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as with any "used car", condition is paramount and the price should reflect that.
a pre-buy inspection buy a knowledgeable tech familiar with the car make/model is always advisable. If you don't have the ability to do so yourself, then you need to seek out the services of someone who can do this for you. What you need to know is the current condition of the car so that you can make an informed purchase decision.
keep in mind that what your are purchasing is the remaining economic service life of the vehicle.
it is entirely possible that a car "used for a rental" has been well maintained and has a lot of service life left in it, just like any other used car ... or maybe it hasn't. In the same way, privately owned cars may ... or may not ... have been well maintained and the miles put on them with care.
Best to begin your selection process by seeking out the car makes/models that are known to deliver high mileages without typically needing major repairs.
I considered buying a used rental Toyota Corolla for my daughter. Hertz had a 2 year old Corolla LE with 47K miles for $12.5K
However, when you realize that the car had likely been rented to about 50 customers and had its seats adjusted that many times and perhaps it had been maintained or perhaps its oil had just been topped up, there is a lot of uncertainty there.
I also think that a rental car can be subject to abuse, although I'd worry more about a Mustang GT than a Corolla.
Instead of going for the used Corolla, we opted to buy a new 2016 Elantra through Costco for just $15K. That car has better features than the Corolla, and is rated higher by Consumer Reports so for the extra $2.5K she got a 5 year bumper to bumper warranty and a new car with zero wear.
We also were worried that so many of the used cars available had been brought in from recently flooded areas such as Houston and New Orleans. Furthermore, many of the low mileage used cars had been wrecked and repaired. We decided to avoid those risks.
Because it was owned by a rental company you can bet it has lots of miles
Because it was driven by many drivers some were undoubtedly abusive
Because maintenance is an expense you can bet the bare minimum was preformed.
Because professionals are selling the car you will likely not get a price reflective of it's worth, when you are done with it there will be no value and the junkyard will be it's next stop.
Why not buy the same car from a single owner in good condition ? If you can't find that widen your search and be more patient.
My Sonata was a rental and I've never had a problem with it (besides manufacturer defects). I use the 15k miles per year rule, a two year old car should not have over 30k miles, I don't care if it was private owned or a rental. Just make sure it's under manufacturers warranty, any issues will be taken care of.
I considered buying a used rental Toyota Corolla for my daughter. Hertz had a 2 year old Corolla LE with 47K miles for $12.5K
However, when you realize that the car had likely been rented to about 50 customers and had its seats adjusted that many times and perhaps it had been maintained or perhaps its oil had just been topped up, there is a lot of uncertainty there.
I also think that a rental car can be subject to abuse, although I'd worry more about a Mustang GT than a Corolla.
Instead of going for the used Corolla, we opted to buy a new 2016 Elantra through Costco for just $15K. That car has better features than the Corolla, and is rated higher by Consumer Reports so for the extra $2.5K she got a 5 year bumper to bumper warranty and a new car with zero wear.
We also were worried that so many of the used cars available had been brought in from recently flooded areas such as Houston and New Orleans. Furthermore, many of the low mileage used cars had been wrecked and repaired. We decided to avoid those risks.
I see a lot of used cars for sale that were rentals. Is it a good idea to buy one of these?
NO.
This also is routinely discussed here every few months. Maybe try Search?
Rental car is rental car, no matter how well fleet manager maintained it. People don't give RA about those cars when they rent them. They gun them, eat inside, spill drinks, smoke, and have all other kinds of activities that maybe show in UV light only.
Why would you?
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