Originally Posted by
missingcolours
I tend to doubt that Hertz is listing cars for sale that are still available for rental. That seems like an odd thing to do, considering the car could sustain damage, not be returned, etc etc.
To me, "will be sold" more likely means that Hertz decided to sell the car after it's returned, and thus it's not allowed to be rented out any further. Once it's returned, they send it to the sales group who cleans it, takes pictures, notes the mileage, puts it out on a sales lot, and lists it on the site.
Just to give one issue with them selling a car while it was still in circulation - the cars on the Hertz sales site list specific mileages. What if you put like 10,000 miles on the car during your rental?
If I click on a Rent2Buy car and "Book a 3 day test drive" (which is the main option to proceed), there's a disclaimer popup next to the mileage "
All stated mileage is an approximation because the cars are actively being rented. Mileage is updated daily.". So I'm pretty sure these are active rentals. From what I see, the buyer isn't committed to anything until they see the car, and they offer a complimentary 2-hour test drive, so presumably at that point you can turn it in and say "no thanks". Then you have the 3-day rental period, at which point you can purchase it paying the rest, or turn it in like any other rental.
So both are right -- the car isn't really being legally "sold" while being rented (and thus Hertz, and especially the current renter, don't have any real obligation to the potential buyer), but they do take reservations to potentially buy cars that are currently out.