Jon Swaine phoned me (and other people I know) about this the week before and we all told him it was a non-story. Something like 80% of used cars re-sold at 6 - 18 months old are ex-rental. If not, where else would they come from? Ford actually has a full scale 'Ford Direct' refurbishment factory for them at Tilbury. But Swaine's premise was wrong, based on out of date prejudice. In the 1970s, many hirers (including me) wrung the necks of their hire cars. Nowadays, the slightest damage to a hire car, bodily or mechanically, comes off the hirer’s credit card. And engines are built to such tight tolerances that they are actually better run-in by a variety of different drivers than by just one, especially than by one overly 'careful' driver. The sweetest, most reliable car I have ever run was an ex rental Mondeo, bought at 10 months old with some minor body damage to the roof in January 2009. That car served me, my wife, and then my ex-wife very well and very cheaply for nine years. Nothing significant went wrong, and even components like brake discs lasted a very long time. I don't blame salesmen for obfuscating the history of perfectly good cars when they know full well that prejudice against ex-rentals would lose them a sale. The irony is, the customer could then go somewhere else, and actually buy exactly the same car from a more convincing salesman. But Jon Swaine wanted his alarmist front-page story, and he got it. There is nothing for you to be alarmed or upset about at all.