would you buy an ex-rental?

[Zandri]

Ok, so I found a nice looking 2008 SX6 on carsales which has done ~40k kms, specified as "1 Owner, Full Service History".. in talking with the dealer and asking my usual barrage of questions about the car it turns out its an ex-AVIS rental!

My first reaction was FORGET IT! But then I've got to thinking, there is a lot of stigma surrounding ex-rentals, but is it really justified? we hire many at work and never drive them any harder than our own personal cars.. yes, there would be the odd person that thrashes them, but is it really as many as its made out to be? If so it would probably show in other areas too (interior damage, scratches, etc).

It is being sold through a Toyota Dealer, and they have assured me it has had all logbook services at a genuine service centre.

It looks to be in pristine condition inside & out, but I just can't seem to put my mind at ease.

I'm going to take it for a test drive on the weekend, and push EXTRA hard on price (I'm not prepared to pay the same amount as if it was not an ex-rental).

I'd appreciate your thoughts, would you consider it?

[MartysAurion]

Personally I would never touch a car rental or Fleet car I know this especially from personal experience when I was an Engineer for the Government I was sent on long trips. I would thrash the living guts out of them to the point they reeked of brake fluid hahah :P

I may of even swapped some Aurion parts, maybe,,,, hahaha!

If it's in A condition get RAA to go over it thoroughly before you buy it and knock as much as the price as possible!

[kizz]

Personally I would never touch a car rental or Fleet car I know this especially from personal experience when I was an Engineer for the Government I was sent on long trips. I would thrash the living guts out of them to the point they reeked of brake fluid hahah :P

I may of even swapped some Aurion parts, maybe,,,, hahaha!

If it's in A condition get RAA to go over it thoroughly before you buy it and knock as much as the price as possible!

I'd have to agree about the worry about people thrashing it..

[Blind Kid Seeks]

Personally I would never touch a car rental or Fleet car I know this especially from personal experience when I was an Engineer for the Government I was sent on long trips. I would thrash the living guts out of them to the point they reeked of brake fluid hahah :P

I may of even swapped some Aurion parts, maybe,,,, hahaha!

If it's in A condition get RAA to go over it thoroughly before you buy it and knock as much as the price as possible!

I'd have to agree about the worry about people thrashing it..

my latest purchase is an ex rental... hahah

was only $400 though!

[Zandri]

yeah, cheers guys.. I'm very much swaying towards letting this one pass...

I buy cars for the long term, if its been thrashed previously this could protentially reduce the life down the track.

[corhijas]

as long as the car has had its full service history and can be checked etc it should be fine,i personally would'nt buy but that is me.

i have owned an ex-rental before and that was ok other than a few little things.

if you do decide to purchase-check the dealer has all 3 keys and 2 remotes,as a lot of ex-rentals only come with 1 remote and 1 key meaning you will have to get another set,which if you read the forum could cost you quite a few $$$$

cheers corey

[Zandri]

if you do decide to purchase-check the dealer has all 3 keys and 2 remotes,as a lot of ex-rentals only come with 1 remote and 1 key meaning you will have to get another set,which if you read the forum could cost you quite a few $$$$

excellent tip! I'll surely keep this in mind if I end up taking the offer.

I have mentioned my angst to the dealer regarding ex-AVIS, he has offered a full RAA check can be arranged. not sur ehow much would be picked up with this though.

ARRGH, too many "what if's" :(

[corhijas]

are you in sa,depending which raa service centre you go to.

do you have a preferred mechanic you can take it too for inspection,he may pick up more for you.

truth be known there would'nt be too many problems at this stage of the cars life anyway.

if you are after a good 1 with relatively low km's on there is plenty more available

[Zandri]

are you in sa,depending which raa service centre you go to.

do you have a preferred mechanic you can take it too for inspection,he may pick up more for you.

truth be known there would'nt be too many problems at this stage of the cars life anyway.

if you are after a good 1 with relatively low km's on there is plenty more available

Yeah, I'm in SA. But I don't really have a preferred mechanic, I don't think my previous local Honda service centre would be too interested in an Aurion :)

The car is only 5 months old, so your right, not much should be wrong.. it just comes down to how hard has it been driven (engine, gearbox punishment that may not show immedietely) And I guess you face this same problems buying any used car, how did the previous driver(s) treat it? who knows? .. it the gamble you take.

I'm looking at an '07 model at around $25-26k price range, there arent too many to choose from in SA at the moment. But that's ok, if I decide against this one, I'll keep waiting for one to pop-up.

[Wulfkind]

My Aurion is ex-rental, bought it late last year with 35,000kms on it.

So far it has not missed a beat (now has 62,000kms on it) and other than a few nicks and scratches on the interior and a few missing bits and pieces it was more than worth the purchase price (paid around $23k for the SX6)

Only thing I've had to do to it outside of the maintenance schedule is machine the rotors and replace the pads... The shocks hiss like mad though, so I'll be replacing them soon with coilovers.

I love my car and have no problems with buying another ex-hire car, only thing I recommend is absolutely getting a proper mechanic to check it over and also check for accident history.

The great thing about Hertz especially is that if you buy the car directly from them, they have a policy that any cars they sell direct to public have not required more than $2000 in maintenance and/or repairs.

[corhijas]

are you in sa,depending which raa service centre you go to.

do you have a preferred mechanic you can take it too for inspection,he may pick up more for you.

truth be known there would'nt be too many problems at this stage of the cars life anyway.

if you are after a good 1 with relatively low km's on there is plenty more available

Yeah, I'm in SA. But I don't really have a preferred mechanic, I don't think my previous local Honda service centre would be too interested in an Aurion :)

The car is only 5 months old, so your right, not much should be wrong.. it just comes down to how hard has it been driven (engine, gearbox punishment that may not show immedietely) And I guess you face this same problems buying any used car, how did the previous driver(s) treat it? who knows? .. it the gamble you take.

I'm looking at an '07 model at around $25-26k price range, there arent too many to choose from in SA at the moment. But that's ok, if I decide against this one, I'll keep waiting for one to pop-up.

the engines these days are rev limited so any damage should'nt apply to that,gearbox etc are built toyota tough anyways-lol

there a few atx's up at my local dealer at the moment for about $21000 and a sportivo for $28000 i think,might be worth a look and see.

pm me for the address if you would like it

cheers corey

[VF-X]

It is being sold through a Toyota Dealer, and they have assured me it has had all logbook services at a genuine service centre.

I'm going to take it for a test drive on the weekend, and push EXTRA hard on price (I'm not prepared to pay the same amount as if it was not an ex-rental).

I wouldn't worry if it passes through a toyota dealer... It's prolly just the hazzle to bring it back an forth if it was problematic.

The good thing about this.. u can bargain it hard to compensate your concern..

[Zandri]

Thanks everyone for your opinions so far, it is adding some valuable points to keep in mind and very good advice.

I may just push the dealer as far as I can on price then make a final decision, no obligation.

[Man+van]

I have just Purchased an Ex-rental. So far no dramas.

I have owned 2 Ex-rentals previously (both were corollas) and one of my friends also owned an Ex-rental corolla neither of us has had any troubles with any of them,

So far this one is just as good.

just listen real good on the test drive and go over it with a finetooth comb. and they go cheap!!

Good luck!

[DJKOR]

I would personally purchase an ex-rental so long as it passes all visual inspections and serviced according to schedule.

As a matter of fact, my Aurion IS an ex-rental. Heck, it was even flood damaged. Is now at 72,000km and has not skipped a beat.

[ELEGNT]

as soon as i read the title i knew daryl would be all over that...and his is the fastest sportivo on this forum. but if it was kept nice inside not abused and depending where it had come from, sure id buy one

[Zandri]

Again, thank you all for your input. It has certainly opened up my eyes and improved my opinion of ex-rentals as potential candidates for purchase.

I'm going to pass on the particular car discussed in this thread as the dealer is not willing to budge on price.

They were willing to go to ~$27.5k, but I feel it's still too expensive, I'll keep hunting for a 2007 model..

Cheers,

Scott.

[Man+van]

Good luck for the hunt

Just remember "Its a toyota!"

[DUB]

what if it was ex-lease/company fleet?

would you still see them in the same light as ex rentals?

[Wulfkind]

what if it was ex-lease/company fleet?

would you still see them in the same light as ex rentals?

I'd consider it no less than an ex-rental. Basically I see things this way, you buy a second hand (older car) without books or a full history, you have no idea what its history is. Just treat the purchase the same way as that, do some thorough checking and make sure the car has been kept up on servicing. Remember you'll always find good ones and you'll always find bad ones, don't trust the advice of people on a forum who have not seen the cars in question, investigate thoroughly and you shall be rewarded with some real cheap quality, just remember the old saying, 'caveat emptor'.

[prometheus]

I bought my current car ( a 1996 4cyl Camry ) in 1998 at the dealers auctions via a "dealer" with an LMCT licence for a fee.

The car had its service books and the previous owner was listed as some company.

Upon purchasing the car , I tracked down the location of this "company" and it turned out to be one of the car rental companies (Thrifty)

Initially , I was a bit worried about how the car had been treated , and at closer inspection the car's front passenger side panel had been hit and replaced and the bonnet does not fit perfectly.

Its something that you notice upon closer inspection.

So far the car has generally been good , without any major issues , a few things have gone wrong , but thats the case with any car.

Would I buy via auction again ? ..... maybe.

I see it this way , if you're going to take the risk of buying at auction and not being able to either test drive the car or have it closely inspected , then you should be able to save a significant amount of money on the purchase price ( ideally ,say $5000+ ) from buying either privately or from a dealer for having taken the risk of buying at auction.

Otherwise , its simply not worth the risk.

You may as well wait , check out what is available for sale privately or through dealers , test drive the car , check it thouroughly , check for service books and haggle them down.

In the last five or so years , with the amount of cars sold and the steep depreciation , its a buyers market.

So be patient, and if you have to spend a bit more on a good car , so be it. It could save you thousands in the long run.

[Hiro]

what if it was ex-lease/company fleet?

would you still see them in the same light as ex rentals?

I'd be more likely to buy an ex-rental than ex-fleet.

Rental cars, especially things like Camrys et al, tend to be rented by holiday-makers/families, who don't tend to treat cars bad - in fact a lot of the time they're just loaded up with luggage and driven to the airport.

Fleet cars, on the other hand, are generally treated like car-pool sluts - handed around from driver to driver, often not looked after properly, and not treated well by the drivers because "it's the company's responsibility to service it, not mine". Had a couple of work cars at my old job which were just falling apart despite only being a few years old (late model VZ Commodore utes), engines were in terrible condition and they would have been cleaned/vacuumed once in their life, MAYBE.

[Rolla Boy]

I know that Rental cars aren't really cared for all that much... They change the oil and filters every 10,000kms but thats it... They don't do major services, replace worn out parts or anything like that...

But before a dealer can sell a car they have to give it a full checkover and replace anything thats stuffed...

So have a good look over it, get it inspected, get everything fixed that needs to be done and you shouldn't have a problem...

[Tofuboi]

I would personally purchase an ex-rental so long as it passes all visual inspections and serviced according to schedule.

As a matter of fact, my Aurion IS an ex-rental. Heck, it was even flood damaged. Is now at 72,000km and has not skipped a beat.

I am fairly certain you can associate ex-rental with Fleet cars as they probably suffer the same treatment haha :D

My ZR6 was ex-Fleet and to be honest it only had two real issues which I was not entirely fussed over. One was the rear seat having a bit of scratching on it (leather scratch haha), and theres like two small stone chips which are easy to touch up when i can be bothered. That's it, I've had it since 30,000km and its just ticking over to 60,000km now. No major issues to report!

So in my opinion, I reckon you'd have no issue providing it has the nessisary checks done prior and as other people have said, it has all log books and has been given the OK by a dealer etc.

[sthilzy]

I've just purchased an ex-rental ATX from a Toyota dealer and am very happy with the purchase and the AURION! The car presented really well inside and out, drove well back street and freeway.

Mind you, I've been looking for a couple of months at ex Rental yards (that Hurtz), private sales and dealers. I wanted a used car as I hate the depreciation driving off the car lot.

What I look for is first service history, no history = no buy! The rentals I've seen have had all service books dated/stamped. Some private sellers had no service on cars from purchase.

Next accident damage. Look at the doors and see if the gap is even around them, open them up and look at the bolt heads on the hinges to see if the paint on the bolt head has been marked from a spanner.

A couple of private sellers had misaligned doors with paint off the door hinge bolt, even cracked weld on the door window sill, asked if the car had been in a prang, the reply a got was a swallowing (gulp) no! Walked away!

Open the bonnet and boot and check the hinge bolt heads, as well as the front guard bolts for spanner marks.

This little look at the hinge bolts say a lot about the cars integrity, the sellers as well!

Take the car for a test drive - by yourself. Go down the road quite a bit, in a backstreet. Hit the brakes, if the car pulls servilely Left or right, hit back at the seller as to why. Do all the other usual driving checks.

This may look strange but pretend to wash the car. Go through the motions as if you have a sponge in your hand or better still a chamois drying off the car and you'll notice things like uneven gaps in the panels, bog file marks, dents, chips, scratches, etc

If you go in the morning and there's condensation inside the car, steer clear of it! It has a leak in it somewhere, check the smell inside. This was the case at a Toyota dealer!

When you are happy with the car you've driven go back to the dealer seller and bag the crap out of the car! They'll do anything to keep you happy for the deal! I even got them to leave the CD for me in the player!

It took a few weekends to find a great used Aurion, patients is worth it! One will turn up to your liking!

BTW - I had a company car, fleet car and gave it heaps! As did my colleges. As mentioned earlier in the thread, generally rentals are driven by visitors you cruise around, as I do when renting a car on holiday or a weekend away with a group. They are washed and vacuumed after returning to depot and are always checked for dings. And mentioned before they are rev limited, even though I've seen on youtube an ATX hitting 235km/h!