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!
