Originally Posted By: stower17
FWIW I tend to only buy ex rental cars myself. I like the $avings on a fairly new veh. With that being said, as with any used car make sure to look it over really good. I know plenty of people who said they would never buy a rental car, and then later bought a used car and then found out it was a prior rental. All completely shocked, never thought rental cars could be "good" vehicles.
YES, go to a fleet auction and guaranteed you will see wrecked, smashed, been to heck and back rental cars and it is completely obvious what those cars have gone thru. Stay away from those. They are usually so ragged with broken parts and beat up interiors that they usually end up on sub prime car lots. Those are the junkers, cars that the manufacturer voided the warranty on because of damage.
If you buy a car directly from the rental agency, odds are that its one of their better units. They will gladly show you the maintenance record, sometimes without asking. Rental agencies have invested a lot of money into the disposal of their fleet, they want the best vehicles on their lot to help undo the stigma that rental cars are beat up pieces of junk.
There are so many ex rental cars driving around this country, agencies buy nearly a million cars every year, only to dump them after about 12 months.
There of course will be people who say buying a rental is the worst idea ever, well good, more cars available for me
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I agree. I have bought at least 2 vehicles that I knew were rental vehicles. The Grand Marquis was a rental, and it has been very reliable. The Impala was a Hertz Rental. It had 25K miles on it, and 20K miles later I've had NO problems at all. I lowballed the dealership on the Impala and to my surprise they said as long as I brought my checkbook into the dealership that day, they would do the deal (it was the last day of the month).
As was mentioned, the key is to inspect the vehicle very closely. Drive it more than "around the block." If the dealership wouldn't let you go out on the freeway or highway for a while, then walk away. I've never been one to ask for or look at "maintenance records." Those can be easily produced. I go by my own inspection especially under the hood.
FWIW, I seem to have had more "luck" with the rental cars purchases than I did with the cars that I bought new (Camry and Trailblazer.)