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how bad is buying a rental, really?

ElFenix

ElFenix

Elite Member
Super Moderator
lots of barely used loaded ford fusions for sale in the area at 15K ask, several of them under a year old, but almost all have been rentals. how bad could they really be?
 
on another note, autocheck's 'unlimited' plan starts threatening you after you've looked up 25 VINs. houston has a lot of cars for sale, damnit!
 
VERY BAD, you know what the fastest car in the world is right? RENTAL!

After taking a rental ford taurus onto an offroad course, I say NEVER buy a rental. The guy at the entry gate laugh as we pulled up, looked the car over and commented "must be a rental" as we handed him our fee. He said it happens all the time.
 
I am very hard on rentals, I would be a little hesitant on buying one. That being said, the fiancee has an ex fleet vehicle, some regional manager type drove it 42k in 2 years, and aside from a little startup issue, it drives like a 2005 ford taurus should.
 
Originally posted by: ElFenix
you guys are much harder on rentals than i am
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😀 I'm mostly nice to rentals. The only 'bad' thing I do to them is see how fast they accelerate and/or corner. No off-roading, speed bump, flying off a ramp abuse.

The point is--Don't assume that an ex-rental is automatically good or bad. It should still be checked out by a pro.

Rental car companies are suffering like the rest of the economy. They're hanging on to cars longer, and who knows if they'd cut back on maintenance, although their business model does depend on getting money on car resales.
 
I never understood the mentality of "It's not mine, so I'm going to thrash the piss out of it". For those who do this...why? What if you were traveling on business and had an important meeting or a plane to catch, etc...and your rental car conked out en route, causing you to miss said engagement because the jackass who had it before you took it off a couple ramps and did neutral drops in it? :roll: Grow up. Treat it like you would your own car, so the renters after you don't get fucked.

I love how any given thread can go from "I just graduated college and can't make enough money to pay bills and save for a house" to "GAWD DAMN KIDS AND THEIR ENTITLEMENT MENTALITY" in 2 posts, yet threads like this have everyone on the forum chiming in with post after post with their own personal stories of how they trashed rental cars. How is that "I paid my money to rent it so I can do anything I want to it" attitude any different?

/rant
 
Asked a ton of times. People who've not done it say that they destroy rentals but those who've actually bought rentals/fleet cars (like me) report good results. I bought a van with 15k and it's at 72k now without anything I'd not expect. A rental corvette or mustang may be a different story.
 
Originally posted by: CptCrunch
I am very hard on rentals, I would be a little hesitant on buying one. That being said, the fiancee has an ex fleet vehicle, some regional manager type drove it 42k in 2 years, and aside from a little startup issue, it drives like a 2005 ford taurus should.
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I'm really sorry to hear that.

On the bright side, a plethora of used transaxles should dot the junkyard landscape on or about your reaching 75,000 miles. 😛

 
Originally posted by: Black88GTA
I never understood the mentality of "It's not mine, so I'm going to thrash the piss out of it". For those who do this...why?
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Read moar public/company bathroom rants here, pls. 😉




I love how any given thread can go from "I just graduated college and can't make enough money to pay bills and save for a house" to "GAWD DAMN KIDS AND THEIR ENTITLEMENT MENTALITY" in 2 posts...
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Such is the ineffable duality of life.
rose.gif


 
My local enterprise told me that they have a couple of guys that do SCCA racing that buy the cars from their fleet, strip them, and build them back up for the track. Apparently they get pretty good deals on them so it works out.
 
Originally posted by: Skoorb
Asked a ton of times. People who've not done it say that they destroy rentals but those who've actually bought rentals/fleet cars (like me) report good results. I bought a van with 15k and it's at 72k now without anything I'd not expect. A rental corvette or mustang may be a different story.
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Tits,.

(As well.)

I have a friend who bought a Dodge Caravan short wheelbase four years ago for a price I considered discerning, (forget the exact amount now), and it's been a reliable champ for him.

Same with a female friend who bought a (semi-shudder) PT Cruiser two years ago.

I have intentionally neglected to tell her that when the NHSTA finally got around to crash-testing one this year, they royally sucked. She loves her triple black baby. 😉
 
I'd say that instead of being broken in gently, rental cars are ripped a new one.

That said, a car guy told me that driving like Adretti makes no difference to reliability compared to driving like grandma.

IMO you should go for a car that's off-lease rather than a rental.
 
Most of the "program" cars you see on dealer lots are former rentals and fleet cars.

Buying a rental you would think is not good, but in 16 years at a new car dealership, I really didn't see that they gave any more problems than the ones bought new by individuals. In fact, most of the problems they did have were more trim and interior-related, not mechanical.

The rental companies maintain them pretty well.
 
Originally posted by: Pacfanweb
Most of the "program" cars you see on dealer lots are former rentals and fleet cars.

Buying a rental you would think is not good, but in 16 years at a new car dealership, I really didn't see that they gave any more problems than the ones bought new by individuals. In fact, most of the problems they did have were more trim and interior-related, not mechanical.

The rental companies maintain them pretty well.
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What about the break-in period on a new car though? I wonder how much that affects the reliability of the engine and such. They say you need to go easy on a new car for the first 10,000kms (6,500 miles or so I think).
 
I would say rentals get beaten up like crazy by the younger crowd. The younger crowd also isn't the main consumer base for rentals. I guess it all the depends on luck, getting a rental that was beaten hard and might have caused some mechinal damage or wear would suck. Try getting a rental from a old peoples town or area, where senior citizens rent or something.
 
Originally posted by: Fenixgoon
Originally posted by: JSt0rm01
Originally posted by: zoiks
Originally posted by: ElFenix
you guys are much harder on rentals than i am
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75k posts :Q
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hes the off topic mod. That right there is 74k posts 🙂
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nooooo, ross's limit has been broken 🙁
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i broke that back in april in the secret moderator bathroom when i asked perk if he preferred charmin or cottonelle

🙁
 
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