High Mileage Vehicles
 

Just out of curiosity, how high does Avis run their vehicles up to before they sell them?

Seems like many of my past rentals these past few weeks have been 32k miles or higher. Got an Altima several weeks ago that was 40k miles. Maybe its just my luck at SLC?

Really depends on the vehicle and how AvisBudget has the ownership setup. They have 3 categories for corporate fleet vehicles, if I remember correctly (noted by a letter on the key chain in the blue stripe:

1. Risk: Avis owns outright and will sell when they determine it's time.
2. Tier: They have the vehicle for several tiers of time/mileage. Could be 6 months/12k miles, 12 months/24k miles or whatever Avis/manufacturer determines. If they go over the first tier, they immediately keep it for the remainder of the 2nd tier. If it goes past the last tier, then it becomes a Risk car & is bought by Avis.
3. Flat: Avis will own the vehicle for a specific amount of time, mileage or time & mileage. If the vehicle goes over the tier, then Avis buys it & it's a Risk car.

Seems like newer cars are more frequent in the fall, so I wouldn't be surprised if they're higher mileage for summer travel.

Huh, I've seen the word flat before on my keychain, never knew what it meant. Thanks!

Oh, and I presume it of course also depends presumably on whether the Avis location is corporately owned or not. If not, someone else may make (at least part of) the decision, right?

Good point! The local franchises handle their own fleet separately. In the two franchises that I know of (MDT and the former eastern NC region that includes ILM/OAJ/EWN): they owned all of their own cars and made their own decisions on when to sell/trade vehicles and buy new.

Just got assigned a Ford Fusion with 50,731 miles by a corporate location. Previous personal record was around 33K with Hertz. So much for Preferred Plus especially when the lot had two dozen vehicles.

I think it's only going to get worse, unfortunately.

Not Avis-specific but I had a 64K mile Toyota Sienna from Hertz a few weeks ago -- smashing my previous record of 40K miles -- but so far I've been under 30K on all my Avis rentals this year, I don't expect this to last.

I've had 3 vehicles with over 40k in the past 10 days... As a Chairman! I've swapped some for much lower mileage/newer vehicles.

Speaking to am east coast station manager (after seeing a Honda Accord with a "Honda Certified" front license plate and a dealer sticker on the back), he said they are buying many used cars to meet demand. But they're seeing bookings drop quickly and he thinks they'll be selling vehicles after Labor Day.

highest mileage goes to my courtesy vehicle while my Avensis was being repaired: 199 975 km, VW Polo :-)

Why are bookings dropping quickly after Labor Day, to the point of selling cars again, even while chip shortages continue? Covid fear? Cars approaching such high mileage they need to be sold before serious mechanical problems develop and cause a bad customer experience? If high demand continued, worn cars needed to be replaced, but new inventory remained unavailable, how would it be handled?

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Signs are pointing toward a travel slowdown (for example, AA is giving elite status if you hit easy thresholds between Sept and Nov so they are seeing a fall-off). Seems travel is being done by leisure travelers, who will inevitably slow down drastically when kids go back to school. This seems to be reiterated by the Avis manager.

Recently had a 65K+ SUV with hand controls in RDU. Was told that the hand control vehicles are the last to be replaced due to the cost of installing hand controls. Vehicle had a cracked windshield washer reservoir (was empty so I filled it and suddenly noticed a puddle under the car), nearly bald tires, and was badly in need of alignment as it shimmied hard over 50 mph. Avis couldn't care less when I complained. So much for being PC.

I had 34,000 on a 4Runner I was originally given. There was a weird noise from the front end and the NY inspection was expired. The latter was a non-starter because I was taking the car through NY, so I ended up with a much lower mileage Sorrento. I noticed a "PM needed" sticker on the 4Runner fob when I was returning it.

Just picked up a Camry with 72,900 miles on it at EWR from the Avis lot, but on a Budget reservation. Probably 2x my previous record!