Buying a used car from a rental company

[Spartana]

Has anyone ever bought a newer used car from a car rental company? I'm looking to get a compact car and they (Enterprise, Hertz, etc...)have cars that are only a year old, come with all the goodies and seem to be reasonably priced for only being a year old (most are 2012's). However they have alot of miles on them with 40K - 50K seeming to be the norm. That's a lot of miles for a car that's only a year old. Are they driven hard and maintained poorly, or driven alot but gently and maintained really, really well despite their high mileage? Good way to buy a used car or bad way?

[Tussiemussies]

Around here in the aftermath of Sandy, Dollar Stretcher had an article on how not to be fooled into buying a car that was in the flood. Something I'm not sure about for you but a big chain might move some of these cars to unsuspecting states to pass them off. Maybe consumer reports or the AAA magazine can give you information on which car rental companies take the best care of their cars?

[JaneV2.0]

I have. I was happy with the seamless process--Enterprise has a working relationship with my credit union--and price, which was in line with my research. I was happy not to have to play games with a clown car full of tricksters to get to the bottom line. I bought it with 30K miles on it, serviced and certified, and I've had no trouble with it. I got a three-year contract and paid it off early. Painless. My trusty mechanic thinks it's a peach. You can run the VIN through CarFax to get a history on whichever one you choose.

[Gardenarian]

My dh bought a former rental and it was a lemon. This was about 20 years ago and they are making cars better these days.

I remember a "Car Talk" where they said it was better to buy a former rental than a leased, because rentals do get regular oil changes and check-ups after each use, whereas people who lease cars may do so because they don't want to be bothered with maintenance.

[JaneV2.0]

When I bought mine, I had the option of returning it within a short period (a week?), so I could have had it thoroughly checked by my mechanic before making a final commitment, had I so chosen.

[Spartana]

Thanks for the info. I hadn't thought about the potential hidden flood damage when buying a used car. I guess that could be the case when buying a new car too. I seem to remember that was a concern many people had over buying a Toyota after the Tsnumai. I just looked at the Enterprise car buying site and they have a 12 month, 12,000 mile warrantee on any car purchase so that would probably be enough time to weed out any problems.

[awakenedsoul]

Thanks for the info. I hadn't thought about the potential hidden flood damage when buying a used car. I guess that could be the case when buying a new car too. I seem to remember that was a concern many people had over buying a Toyota after the Tsnumai. I just looked at the Enterprise car buying site and they have a 12 month, 12,000 mile warrantee on any car purchase so that would probably be enough time to weed out any problems.

I bought my Kia Rio from Enterprise. I love it! My brother is a district manager for Enterprise, so I got $1,500. off. It's been trouble free. I think I paid $6,000. back in 1995. It was a 1994, and it had around 40,000 miles on it. Now it has 120,000. It's never broken down. I do the 30,000, 60,000 and 90,000 mile servicing. I change the oil every 3,000 miles. My mom bought a Volkswagon Beetle through them, too. My brother helped her. She loves her car, too. It's been an excellent purchase. I got mine in Van Nuys.

[Spartana]

I bought my Kia Rio from Enterprise. I love it! My brother is a district manager for Enterprise, so I got $1,500. off. It's been trouble free. I think I paid $6,000. back in 1995. It was a 1994, and it had around 40,000 miles on it. Now it has 120,000. It's never broken down. I do the 30,000, 60,000 and 90,000 mile servicing. I change the oil every 3,000 miles. My mom bought a Volkswagon Beetle through them, too. My brother helped her. She loves her car, too. It's been an excellent purchase. I got mine in Van Nuys.

I was also loking at something like a Kia Rio or Forte - or something similair. Glad to hear you like it, I'm going to keep my truck as I need the extra space often and it's so practical, but it's a gas hog so want an inexpensive compact car for day to day driving. Should be able to use my bike more too. Gas is still hovering around $4/gal so need something fuel efficent.

[awakenedsoul]

I only have to fill my Kia Rio up every two months. I try to combine my trips to one day per week. The rest of the time I bike. I think I read on this forum that gas in Australia is $7.00 a gallon! Yikes! Makes me glad I live a block from the bus stop.

[ToomuchStuff]

I believe it is just like buying a vehicle from an individual, still a cr**shoot. My local CU has events with them and pushes getting a car loan normally once a year, but I haven't bought one. They do tend to maintain them, but they do get driven harder as well (not my car syndrome). A friend just rented a car, due to his vehicle being hit, so he rented the one he wants to replace his with (or so he thought). He had it up over 100mph.

[oldhat]

About 20 years ago when I was in grad school I bought a 1988 Chevy Nova (in reality a Toyota Corolla) from National. It had about 60K when I bought it, and it ran like a top until I sold it in 1995 with about 120K. I only sold it because I was living in Chicago at the time and keeping a car in the city was too costly.

As I recall, it had a 60-day warranty, enough time to determine that it had no major problems.

I had less luck with a 1998 Chevy Cavalier I bought for my Mom. I quickly inherited the car when her health deteriorated to the point where she couldn't drive. Again, I got about 60K miles out of it, but I did have some major repairs. At about 120K the transmission cratered.

[SteveinMN]

About 20 years ago when I was in grad school I bought a 1988 Chevy Nova (in reality a Toyota Corolla) from National. It had about 60K when I bought it, and it ran like a top until I sold it in 1995 with about 120K. I only sold it because I was living in Chicago at the time and keeping a car in the city was too costly.
My brother had one of those; in fact, the only reason he sold it was that he could no longer drive. I am convinced Toyota had no idea how well they built those or they would have stopped. :+1: I don't think there's anything short of nuclear war (or maybe salty roads) that stops them.

[San Onofre Guy]

I would not hesitate to buy a car from Enterprise. They are such a top notch company. Every car I have rented from them has been top notch in care.

[JaneV2.0]

I keep hearing about rental cars being routinely mistreated, but I've driven and ridden in them over the years--mostly for business--with a wide variety of drivers, and have never seen the slightest evidence of this. You can buy a car anywhere--used or new--and have problems.

[Spartana]

Well I have trashed a few rental cars so..... :-)! But Enterprise is having a Thanksgiving weekend sale so will check it out and see what they have. I do like the no-hassle pricing and I believe that they give you something like $750 over the blue book price of your trade in.

[awakenedsoul]

Well I have trashed a few rental cars so..... :-)! But Enterprise is having a Thanksgiving weekend sale so will check it out and see what they have. I do like the no-hassle pricing and I believe that they give you something like $750 over the blue book price of your trade in.

Keep us posted! I would take advantage of that sale. My brother buys cars for Enterprise to sell. He told me he always gets some of the Kia Rios for people like me. That sounds like a great deal on the trade in.

[jp1]

Around here in the aftermath of Sandy, Dollar Stretcher had an article on how not to be fooled into buying a car that was in the flood. Something I'm not sure about for you but a big chain might move some of these cars to unsuspecting states to pass them off. Maybe consumer reports or the AAA magazine can give you information on which car rental companies take the best care of their cars?

I would hope that a large company like Enterprise, etc, would be smart enough not to try and do something like this. If they got caught, which would be likely given the fact that a flooded car is not likely to ever be right, the class action lawsuit would quickly gobble up far more money than they made trying to pull a stunt like this. And most likely they have catastrophic insurance to cover them in the event that a large number of vehicles get destroyed in a flood or whatever, so the benefit to them would be limited to begin with.

[ToomuchStuff]

I know a lot of flooded cars go over the border. Some will remain over there. What worries me are the others, since it is easier to wash a title oversea's (I don't know about bringing them back in though, heard various things).
My actual bigger concern, being that I am not looking for a vehicle, is junk yard parts (getting flood car parts down the road).

[Spartana]

Well I never did go look at Enterprises used cars - yet. May just keep the gas guzzling truck until it dies as I will be living back down by the beach soon and not having to drive back and forth those 100 miles each way (in the snow!) to see the sis and the BF every other week or so. Nor will I be taking it on long road trips with the dog because I'll be leaving her at home with the sis and flying places instead (or renting a compact car). So starting in Jan I am going to challenge myself to limit my driving (will ride my bike as much as possible) to just a few days a week and try to keep my weekly mileage under 100/week. I'm curious to see how long the truck (a 2001) will last. It still looks and runs like new but alot of the plastic and rubber stuff like door handles are starting to break. Not expensive to fix - yet - but I may be entering that nickle-and-dime-me-to-death stage with the truck.

[awakenedsoul]

I try to use my car for under 30 miles a week. I bike the rest of the time. It's working out for me. I can bike almost everywhere here. The older the car gets, the less it costs to insure and register. I do drive it to Carmel a few times a year, though. I may start renting a car for vacations. How many miles do you have on your truck? My Kia has 124,000. I've had some of the plastic parts (like the inside lock) break, too. The repairs still might be cheaper than the cost of insuring and registering a newer used car from Enterprise.

[shadowmoss]

Spartana: I gave my '96 Toyota with 360K miles on it to my best friend when I left Nashville almost 5 years ago. I saw it when we Skyped a couple of weeks ago in her driveway. Granted, it isn't a primary vehicle anymore, but it also shows no real signs of dieing. Bonus there is if/when I fly into Nashville I have a free truck to drive around.

[pony mom]

I found a 2008 Pontiac Vibe (a Toyota Matrix in disguise) being sold as a certified pre-owned two years ago for my parents. The Carfax said it was a rental in Utah. The Pontiac dealer did whatever they do to make the car 'certified' and even called us back to replace the tires with new ones. The only thing I can find is the windshield looks like it was replaced. It runs great and the inside looked like new.

[Spartana]

Spartana: I gave my '96 Toyota with 360K miles on it to my best friend when I left Nashville almost 5 years ago. I saw it when we Skyped a couple of weeks ago in her driveway. Granted, it isn't a primary vehicle anymore, but it also shows no real signs of dieing. Bonus there is if/when I fly into Nashville I have a free truck to drive around.

360K miles - WOW! I hear that's pretty common with Toyotas but always amazes me. My truck only has around 100K miles on it so it'll gop awhile longer but the gas mileage ...UGH. Unlike Awakened Soul, I do need drive more so those fuel costs adds up. But it's still cheaper then buying a new or used car so I'll keep it awhile longer and keep OPEC countries rich and happy :-)!

[Spartana]

I found a 2008 Pontiac Vibe (a Toyota Matrix in disguise) being sold as a certified pre-owned two years ago for my parents. The Carfax said it was a rental in Utah. The Pontiac dealer did whatever they do to make the car 'certified' and even called us back to replace the tires with new ones. The only thing I can find is the windshield looks like it was replaced. It runs great and the inside looked like new.

A Vibe was one of the cars I was looking at getting. Want something I can put the rear seat down in to have more room but didn't want an SUV. And without small station wagons being common anymore, I thought something like the Vibe would be good. Glad to hear you like it. For now I'll keep my truck (tons of room!) but something like a Vibe or Matrix would probably be a good compromise between a small compact car and a small SUV.