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I used to work for a name brand car rental company many moons ago & I know they tend to take care of thier cars. My GF & I were thinking of getting another car at some point but didn't want a new one because of the loss you take when you drive it off the lot. Has anyone here ever bought a car from a rental company? IF so how did it work out any problems with said car? Of course we would get someone to look it over before we bought it.
I used to work for a name brand car rental company many moons ago & I know they tend to take care of thier cars. My GF & I were thinking of getting another car at some point but didn't want a new one because of the loss you take when you drive it off the lot. Has anyone here ever bought a car from a rental company? IF so how did it work out any problems with said car? Of course we would get someone to look it over before we bought it.
Thanks in advance!
I like you used to work for one of the majors and I know the cars are well cared for. This is my vote to go ahead and buy one because you will hear from plenty of know nothings who will claim the rental cars are abused and you shouldn't buy one. My last purchase was a Mustang convertible that had one owner.... Hertz. I have had it for 5 years and continue to maintain it correctly and have had no problems.
Nine out of ten late model cars for sale probably are ex-rentals today. Short term leases faded away during the early recession affecting the supply of off-lease late model cars.
Only issue I've read is if you want to trade it in in the future, you might get a lower trade in since it was a former rental
I just filled out an online form to get a quote on my Saab and one of the questions was "was the car ever a former rental vehicle" even though I know the major rental car companies maintain their cars fairly well.
I am one of those "know nothings" - that ABUSED every rental car I ever rented. Not mine. I drive them like hell. "well taken care of" is a stretchy statement. You may have routine maintenance done, but no one really goes deeper into drive trains. Why do you think they sell them at such "low" mileage? Because REAL repairs are looming on horizon?
I am one of those "know nothings" - that ABUSED every rental car I ever rented. Not mine. I drive them like hell. "well taken care of" is a stretchy statement. You may have routine maintenance done, but no one really goes deeper into drive trains. Why do you think they sell them at such "low" mileage? Because REAL repairs are looming on horizon?
I'd really be interested to know just how you "abused" the cars to that extent...Most folks that I know don't "baby" their rental car, but not babying a car does equate to abuse...you can only drive so fast here, you can only brake so hard, unless your revving the engine up and dropping it from Neutral into Drive, taking it off road, or draining the coolant and oil just to see how long the engine will run before it seizes up, i doubt you really do anything that's going to destroy the car.
My wife's family has purchased almost all their cars from Enterprise and have had good luck with all of them. I purchased my 06' Jetta in 07' with about 28k miles on it from Enterprise and it has been perfectly reliable for the 80k miles I've owned it. My wife purchased her previous Grand Am from Enterprise and the car worked perfectly fine until we sold it a few months back, and the new owner has said nothing but good things either. I think there are plenty of "used" vehicles out there that aren't in the rental car fleets that will be maintained and treated considerably worse by their owners than the vehicles you see rented on a daily basis.
I've only rented cars for pleasure a few times, and for work numerous times. I've rented mustangs and driven them "hard" on back roads, but I've driven my own car in the same fashion. I've rented a Volkswagen while in Germany and I drove it harder than any car I've ever driven here in the states, but when you've got an autobahn at your disposal, you know you'll try to top the car out at least once.
So, while folks always say "I drive the snot out of a rental" I honestly think it's a bit exaggerated, and the fear of buying a rental is a bit overrated.
Enterprise Rent-a-Car has agreed to settle a lawsuit concerning its resale of scores of rental cars lacking side air bags. Enterprise specifically requested that the airbags be deleted, allowing it to save around $175 per car.
I looked at used Enterprise cars in 2009 and the price was not that much less than new,and they generally had 30,000 miles on them.I ended up buying new.
I am one of those "know nothings" - that ABUSED every rental car I ever rented. Not mine. I drive them like hell. "well taken care of" is a stretchy statement. You may have routine maintenance done, but no one really goes deeper into drive trains. Why do you think they sell them at such "low" mileage? Because REAL repairs are looming on horizon?
X2... what has four wheels and goes where a HUMMVEE cant?
A rental car of course...
Its amazing how much abuse a car can take with no visible damage.
On a normal weekend our company rents about a dozen autos. Half of them will be victims of off roading, curb jumping, neutral drops, huge smokey burnouts, and enough racetrack laps where most tires will be chunked and worn from the outer edge up to the middle of the tire. Half of those will be victims of pranks by coworkers, like racers tape or condiments hidden on the back of any control or handle you can touch, countless washers and other hardware stuck in between wheels and hubcaps, zip ties around axles for that lil extra annoying noise for the ride back to the airport, throttle body zip tied to WFO. Theres a bunch more that happens to them during those 3 or 4 days, but you get the picture.. the rest of em... we really beat the hell out of them.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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Many of the cars sold at dealerships are auctioned off rental cars. Yes, they are well maintained but can also be well abused by the drivers. We had a terrible experience with a former rental, and were unaware of it when we bought it. Turns out that in our state it's not required to be disclosed by the seller, though it is required to be included on the title. So, we found out when the title came in the mail. It was a 4-Runner (1996) with 75,000 miles and we spent over $4,000 in repairs in less than two years plus a head gasket that Toyota paid for on a "secret recall". Based on our experience I would not buy another rental and would do a carfax to check first.
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