part time gig, a little extra fun money, and keeps him out of the house. Anyway he says they take very good care of there cars. He bought one like you are talking about, and has very good luck with it.

Jim Becker
11-02-2007, 5:59 PM
Although I've never done it, I've heard good things about buying vehicles that were previously rentals. I would imagine that most cars coming from any of the "majors" are going to be a good value; similar to many off-lease vehicles, especially those with low mileage.

Gary Keedwell
11-02-2007, 6:16 PM
Now that I think about it ..probably good idea. I think some of the older people might have a stigma against it because years ago when you beat up on a car there were all kinds of repercussions.
Cars are built better and can take far more abuse then alot of the older detroit clunkers. You can't kill these fast revving engines they manufacture these days.
Gary

Jason Roehl
11-02-2007, 7:14 PM
Well, if you ever have a chance to buy a 2003 (first year of new body style) Dodge Ram 1500 360ci, 4x4 (dark blue) that was from an Enterprise in Lafayette, IN...don't. :D

I had it as a rental when my work truck got rear-ended. It only had about 250 miles on the clock when I picked it up. I'm sure it's probably fine, but let's just say I didn't drive it like it was my own--had to test the 4x4 you know (and not in dirt/mud, I wanted to see if it would spin all 4...). Being a Dodge, I'm actually surprised the tranny held. :eek:

Art Mulder
11-02-2007, 8:01 PM
FWIW, almost any car you see on a dealers lot that is @ 2 years old and @ 30K for mileage is either a retired rental or a program vehicle. They want to unload them before they too many miles on them.


This must vary either by dealer or region then. I spoke to a fellow at the local Thrifty Car Rental a few years ago -- they had a page on their counter that was full of a list of cars that they were selling off. According to him the majority of their cars are turned over after six months.


...art

John Shuk
11-02-2007, 8:04 PM
I would think that the harshest abuse you can heap on a modern car is to neglect it by not cleaning it and not changing fluids and brake shoes. I think the rental companies are pretty good about that stuff. Yeah somebody might be a little rough on a tranny but rentals are usually auto tranny so there probably isn't much going wrong there. I might not buy a Mustang GT that was a rental but a minivan or midsize is probably a safe bet.

Matt Meiser
11-02-2007, 10:05 PM
I've had some rental cars that were most defintely not well cared for. Like the Saturn I had that had non-working ABS the night I drove home from Columbus in an ice storm--almost wrecked that one twice. And the Liberty we had in Florida that leaked anything you put in the wiper tank--so I'd just splash whatever liquid was handy on the windshield and ran the wipers until the scraped the whatever off the windshield (or ground it in.) Or the Toyota I had last time in St. Louis that smelled badly like burning plastic after a couple miles. On that one the company wouldn't bring me out a replacement but wanted me to drive 40 minutes back to the airport with it.

Jason Roehl
11-03-2007, 7:51 AM
I would think that the harshest abuse you can heap on a modern car is to neglect it by not cleaning it and not changing fluids and brake shoes. I think the rental companies are pretty good about that stuff. Yeah somebody might be a little rough on a tranny but rentals are usually auto tranny so there probably isn't much going wrong there. I might not buy a Mustang GT that was a rental but a minivan or midsize is probably a safe bet.

Well, autos are pretty hard to trash in 30k miles, driving normally. I said I was trying to spin all 4 tires on hard pavement--rev in Neutral, drop it in drive. That's about the worst thing you can do to an auto tranny. :D I think the truck had limited slip in the rear end, it sure was tight and didn't even want to spin the tires going around a turn at WOT. That 360 sure was nice under the hood, though...

John Shuk
11-03-2007, 10:43 AM
Jason's avatar just got posted in all Hertz, Avis, and Budget locations.

Gary Keedwell
11-03-2007, 11:22 AM
Jason's avatar just got posted in all Hertz, Avis, and Budget locations.
Reading post's like Jason's is why I always buy new.:cool:
Gary

Jason Roehl
11-03-2007, 11:40 AM
I try to help the economy where I can, Gary. :D

Brian Elfert
11-03-2007, 12:57 PM
My parents bought a previous rental car and I bought a previous rental car too. This was before 9/11. Mine had 9,000 miles and my parent's car had less than 20,000 miles. No problems with either one.

After 9/11 the entire travel industry went down the tubes so car rental agencies started keeping cars a lot longer. I've seen former rental cars in the past few years that were at or over the 36,000 mile limit for the bumper to bumper waranty before they were sold. Former rental cars seem to have a lot more cosmetic issues now than back when the cars were rotated more often.

The travel market has picked up considerably, but rental agencies are still keeping cars longer than in the 1990s. They are doing so because auto makers are cutting back on fleet sales to rental agencies. Auto makers no longer will sell cars at break even or a loss to rental agencies just to keep plants running.

I don't treat rental cars any differently than I treat my own cars. (I don't mistreat my personal vehicles.) Some rental cars are mistreated, but the vast majority of renters are business travelers that just need to get from point A to point B.

Gary Keedwell
11-03-2007, 1:20 PM
I understand Brian, I treat all my vehicles the same too, whether their rented or not. But it would be my luck that if I bought a rented car, it would be the exact one that Jason rented.:eek: :eek: :D
Gary

Kyle Kraft
11-05-2007, 12:07 PM
Seems like I once heard a saying like this, If it's a rental, don't be gentle.

Lee Schierer
11-05-2007, 12:57 PM
I'm sure it's probably fine, but let's just say I didn't drive it like it was my own--had to test the 4x4 you know (and not in dirt/mud, I wanted to see if it would spin all 4...). Being a Dodge, I'm actually surprised the tranny held. :eek:

Remind me Jason, never to loan you one of my cars! :D

Jason Roehl
11-05-2007, 2:50 PM
Lee, I sat in a Miata at a car show years ago. Even with the seat all the way back, I was uncomfortable in seconds. Now I'm pretty partial to the tall captain's chair in my truck (the one in the minivan isn't so bad, either).

Don't worry, I'm gentle with my friends' vehicles.

Art Mulder
11-05-2007, 3:17 PM
Lee, I sat in a Miata at a car show years ago. Even with the seat all the way back, I was uncomfortable in seconds.

Never understood that design.

~ 10 years ago a friend gave me a ride in his Miata. I'm 6'3"... Yeah, kneecaps on the dashboard. What were they thinking?

Gary Keedwell
11-05-2007, 3:54 PM
Never understood that design.

~ 10 years ago a friend gave me a ride in his Miata. I'm 6'3"... Yeah, kneecaps on the dashboard. What were they thinking?
Chick car???

Lee Schierer
11-06-2007, 12:54 PM
Lee, I sat in a Miata at a car show years ago. Even with the seat all the way back, I was uncomfortable in seconds. Now I'm pretty partial to the tall captain's chair in my truck (the one in the minivan isn't so bad, either).

Don't worry, I'm gentle with my friends' vehicles.

I think the new ones are better for taller people. I'm 5-11 and it is snug fit in my 96. It isn't a car you would drive cross country in unless you did it all on the back roads. The more turns in the road the more fun it is. At 32 mpg we have fun all summer for less than 1/2 the price of a BMW or Corvette and a much lower insurance premium as well. Mine is in storage until spring....its not a snow car either.;)

Carl Eyman
11-09-2007, 9:43 AM
I have done it twice. I bought a 1985 Lincoln Town car in late '85 directly from Budget. I drove it for about 10 years with excellent results. In Nov. 2005 I bought a '05 Dodge Caravan. We are at 2 years and counting with all going well. In between I bought a 1995 Caravan new. I kept it 11 years, but got no more satisfaction from it than I did from the other two.
My take is that it is only good business for the rental agencies to keep the car as well maintained as possible. This for customer satisfaction and lowest cost of operation. What do you suppose it costs them for a car to breakdown during a rental?

wyman autry
11-10-2007, 3:17 PM
if you buy a rental or lease vehicle, with warranty miles still on it,and engine problems occur, good luck getting the factory to do anything about it. engine maintaince, oil changes, etc. you cant prove oil changed at proper mileage, records almost impossible to obtain, factory says ,not our problem if auto not properly maintained. you are screwed, and they do not care, prepare to replace engine out of pocket. 3000.oo -7000-oo dollars.

Doug Edwards
11-10-2007, 4:48 PM
Yes, that would be important if you had to prove that you followed the maintenance schedule to get waranty service. You don't. The manufacturer can deny coverage only if evidence shows that you have failed to properly maintain and use your vehicle.

Mike Henderson
11-10-2007, 9:17 PM
Yes, that would be important if you had to prove that you followed the maintenance schedule to get waranty service. You don't. The manufacturer can deny coverage only if evidence shows that you have failed to properly maintain and use your vehicle.
That's very interesting, Doug. Do you have any idea what would be considered evidence that you failed to properly maintain and use your vehicle? If there was excessive wear in the engine and the oil at the time of failure tested as not having been changed in a long time (e.g., excessive contamination), do you think that would constitute "evidence" and they could deny your claim?

If they did charge that you did not maintain the car properly you'd need maintenance records to rebut it.

Mike