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Hello all,
We are helping my in-laws buy a used car - likely a former rental from Hertz or Enterprise. Given none of us know a thing about cars, figure it might be a good idea to get it inspected. Anyone done this and have a good independent mechanic they would recommend? We are in Durham, though would happily drive a bit for someone trustworthy.
A make is probably required if you are looking to take it to an independent place and want recommendations. If it's a rental fleet car it's probably lower in miles , I would just make sure all the stuff works, get a checklist online. Are you getting it private party? Make sure it drives and runs ok, drive it over some bumpy pavement listen for clunks and bumps.
Zinner - best options right now seem to be toyota, nissan and hyundai. Not sure what you mean by private party - we'll be buying straight from hertz/enterprise. Mileage will likely be ~40k. Agreed that a formal inspection is probably not necessary, but may be worth it just for peace of midn.
BC1960 - Made me slightly nervous too, but virtually everything I can find suggests its actually a pretty good option if they have what you are looking for (in part because of squeamishness about buying former rentals). Met two people who do it routinely now. Seems like the only option we can find that meets the criteria they want. Not my car and not my money, so just trying to help them do the best they can.
Stan - Hah, the fact that the doofus in that video thinks we shouldnt is possibly the compelling reason yet TO buy a former rental!
We bought a former Enterprise car w/ 40k on it. A Toyota Prius. Good car, we still have it six years later, around 115k on it now. I'd do it again in a heartbeat, you save a ton off retail. Personally I wouldn't bother having them inspected, just look for obvious accident damage like mis-matched panels or oversprayed paint etc. I'm sure there is a short YouTube video on it.
I rent a lot of cars for work, and when I get stuck with one with more than 30k miles I cringe. Rental car mileage is like dog years, I think :-) 30k of rental miles is like 90k of regular miles. I generally rent from Hertz, mid-size, or whatever I pick in the Five Star area at the bigger airports, so fortunately I don't get stuck with a high mileage beater, unless I'm in a podunk airport where you get what you get. I"m sure there are exceptions but that isn't the first place I would look. If you know nothing about cars, a PPI (pre-purchase inspection) is probably warranted.
We purchased a 2004 Camry in 2006 from Hertz Rental. Sold car in 2015. During those nine years no problems at all with the car. Just normal upkeep. (tires, brakes, tuneups, oil changes, etc)
I don't know what sort of problems other people have had with cars purchases from rental companies but we were happy with our rental car purchase. I remember that the auto came with a warranty from Hertz.
I'd rather buy a rental than buy one with low miles from a little old lady who drove it to church on Sunday or to the grocery store.
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