Buying a rental? Any Good?

[dishdude]

Originally Posted By: SatinSilver
Originally Posted By: dishdude
I work with a guy that is in sales, he puts 30k miles a year on his cars and always buys old Enterprise cars with around 30k on them. He was buying Centuries, but moved on to Malibus. He changes the oil every 10k at Jiffy Lube

does nothing else to them and sells them around 150k because at that point they are too old (model years) for the car allowance reimbursement. Between the allowance and mileage, he said he makes money on the cars.


Originally Posted By: dishdude
A guy I work with that is in sales buys nothing but old Enterprise cars off rental, changes the oil every 10k at Jiffy Lube and looked at me like I had 2 heads when I asked about transmission and other maintenance. He said he always says no when they try to upsell him, and he trades his cars in at 200k with nothing but a few minor repairs along the way.


Same guy or different people?

LOL! Same guy. Car has to be less than 5 model years old to qualify for allowance reimbursement, which is the real catalyst for replacement.

 

[raytseng]

Originally Posted By: dlundblad
Originally Posted By: glock19
Originally Posted By: dlundblad
Since I am under 25, I have to pay literally 2x the normal renters amount.

That said, I feel I would have to get my money's worth and beat the [censored] out of the car while I have it.


Hmm, maybe that's why is so expensive...


I'm guessing you didn't read either.

Anyways.. This is my point. The majority of young people would feel this way because it isn't their car. Having to pay more because of being young would just add to it.


I fixed it for you, and I think you missed other people's point. Not everybody thinks the same way you do. When guys get older, many (but not all) stop feeling this way. And i'm not just talking about guys who've settled down with a family and kids and and turned into dad mode, regular still single males too.
They just want to get to where they're going. All rental cars are [censored] anyway and there's no point in hooning it, it adds no pleasure; they've done it all already; so they already own a sports car or go to a track or need something more extreme to get something out of it.

On flyertalk, you'll see a subsection of frequent renters who specifically get the low performance good MPG vehicle so they can save the few bucks on fuel instead. Cause there's no point in thrashing the rental pos.

 

[mike7139]

Thank you for the replies. After watching a few videos on youtube like this one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHImhQJ6leI which was recently posted I have decided to not buy an ex rental.

I will probably go with either a brand new Sentra or Corolla.

 

[Bluestream]

Originally Posted By: mike7139
Thank you for the replies. After watching a few videos on youtube like this one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHImhQJ6leI which was recently posted I have decided to not buy an ex rental.

I will probably go with either a brand new Sentra or Corolla.


The level of Stupid in that video is epic..

 

[Studebaker]

I have a part time job as a driver at an airport.
Enterprise owns National and Alamo.
Hertz owns Budget and Avis, and thrifty and Dollar.
The computer spits out when a car needs maintenance and we have to put it in the PM line. Any recalls must be grounded immediately. I know of one manager who was fired on the spot because he sent out a car with a soft recall.
Tire maintenance is incredible. Tires are pulled with plenty of tread left because they passed a certain mileage number, much much less than what the distributor gives for tire life. They are not allowed to sell or give away these tires. They actually pay to have them hauled off. The tread is better than what I run.
The quality of the car varies from location. There are Maseratis in the fleet, along with Corvettes etc, but mostly based out west where the clientele warrants it. We have Volvo's, BMW's, Miatas, Lexus, Infiniti along with run of the mill cars.
When a car reaches a certain mileage, we pull it and send it to a local store. Right now we are pulling those with over 10K.
When they reach a certain mileage they are deleted from the fleet.
The cheaper cars are more likely to be abused by the renter. You can tell by the way they are returned that the people were slobs. The kind of person that rents a Buick Lacrosse or an Impala will usually return it almost as perfect as it was sent out.
And I would suspect the person who rents a Challenger or Camaro would beat on it more.
Our shuttle drivers are older, no kids. Most are post 60, and don't abuse the cars.
The Sonics, Kia's, Notes occasionally show up with 20K. They aren't very good cars. Occasionally an Impala or Lacrosse will come in with 30-40K on it. A Buick with 40K on it runs better than a Sonic with 10K on it. Just my observation.

 

[Jarlaxle]

Originally Posted By: fdcg27
Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle
Originally Posted By: fdcg27
If all you're going to save is four or five grand, then buy something new. I think you'll find that the marginal cost is actually less than that.
None of the models you've mentioned are exactly flying off the lots at current fuel prices.
Try finding a few dealers that offer internet pricing and sending out some emails.
I think you'll be surprised how cheaply you could buy one of these models new, without the abuse that any rental car will have suffered.


If it is "only" fivegrand, you should send him a CHECK for the difference!


I apparently got under your skin a little.
That wasn't my intent.
I view allocable capital cost per mile or year of use as the primary metric in determining the economic viability of any automotive purchase.
If you can buy a model brand new for $4-5K more than a 40-50K car, then you're in exactly the same place in allocable cost.
In the case of the OP, who drives very few miles, he's still losing $2-3K in years of use.
The used model will also soon need tires and probably a good brake job, another $.5-1K that you wouldn't spend with a new car.
The cars he's looking at are pretty low-end and are heavily discounted now and will only get cheaper as '15 leftovers.
I do buy some cheap old crocks and get considerable use out of them, but a beater is only viable if you have a spare or two and are willing and able to do some work DIY.
A car bought new can be the most cost-effective choice if you buy it smart.
You just need to do the math and not listen to the myths that abound about new car purchases being a poor financial decision.


TL, dr.

 

[jim302]

Thinking about buying a rental car makes me think about that episode of Top Gear where Jeremy drove across New Zealand in the "fastest car in the world," a rented Toyota Corolla. He drove it like a maniac on gravel roads, before ultimately trashing it in an accident with a tractor.

Maybe an extreme example, but anything rented is subject to abuse. This is the same reason they put [censored] appliances in apartments - because there are too many people that think it is OK to destroy something that isn't theirs. That being said, it does make for some good You Tube videos...

Lower mileage does limit the amount of abuse received... 53K is way too much in my opinion.

 

[Cujet]

Originally Posted By: mike7139
Hertz is selling a 2014 Sonic LT for 9k with 53k miles. They also have a few 2013 Ford Focus SE with 50k miles for 10k and a few 2014 Cruze LT's with just over 50k miles and selling for 11k. Are these good prices or am I better off spending 4k-5k more and getting a brand new car with zero miles such as a 2016 Corolla?



My father purchased a Hertz rental. It lasted nearly forever, with something like 240,000 miles at the end. But, the one he picked was low miles and in particularly good shape. It looked and drove like new.

I'd guess that the model of car you pick, the miles and the condition all matter.

Even so, I'd probably not choose a Hertz rental. Unless it was a rental Corvette with very low miles. I know they get thrashed, but they can take it.