Oppopinions - Purchasing former rental cars

"Bad Idea Hat" (taoistlumberjack) 10/01/2014 at 10:31 • Filed to: None

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Now that I'm looking into buying a car, I'm considering something; buying a former rental car. I've read a lot of positives about this, and I even have some experience; my wife, before we were married, purchased her Aveo from Enterprise. It had some noticeable wear, but was mechanically sound. The only issues were from cheap Korean assembly issues, with the cupholder requiring some re-engineering to keep together, and CEL issues that were both cheap and easy to fix.

Despite my love of the xB, for all its road-legal go-kart glory, I'm looking into a Mazda5. 3 rows of seating, decent gas mileage, and tons of storage. A friend of ours has one, and I decided that this should be the official vehicle of hockey parents who don't want to be SUV assholes. Currently, most companies have the car in the 20-60k mile range, going for $13-$17k depending on mileage and trim (and considering that most of the options are okay or replaceable via my phone, I'm probably going with sport).

Has anyone had any issues with purchasing cars from rental companies? Good stories? I know the usual, do a Carfax/Inspection/Bring my dad.

Also, a bit of nibbybait.

TheRallyStache > Bad Idea Hat 10/01/2014 at 10:34

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How I drive my rental cars. Just bear that in mind.

Nibby > Bad Idea Hat 10/01/2014 at 10:34

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You don't know who has... farted in them/peed in them/spilled weird things in them/had sex in them/hooned the shit out of it/ etc.

DAT THINKPAD DOE

Diesel > Bad Idea Hat 10/01/2014 at 10:40

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I'm not saying I had sex in your rental car, but I'm also not saying I haven't.

Mercedes Streeter > Bad Idea Hat 10/01/2014 at 10:42

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Unless you get the deal of the century, I would say no. The fastest car you'll ever drive is one you don't own...

But seriously, many of said cars are abused day in and day out and sometimes aren't properly maintained at all.

505Turbeaux > Diesel 10/01/2014 at 10:46

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hahaha yeah, dem white stains on black cloth. Mmmmm mmm

Sweet Trav > Bad Idea Hat 10/01/2014 at 10:47

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To quote Jeff Foxworthy, buying a used rental car is like looking for a spouse in a house of ill-repute (Not that there is anything wrong with being a sex worker, but both a rental car and a sex worker may have excessive wear and tear and therefore the analogy remains)

As Du Volant > Bad Idea Hat 10/01/2014 at 10:47

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Contrary to popular belief most people do not beat the shit out of rental cars. The company I work for has bought and sold thousands of them and we very rarely get complaints from the customers about them. They generally hold up pretty well.

What I WOULD be hyper-aware of is previous and poorly-repaired crash damage. When the cars get banged up they fix them in-house as cheaply as possible and I can assure you it won't go on the Carfax. Have a body man inspect any former rental car you're thinking of buying.

Diesel > Sweet Trav 10/01/2014 at 10:50

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Some of my best ex-wives were hookers.

Newsboy > As Du Volant 10/01/2014 at 10:51

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This. All day.

Newsboy > Bad Idea Hat 10/01/2014 at 10:52

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I'm considering going the ex-rental route as well. One option I'm looking at is the Mercedes C250, and Hertz has a ton of them in the $22-25k range, one year old.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > Diesel 10/01/2014 at 10:57

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I'm not saying I had cars in my rental sex, but I'm also not saying I haven't.

pdx107 > Bad Idea Hat 10/01/2014 at 11:00

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I owned one, had a 03 Galant that was a rental. Had 25k on it when I got it, ended it at 150k, never had any issues wit it that weren't my own fault (from hitting a deer) it was a trooper

PS9 > Bad Idea Hat 10/01/2014 at 11:01

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Not nibbybait unless it's running Windows 3.11

fhrblig > Bad Idea Hat 10/01/2014 at 11:14

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Lots of certified pre-owned cars have been rental cars. Sometimes the dealers even inadvertently leave the bar codes on them. The cars that have been beaten the worst usually go to auction. The ones that have been treated well go to manufacturers' cpo programs or are sold by the rental company retail stores.

gogmorgo - rowing gears in a Grand Cherokee > Bad Idea Hat 10/01/2014 at 11:46

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My parents bought an ex-rental '04 Impala 3.4. There were a couple electrical issues involving the dash done under warranty, and GM's passlock was starting to act up as it got older, preventing the car from starting on occasion, but that was about it. Beyond regular maintenance (stretching oil change intervals a lot) they didn't have all that much done do it. It survived four teenaged drivers, encounters with ditches, failling through frozen puddles, near-impassible back roads (my mother was a census enumerator in a rural area and had to go to every house whether it had been abandoned or not), and the original motor and drivetrain was still going strong at 236,000 miles when my youngest sister failed to yield at a stop sign and took an Uplander to the driver's door a couple years ago. (My sister's fine, both cars were written off). I'm convinced it would have still been going strong today if that hadn't happened.

jkm7680 > Bad Idea Hat 10/01/2014 at 15:58

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Take the first two words of your Username.

Corey > Bad Idea Hat 10/01/2014 at 15:59

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A rental car is the fastest car...

...

in the world.

3vil-Monkey > Bad Idea Hat 10/01/2014 at 17:28

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Just don't buy one I have ever driven I tend to hoon the ever loving shit out of rental cars.

Why you ask? because its not mine, I know that's a really dickbag reason but it is the reason

Tohru > Diesel 10/08/2014 at 00:18

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Coincidentally, some of my best hookers were your ex-wives.

Diesel > Tohru 10/08/2014 at 09:04

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I'm sorry to send so many ruined women back into the whoring pool. I hope you got my middle wife, she gave the best BJs.

Tohru > Diesel 10/08/2014 at 09:44

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I might have, though I don't remember it as being "the best". She probably got lazy, y'know?