Ask Honest John

Honest John Ask Honest John » The Rentalist

The Rentalist

I negotiated on my daughters behalf the purchase of a Toyota Verso on the basis that the salesman said the car had been owned by Toyota and was an ex staff car. Though previously registered to Toyota, it turns out that it was used as a rental vehicle by Europcar. The sales manager acknowledges my surprise and says about 80% of all new Versos are used by rental companies and also if they get a car for trade in that is ex-rental this does not affect the trade-in value. Do you agree that possible course of action for my daughter is to ask either, for a cash reduction of purchase price, or that they take the car back? Whilst I am not keen on ex rental cars is this a fair view? The car appears to be in good condition, the unknown being how the car has been driven. What are your views on ex-rental cars?

Asked on 18 July 2009 by

Answered by Honest John
I make no distinction between ex-rental and ex-fleet. In fact, rental agreements are so tough these days that if a renter does any damage at all, he or she is liable. We actually ran an ex rental 1998 Mondeo for 9 years and it was the most trouble-free car I have ever experienced. One of the reasons is that when a car is driven by a number of different drivers, each with different driving styles, the mechanical parts get run in better than by a single driver with a single driving style. So there is no foundation for your worry, or for seeking any kind of financial redress.

We give you the low down on how to save on insurance, little-known tricks and tips, what insurance groups mean and how to use insurance aggregators to beat insurers.

Insurance group finder and how to save on insurance

Our honest used car pricing is a little bit different to all the others. You can get to our values through make or model - you don’t have to follow a prescribed route. Plus, it’s live, which means we can react to changes in the market quicker than any printed price guide.

Honest Used Car Prices
Dear Honest John,

Please help me choose my next car. I would like it to have:
    Select a few terms below
Similar questions
I am considering buying a Golf 1.4S and have two options: April 09 (09 plate) with 7.5k miles on clock for £9490 - this is an ex Euro Car hire car. Or: Sept 09 (59 plate) with 9.6k miles on clock...
My local Vauxhall Main Dealer recommended me to buy a 2007/57 reg Meriva Design 1.4 saying it had been one of their fleet cars. The logbook did not show them as owners. My car proved to have a difficult...
I recently decided to trade-in my 30,000 mile 2003 Ford Focus1.6 Ghia Auto for an 09 Ford Fiesta 1.4 Auto in Moondust Silver. But I was slightly surprised to find that its mileage since first registration...