Buy A Car From A Rental Company
If you want to buy a car from a rental company you must forget about the old wives tale that these vehicles are beat to death and not maintained well. You need to think of rental cars just like all of the other vehicles, meaning that you should expect some scratches and scrapes. The good thing is that their engines are most likely better maintained in comparison to the privately owned cars thanks to the fact that these vehicles were constantly undertaken and maintained during their service as rentals cars.
The vast majority of these cars are clean if you decide to get one from a big rental company. Such rental firms usually take the cars out of services after only two or three years. Despite the fact that the rental car loses a large proportion of its value, the most important advantage is that you will be able to get a very good price for it. You can also get extended warranty if you want it.
The automotive market has changed quite dramatically in the last 1-2 decades and will still continue to grow towards emulating the exciting experience of purchasing a new vehicle. Another reason why these cars shouldn’t be overlooked is because the rental companies have clear documents of these vehicles and you can understand that for them to have a good and profitable business, the cars must be in a perfect condition, meaning that you will most likely get a car that is in an excellent shape.
Due to the reason that these rental companies are not looking for a profit, the price tags are most likely to be lower in comparison to the ones available at used-car dealers.
Here is a short list of the advantages you benefit form when purchasing a car from a rental company.
- First of all, you will now all the relevant information about the car, its history service, if it was involved in an accident and other info. As a backup, some rental companies will give you clean maintenance records;
- Low pricing is another reason why it is a good idea to buy such a car. The cars that are less than 12 months old and have been driven for less than 20,000 miles are available at many rental agencies. Whenever a rental company decides to sell a new model, it doesn’t mean that there is something wrong with it and they are trying to get rid of the vehicle. They usually buy the car at a very low price which allows them to sell the vehicles at a very competitive price;
- Thanks to the fact that most of these cars are 1-3 years old, they will come with warranty which means that if anything goes wrong with it in the next 1-2 years, the warranty should cover it.
Now let’s move on to the most relevant disadvantages that occur when you want to buy a car from a rental company.
- Some of the rental companies basically have no idea about how the car was actually used and its endurances while it was in the custody of a customer. For this reason, it is best to choose the most popular rental companies in your area;
- Although the companies give the cars a thorough inspection and verification once the vehicles return to the lot, most of the repairs that are made are only cosmetic and although aesthetics are important, what is inside the vehicle really matters to any potential buyer;
- The selection of cars available is limited to the specific rental company’s fleet.
It is highly recommended to take the car to your usual mechanic (one which isn’t related in any ways with the rental company) and ask him to verify the vehicle and look it over, making sure that there aren’t any major issues with it and everything is up and running as it should.
Another wise decision would be to get a CarFax repot which will set you back about $15. This report will give you the possibility to find out if the vehicle that you want to purchase has been involved in any major accidents or if any major body work or repair has been done.
Some of the most popular rental companies at the moment would have to be the following: Hertz, Enterprise, Budget, Alamo, Avis, National, Thrifty and Dollar.
It seems that due to the oversupply of used cars at the moment, including ex-fleet units, the prices will go down in the near future until the supply reaches a normal level.
In the end, here is how you can buy a rental car from Hertz:
First, go to their website and click on the locations tab located on the left-hand menu bar. After that, click on the page’s drop-down menu to see if they have any cars in your region. Decide upon a make and a model. Click on one of them to find out all the relevant info. Select “I want this car” button. On the next screen you will enter your name, contact information as well as any questions that you want to ask. Arrange a test drive and if you like it, Hertz can aid you in getting the proper financing with a bank or a credit union. Of course, you can do this by yourself.
Post tags: Tags: buy a car, rental company
