My dad has just placed a deposit on an 08' Toyota Avensis. He asked the saleman who the previous owner was and he was informed it was an ex company car. The logbook said 'ERAC Ltd'. Now from working in the trade i know this is Enterprise Rent A Car.
Ive no problems in buying a rental car - most 6 month old cars on the supermarket forcourts are ex rental and if serviced correctly should be as good as anything else out there.
My only gripe is that the salesman hasnt told my father about it being ex rental. The car has 10k miles on the clock and is in very good condtion. They are pretty desperate for the sale and have offered him above book on his old passat.
He is going to have a second look at the car today to check it over and if he is happy then sign the relevant paper work.
Would you buy an ex rental car? Your opinions would be welcome.
thanks
Dave
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I am driving one currently. My father bought it nearly-new and it's now 9 years old. He had a long series of similar motors.
Expect to replace front tyres and brakes. Everybody races hire cars.
Otherwise (if you exclude the fact that I wouldn't buy a nearly-new car if you paid me(!)) I would be very happy to buy an ex-rental.
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I'm not sure what the problem is - just because a car come from company ownership does not mean it's been well-treated - it could have been the office spare/hack, and trashed every journey, or it might have been the finance-director's car and cosseted - you will never find out.
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Only after having it looked at in detail, by a competent examiner. Inside, outside, topside, and underside. If the list of scars and defects is not too long, mechanically and bodywise, maybe.
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A very similar thing happened to us a few years ago. The salesman said it was a Vauxhall management car. It was only a few months old and in very good condition but when we got the registration document it was an ex car hire firm.
We wouldn't have bought it if we had known because of the way most people drive them. We only kept it a few months before changing as it couldn't handle the deep snow where we live. It wasn't a bad car although we did have problems with the ECU which took weeks for the dealer to sort out. Now I'm sure that would have happened anyway, ex hire or not.
Would we buy another ex hire? No, because of the reason above.
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>>If the list of scars and defects is not too long, mechanically and bodywise, maybe.
You've clearly never hired a car from a reputable car-hire firm. They are inevitably clean as a whistle and tidy as a picture.
No car dealer would survive ten minutes if he was in the habit of selling duff cars in high volumes.
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You jest? Perhaps you really have come across pristine hire cars. A Passat car we bought (not knowing it was ex hire) turned out to have accident damage, not repaired properly.
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i know this is Enterprise Rent A Car.
My previous Vectra was an ex Enterprise car and overall I was very satisifed with it. Admittedly bought through a garage, 6 mnths old with 10,000 miles on it. Very clean condition, original tyres (the fronts lasted another 15,000 miles before needing replacing) and nothing went wrong with it in the 3½ years I owned it until reshaping the front end on the side of a Passat.
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Had an ex-Hertz car years ago.No problems.
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I have just washed my Mazda - it is 10 yrs old this month - looks pristine.
It was sold to me as a Mazda Reg car - it was in fact as an ex hire car.
It needed a strip down gearbox under warranty - could not select reverse @ 3,000 mls.
In the 9 yrs I have had it it has cost under £500 for repairs if you exclude tyres, brakes servicing etc - first exhaust was last month!
I was displeased on learning it was ex-hire but 9 years later it has been the best car I have bought in 42 years. That said I have bought other cars in the last 10 years but not from that Dealer Chain with garages all over Scotland (and some in England)
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I had a nearly Vectra from a hire fleet (long term hire rather than daily hire) and apart from a few marks to the trim and a couple of bits of trim that needed refitting it was perfect.
Not even any scratches or wheel scuffs, which is pretty good considering the state I've seen some of the hire cars we've had!
As ever, the condition of the car is far more important than who the previous owner was.
And yes, I would buy another hire car again, providing it met my high standards.
Let's face it, if you want a nearly new car you only really have a choice between ex-hire, ex-demo and ex-management (or manufacturer fleet I would call them). Any one of them could have been abused, you only need to look at them to know.
Oh yes and not forgetting the other class of nearly new car - the new car rejected by its first owner! I'd much rather have a hire car than one of them!!
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we had an x rental clio. Bought at 6 months, 10k miles old. Was in pristine nick.
Went on to do another 5 years and 40k flawless miles.
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My wife's Ford Ka was bought as a 6 month old ex-rental car and it was in as new condition but with a substantial discount compared to the price of a new one. She kept it for 6 years without anything going wrong with it.
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I've had 2 ex hire Fords - a Fiesta and a Focus. Both at 6 months old and about 10,000 miles, both at 30% below list, both provided excellent service. I'd have another.
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Oh well here comes a row....no i wouldn't want it due to the admittedly slim chance of misfuelling, which is far more common in rentals than most think, and don't for one moment imagine that the typical car renter has allowed the turbo to cool before shutdown when they've screamed into the services for a nature call, or allowed the engine to warm before blast off.
But there's another reason too, new Avensis out next year and in the new year you'll be able to buy current shape pre reg's at very good prices.
Talking of prices a VX dealer yesterday had pre 58 reg alloy wheeled Vectra's at 9990, this deepening recession is getting quite scary.
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bought a Rover 400 in 1993 from a main dealer, 9 months old, 8,000 miles on the clock, absolutely mint
turned out to be ex-rental, when the log book came back, which was a bit sneaky by the salesman, which was foolish as that was the 2nd car from them and i'd made my mind up to stick with them... the sneakiness had me change my mind, i.e. trust gone
car was completely faultless for 2 years, only changed it as wanted something with more oomph and my cash flow had improved
i suspect the varied driving from different customers can do good as well as bad, e.g. some drivers will use the whole rev range
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Our Focus is an ex-Enterprise Rental car, originating from Redditch and bought from Ford main dealer. Bought at one year old, 11000 miles on it.
There was evidence of cosmetic damage - fag burn in driver's seat, tear in back seat, scuffed front bumper and a minor scrape on the rim of one front alloy. I've had all these fixed except the alloy, it's not bad enough and it is easy to do. The front bumper cost £200 for a corner respray, new back seat cover about £170, new front seat cover about £80. So let's say for £500 we now have a cosmetically perfect car and I reckon we saved £3000 on comparable Focuses.
The only mechanical problem has been a duff battery which cost £68 (fitted myself).
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Oh well here comes a row....no i wouldn't want it due to the admittedly slim chance of misfuelling which is far more common in rentals than most think
Probably just as common by private owners
and don'tfor one moment imagine that the typical car renter has allowed the turbo to cool before shutdown when they've screamed into the services for a nature call or allowed the engine to warm before blast off.
nor has 90% of your typical companyy car owner. Or your average punter come to that.
(and dont say "I do" - we on here are not typical car owners)
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