Poorly Maintained Lease Vehicles?

[ATex7239]

I have driven lease fleet vehicles for years. Probably one of the more diligent folks. But still not great. I do things only when absolutely needed and no more than needed. Needs gas then I get gas. Needs tires then I get tires. Needs an oil change (by the maintenance light) then I get an oil change.

No need spending more money on it than absolutely necessary. It is not going to get abused. But it is not going to get babied either.

 

[ATex7239]

From the comments i gather every bitoger drops off their hertz/similar vacation car rentals with a full tank of techron supplemented top tier gas and a complete mobil 1 0w40 euro and filter (95%at 25 microns and wire backing) change?

Don’t forget the tire rotation and detail.

 

[dishdude]

I have driven lease fleet vehicles for years. Probably one of the more diligent folks. But still not great. I do things only when absolutely needed and no more than needed. Needs gas then I get gas. Needs tires then I get tires. Needs an oil change (by the maintenance light) then I get an oil change.

No need spending more money on it than absolutely necessary. It is not going to get abused. But it is not going to get babied either.

That sounds like proper maintenance to me.

 

[ATex7239]

That sounds like proper maintenance to me.

I’m sure plenty of folks think quick lube 5/0W20 in GDI turbos running out to 7-8K mile is sacrilegious though.

 

[John105]

I have driven lease fleet vehicles for years. Probably one of the more diligent folks. But still not great. I do things only when absolutely needed and no more than needed. Needs gas then I get gas. Needs tires then I get tires. Needs an oil change (by the maintenance light) then I get an oil change.

No need spending more money on it than absolutely necessary. It is not going to get abused. But it is not going to get babied either.

When I got my bmw in 12/06 oil changes ran $130. They’re cheaper today. I asked the svc mgr should I do a 1,200 mi oil change like the M cars (N54 335)?

First question: own or lease? If lease just do the free one at 15k or 1 yr. If own, I would, and I would also pay for an interval change every 7,500. But again, if you lease, why spend your money on someone else’s car just do the free maintenance (on the 2007 models pads and rotors were included).

Then he coded me for $68 oil changes which back then was cheap. I started DIY around 2013…

 

[KrisZ]

CarFax is useful for checking ownership history, which state the vehicle was originally sold in etc. It may help determine if the car was possibly flooded, may show an accident or two, or if there is anything suspicious going on with the registration history. That’s about it and even for this purpose it is not 100%.

Don’t use it for maintenance records history.

 

[thescreensavers]

There are a lot of things you can do from your computer these days but nothing is going to replace an eyes on inspection/PPI.

As a DIYer Carfax now allows you to add DIY changes/maintenance to Carfax.

 

[John105]

There are a lot of things you can do from your computer these days but nothing is going to replace an eyes on inspection/PPI.

As a DIYer Carfax now allows you to add DIY changes/maintenance to Carfax.

I got lazy on that one—PPI (first used car over $2,000 @ $14,000). Brakes shuddered and driver door actuator non functional. Used car salesman never returned calls.

Such a very unlikely outcome but required 2 trips 3 hours each way.

New Buick/GMC dealer fixed the above and used Lexus parts (got old parts returned in Lexus boxes showing the local dealer they got the parts from). They were gonna turn the rotors and I got turned rotors also returned to me. But I asked for Lexus OE parts to be used and they said fine…small dealer in Westchester NY and I gave them a good review online. That svc mgr wasn’t there months later. Maybe he was too helpful, too courteous, and cost the dealer too much in free work? Figures

 

[PandaBear]

This IMO is the reason many new car comes with "free" maintenance for the first 10-20k miles. They can keep more of them in good condition so the lease return can be CPOed.

Won't trust a local mechanic to enter every oil change into carfax, it is not what it is for.

 

[350Rocket]

I have been looking at CPO used cars and while looking at their Carfax reports, I was rather surprised to see how many cars had poor service history. Many had oil changes only after 20 or 30K miles--not good.

I helped my in laws look at a 2018 Kia Sorento with the 3.3 V6 (the engine which is not known for connecting rod failure)...it had 76,000kms with extended warranty from Kia (we confirmed with the dealership) until 10 years/110,000kms (68k miles). The current owners are a Chinese couple moving back to China temporarily (the reason for selling) and they don't know a lot about cars but they did religious maintenance. First oil change at 1500kms and then mostly every 5k. Coolant changed before 30k miles etc. I 100% trust the sellers of this vehicle and think my in laws should be jumping on it, but my father in law is dragging his feet on it because he doesn't value maintenance and care as much as I do. He is the guy you really don't want to buy a vehicle from because some of the oil changes will be well over 10K, severe service conditions and he's is one of those guys that pumps the gas while driving, constantly shifting, tows in OD etc.

Their current vehicle is a 2011 Equinox with the 3.0 V6 and despite his maintenance it's made it to nearly 100k miles.... timing chain is probably on its last legs, but the vehicle is completely rusted out underneath because they never had it undercoated. He also owns a couple Chevy Express vans, a 2004 1500 and a 2008 2500. Transmission failed on the 2004 at 70k miles, likely because of his terrible driving habits.

I think they're going to miss out on the deal on this well maintained Kia. I called today to ask for an update and he's looking at a similar vehicle at a local dealership with only 37,000kms on it. I'm already suspecting it had almost zero maintenance done. What I really want to say to my father in law is that they don't want to buy something that was owned by someone like him in the past. Lol.

 

[JeffKeryk]

My vehicles often go to a family member or friend. That way I get to keep servicing them!

 

[ET16]

I'm thinking of buying a 2022 Volvo S60. It was a leased car that is for sale at a Toyota dealer. I was told that it was taken as a trade.

Is this normal? I thought leased cars had to go back to the original dealer.

 

[proveitwithdata]

I'm thinking of buying a 2022 Volvo S60. It was a leased car that is for sale at a Toyota dealer. I was told that it was taken as a trade.

Is this normal? I thought leased cars had to go back to the original dealer.

Volvo cars go back to a volvo (does not have to original selling party) dealer, unlike other marques where you can sell to anyone. What might happened, is that toyota dealer might have a sister volvo dealer, or bought it off from auction.

that being said, get a ppi, and also i would scan what the s60 forum members are dealing with in terms of issues. That google based infotainment is zonky from what i remember.

 

[JTK]

I don't think there's ever been a time ex-rentals or ex-lease vehicles were well maintained. I worked for a major rental car co ~35yrs ago and can tell you they weren't maintained well back then.

The big difference is, pre-COVID, you could buy a low mileage ex-rental/lease for close to half of what they MSRP'd for. I did this for about 20yrs and bought many without issue.

Today these vehicles are not low mileage, nor are they a bargain. Couple that with the fact nearly all of them are GDI or turbo GDI can open up all kinds of issues given the lack of oil changes, etc they saw.

 

[supton]

I always thought it was a slam-dunk plan on leases to have free service included. The dealership could then profit on flipping the car when done, as they could show all the records of keeping it in tip-top shape.