Hertz rent to buy

[Pigeon]

Has anybody bought a vehicle through the Hertz Rent to Buy program? If so, what was your experience like?

We may be looking for a 2010 or so Altima. The year or two old fleet vehicles through a dealer are not all that much cheaper than a new car that it's worth it to us over buying new. We've never bought a used car before, because for the types of cars we buy, that's generally the case.

These Hertz rentals though are genuinely cheaper. I realize that rental cars may have had much harder use, but they also have been maintained. With this program, you have three days of driving the car and having it checked out before you have to decide to buy it, which is also an advantage.

 

[hipchickie]

I have not, but I remember recently that they were talking about it on Car Talk and highly recommended it - basically because they would have been very well maintained.
http://www.cartalk.com/content/columns/Archive/2001/February/06.html

 

[cats mom]

Funny you should ask. We picked up a car from them a little over a week ago. I can't give a full report yet, but I can share a few things.

Prices can be decent, but I wouldn't say that's a given. It very much depends on the make / model / mileage / location.

Some cars I researched were actually comparably priced under certified preowned programs at established dealerships, and I'd much rather go that route than take a car right out of a rental fleet.

Hertz self insures, so a carfax report is useless. They don't provide service records with cars they sell either. It's also not uncommon for them to provide only one key.

The car we reserved was freshly washed, and I swear they must have used a whole bottle of armour all inside, but it was definitely not detailed like you would expect at most car lots. There were definitely dings and scratches.

At this point my impression is that all of the reviews that talk about an unorganized process and non existant customer service are right on. But if you find the right car for the right price, the hassles may be worth it.

Feel free to PM me if you want more details.


Not sure if you came across this in your research or not? The following thread was started quite awhile ago, but there are quite a few first hand reports, and some of them are recent:

http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/deal-discussion/942370/?start=0&signedout

 

[Pigeon]

Thanks, yes, I read that thread.

For the type of car we're interested in, with the current extra $1K off, the prices from Hertz R2B are a good $3-4K cheaper than cars with similar mileage and age through dealers in our area.

It's really the only reason I'd buy used as otherwise the used prices for the last two model years are ver close to the end of year prices on new cars. The process does sound sort of crazy though.