Buying a rental vehicle

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Shaun
Posts: 188
Joined: Fri Dec 14, 2007 5:45 pm

Looking at the carfax on a lot of used vehicles at dealerships I'm noticing lots of them are rentals. Anyone have any experience, good or bad, buying rentals?
Shaun
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Bichon Frise
Posts: 1092
Joined: Fri May 04, 2012 2:23 pm

http://www.getrichslowly.org/forum/view ... 9&start=15
Bichon Frise

"If you only have 1 year to live, move to Penn...as it will seem like an eternity."
avocado wrote: Good to see you back, I was starting to miss your incisive commentary!
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Shaun
Posts: 188
Joined: Fri Dec 14, 2007 5:45 pm

Don't know if it's just my phone but that link just takes me back to the forum page.
Shaun
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geoff_tewierik
Posts: 218
Joined: Mon Aug 08, 2011 9:13 pm
Location: Brisbane, Australia

Not just your phone, I have the same issue.
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Bichon Frise
Posts: 1092
Joined: Fri May 04, 2012 2:23 pm

Look 2/3 down the page on the personal finance forum, looking a thread titled "Buying a Used Car." Rental car discussion starts on end of page 1, meat is in page 2. Surprise...there are varying opinions....
Bichon Frise

"If you only have 1 year to live, move to Penn...as it will seem like an eternity."
avocado wrote: Good to see you back, I was starting to miss your incisive commentary!
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legalwriter
Posts: 9
Joined: Fri May 11, 2012 4:33 pm

I bought a 2003 Toyota Camry that had 27k miles on it in 2004. It was a former rental/loaner vehicle from a Lexus dealership. I was a little reluctant about buying a former rental car but we have had the car now for over 12 years. It now has 177k miles on it. It has been a really good car. I hope to give it to my son when he turns 16. He is 12 years old and we bought the car when he was just a baby. You can generally get better deals on cars from rental fleets.

For similar mileage and price, it's hard to be the price that former rentals give. Sure, you have lots of different people using the car but most rental fleets get rid of their cars pretty quickly before any major maintenance or repairs are needed.
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jdmartin
Posts: 164
Joined: Thu Aug 28, 2014 10:31 am
Location: Southeast US

I bought one before, a Chevy Lumina, that had constant transmission issues. Mercifully, my daughter finally wrecked it (no one was seriously injured, thankfully) and I moved on to another vehicle, but not after I spent more than I probably should have keeping that car on the road. Too bad, too, because I really liked that car. It was ridiculously comfortable!
"Money is better than poverty, for financial reasons" - Woody Allen
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Smurfette
Posts: 49
Joined: Wed Oct 19, 2016 10:26 am

I bought a rental from Carfax two years ago and love it! It's been a great car that I've had few problems with. I definitely recommend a gently used car--even a former rental. I also recommend that you vet the desired year/make/model through consumer reports to minimize your chances of buying a lemon.
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