"Previous Rental" Car

[rayelias]

Anyone ever purchased a "previous rental" car from a dealer?

There's a pretty large dealer around here that has TONS of these.

I've heard two schools of thought.

1) RUN. People beat the heck out of rentals.

2) Good deals. The rental agencies really take care of them - frequent maintenance, good records. You can usually get a pretty good vehicle for considerably less than a typical "used" car.

I'd like to hear from anyone who has bought a "previous rental" car, or maybe mechanics or car salespeople who can give some honest feedback.

Thanks!

 

[Cool-Beans]

Everybody says that people beat up on rental cars...but I never get that. I know I don't. I drive the way I drive. I don't suddenly decide that since the car doesn't belong to me, I'll drive differently, slamming on the breaks (or riding them) on purpose. And other than breaks, what could someone do to hurt a rental car??

If it were a good deal, I'd probably buy the car. But I'm no expert.

 

[safetymom]

I bought a certified used Mercury from the local dealer. The title showed it had been a rental. The car had 16,000 on it when I got it. I have 48,000 on it now. It has been a wonderful car.

 

[FINFAN]

I agree that I don't think most peolple drive a rental any different than their own, but just don't care as much as to where they park it, slamming doors, getting it dirty etc. You can look up on CARFAX the history, and see where it it coming from. There are a lot of fleet cars that have been in corporate use also. To me rental coming from Fl is better than NY...for one, the weather has been better on the vehicle...and with any luck, it was rented for use from MCO to WDW and then did a whole lot of sitting in the resort parking lot!
I would not have a problem purchasing one, especially if you can get it as a certified used car and the carfax history.


Pam

 

[juligrl]

In my former life (pre-children), I did a brief stint working for a rental car company. The upside as you stated is that the rental agency does keep the fleet mainatined (oil changes and such), they keep good record on the vehicles and they tend to do resells at lower mileage (under 30,000).

By saying people "beat-up" on rental cars I think they are more referring to "allwoing" the car to get dinged, scratched & dented more so than they would allow for that with their own vehicles. If a brand new looking car is not high on your priority list than a previously used rental might be a reasonable option for you.

My dad had one back in the early 80s. It was a Ford Fairmont. Unfortunately, it really wasn't that great of a car. But then again, I think it depends what kind of car you're looking at.

 

[babytrees]

Our "wheezy" lived as a rental before coming to us. She's a Ford Escort that had nearly 19,000 on her when we got her. Five and a half years later she has been an awesome car. Regular stuff has needed to be done...most recent was the alternator. Nothing out of the ordinary. Almost 90,000 miles on the lovely car now.

We have had to have rentals a couple of times the last couple of years...great to have but not our "wheezy".

 

[eowensby]

My first car when I was 16 was a previous rental...it was a 1994 Nissan Sentra. I think it had 20k miles on it . It came from Avis. It was a great car, her name was Becky. I had Becky until 2004 when my dh slid in the rain and smashed her up.

 

[tmasingo]

I worked for a reputable rental car company for 4 years just out of college. If you're not looking for brand new, I really think this is a good way to go. The cars are maintained on a computerized schedule (at least there) and not left to fall apart. As for people "beating up on rental cars," I think the mentality that 'it's not mine, so I don't care what happens to it,' is what people mean We certainly saw our share of 'trashed' cars come back, but honestly, if a car is not in a condition for resale, it isn't put on the lot to be sold. Not every rental car in the fleet is up for sale when the time comes to pull them, which in my experience was usually at no more than 30K miles, and that was pushing the high end.

Good luck with your decision!

 

[Hannathy]

I have a Chev. Lumina that was a previous rental. Have had it for 10 yrs with no problems out of the usual use and wear and tear. It now has over 130,000 miles on it. My DH's was a rental also but we haven't had it as long and again no problems.