Would you buy...

[CUDA JAS]

a former rental car.

I am looking at a buying a used car in the next year, likely a V6 Charger a year or two old.

I am seeing a lot of 2014's for sale that are former daily rentals. Most have less then 45,000 Km (30,000 miles) and the remainder of the factory warranty.

I think conventional wisdom was always to stay away from former rental cars, but has that changed over the years?   Seems like a good deal, 2 year old car with warranty, but is it too good to be true?

Jason

[1 Wild R/T]

I rent cars for work all the time, way to many are beat down.... They aren't used cars, they are used up cars......

[ChallengerHK]

There was a comedian many years ago who had this bit that went "The great thing about rental cars is that you can use them as four wheel drives."

The positives are that they get regular maintenance according to the manufacturer's schedule, and usually problems are taken care of properly and quickly.

The negative is that you never know how people have treated them when driving them.

[JS27N0B]

We sell quite a few to supplement our used car inventory. Never really seen many mechanical issues. But like any used vehicle check to see if there was some previous body repairs, there are some people doing body repairs who shouldn't be. ...

[jimynick]

We sell quite a few to supplement our used car inventory. Never really seen many mechanical issues. But like any used vehicle check to see if there was some previous body repairs, there are some people doing body repairs who shouldn't be. ...

  Yep, what the man said. It's getting tougher to thrash a car these days as they all have rev limiters. You could also ask the dealer to check and report any recorded trouble codes that may be in the car. Ask for a CarFax which will show any computer generated damage estimate, but remember that if they paid cash, the repairer may have never done one. My sister-in-law just nearly got hooked like this, but she had the smarts to bring it to me first and I found all kinds of stuff. I'd be happy to do the same for you if you get the car to drive Jas, just call. Ian

[BIGSHCLUNK]

I personally have NEVER been kind to a rental car and figure manufacturer's owe me money for testing cars for them.   

[ec_co]

what ChallengerHK and JS27N0B said. my personal take - low end rentals will have low end renters who don't give a crap if they abuse it; high end rentals won't get as much abuse because high end renters take more care; any sport/muscle car will be abused - it's the nature of the beast, it's a rental and folks want to push them around to see what they will do without worries about long term wear and tear.

I can help to a degree, and pull carfax/autocheck reports for you + all current market values (just PM me the VIN and odometer #s) if it would help.

sounds like Ian would be happy to help with the mechanicals if you want.

[MEK-Dangerfield]

I had a rental for 3 days back in April. It was a 2015 Chevy Malibu. A nice looking car. In that 3 days, the low tire pressure light and the change oil light came on. Now I don't recall the exact mileage, I know it was less than 10K. So I just wonder how well they do keep up with the maintenance? You can easily reset the change the oil warning, and pump some air in the tires and this car is good to go. I was also told they like to sell off the cars once they get around 30K miles so they are still worth something.

I like the car you are considering, but I guess it depends on what kind of deal you can work out. If they are selling these off at less than book price, it's going to be too tempting to resist.