I was looking at used BMWs and listing has free car fax report to view. It is listed as one owner Vehicle and sold on acution exactly 3 years after ownership and listed as fleet vehicle.
Q1. Does that mean it was leased car?
Q2. Even though it was sold at auction and listed as fleet vehicle, does this mean it was really a fleet (rental) vehicle or it is sort of customary to list auction cars from dealers as fleet vehicle or could be any thing?
There are many definitions of “fleet” vehicle. Rental is only one possibility.
I suggest you stop worrying about nomenclature and concentrate on the vehicle’s maintenance history.
Are you sure you’re willing to move from the Camry ownership experience to one of the “luxury” brands? Especially a Euro-brand?
The ownership experience, and the cost of maintenance, will be significantly different, not necessarily in a good way.
Good luck.
You don’t want to me at least day dream!
Day dreams and nightmares come together…
Could be a dealer “loaner” vehicle. I see them all the time in my area–the dealers give people loaner cars while their personal cars are being worked on.
Maybe It Was A Police Car On The Autobahn. Are There Any Filled Holes From Light Bars Or Shotgun Holders ?
Seriously though, I found it interesting that my son’s girlfriend bought an 07 Taurus (I believe that’s what she drives) and it was a fleet vehicle. Turned out that there were no 07 Tauruses made for retail, except the ones sold to fleet sales.
I have bought several “fleet” cars. They’ve been rentals or “program” cars. One had LAX markered onto the end of the door. It was a rental at Los Angeles Airport. Another had a toll-free phone number in the trunk on a sticker. I called and a rental car company answered.
One of my current cars was an Alamo rental. I found the information by having GM dealer run the car’s entire maintainence history on their computer.
I’ve not had any problems with any of them. However, they’ve all been fairly new, low miles, and warranty left, save my current driver (older, higher miles, no warranty) and for 3 years it’s been great too, but I was able to talk to the former owner before purchase.
CSA
I wouldn’t be afraid of it if you are. I’ve had several bought new, and later became “non fleet used cars” that were driven by teenage drivers in my family. They were driven rougher than rentals. I’m still finding out years later, as we story tell with grandchildren, what my kids, now their parents did to “my” cars growing up.
IMO, it all depends upon the trust you have in the dealer after the sale should you have trouble and the prep and inspection of the vehicle by the dealer before. Do what ever research you can, this inquiry included, but it still comes down to trust and all used cars are chance takers to some dergree.
There is a company called PH&H which buys cars and leases them to big corporations as “fleet vehicles”. These company cars are used by sales reps and managers and I drove PH&H cars for over 20 years.
When it comes time to get a new company car based on age or miles (3 years or 60K miles was my corp policy) the old car is offered to the driver at wholesale price. If the driver doesn’t want the car then it goes to auction.
Some drivers maintained the cars and others didn’t. Since all repairs were paid for by the company it wasn’t a matter of money. Some luxury cars are available to senior reps, and higher level management.
It is possible this BMW was such a fleet car.
Let me ask another question. If this is bought for personal use either as lease or purchase, then how would it be reported on Car Fax?
Does Car Fax distinguish that car purchased for personal use either as lease or owned?
A BMW is unlikely to be a rental car in the USA; more likely a leased car.
A local corporation has many vehicles, including executive sedans, that are for tax and insurance purposes owned by a leasing company. There are many tax and personal liability loopholes involved with corporate management these days.
Good question for the CarFax people. They get their info off the titling documents that are recorded in state DMV computers. A car leased for personal use is not owned by the person, but rather the leasing company. Therefore it is likely reported on CarFax as a leased car.
If you know someone who is leasing a car. Ask them for the VIN number and pull a CarFax report and see how reads.