Buying cars from rental agencies

General Discussion
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21

Unless you know the previous owner was a careful driver and followed the appropriate maintenance schedule for his/r car you shouldn’t buy any used car either. Buying any used car is risky due to the “unknowns” of the cars history.

You don’t know the rental car drivers, some were jerks others careful drivers. You can assume and most rental sales come with documentation of at least regular oil changes and that decent maintenance was given to a rental car. Amoung used cars, rental agency cars are a better bet than most.

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I was also looking for similar answer while buying a car from a car rental company. I think this is the best option as the history provided by car rental companies are more reliable than an individual car owner. They also offer finances and limited warranty for your purchase. used cars

23

I stopped to avoid a red light photo and got rear ended.

I hope that really means you stopped to avoid running a red light, which you should do whether or not there are cameras present.

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No, only wasn’t looking good for the photo that day:)

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Some good points have been touched on… one needs to be repeated, and another I haven’t seen anyone bring up yet:

  1. Rental companies get rid of cars because they have reached a certain age/mileage and they need to keep their cars younger to attract customers. Their decision to sell a car is based on this, not because a car is trouble-prone. You are much more likely to get a lemon from a private party seller than a rental company in this respect. Leases are the same deal as rentals - there was a preset time determined when they would go on the market. One owner leases are not likely to be lemons, either.

  2. Yes, SOME people are likely to have driven a rental car hard. But how many people get into a rental and actually drive it any harder than their normal vehicle? Does anybody? I doubt it. You’re actually likely to get a vehicle that has essentially seen what was an exactly average driver. Yes, that is scary when you see terrible driving habits around. But think of this. If you buy from a private party owner, you get a car that has been subjected to their habits alone. If they were babying the car, GREAT. However, if they were one of the people I see on my daily commute flooring it at every light, that’s NOT good. Buy a rental and you KNOW it has been driven like an average car. Buy private party and it MIGHT have been babied or it MIGHT have been abused. If you made this choice 1000 times, it wouldn’t matter which way you went. If you make it once or twice, though, it certainly does. One is a guaranteed answer, the other is a gamble.