timrick

This is somewhat off topic.

I was looking for a nearly "new" car earlier. I came across Hertz Car Sales where they offer 1-2 year old, ~25K miles cars at fixed prices that are often considerably lower than the KBB retail price. Also, they seem to have wide variety of models (but only a few for each model).

Based on your rental experience, would you recommend buying a car from Hertz? Do you think Hertz does a good job of keeping their cars well-maintained and clean?

And what do you think of buying an ex-rental car in general? I guess a renter may abuse a sporty car, but if it's just a Camry ...

www.hertzcarsales.com

davistev

The prices are reasonable and you know the vehicle has been serviced. I can imagine you can guess the downfall with a car having so many drivers over a short period of time.

Avoiding sporty cars and Kia's would be wise. I would say you are pretty safe going with a boring Chevy Cobalt or a Camry. But I would bargain the price lower that their asking price.

Nice idea

aceman

Q: Whats the fastest car in the world?

A: A Rental car.

Get the idea? NEVER buy ex rental or ex demonstrator cars. EVER.

party_boy

depends on how long you will keep the car. 1-1.5 years? Sure! Anything more than that...maybe not. Remember these cars generally get abused, hence the cheap price.
Your call.

LPCJr

I treat every Hertz rental like a test drive. I don't care how many times I floor it, hit the brakes hard, squeal the tires, etc., because it's not my car. That said, I would NEVER buy a used rental car.

One of my co-workers ls worse. He will go in an empty parking lot, drive around and pull the emergency brake to make the car spin, just for the heck of it.

Tummy

I would never buy a rental car, but my BF bought a used 1 yr old Taurus back when we were in college. Still runs great, though boring and slow.

Taiwaned

Just out of school I purchased a Chev Corsica from Budget Rent a Car.

It was a great cheap car that ran pretty good for three months before I accidentally rolled it down an embankment.

It had some problems with the brakes and drivetrain that was unusual for a car that only had under 20 000 km's on it.

It probably was run pretty hard but you do get a decent looking car for a decent price.

rnovak

Let's see... A car that has had several hundred different drivers. Gets abused by the Hertz porters on a daily basis, Has probably missed 1/2 of it's oil changes and may have never had it's regular maintenance done.

A car that peoples attitude about hitting a curb, seeing how fast it will go or how good the breaks work and making a mess in it is "What the hell, it's a rental".

UH.. NO !

Wiggums

In the past five years, 3% of my overall driving miles was in a rental car and 97% was in my personal car. I have acquired four speeding tickets in the process. All four were in rental cars.

Conclusion: I wouldn't buy a former rental car.

newK2

who wrote about it so hilariously in 'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream'...

What's the best handling car in the world?

A rented car!

I just love the screed where he's messing with the tire pressure on his rented caddy and the kid at the gas station won't help him with it (this was back in the days when there was a kid at the gas station to do your air and check your oil!)... as I recall he blows out some tires and then calls the rental car company and screams bloody murder to get him another car brought out right away... the nerve sending him out with a defective car!

of course the ice on the floor of the back seat to receive certain 'deposits' is another classic moment in rental car abuse.

haven't read the book in years but the OP's question brought it instantly to mind

I guess you know where I come down on the issue of buying a former rental

Global_Hi_Flyer

25+ years ago my parents bought an ex-rental car (this after one of my brothers managed to wreck the family station wagon). As I recall, it was not particularly cheap, certainly not a lot cheaper than a well-cared-for car off a dealer's lot. The car lasted for a couple of years - at least till said brother was off at college - and was replaced with a newer car.

I think I'd look elsewhere given how some drivers treat rentals (and the general mechanical condition of Hertz rentals I've recently had)... and given how I see the car-jockeys at the rental lots handle cars.

psychephylax

For me, I would say it's a 50/50 chance that I would buy one.

One of my FF friends bought a rental car and he had no problems with it whatsoever.

I suspect that rental cars are fairly well maintained and since people drive them hard they are thorougly tested for imminent failures

Some rental cars have 0 abuse. I rented an Avalon and returned it with 5k on the odo. That's 1/5th of it's time in the fleet. If the next 4 people do the same and drive reasonably that's a good car to get.

BearX220

Knowing what I do to rental cars, I'd probably never buy one. If you had to, get one with a bigger engine (V6 or V8) -- it's less likely to have been flogged to death.

ALARISstl

Based on how I drive rental cars, no way.

My parents purchased a 96' Maxima(w/17,000m) from Enterprise back in 97'. They still have it (over 100K), only problems they had was the radio went out and the motor for the power antenna died.

It really depends on the car:

American - no way
Japanese - probably safe

Bobster

I baby rental cars because they're covered by my insurance. The ones to watch out for are the cars rented by people who buy the insurance waivers. Always remember this dialogue from "Seinfeld":

Rental car agent: We have a blue Ford Escort for you Mr. Seinfeld. Would you like insurance?

Jerry: Yeah, you better give me the insurance, because I am gonna beat the hell out of this car!