I’m considering buying a 2014 Camry or Corolla from Hertz Car Sales. Would you buy a car from Hertz Car Sales, and why or why not?
Yes…but depends on the mileage and if it was never in an accident or other damage.
They are usually maintained fairly well (oil changes)…I’d certainly buy one over a vehicle that came off of lease.
Yup.
Late model cars back on the market are usually there because there’s an unsolvable problem… or a terrible accident. Some are repos, and I’d have to wonder whether anyone not bothering to make payments is maintaining the vehicle (not!).
Large national rental companies sell their cars for an entirely different reason. They rotate their stock to keep the newest cars available for their customers. The overwhelming majority of them are there solely for that reason, and have absolutely nothing wrong with them.
IMHO this is a far, far, far less risky source of used cars than private sales or used car dealers.
One of the members in our bridge club works for a major car rental firm. His job is to keep the cars in good shape and regularly inspect them. When I posed the same question to him, he said “No way”. He would not buy a rental. He buys strictly new.
For what it’s worth.
While rental cars may have been driven by many drivers, a very low percentage of the drivers were abusive with the car. On the other hand, a one owner car may have been driven by someone like Mrs. Triedaq who drives so close to the car ahead that you can read where that owner bought the car, and sees how fast she can start from a,stop light and how fast she can stop at the next one.
You don’t want a car owned by Triedaq, either. The windows are so dirty that you have to drive with your head out the window if you want to know where you are going. His tires are so bald you can use them for mirrors to put on your makeup.
In short, you don’t want a car owned by my spouse. Triedaq
And you don’t want a car that belonged to my spouse… Mrs. Triedaq
We have purchased cars that were previously rental cars and they were fine. We agree on this. Mr. and Mrs. Triedaq
LOL, sincere thanks for yet another post that entertains while informing. Clearly you and the Mrs. have good senses of humor (senses of humor? No wonder I failed English!). I needed a chuckle tonight, and you’re very generously provided one.
A great evening to you both.
TSM 
Yeah, mine was a rental that I got from a GM dealer. Not Hertz but another major one. The thing is with used cars today you never know if the private owner went 10,000 miles between oil changes or what. At least with a rental you know that all of the services were performed on schedule. Same thing though, you have to check to make sure it was not in an accident. Dealers though only buy the best ones to put on their lots, and the prices are reduced. The only thing is that Hertz pays about what they get for the cars after running them for 30K or so but so what its cheaper than a private buyer would be able to get.
Yes, I think that’s a good idea in fact. Used cars are never a certainty how they’ve been treated, but I’d guess a used rental car to be a good bet. I wouldn’t do this, but that 's b/c they wouldn’t have them in manuals.
Ah, same dilemma I am having now. Quite a few ex-rentals on the market with close to 30K mile on the ODO and decently priced. The ones I am looking at are CPO, sold by the manufacturing dealer (Hyundai, Toyota, etc). My problem is, I can’t figure what rental company they are coming from. The ones sold by Hertz or Enterprise are priced the same and don’t have the CPO warranty.
I think I would not want a rental sports car, like a Mustang, but for a regular car, I am more comfortable. Used cars are a gamble no matter what. You have to get a bargain to make it worthwhile.
I’d trust a Hertz rental car with records over a low miles lease car with no records and which may have had few if any oil changes.
I bought a Hertz 1982 Volvo in 1983. It was a great car. The sales guy at the Volvo dealership told me that all rental cars are leased to the rental company, and the car company will only accept back the undamaged and good condition ones that they are willing to sell on their lots. The others are bought and then sold by Hertz or, if they are truly beat, they are wholesaled. It made sense to me then, and it still does. I know that manufacturers and car rental companies are in bed with each other, but I also know that each one wants to keep its name up and its reputation good. Dealers sell “certified” used cars, Hertz sells used cars with a warranty of sorts, and with the wholesaled cars you are on your own.
In Central MD, car rental companies have their own used car lots. One leasing company also has a used car lot. It seems to me that CarFax would have the original owners name, if you want to know which rental company owned it.
I Have Bought Several Former Rental Cars. I’ve Never Regretted Purchasing One And Never Got A Bad One.
Two of them (1 Chrysler, 1 Chevrolet) were new enough to still have both bumper-to-bumper and drivetrain warranty coverage (from the manufacturer), remaining. The Chevy was CPO and GM added 12,000 more miles/12 months bumper-to bumper coverage to the remaining warranty!
I look for lower miles cars, but they are getting harder to find. A CPO vehicle would be a good choice if priced well.
I do look at the manufacturer’s date on the cars when shopping, before even going as far as getting the actual “in-service” date.
Many (most, all ?) of the rental cars are “fleet” vehicles and I believe they order them in bulk from the manufacturers, usually with fairly basic equipment, sometimes no options at all.
Interestingly, some cars are only available as fleet rental cars. The Chevrolet Captiva is one example and I know a couple years ago (still the case?) the Ford Taurus was another.
One of my cars I purchased used with over a 100,000 miles and it had just 3 options. In its infancy it was a “fleet” sale car purchased by Alamo.
Many rental cars are white and silver because they are cooler in hot areas and they are popular (top 2?) resale colors.
Paying cash or financing? Be sure and compare any rental car to a similar new car purchase. Often the interest rates are better on new cars. Get the whole picture.
CSA
One car we owned that Mrs. Triedaq didn’t like was a 1985 Ford Tempo that we purchased as a brand new vehicle. The dealer had a special price on these Tempos, but the cars came equipped just one way with no substitutions. The only choice was the color. These Tempos were being built for rental companies, and dealers were allowed to place orders. I bought the car because Mrs. Triedaq was working a job 150 miles away and commuting on weekends. The Tempo gave no trouble, but it was a typical low end fleet car rental. The Tempo is the only car we didn’t drive at least 100,000 miles. Ironically, we traded it three years later for a 1988 Ford Taurus that had come from a rental fleet. It had 8000_miles when we bought it and had the balance of the warranty and was a very good car.
My parents got in on a similar deal on a new Mercury Sable that I had gotten on the 1985 Tempo. Ford built a run of Sables for rental fleets and the customer couldn’t specify any options–just the color. If you don’t mind a fleet car, that was a good buy.
Good point - while I wouldn’t have a problem buying a used rental car from Hertz that I liked, there might not be many that qualify. I had to rent a car to drive from OKC to Dallas (storms cancelled my last of the day flight), so I got a Focus, which I wanted because I’d read good things about it. Maybe they didn’t test the rental trim, it was an uncomfortable 3 hour drive…
Of course. The most important thing about buying a used car is the pre-purchase inspection.
It’s a real crapshoot with any used car, including rental cars. All the meticulous maintenance in the world isn’t going to change the fact that you have no idea how badly some yahoo hooned it.
I’ve seen rental cars taken out for track days on race tracks. I’ve seen them taken offroading. I’ve seen them taken down rally courses.
And then there’s the interior. I have a friend who manages a rental car location. Some of the things she tells me her place has to clean out of those cars… That might put the nail in the coffin right there for me. Everything from barf to badly spoiled milk to pet/child “accidents” to… Other bodily fluids that people should not be depositing on things they do not own.
On the other hand, for all you know the guy on Craigslist selling his “gently used” car did all the same things to his car.
As with any used car I would inspect it thoroughly and then take it to a shop and have them do a pre-purchase inspection.
Agree with above, though my last rental car, scraped the gunnels fording a creek to go to fern canyon in a redwoods forest, what the heck we have insurance, then in San Fran did a u turn to avoid gong on a turnpike to nowhere, another scrape and clunk as what looked like yellow lines on a dark rainy night were 4" high yellow lane dividers, did not tear off the muffler or anything, but thank goodness it is a rental car and we have insurance, and then scraped the bumper on a parking stop at a hotel, such a low clearance on the Chrysler 300, now I usually do not have issues, but the wth it is a rental car with insurance sure played into a cavalier attitude about hurting the car.
I would probably look at buying the car I rented, and the abuse may be normal in any other car, but at least you know I think regular maintenance has been done.
PS Decided to do a lease, 3 years and out, no tires, brakes, repair costs as all is under warranty and saving $18 a month over our last purchased vehicle kept 12 years.
My son bought a 2002 Protege from Hertz outlet in Chicago. Yes, they have had all maintenance pulled, and the representative said any repair problem of any kind which they consider significant and the car goes to auction instead of being sold at the Outlet.
The car was under 25,000 miles, and is now well past 270,000 miles. He changed a couple years ago to 0W-20 synthetic oil, and mileage went up a visible amount. No oil consumed at the 5,000 mile oil changes. And, transmission runs out perfectly. His only complaints are odd tire size, and hard to access oil drain plug.
Yes, we would both buy a used car from Hertz Outlet if we needed one.
I bought a used National Rental and my father in law bought a used Avis. Both were quite reliable
and exhibited no problems from being a rental.