Has anyone here purchased a rental car?

I bought a 2012 Corolla from Hertz. I bought it with 50k miles and now have 194k on it. No problems at all.

It had some minor interior blemishes but the exterior was fine.

Hertz won't haggle on price and trade in value. They will push their financing options (typical stuff).

I'll likely buy another Corolla from them when I get my current car to around 250k or so.

I change oil every 9k miles with Supertech synthetic and Fram extra guard filter. I did a transmission fluid pan drain at 110k. Other rountine maintenance as needed.

Good luck.

I did several years ago and it worked out fine. They even gave me a week to try it out, and guaranteed I could bring it back and get my money back, minus a small cleaning fee if I was not satisfied. Waited until day 6, had my mechanic go over everything, they agreed to pay for all the repairs, etc. he found which would have cost me about $700 (after saying I wanted to return same.) Kept the car for 10 years afterwards before selling it.

Famous words heard loudly leaving the jobsite parking lot enroute back to the motel for the evening: "It's a rental! Yeeehawww! Watch this!"

Awesome! I'm glad you had such good luck with it. Thanks for your feedback. I really think this is the way to go.

We bought two rental cars...but that was 30 years ago. They were fine. I almost forgot about them. It was so long ago.

I'm convinced that if you get regular check-ups, oil changes, filters, etc., cars last long. Ignore the check-ups, and you invite trouble. I've been guilty of it.

I bought my first new car in 2008, and I make sure it's maintained. It certainly has been better that any used car I ever had. No problems at all. Around 98,000 miles on it now. Not one problem. RAV 4. I love it.

Last Edited by nutmeg on 11/07/2019 08:12 AM

That's great about the 7-day trial...I think Avis advertises a 3-day test drive.

And absolutely! My mechanic is ready to do an inspection if I decided to go this route.

Hahahaha...I definitely used to think this until I realized there were a few things not covered by insurance...

Used to deliver a lot of them to auction sites - they were good I'd have bought one if I needed a new car.

I was in this business years ago. Here's how it works, "In General". When the rental companies buy cars, they never own them, the bank does. If they buy a package of 100 cars, then they're sold to them on a depreciation schedule of about 2% per month.

The factory then begins buying those cars back from the rental company in about three months. If the program was to buy back 80% of the 100 cars, then they'll buy back about six or eight per month until they've bought back the 80 cars. In so doing, the factory then has pick of the litter. What's left wind up on car rental company's lots and they're usually the ones that have high miles or have been wrecked or whatever. The cars that are bought back wind up going through dealer auctions and are purchased by dealerships with the same branding. Toyotas to Toyota Dealers, Ford to Ford and so on. They're usually referred to as program cars, and sure I'd buy one, but I'd personally aim for one at a New Car dealership rather than a rental company.

I hear you on the maintenance! I have always had a regular mechanic, except for a 3 year period I lived in MO. They are as golden as a good hair stylist!

Sounds like marrying a hooker.

no one respects rental cars

people rag the shit out of them

you might get lucky but probably not

at least with a hooker you get great blow jobs

I'd stick with the Nissan....the rest of those cars are junk

If they're still running after being a rental then they must be good runners.

You can buy a brand new car and it could turn out to be a lemon. That's because of product variance.

Rentals are probably considered "tried and true"

Carvana could be your best bet . . . can't be beat. Low mileage, excellent condition and warranty (can return within a month if you don't like it) service is fantastic - they drop off the car (registered) at your home and pick up if you have a trade in. I have several friends and family members who have been really happy. Plus the prices run about $3,000 less than a dealership.

And the choice . . .


[link to www.carvana.com (secure)]

I work at Auto Auction. Dealers suck those Rental cars up quick. So yeah they are a good used car. I to want to say NOTHING is a 100%. There's always a chance to have a small problem of some sort.
Another idea is if you have a friend that works for a Company that still buys cars see if you can get him to sell you the car. I did that myself. They may have 50 thousand miles on them but well kept. Good Luck! Happy Friday!

Buying a previous rental car seems like marrying a hooker.

:hooker:

I don't know about that.

I bought one from Hertz back in the mid 80's. Engine ran well until I sold it a year later from a lot of other little non engine problems. People drive the hell out of rental cars(I used to rent them just for that when I was younger). Probably better to find a person selling one with low miles and try to talk them down a couple grand. Most people don't hot rod their own car unless its a sports car and they usually always change their oil to keep the warrant valid. Make sure that person hasn't lived in an area that's been flooded.

I haven't bought one in several years. I agree about the depreciation. Rentals are generally well maintained, and most are fairly low mileage. Lease cars usually have more miles, and maintenance could be a bit sketchy. The best deal I ever got was a rental that was not returned, and reported stolen. The car was recovered after the insurance had paid off, so it was listed as a total. It had no damage, and very low miles. The only draw back was the branded title. I paid less than half retail, so I could live with that little paper work glitch.

You really need to take a good hard look at any used car. You need to look for signs of damage before you commit to buy. If you don't know what to look for, find someone that does. Rentals can be a great deal, but any used car could also be a real headache.

My daughter bought a 2014 Toyota Yaris from Hertz. It has been a great car. it had about 30K on it when she bought it, it has been 3 years and it has about 75K on it now, never had a single issue. Just had to replace the tires once.

Bought one from a dealership years ago. It worked out fine.

My car was a lease car and I think a rental before I bought it. It’s a 2010 Mazda 6 I Sport. It runs really well. Has 69k miles.