Aurion ex-rental

[Monoxide]

Hey all,

I am looking at picking up an Aurion ATX at the low end of the price scale around $15-$16k, a lot of these are ex-rental/ex-company etc. I was wondering what people's experiences were with these?

I went to my local Toyota dealer which our family usually deals with and they have a couple like this. An 06' with 98k and an 07' with 115k. The one with 98k was an ex-Avis rental and the one with 115k is an ex-council car. Now the avis one is a very nice colour, some scratches here or there that they said they would fix, drivers seat has a small burn hole and stain on seat they said they can fix as well, and the plastic has some marks but overall it seems in good nick for the price. The other one I haven't had time to sus out yet. I was going to test drive these on Saturday.

They are offering me the $1300 3 year Toyota warranty (not dealer warranty) to go with it. I am hoping to trade in my XV20 Camry and have one of these for the next couple of years before spending for a nicer car.

What I was really hoping to know is, are these any pitfalls to buying these cars? Considering it has service history and has been checked over by them. And the fact I would probably take up the extra warranty.

And also what are the things I should pay particular attention to? Other than listening out for noises, checking all the functions work, full locks, gear changes, various acceleration and braking etc.

Edited September 15, 2010 by Monoxide

[DJKOR]

Welcome to the forum. Remember... search is your friend. Using the term 'ex-rental' just like you have included in your title, the search function has found the following thread. Have a read through there firstly.

would you buy an ex-rental?

Just note that in that thread, when I/we are referring to my car being ex-rental, it's referring to my old Sportivo SX6.

[Monoxide]

Hey DJKOR, Thanks for that. I did find that thead earlier, some good info.

I thought my situation was different in that they were asking about ones with only about 20k and nearly brand new. The ones I am looking at are 3-4 years old now and are getting to 100k or more. I wanted to know if people think in my situation from a dealer with warranty they are a safe buy for around that price range B)

[DJKOR]

Well the way I see this is that an ex-rental that has been taken care of (in terms of correct service intervals etc) shouldn't be any more worse off mechanically than another used Aurion of the same age. Most of the wear and tear on these cars are cosmetic as everything else is pretty solid, provided it is serviced regularly. If anything serious is to have happened (like the VVT-i oil line issue or the steering knock), it would have more than likely happened already. If the problem isn't there, it either indicates it has been kept well, or the problem has been fixed.

[Monoxide]

Well the way I see this is that an ex-rental that has been taken care of (in terms of correct service intervals etc) shouldn't be any more worse off mechanically than another used Aurion of the same age. Most of the wear and tear on these cars are cosmetic as everything else is pretty solid, provided it is serviced regularly. If anything serious is to have happened (like the VVT-i oil line issue or the steering knock), it would have more than likely happened already. If the problem isn't there, it either indicates it has been kept well, or the problem has been fixed.

Thanks, that gives me some peace of mind :) . I plan on doing the test drive on Sat so that will shed some more light on the condition and I will make sure they can account for all of the services :P