YACT: Are Fleet Cars Good or Bad

[darthsidious]

I've been looking for a used car in the range of $5-7000, and so far, a 2000-2003 ford taurus looks to be a good deal. I've noticed that many Ford taurus' are fleet cars. Some people say fleet cars are a bad idea as people tend to abuse them. Others say they typically have a good maintainance history, and can be low mileage, so its a good idea to buy one. This has left me fairly confused.

Also, other car recommendations (other than the usual toyota and honda suspects) are welcome. My needs are primarily safety, reliability and fuel economy. I don't much care about siz (a safe, reliable compact would be fine with me), or looks/ features.

Thanks in Advance
Edit: If its important, I'm located in austin,tx

 

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: darthsidious
I've been looking for a used car in the range of $5-7000, and so far, a 2000-2003 ford taurus looks to be a good deal. I've noticed that many Ford taurus' are fleet cars. Some people say fleet cars are a bad idea as people tend to abuse them. Others say they typically have a good maintainance history, and can be low mileage, so its a good idea to buy one. This has left me fairly confused.

Also, other car recommendations (other than the usual toyota and honda suspects) are welcome. My needs are primarily safety, reliability and fuel economy. I don't much care about siz (a safe, reliable compact would be fine with me), or looks/ features.

Thanks in Advance

Well, since you don't say where the hell you live I can't really give you any advice specific to the laws in the state you live in but I do know that in some states a rental car is considered a fleet vehicle but in other states, like California, the seller has to disclose that the vehicle was previously a rental vehicle. There is definitely a difference between a rental car and a corporate fleet vehicle. There is no way in hell I'd ever buy a car that has been in a rental car fleet for the first 10-20k miles of its life.

<--Worked in the rental car industry for about 10 years.

 

[Strk]

An Impala of the same year range. The 3800 series is a pretty solid engine. It would probably go over the $7k though, but not by too much on the lower trim level.

 

[Xecuter]

edit - didnt fully read thread (Toyota/Honda)

 

[Pacfanweb]

Fleet cars are usually in good shape. They are typically maintained pretty well.....and since I've dealt with the big fleet companies (PHH, Wheels, GE, Enterprise), I've had likely over a thousand contacts with them....and again, they keep their cars right.

The Taurus, particularly...they are good cars, particularly the last 7-8 years they made them. (2007 was the last year for the Taurus, they were fleet-only in 06 and 07..maybe 05, too)

 

[darthsidious]

About the location - Texas

 

[darthsidious]

So it seems like rental fleet car = bad, corporate fleet car = good. Will a vehicle history check make it obvious which one it will be?

Sorry for all the stupid questions; this is my first car purchase, and I want to be sure I don't make a fool of myself.

 

[helpme]

Company I work for buys (ford) company cars every year, and sells them a year later at a good discount... Those are a good deal.

The workers who have a car full time have work done at the dealer on the companies dollar, so you know they have been in for service when they are supposed to. Some cars are just loaners to go to different company sites (about 100 miles). Those are probably in great condition, since they aren't used as much.

 

[Ronstang]

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus
There is no way in hell I'd ever buy a car that has been in a rental car fleet for the first 10-20k miles of its life.

So are you saying I made a bad decision when I decided to purchase the rental car in my sig.

 

[thomsbrain]

Originally posted by: Ronstang

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus
There is no way in hell I'd ever buy a car that has been in a rental car fleet for the first 10-20k miles of its life.

So are you saying I made a bad decision when I decided to purchase the rental car in my sig.

I'd say yeah. If you enjoy torture, why not just cut yourself and save all that money.

J/K, but you have to realize that there's a big difference between a rare collectible that couldn't be purchased any other way and a Taurus.

 

[Cerberus2k7]

Depends on the company. Some companies beat the living crap out of their cars, while others baby them. Hertz usually has a good selection on fleet stuff, but most of it are trucks. Just gotta know what to look for really. Oil in the engine bay, tires, interior, etc...just try to get a feel of how people drove them.

 

[SVT Cobra]

Originally posted by: Ronstang

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus
There is no way in hell I'd ever buy a car that has been in a rental car fleet for the first 10-20k miles of its life.

So are you saying I made a bad decision when I decided to purchase the rental car in my sig.

What color is your 57 tbird? Please say triple white.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: Ronstang

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus
There is no way in hell I'd ever buy a car that has been in a rental car fleet for the first 10-20k miles of its life.

So are you saying I made a bad decision when I decided to purchase the rental car in my sig.

I'm saying that previous rentals are a crap shoot and that having worked in the industry for many years I wouldn't buy a car that was previously a rental car.

You can disregard my advice if you like and you may get a decent car that way but you may also get a car that wasn't maintained well and/or abused. From what I've seen done to/in rental vehicles I'd never ever consider buying one no matter how good a deal it may seem to be.

 

[Eli]

Generally good, because you know they have all routine maintenance done on them.

Can be bad, though.. if the employees treat them like rentals.

Can you find out where the car came from? If so, I would perhaps try and research the demographic of the employees there.. if possible. The older the better.

I think it's a crapshot with any used car. But with a fleet or rental, at least you know that routine maintenance was done.

It's like finding a private party used car with all service records. After that, you have to look the car over and drive it with keen senses to figure out if it's a good buy or a piece of junk.. as with any used car.

Most people get all caught up in the new car experience and don't look for any of that stuff.

<--- Guilty.

 

[Greenman]

Remember, there are two kinds of car that can go anywhere, a four wheel drive, and a rental.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: Eli
Generally good, because you know they have all routine maintenance done on them.

Can be bad, though.. if the employees treat them like rentals.

Can you find out where the car came from? If so, I would perhaps try and research the demographic of the employees there.. if possible. The older the better.

I think it's a crapshot with any used car. But with a fleet or rental, at least you know that routine maintenance was done.

It's like finding a private party used car with all service records. After that, you have to look the car over and drive it with keen senses to figure out if it's a good buy or a piece of junk.. as with any used car.

Most people get all caught up in the new car experience and don't look for any of that stuff.

<--- Guilty.

I'd want to see maintenance history on a used car regardless. You don't get that with rental cars and not all fleet managers maintain their vehicles with great regularity either. You can't expect that every company operates like Hertz because to do so would be foolish...they don't.

I take excellent care of my own cars but I've beaten on a few rentals in my time and god knows I've seen some pretty badly beaten rentals as well. I had a customer call me once complaining that the airbag in his rental car blew up in his face for no reason. I told him to bring the car in and we'd switch him into another car. He brought it in and I went out to look it over and found that there was transmission fluid pouring out of the transmission. He had gone over a dip or a speed bump so fast that he bottomed out the front end hard enough to blow the airbag and tear a hole in the transmission pan.

Needless to say, I declined to put him in another one of our cars. Some poor sucker bought that car at auction though I'm sure. One story of many...trust me.

Edit-I'd look for a single owner car myself.

 

[Eli]

Originally posted by: Greenman
Remember, there are two kinds of car that can go anywhere, a four wheel drive, and a rental.

I recently had a 2007 Mitsubishi Lancer for 3 days. It had 3750 miles when I got it, and 4500 miles when I returned it.

And let me tell you... those were some hard, hard miles. :laugh:

I feel sorry for whoever buys it. Really. :Q

 

[thomsbrain]

Originally posted by: Eli

Originally posted by: Greenman
Remember, there are two kinds of car that can go anywhere, a four wheel drive, and a rental.

I recently had a 2007 Mitsubishi Lancer for 3 days. It had 3750 miles when I got it, and 4500 miles when I returned it.

And let me tell you... those were some hard, hard miles. :laugh:

I feel sorry for whoever buys it. Really. :Q

My band once rented a Freestar minivan and put 2000 miles on it in 3 days. We had it bouncing off the speed limiter for about 300 miles (about 104 MPH, according to our GPS), and were doing 80-90 MPH the rest of the way. That was with the entire van packed solid with heavy gear and the three of us. I'm not exactly proud that we beat the van like that, but people should just realize that no one treats a rental the way they'd treat their own car. There's a reason these companies have to sell them with only 20K to 30K on the odometer.

 

[SVT Cobra]

Drive it like you stole it....erm rented it!

 

[iamwiz82]

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus
There is no way in hell I'd ever buy a car that has been in a rental car fleet for the first 10-20k miles of its life.

It's fairly common for auto suppliers to rent vehicles specifically to disassemble them for reverse-engineering, and then it's re-assembled and the extra parts are disposed of. I hope that gives everyone warm-fuzzies.

 

[BUTCH1]

Originally posted by: Eli

Originally posted by: Greenman
Remember, there are two kinds of car that can go anywhere, a four wheel drive, and a rental.

I recently had a 2007 Mitsubishi Lancer for 3 days. It had 3750 miles when I got it, and 4500 miles when I returned it.

And let me tell you... those were some hard, hard miles. :laugh:

I feel sorry for whoever buys it. Really. :Q

You weren't by any chance up on the interstate racing Mustangs with it were you??
...It's OK, just post the VIN# here so none of us buys it without knowing...

 

[Ronstang]

Originally posted by: SVT Cobra

Originally posted by: Ronstang

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus
There is no way in hell I'd ever buy a car that has been in a rental car fleet for the first 10-20k miles of its life.

So are you saying I made a bad decision when I decided to purchase the rental car in my sig.

What color is your 57 tbird? Please say triple white.

Flame Red with a White interior and the Saddle canvas soft top. I have a hard top for it also that is white but it has never been finished being restored as I just don't see a need to ever put it on the car. I don't even put the soft top up as the car is meant to be driven with the top down/off.

 

[SVT Cobra]

Originally posted by: Ronstang

Originally posted by: SVT Cobra

Originally posted by: Ronstang

Originally posted by: JulesMaximus
There is no way in hell I'd ever buy a car that has been in a rental car fleet for the first 10-20k miles of its life.

So are you saying I made a bad decision when I decided to purchase the rental car in my sig.

What color is your 57 tbird? Please say triple white.

Flame Red with a White interior and the Saddle canvas soft top. I have a hard top for it also that is white but it has never been finished being restored as I just don't see a need to ever put it on the car. I don't even put the soft top up as the car is meant to be driven with the top down/off.

 

[Eli]

Originally posted by: BUTCH1

Originally posted by: Eli

Originally posted by: Greenman
Remember, there are two kinds of car that can go anywhere, a four wheel drive, and a rental.

I recently had a 2007 Mitsubishi Lancer for 3 days. It had 3750 miles when I got it, and 4500 miles when I returned it.

And let me tell you... those were some hard, hard miles. :laugh:

I feel sorry for whoever buys it. Really. :Q

You weren't by any chance up on the interstate racing Mustangs with it were you??
...It's OK, just post the VIN# here so none of us buys it without knowing...

LOL

I wasn't racing the Mustang, I was just tailing it.. a cheap excuse to do 90 and hope that he's the one that gets pulled over.

Nah.. I just did 4,000RPM power brakes at every light, used the gear selector like a manual to downshift, and floored it everywhere I went.. LOL.

 

[BUTCH1]

When GM first announced a shiftable automatic Jay leno made a joke of it,
" These have been around for years. it's called a rental"