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People think they are giving them away just because they are done with them. Our local Enterprise Sales is anything but cheap. A 13 4Runner for $38K? Is this a good deal? A 14 Versa with 36K is $13K. I can get a brand new one for not much more.
If it was a sporty type vehicle with a manual transmission or even an auto tranny I might pass. The typical renter of a family type vehicle will PROBABLY not abuse a vehicle unless they have had a BAD history with that rental outfit before. My elderly Mother has owned several Enterprise rental vehicles and has had great luck. Just make sure you ask for the rental companies service records first. Any previous problems will be on their records.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
44,585 posts, read 81,206,701 times
Reputation: 57822
Never again, we made that mistake once. Unfortunately, in our state, the fact that it was a previous rental has to be on the title, but the seller, including dealers, do not have to disclose it. We bought a 4Runner with about 70k miles that looked and ran great, but when the title came saw the notation on the title. By then there was nothing we could do. Within a couple of months, some body trim fell off, and the power antenna got stuck down. A bit later the driver seat power adjustment gave out. Then the next summer, at about 85,000 miles the transmission went and had to be rebuilt at $2,800. At 99k the head gasket blew, thankfully that one was covered by a "secret warranty" to 100k miles by Toyota. During that entire time we had to replace the front brake pads and rotors every 10,000 miles, as they would warp and cause a shaking steering wheel. Was some or all of this related to multiple drivers, different any day or two? No way to know, it might have just been a lemon, but it definitely put us off of buying rental cars (and Toyotas).
I had a grand prix that had 23K miles on it purchased and it was a rental. Only 1 year old. No problems with it until I found out I needed steering work done at 50K miles, but that was a GM issue, not because it was a rental.
I bought a 2012 Malibu with 36k miles from Enterprise two years ago for $4k under blue book. it has some cosmetic damage that was clearly visible, a few scrapes.
It now has 70k miles on it.
I'd it again. The process was easy, it was a great deal, financing at a very good rate, 3 day trial drive before buying, no problems at all.
Any rental car I had, I always check the oil and find it black as a tire, and sometimes low enough to need a qt of oil. This is not the best way to break in a new car. If you don't own it, you'll take less care of it, meaning rental cars usually get abused as well as neglected. I wouldn't go anywhere near a former rental.
I bought a Jeep Wrangler with 20,000 miles on it that had been a rental on Maui.
The island is so small with hardly any roads that I knew that it couldn't have been abused more then doing the Road to Hana all of it's life there.
It's 22 years old now and still runs like new.
Clearly, he hasn't seen me drive my vehicle and clean it compared to how I drive rental cars! Me and everyone else I know.
Rental cars are usually pieces of crap. Why would you want to buy one after hundreds or thousands of people have beat the hell out of it? Lord knows what stains are in the vehicle that you can't see.
Without a doubt, your BS meter is pegged well past the outer limits. Tip of the day, it's pretty easy for everyone to spot a BSer, so don't embarrass yourself further...
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