Buying From Hertz

[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.

CarFax "can" be useful . . . but not the "end all" may thinks it might be!

 

[Ronich69]

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

Anyone who has rented a vehicle would tell you not to buy one. If anyone knew what I used to do with rentals...

 

[kolya]

I already had a great experience with an Enterprise purchase and decided to look at their trucks. Instead of paying cash, I asked my Credit Union what could they do for me. Because they had a corporate agreement, they offered special discounts for purchasing from Enterprise.
I bought a 2018 SLT, Quad, 4 WD, 11,000 mi, and no trailer hitch. I have had this Ram for over 4 years and it runs like a champ at 48,000 mi. My CU's used-car lending rate at the time was 5%. They discounted my rate for: Enterprise, vehicle under 3 years old, good LTV. The final interest was 2.34%.
Whatever you decide I wish you well. I'm happy with my 3rd Ram pickup!

 

[1911LVR]

I bought my 2016 Mazda-3 from Hertz. I have no qualms about buying from them again.

 

[EdGs]

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!

.

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.)

My '15 SLT QC 2WD 5.7 was purchased from a Honda dealership, and had been an Enterprise fleet truck. Had 28,600 miles when purchased in Sept. or '17. No hitch on her, either.

Was 24k after financing, etc.

Been a great vehicle for me, have had a couple repairs, nothing unexpected. Also normal maintenance stuff. Just turned 164,000 miles this morning.

Absolutely love her, would buy similar if prices weren't so stupid now, and I am jealous of some of you with the low-mileage rides you have. Just kidding.....lol

 

[Timsdually]

Look into Enterprise sales. I have had to rent trucks on occasion and no matter what i got from them, it was always in good shape.

 

[redvetram]

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.

I had a 2014 1500 V6 that did not have the auto 4WD. Basically makes you have to choose between 2WD or 4WD. Not ideal if you are frequently driving in mixed conditions. I now drive a 2019 1500 Classic V8 with the 4WD Auto option. Game changer and Id never go back. I’m driving on mixed dry pavement/ice/snow pack 7 months out of the year and love this feature. It basically means you are in 2WD unless there is slippage then it pops into 4WD. If the roads are a consistent icy/snow condition I’ll put it in 4WD lock, but it’s nice not to think about it most days by just having it in 4WD auto.

 

[OCVstar]

I don’t understand why a person would intentionally beat up a rental car. Why would you do that?

 

[Gary Fields]

I worked for several rental companies over the years. I would never consider buying a used rental, especially a pick-up truck. 80% of renters drive like they normally do, the other 20% are like giving a car to a **** head who just watched Fast and Furious. Nobody rents a truck to drive empty- it's gonna get loaded and often overloaded. Lots of them came back with a trailer ball on the bumper even if pulling trailers was supposed to be prohibited. It was not unusual to have problems on trucks like transmission, suspension, wheel bearings, and brakes worn out early. These are not normal and show they are rode hard. Once had a truck returned with broken leaf spring and bent frame, renter was a brick mason and carried 2 pallets of bricks in half ton truck. Find another truck-you get what you pay for.

 

[MRANT212]

One doesn’t know the history usually of most preowned cars. If you like it and it checks out write the check. Personally I would a search on Autotrader, Car Gurus etc. I just picked up a 17 RAM 1500 Longhorne a month ago with onlyb46k miles on it.