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Lets see, having worked for 2 car dealers and had to deal with Enterprise and Budget cars now and then...
...blown transmissions with under 5K miles from abuse, parts missing off the cars (that the renter probably sold), blown engines, damaged undercarriages (which we could only deduce came from people re-creating the Dukes of Hazard), etc, etc. People treat rental cars like red-headed stepchildren. Trust me.
yea i agree let me add:
not changing the oil when they should ( had a personal experience where i rented a truck and drove over 3000 miles and within the 1st 30 miles the truck started screaming at me to change the oil. I was afraid so i pulled over and checked to oil to make sure it wasn't at least running low. thank god it wasn't i sho0uldn't have had to deal with that as a rental)
not keeping all the fluids up to date: trans fluid = early trans failure
oil = early engine break down
coolant = engine overheating and eventually seizing
alignment if not done when needed = wearing on other steering components causin premature wear anf failure
I bought a 2002 Dodge Intrepid from Enterprise Rental back in 2003 with 23,000 miles on it. It's 2009 and I now have 118,000 miles on it.
The only issue this car has ever had is a sensor in the transmission gave out, but this is common on Intrepids in general, and since I bought the 100,000 mile warranty, the cost of $350 in repairs was completely covered. But even if I had to pay out of pocket, $350 in repair costs is darn good. Now, it just may be the point where things will all start breaking down, but all my previous cars from used car dealers developer far more problems and at much lower mileage.
I think my purchase from Enterprise Rental was a solid choice. Enterprise undercut the dealers down the street by $4 to $5 thousand, and the car had much lower mileage than the ones on the user car dealer lots, and it has been running strong.
DH is a mechanic and says buying an Enterprise car is a good idea if you want a used car that has a good maintenance record. Enterprise has their cars serviced at the dealer he works at. He is always wanting to buy the kids one of their cars but they always turn up their noses. He knows they will last the kids for driving to and from work and transporting their kids around.
If I were buying a rental car, I'd want to know where the rental agency was. I'd never buy a car that had been rented in a place near the mountains like Denver, or with a severe winter climate like Minneapolis of Buffalo. A flatland car in a warm climate would be much less likely to have been driven in hard conditions.
I bought a Mitsubishi Gallant rental in 1988, and it ran a normal lifetime with no problems.
I bought a 2010 Dodge Avenger SXT from Enterprise Sales in march 2012 with 22,500 miles on it. I got an extended warranty (72 month/100K) since I have a bad experience with past cars and recalls/defects. I had it checked out and actually researched the car and had it delivered from NJ. I live in Philly. I have had no problems with the car and it's my second Enterprise sale. The first, a 2001 Chevy Malibu was a problem due to the intake manifold gaskets failing twice (a design defect). It got stolen just as the gaskets were failing for a third time at 83,800 miles. I bought that Malibu with 20k on it and had an extended warranty of 72m/100K miles and the warranty company (warrantybynet) stated they would not cover the gaskets a third time. Stolen just in time.
My wife bought a Toyota 4-Runner rental with 55,000 miles on it for 5,000 dollars. It now has 171,000 miles on it with no other problems than to change the timing belt at the recommended miles.
As the former manager of several Rental car companies and locations, I can attest that people abuse rental cars.. With that being said you take your chances buying one.. Could be ok, BUT could be a hassle....
And by abuse I mean driving with low or no oil, not paying attention to guages or idiot lights, popping the clutch, doing burnouts, offroading, etc, etc, etc......
I'd err on the side of caution, but wouldn't dismiss buying a used car from a rental fleet.
Except for blatant abuse (e.g. a previous poster whose friend pulled the handbrake), I'd argue that "hard" driving wears down the brakes and other replacable parts. Modern cars' engines and transmissions are built to withstand "hard" driving.
I'd bet that certain rental cars whose transmissions fail were meant to fail regardless of how it was driven previously. I'd personally stick with manufacturers whose known for reliability (e.g. Toyota & Honda).
Doesn't the interval of changing fluids (e.g. oil changes) vary specifically by location? The challenge here is that you don't know how often this was done, but it's no different than not knowing a non-rental used car's maintenance history.
Buying a used rental fleet car is like playing in the Stock Market; the higher the risk, the higher the reward.
As the former manager of several Rental car companies and locations, I can attest that people abuse rental cars.. With that being said you take your chances buying one.. Could be ok, BUT could be a hassle....
And by abuse I mean driving with low or no oil, not paying attention to guages or idiot lights, popping the clutch, doing burnouts, offroading, etc, etc, etc......
How long ago where you a manager of a rental car company? I haven't seen a manual in a rental feel in YEARS.
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Trust me.
