REF: HJ's telegraph Q&A SAT 28 JUNE '08
Does any one know why an ex rental would be better run in than a car bought from a private seller? Can someone expand on HJs reply? Surely a private owner would take more care to run the car in strictly adhering to any guidelines given by the manufacturer. How many renters will adhere to these guidelines? I doubt most even read the handbook before pulling off.
I understand PJs query to be more about the potential damage caused to his wife's Passat by careless renters. I drive rentals regularly for work purposes and some of them are seriously abused by other users before I get my hands on the them. The engines can sound extremely rough presumably from being driven very hard and possibly before the engine has had chance to warm (very damaging for obvious reasons).
K.
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Modern cars don't really need to be run in. Some private owners are too gentle on their new cars when what they really need is to be driven, not hard but at varying levels of revs.
I think HJ means that a more robust driving style on a new car may be better than a timid and gentle style.
We once bought an ex-rental old style Panda that had come from the Channel Isles. It was a great bargain and never gave any serious problems.
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Jersey has a mild climate and a 40 mph speed limit - nothing is going to be thrashed very hard there!
Edited by Armitage Shanks {p} on 29/06/2008 at 09:01
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from the article "It had covered a fairly hefty 14,000 miles in 12 months ".
My experience was that the cars had not had a service in that time - and on the make I wanted that means the first 10,000 mile service has been missed.
I wonder if the writer checked the service history properly when buying the car - I'd be willing to bet that the first service was at 14,000 miles by the selling dealer.
Almost certainly not a problem unless you have a warranty claim turned down in the first couple of years of ownership.
Edited by Marlot on 29/06/2008 at 09:02
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I've just re-read the letter - the car was a Passat, so probably not due its first service yet (assuming variable servicing).
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Years ago,I bought an ex-rental,nothing wrong with it-excellent car;drove it for years.A private owner could do more damage to a car than a hirer.
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Nothing wrong with buying ex daily rental stock,as long as you know thats what you are buying.Some rental fleets have higher standards in my experience,Avis stock always seemed to be in better condition than the others.
Always ask to see the V5,often an ex rental is described as 'ex demo' or 'manufacturer direct'but often have around 12-14k miles.
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For what it's worth. I bought an ex-Hertz Mondeo TDCI estate via Ford direct some years ago. Six months old with 6000 miles. It was perfect in every way and cost 58% of the best quote I could get for a brand new one. I went on to treat it like the "Millenium Falcon" miles wise and it never once let me down. Wouldn't hesitate to repeat the exercise.
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I've owned a few ex rentals. Never had any trouble with any of them, and touch wood will continue to do so. The rental companies cannot afford the vehicles to be off the road, so routine maintenance is essential. During their rental period they will get a variety of drivers; ok some good, some bad, but in some respects with the varying driving styles it means the engine won't be used at the one throttle position all the time, thrashed all the time, laboured all the time, etc etc that it *could* be from having just the one driver. Any panel damage, etc is usually put right straight away because the rental company won't want their name being displayed on a tatty looking car - ie, bad advertising.
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Nearly all rental cars will need to have cosmetic work when they've done their time, and they all go to a refurb centre to be touched up, before being stored for several months, or vice versa, so the mileage adjusts to a better time scale.
A few of them will have been used by people on sites and the like, so i would have a good look underneath for signs of ingressed mud and scrape marks, i wouldn't want one thats been used by a site engineer or similar for 6 months, we do see them in their worst condition.
You used to be able to buy the car you've rented if its getting near its time and it seems a particularly good one, don't know if thats still the case.
The only reason i'd be really worried about ex renters would be the possible risk of misfuels on diesels, but then i'm concerned about that with all modern diesels really, not so much the car itself as the new type of owners that now buy diesels.
As you say though, the vast majority will be fine, but as with most things like this, very careful examination is a must.
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I thought nearly all hire/rental cars are petrol, or is that just hire cars?
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I simply don't believe that a new car benefits from a 'harsh' running-in regime. The handbook that came with my Subaru was very specific about the need for running-in, staying below 3000rpm for first 1000 miles (IIRC) etc. I don't think they would put that in the handbook unless the company's engineers thought it necessary. With all due respect to HJ, they are likely to know better than a journalist.
On the topic of rental cars - I've rented quite a few cars and they've almost all been OK mechanically. Body and trim been a bit below par in a few though.
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fraserjp - the daily hire companies have lots of diesels on their fleets now. Hertz have a range called 'green collection' (ie - low emission / hi mpg vehicles) and the cars in that range are virtually all diesel..
And as to buying ex rental - my last two cars have been exactly that. would do it again.
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Plenty of them in Wimbledon driving the players around, S Max is the favoured one. I'm not a believer in thrashing either, although I do take my new C5 up to 3000 RPM regularly.
Since most cars have cruise control now, and all roads seem severely speed-limited, unless I use 4th/5th rather than 6th for a period, I'm bound to be sitting at the same revs for most of most journeys, outside town.
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The best car I ever had was an ex-rental Mondeo 2.0, 97 model. About ten months old, 10k, and rang like a dream for two years. Nothing, absolutely nothing went wrong.
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