Buying From Hertz

[PolarisCobra]

While I agree that there is a gamble when you buy a former rental, and that some people do beat on them, but based on the replies to this thread, most people get good reliable performance from former rentals. I know it has worked well for me.

Buying any car or truck that was pre-owned is a bit of a gamble, some owners beat the crap out of their own stuff, and there is no guarantee that they do any maintenance at all. And, I think we can agree that people have trouble with brand new ones too.

The risk is lower if there is a reasonable amount of factory warranty left when you purchase, and you have to be diligent when you look it over, and make a judgement call if the ride you are looking at is the right call for you.

 

[Ronald E Shelton]

@mjbrox113 This is exactly how I had purchased my 2019 Ram 1500 classic SLT 4x4, crew cab short box, hemi, except I had purchased it through Enterprise Car Sales back in June/July of 2020.

This was when COVID was going strong and the rental fleets were in the midst of thinning their fleets big time. They gave me a really good trade-in allowance for my 2017 Ram 1500 express quad cab V6 4x4. Slightly above KBB and I got the 2019 for just shy of $28K. It had 15K miles on it and was pretty much spotless. After trade equity and didn't put a dime down, I financed about $20K for that truck. Those were the days.

The truck was flawless for me. I drove it until Oct 2022 and traded it with ~64K miles on it. Shoulda kept it.

I've bought many ex-rentals over the years and never had an issue at all with them. Today is a lot different though as the rental fleets are hanging on to their cars much, much longer. Back when I used to buy my ex-rentals, they would have miles in the teens. Now it's not uncommon for them to have 50, 60, 70K miles on them and very sketchy oil change intervals.

I'm sad things have gone the way they have because I was looking forward to dealing with enterprise car sales again. They were the easiest, nicest, lowest pressure sales folks I ever dealt with and I've been buying cars since ~1991.

Look over the carfax carefully. From what I've experienced, your average rental will show oil changes every 12K miles at best. Things may have changed and it's possible they saw oil changes that weren't reported to carfax. Problem is, this lack of records will effect any extended warranty contract they may try to swindle you on.

Way too many people put heavy stock into "CarFax" reports . . . ."CarFax" is not the end all and often does not have the "Fax" since "NO" entity is required to report to "CarFax". It is only a voluntary thing that often conflicts with the business model of potentially reportable companies!

 

[OCVstar]

I bought a Ram 1500 in 2019 from Enterprise. The truck was a 2019 with 10k miles. The truck was perfect and I loved it. Also dealing with the folks at Enterprise was such a pleasure I swore I’d never go to a dealer again. I paid 34k in2019. I recently traded it in for a 2021 and got $33k for the trade. All in all best transaction ever. I would not hesitate.

 

[Cdp45]

Long story short my insurance company (AAA) helped me purchase a vehicle from Enterprise after my car got totaled. Got to know the salesman pretty good after purchase. Allot of used cars on dealers lots are rental turn ins. They can bring up a vehicle with vin # and let you know uf the vehicle was a rental at one time. With my experience I wouldn’t hesitate buying again from them.

 

[gfh77665]

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 .

"ahole" is about right. Willful destruction of someone elses property, even if its a company, is WRONG.

 

[Hardracer]

I too am guilty of "beating"on rentals....I would not want to be the owners of the last 2 I rented...it would not stop me from inspecting and purchasing one though.
As others have said I'm sure there are some vehicles that have been drivin proper and maintained well.
I've never leased (never even considered it)but isn't that ones vehicle for at least a year when that contract is signed?everyone I know that has leased has been 3 years.
I would think one wouldnt beat on their own stuff if they gotta keep for any amount of time.

 

[El Guapo Phil]

I bought my 2016 Ram Big Horn 5.7L from Enterprise in 2017. It had 25K miles. It now has 82k miles. Do I regret buying it from a rent car company. NO! I have not had any problem with my Ram. I keep the maintenance schedule and do some light towing.

Here again, I bought this truck realizing there may be problems up ahead. The only problem I have with the Ram is the driver -- that's me. I want to use and let it fly down the road.

Remember, rent car companies have their own maintenance shop and will not rent a vehicle if is passed the mileage restriction they have.

I am very happy with my Ram and the Hemi motor it has. The transmission and differentials are maintained.

 

[Docwagon1776]

Way too many people put heavy stock into "CarFax" reports . . . ."CarFax" is not the end all and often does not have the "Fax" since "NO" entity is required to report to "CarFax". It is only a voluntary thing that often conflicts with the business model of potentially reportable companies!

They get their data from a lot of sources, including gov't records. If you get a police report for a crash, it's in Carfax if the body shop reports it or not.

Carfax isn't the only tool to use, but it's a good one to add in. A mechanical inspection won't reveal a theft recovery or title washing any more than a Carfax can tell you if the ball joints are worn out, but it's smart to use all tools available to get as much info as you can.

 

[PoMansRam]

Way too many people put heavy stock into "CarFax" reports . . . ."CarFax" is not the end all and often does not have the "Fax" since "NO" entity is required to report to "CarFax". It is only a voluntary thing that often conflicts with the business model of potentially reportable companies!

I agree with you 100% I know rental co's are self insured, so you often won't find body work reported on a car fax. They used to do their own maintenance as well, but this was 30+yrs ago. I worked for Budget rent-a-car at the time.

The thing with buying used in many cases is, the only records you have are what you can find on the carfax.

Our 2019 Nissan Pathfinder was purchased as an ex-rental from a local Toyota dealer. It had 25K miles on it when I bought it in late 2019. It showed one oil change record at ~15K miles and the dealer changed it at ~25K miles before I took delivery.

During the sales process, of course they pushed their extended warranty contracts big time. When I asked about the potential of an engine problem and the fact there isn't oil change records to support what Nissan recommends, will this be a problem.

Of course they squirmed around this. I asked if they would give me something in writing. Mega squirm mode on this and they would not. They gave up and got me out the door with our new to us vehicle and no $3000+ extended warranty.

We are at 85K miles and counting with the Pathfinder. No issues.

 

[Ronald E Shelton]

They get their data from a lot of sources, including gov't records. If you get a police report for a crash, it's in Carfax if the body shop reports it or not.

Carfax isn't the only tool to use, but it's a good one to add in. A mechanical inspection won't reveal a theft recovery or title washing any more than a Carfax can tell you if the ball joints are worn out, but it's smart to use all tools available to get as much info as you can.

That is because the police entity reports to CarFax . . . .still every crash does not necessarily get reported to CarFax.
How do I know . . . . .been there and done that!