Originally Posted by
islandboy57
Weird, I looked up that BMW and it was first sold 10/30/19 (odometer: 3 miles) and its current title was issued in 2019 as well. Would BMW dump their loaner in a month or two? It's not uncommon for some of the rental cars here to have the safety inspection sticker on a plate and a dealer frame, more of the unique cars (I've seen this on Hondas in the fleet) - and ones that the dealer knows they're getting back. Could also be a newbie at the dealer doing the pre-delivery checklist and out of habit doing the same things they do for personal cars. I was behind a 2022 RAV4 rental (EAN) today and it had the safety inspection sticker on a plate below the bumper. The BMW also has a very common rental plate # (starting with TXB) - so, interesting that it had a BMW sticker on it too.
The local dealers here are still getting a ton of 2020's in to sell that were former EAN rentals. Mostly Imprezas/Crosstreks/Foresters and Corollas/Camrys at the moment. I guess they hold up well. I've rented pretty much exclusively from Hertz for the last 15 years up til now, but they've typically always bought the base models with just a handful of upper trims. EAN has always had a pretty healthy selection of mid to upper trims.
If EAN sources it from a local dealer, it looks like those are the ones that may get a bracket (if that’s the dealer’s normal thing they do). BMW of Honolulu uses the brackets on their new cars. The BMWs EAN gets via fleet either don’t go through the dealership, or maybe they don’t want to spring the extra bucks on a bracket for fleet purchases, so they get a sticker slapped on the bumper instead.
It's interesting about the X3 I had. Maybe EAN leases vehicles for dealership service loaner programs? I've had other higher-end vehicles that, now that I think about it, could have been service loaners as well -- like the TLX and the Genesis G70 I recently rented. Both had dealer installed options like all weather mats or after-market tinted windows that you usually don't find on a fleet vehicle. Makes sense that once the dealer no longer needs it, it either goes to auction or goes into EAN's daily fleet.
My understanding is that Servco used to put the safety check bracket on all RAV4s and Highlanders because they wouldn’t stick to the unpainted plastic surface. They stopped doing that for RAV4 a few months ago, so now you see retail and fleet RAV4s without a bracket.
Even the RAV4 is something new in the Hawaii fleet. For some reason, EAN has never ordered RAV4s or Highlanders (or 4Runners), though you find them in the mainland fleet.