Buying From Hertz

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mjbrox113

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So I never thought I would say this but im considering buying a truck from Hertz.

I want to keep my purchase of a truck no more than 5 years old, less than 100k miles and under $30k. I started looking at Tundra's and immediately realized that I cant afford those. Fords seem too un reliable, so Im left between a Silverado and Ram.

This is going to be a family hauling truck with very light (if any) tow use. Im the kinda guy that will try to run it to 300k miles and I like to do my own work. So I need a reliable truck that is also reasonably easy to work on.

The reason Im looking at Hertz is because they sell reasonably appointed trucks at good prices. The other thing I like is that they dont have trailer hitches so I dont have to worry about them towing too heavy.

I am the most concerned with the transmission. How reliable are these? If I stay on top of fluid changes and not do anything abusive, how long will these 8speed transmissions last?

here is the one im looking at https://www.hertzcarsales.com/certified/Ram/2020-Ram
-1500+Classic-94dac1b30a0e0a9020c1e0198dcf3ccb.htm
 

Jeepwalker

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The tk looks clean ...4x4. Chrome bumpers ...I wouldn't balk at it. I found out, doing some research, mine was originally an Enterprise Rental ...and it has a hitch. It was owned privately before me. Now has 175k seemingly-troublefree miles (at least in my tenure). No major prior service repair records in the Chrysler database.

The tranny's are robust on these trucks (RFE's and 8-spds). That said, with any used vehicle, one should expect ...or at least prepare for the unknown. At least for a while. Any vehicle can have issues at 80k+ mi, even one purchased new. Sounds like you are a seasoned buyer, and can manage risk. Once you get all the maintenance issues taken care of and establish a baseline, I hope you have many yrs of trouble-free motoring! :waytogo:

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mjbrox113

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I guess my point is that I see getting one from a rental fleet is actually an advantage
 
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mjbrox113

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There are too many red flags with that Hertz truck.

I now have this one on my radar and its local to me

It has reasonable miles, good color and only a couple years old.

I had dreams of having a loaded up truck but id rather have less miles on a newer truck. That said, are there any options that anyone thinks im really missing out on? Also, I notice that these dont have the "4WD Auto" button. What is that function? I will be driving in the snow on highways quite a lot.

Finally, I love that the truck does not have a trailer hitch because it I know it hasn't been abused with excessive towing. However, I will be installing a hitch and wanted to know if im going to need to add transmission coolers
 
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mjbrox113

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Looks like a nice truck however I would never buy a rental they get beat on and any time i see 'NO HAGGLE PRICE" I personally stay far away.

Why do you say they get beat on? Seems to me the worst abuse a truck gets is when it is towing and these rental trucks dont have tow hitches
 

jws123

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Why do you say they get beat on? Seems to me the worst abuse a truck gets is when it is towing and these rental trucks dont have tow hitches
No hitch is good but I have seen people overload rental trucks with dirt or whatever bend axles ect. Also lots of burnouts off roading ect becuase its not their vehicle so people dont care Just my opinion tho.
 

Daw14

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I’m guilty of beating the shlt out of rentals , I don’t rent often but when I do it’s fully insured and driven like stolen. Neutral drops ,rockfords , burnouts for distance . No way on earth would I consider buying one ,most friends treat them the same . Full insurance is the key to fun , unworried abuse of a rental . You should inspect it very well underneath also , as I like to off-road also. Keep in mind there’s lots of aholes like me .
 

Bigskyroadglide

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As a former consultant, I rented vehicles every week for 5 plus years. Abuse is a kind words when you talk about rental fleets. Our goal was simple, turn them in running with no visible damage, with the minimum amount of gas necessary to indicate a full tank.

Nothing more Nothing less.

Knowing what I know, I would not touch a rental ever.

I hope whatever you choose, it works out for you
 

Jeepwalker

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Not everybody abuses rentals. I treat rentals as good as or better than my own car. I check all the fluids once I get them. I add air/oil or whatever if they're really low (sometimes they are). Park in low-door-ding-zones, ...and wouldn't let the kids put their feet on the upholstery (when they were young). And I rent vehicles rather often. I know it sounds crazy ...but that's how I roll. ...maybe it's the mechanic in me.

I know owners who are hard on everything they buy/own. Their trucks look awful when they trade them off. Little to no maintenance. Fortunately most owners aren't that way. When I worked at a dealership, the used cars/trucks would come in half-beat and they'd buff/clean/polish/repair/fix upholstery/paint touch-ups, etc till it looked great! So, in the end you just never know the history unless it's your neighbor's old truck. Fortunately trucks can handle some abuse. Like anything ya check it out, do your due diligence, assume some risks. No different than buying a truck off Carvana or Carmax? You don't know how those were treated....
 
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Random_Walk

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I'd say inspect it closely before you buy it, but otherwise go for it.

I bought mine used - it was previously owned by Enterprise. It didn't have a hitch (had to bolt one in). I've had it since 2018. It's had no issues, does the job exceedingly well, and because it's a fleet-only trim (SLT), I wound up with something between basic-betty and BigHorn. Some neat items, but not loaded down with useless (to me) doo-dads. I only paid $23k for it (at the time) to boot... a far lower price than similarly-used trucks put up on trade-in. I bought it at 19k miles, it's around 68k miles now. Most of those miles were spent on twisty mountain roads in the Pacific NW, and the thing has been ultra-reliable to date.


(Most of) the big rental companies take care of regular maintenance, keep them reasonable clean, and as long as the odometer is around or under 20,000 miles? It's still new enough that it hasn't been beat up. Renting a truck from places like Enterprise or Hertz will usually cost way more than renting a pickup from places like U-Haul or Home Depot, so you don't/won't see them get the same level of abuse (and nope, I'd -never- buy a used pickup truck from Home Depot, U-Haul, or the like.)
 

PolarisCobra

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I bought a former rental. It was from Enterprise. Found it on a Nissan lot locally. It's a 2017, I got it in 2019, so it is pre covid. Had 23K miles on it, so there was more than 10K miles of factory warranty on it, which gave me a bit more confidence. Truck is a Big Horn, seemed to be in fine shape, price was right, and it had the options I was looking for. It has a trailer hitch, but there was no signs of wear or scratches inside the recciever, I don't think it was used for towing at all.

5 years later, at 83K miles, I have had zero issues. Only put on tires, brakes and a battery and oil and filter changes, nothing I would call an issue.
 

Jrod

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Hopefully there're no military installations near you. I live near Quantico MCB in VA. The base contracts with Enterprise right up the street. I've had to rent from them and twice I've had to swap trucks on the same day. One had a bent driveshaft which vibrated at highway speed, and the other had a bad transmission. Apparently a lot of young Marines are sent to rent vehicles for official use then beat the hell out of them, aka run them off road, street race, swap out parts, etc... The Enterprise people went as far as to tell me they really don't care. The contract is so lucrative that they let it slide, unless they wreck the vehicle...
 

Atcer2018

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I’ve owned two previous rental vehicles. Both cars, one Plymouth (yes it was a long time ago) and a Toyota. Both were two of the best vehicles I’ve owned. My 2018 Ram was a previous business lease to a paint contractor. It’s been a good vehicle but it has a colorful past. Seems the contractor who leased it was having an affair and one of the ladies he was playing elected to smash out every window on it. He turned it back into the leasing dealer and paid for OEM glass replacement. You’d never know looking at it. So you may be purchasing an interesting story too. Lol
 

John Jensen

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A family member has purchased several vehicles from Hertz. He swears by them and never had a problem. Hertz maintains their rentals very well and only retails the ones that pass their rigid inspections.
 

Travelin Ram

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Hertz has had poor record keeping and customer service for a long time. 25 years ago I reserved a specific 4wd from them in Colorado. Flew in and they didn’t have it. Tried to give me an Explorer. I walked over to the Enterprise counter, got a Jeep, and returned the Explorer keys to Hertz 10 minutes later.

Next month I get my credit card statement and Hertz gave the Ford to someone else for two weeks and charged me. When I called them they were unhelpful.

I was fortunate that Bank of America could easily track my whereabouts at a glance. So when I disputed the charges with them they took one look and told Hertz to stick it. I was in another state while the Ford was still being driven in CO.
 

John Jensen

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Hertz has had poor record keeping and customer service for a long time. 25 years ago I reserved a specific 4wd from them in Colorado. Flew in and they didn’t have it. Tried to give me an Explorer. I walked over to the Enterprise counter, got a Jeep, and returned the Explorer keys to Hertz 10 minutes later.

Next month I get my credit card statement and Hertz gave the Ford to someone else for two weeks and charged me. When I called them they were unhelpful.

I was fortunate that Bank of America could easily track my whereabouts at a glance. So when I disputed the charges with them they took one look and told Hertz to stick it. I was in another state while the Ford was still being driven in CO.
So, how does your experience relate to buying a used vehicle from Hertz?
 
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