Buying a Rental Car [Archive] - Grand Am Owners Club Forums

slowbird

08-31-2005, 10:08 AM

So what's the deal with buying a rental car. I see some people on this board advertising the fact that their car was a rental once.

One dealership I went to, the salesman was going on and on about how HIS next car is going to be a rental.

The salesman told me MY Grand Am was a rental...but my car isn't in the greatest of shape.
When I told my dad that this was a rental he freaked on me...asking why I bought a rental.
"I heard it was a good thing to buy a rental."

A few paint chips, and scratches. The Taupe interior has some stains aswell.

So what's so good about buying a previous Rental Car.

invaderzim624

08-31-2005, 10:24 AM

Probably cause rental companies keep up on maintenance like oil changes.

Rayz

08-31-2005, 10:36 AM

Yea but most people beat rental cars

Riley1123d

08-31-2005, 10:40 AM

Hmm, probably considering the price you pay, for what you get it's reletively good. Although, i'd rather pay a little more for something thats not a rental if thats teh case.

slowbird

08-31-2005, 10:44 AM

Those are the two main arguments I hear.

- "Rental companies go over the cars and make sure they are kept in good condition. They are treated well and cleaned regularly unlike some crazy old lady that keeps her 12 cats in it."

- "People who rent cars don't care for them cause it is not their car. They beat on them and brake things."

1stpontiac

08-31-2005, 10:45 AM

The rentals I looked at when I was shopping were a little more worn than normal...chips, nicks, worn interior. The one year old cars I looked at were in worse shape than my car is now (I ended up buying new and my car is now one year old). However, they are cheap....less than a year old with less than 20,000 miles for a little over half the price of a new one is tough to pass up.

Seemed to me that its a little bit of a gamble....good price but it could bite you if you get one that's been particularly abused.

slowbird

08-31-2005, 10:46 AM

Originally posted by 1stpontiac
The rentals I looked at when I was shopping were a little more worn than normal...chips, nicks, worn interior. The one year old cars I looked at were in worse shape than my car is now (I ended up buying new and my car is now one year old). However, they are cheap....less than a year old with less than 20,000 miles for a little over half the price of a new one is tough to pass up.

Seemed to me that its a little bit of a gamble....good price but it could bite you if you get one that's been particularly abused.

Agreed.

VanishingImage

08-31-2005, 11:27 AM

what you want to watch out for is when a rental company sells their rentals to a dealership's used car department. I would never buy and rental just the fact I know what people do to them.

slowbird

08-31-2005, 11:55 AM

Wouldn't buying a used Rental from a Dealership be the only way to buy them...since you can get a warranty on it.

SilverGA2001

08-31-2005, 12:10 PM

I worked for Budget about 2 and a half years ago. I cleaned the cars out when they came back and shuttled them back to the airport.

Their maintance wasn't that bad, oil changes were done every 5,000 or so, and the car was kept in good working order. And Budget only used the cars for 6-8 months or 26,000 miles, whichever came first, if I came across a car that was close to either the in-service date or the 26,000 miles, I ticketed it and put it out back, and when we had enough, a car carrier showed up to take them away.

There are reasons I wouldn't buy one though. We put every car through a wash bay with brushes. After so many washes though, the clear coats looke hazy from all the washings. The finish would probably never be as good as a car that came from a private seller (my car has NEVER seen a contact car wash, not once).

And yes, people beat on these cars. Not everyone, but there were some instances that I'd have car returned with dents, torn fabric... such and such. Few of the worst incidents was one Taurus that came back with the hood buckled in half, the front right fender caved in, and the headlight was GONE. When asked, the gentleman said the car was rented to him like that... :roll2: I was the detailer who prepped that particular car, and let me tell you... it was fine when it left. :lol:

Another came back with all sorts of animal hair in it and a sour milk smell. Took 45 minutes (vs 15 for a normal car) to clean the hair up, but we couldn't get the smell out, so the car was taken around back, and the interior was gutted and replaced.

Another had obviously had an uncaged large breed dog in it, and the door handles were chewed off, and there were deep nail scraped in al lthe interior panels.

My favorite was the car I pulled out a half used bottle of sex lube from between the seats and had feet prints on the rear windows. I promptly got rubber gloves to finish that car.

slowbird

08-31-2005, 12:22 PM

I thought my car smelled like Astro-lube.

I thought the "new-car" smell had changed.

:lol:

RocketFast321

08-31-2005, 12:22 PM

nothing was wrong with my car, but the tires where never rotated.

Jordon'sGrandAm

08-31-2005, 01:00 PM

sorry but i do have to plead guilty to beating rental cars. in 2000 we went to myrtle beach by plane and rented a car there . had a 2000 sebring was going to the race track and figured 2 things lets maunal shift an auto so we did and like bounced if of the rev limiter and was like oops. then desited to go 22 to 501 and took this long stright away thats longer than a 1/4 mile and fly on it no cops arround cause it was all swamp. so we did about 90 before i had enough of going fast. so if you wanna rent a car just rember ppl beat the hell out of them.

WhiPontiac

08-31-2005, 02:04 PM

Trust me, after riding with a few people in rental cars (and you know who you are) I would never, ever buy a rental car unless they were being sold for like 2k.

I am quilty of roasting the tires a few times, but I'm not even close to shit I've seen. The first scene of Jackass should tell you why you shouldn't.

DontPassTheFence

08-31-2005, 03:28 PM

I rape rental cars. Isnt that what you are supposed to do? :lol:
Power shift? neutral drop? whoops

Lythium

08-31-2005, 03:39 PM

I would never even consider buying a rental car. No one drives them like their supposed to be, or at least half the people. I'm sure they're beaten to hell and back.

Branderson

08-31-2005, 04:02 PM

I went on vacation in Arizona a few years ago and they have some offroad trails around the mountains. We took a Jeep trip up there but it was prettt funny as half the cars on the trail were rental cars. Not trucks or Suv's but cars, and this was way more than a gravel or dirt road. The funniest was a PT cruiser that almsot got stuck on a rock, Lol. Our driver said that the only vehicles you ever see up there are Jeep's and rentals.

kickarsgrdam01

08-31-2005, 04:26 PM

i totally tear apart rentals if i ever get them...i would never buy one. i made sure mine was a person trading the car in

Gimli

08-31-2005, 05:32 PM

Originally posted by invaderzim624
Probably cause rental companies keep up on maintenance like oil changes.

My experience has been exactly the opposite. Very few rental companies do proper maintenance as a rule and even for those that do a lot of their local managers don't actually implement the policy.

I wouldn't even buy a used car for fear of what it's been through anymore, let alone a used rental.

VanishingImage

08-31-2005, 06:13 PM

Originally posted by slowbird
Wouldn't buying a used Rental from a Dealership be the only way to buy them...since you can get a warranty on it.

not all the time. There are plain jane used car places that will sell them and they won't come with warranty,most prolly wouldn't anyways.

Themeneea

08-31-2005, 08:02 PM

1) rental company's do the bare min to keep the warrenty. for example, change the oil every 12000K

2) who doesnt beat a rental

car audio dave

08-31-2005, 10:23 PM

DUDE you guys are all asses. enterprise is strict about their maintenance, no more than 5k miles.

and their resales devision goes over the cars, the bad ones are sold to used car dealerships, and the better ones are sold on our lots. i know that they are abused, and you think that when we inspect them we dont look INSIDE the tranny? thats where most of the damage occurs. often times i hear about cars with bent chassis getting rejected for resales and sent to scrap yards.

just had to clarify this, as some of your immature idiots are giving bad information.

Abbaby

09-01-2005, 01:41 AM

You never know who rented the car before. Some people drive rental cars hard. People have less respect for them because its not there car.

Gimli

09-01-2005, 04:46 AM

Originally posted by car audio dave
DUDE you guys are all asses. i work for Enterprise, and we are strict about our maintenance, no more than 5k miles.

and our resales devision goes over the cars, the bad ones are sold to used car dealerships, and the better ones are sold on our lots. i know that they are abused, and you think that when we inspect them we dont look INSIDE the tranny? thats where most of the damage occurs. often times i hear about cars with bent chassis getting rejected for resales and sent to scrap yards.

just had to clarify this, as some of your immature idiots are giving bad information.

Funny because the Enterprise location my buddy used to work at would never change the oil in their cars. They'd get rid of cars at around 60k clicks and they still had the factory oil in it.

As far as "immature idiots" are concerned I think you've been looking at the mirror a bit much lately.

slowbird

09-01-2005, 08:46 AM

Okay people...no need to get all ansey.

Some Rental companies may take better care of cars then others.

...and about the no warranty thingy. The majority of the beautiful, low mileage Aleros, Impalas, and GA's I was looking at from the GM dealers were rentals. All had warrantys except for 1 Optimum Dealership that stated that all the used GA's came with no warranty...all the used vehicles did but they would NOT for the Grand Ams. ( I think it's because they were *******s )

I bought my 04 GAGT at a GM dealership for $14,999 with 26,000kms on it and she's beautiful. With a warranty up to 80,000kms or June 2008. There's a few scratches and a couple paint chips...but they can come off. I'm on a budget, and the only other Grand Ams I found for that price were either Older with more Kilometeres (i.e. 2001 with 56,000kms) or they were 4 cylinder models.

I guess buying a rental is a gamble. My dad when he'd go on company trips and other times he had a rental...I'd catch him washing the rental and shining the tires. Not everone beats rentals, some people don't beat cars at all. They don't know how. Some people don't care...it's just to listen to easy-rock from Point A to Point B.
I had a courtesy car from a body shop once and I beat it. My brother had an Echo, and he beat it too.
On the other hand...my friend had an 05 Covertible Mustang GT and he was pretty good with it.
It all depends I guess.

HighwayProwlerz

09-01-2005, 09:35 AM

Yeah, one time I was cleaning out this car and found a frilly g-string underneath the backseat floormat. It was this trashed out Jetta... but the girl was kinda hot. I got to see her pick up the car later that day... thank god too, if she was some really fat girl I was going to puke (like my 350 lb ex-roommate that wears those). And one time another detailer found a bucket of fried-chicken and another found a used tampon..... *shudders*

Originally posted by SilverGA2001
I worked for Budget about 2 and a half years ago. I cleaned the cars out when they came back and shuttled them back to the airport.

Their maintance wasn't that bad, oil changes were done every 5,000 or so, and the car was kept in good working order. And Budget only used the cars for 6-8 months or 26,000 miles, whichever came first, if I came across a car that was close to either the in-service date or the 26,000 miles, I ticketed it and put it out back, and when we had enough, a car carrier showed up to take them away.

There are reasons I wouldn't buy one though. We put every car through a wash bay with brushes. After so many washes though, the clear coats looke hazy from all the washings. The finish would probably never be as good as a car that came from a private seller (my car has NEVER seen a contact car wash, not once).

And yes, people beat on these cars. Not everyone, but there were some instances that I'd have car returned with dents, torn fabric... such and such. Few of the worst incidents was one Taurus that came back with the hood buckled in half, the front right fender caved in, and the headlight was GONE. When asked, the gentleman said the car was rented to him like that... :roll2: I was the detailer who prepped that particular car, and let me tell you... it was fine when it left. :lol:

Another came back with all sorts of animal hair in it and a sour milk smell. Took 45 minutes (vs 15 for a normal car) to clean the hair up, but we couldn't get the smell out, so the car was taken around back, and the interior was gutted and replaced.

Another had obviously had an uncaged large breed dog in it, and the door handles were chewed off, and there were deep nail scraped in al lthe interior panels.

My favorite was the car I pulled out a half used bottle of sex lube from between the seats and had feet prin
ts on the rear windows. I promptly got rubber gloves to finish that car.

1stpontiac

09-01-2005, 09:49 AM

Originally posted by slowbird
.... All had warrantys except for 1 Optimum Dealership that stated that all the used GA's came with no warranty...all the used vehicles did but they would NOT for the Grand Ams.....

Wait, I'm confused...how does that work? Don't all GA's come with a 3/36k warranty from the factory? If a car is only a year old with 20k miles, how could the dealer say it has no warranty? Or are the rules different for cars sold directly to rental places?:???:

RedGrandAm2003

09-01-2005, 10:13 AM

I have a rental. No paint chips, and the only sign that it was a rental is the fact that it has 94,000 or so kms and theres a TINY melted spot on the seat, which... i didnt notice for a week or so? But thats it.... I dont mind rentals. but you've got to be THOROUGH when buying one. I checked the oil and well.. whatever I could to see signs of something bad.

Gimli

09-01-2005, 10:45 AM

You gotta differenciate between rental company cars and long-term rental cars (dealership-owned).

I think we're talking about rental company cars here. Cars that see a different driver pretty much every day. Those cars are usually excluded from normal manufacturer warranties because they're considered to be used for professional purposes (like cop cars or taxi cabs).

Long-term rental cars are those cars that are leased from the dealer and usually only see one driver for 2-3 years. Those cars are covered under the usual manufacturer's warranty and are usually not in quite as bad of a shape as rental company cars. Basically they're just like any other used car, you never know what you're dealing with.

slowbird

09-01-2005, 11:01 AM

Originally posted by Gimli
You gotta differenciate between rental company cars and long-term rental cars (dealership-owned).

I think we're talking about rental company cars here. Cars that see a different driver pretty much every day. Those cars are usually excluded from manufacturer warranties because they're considered to be used for professional purposes (like cop cars or taxi cabs).

Long-term rental cars are those cars that are leased from the dealer and usually only see one driver for 2-3 years. Those cars are covered under the usual manufacturer's warranty and are usually not in quite as bad of a shape as rental company cars. Basically they're just like any other used car, you never know what you're dealing with.

That's interesting. Never heard that before.

I don't know why that other GM Dealership wouldn't put a warranty on the Grand Ams. I couldn't figure it out, and I didn't want to. It was fishy and I decided I'll look until I find something I like.

nathan_w1

09-01-2005, 11:17 AM

Hey Dave, I work for Enterprise too! Our office is pretty good about oil changes and regular maintanence stuff. With Enterprise car sales you can get an extended warranty when you buy a car from them. Sorry I had to get my sales pitch in there.

InsaneSkippy

09-01-2005, 12:53 PM

My car was a rental, I haven't had one problem and it's coming up on 1 year of me owning it.

grandam01

09-01-2005, 10:30 PM

Gimli you live in Canada and Dave lives in the states, there might be different policies first off, and second off whoever is in charge of making sure the regualr maintenance is done isn't keeping on top of that then they are not doin their job.

Alos Gimli you are a MOD and i believe MODs are NOT supposed to return Flaming, Dave might have a point people are mistreating "someone elses" car, maybe a little much on the language but you returned with your own flame. Unacceptable i will complain. and if you need a memory jogger here it is.

Originally posted by Gimli
As far as "immature idiots" are concerned I think you've been looking at the mirror a bit much lately.

MikeNice

09-02-2005, 12:56 AM

Since when did grandam01 get a cop hat?

My car was a rental and so far so good! Just hit the 3 year mark!

iceman

09-02-2005, 01:11 AM

I'd never ever buy a rental car just alone for the fact of what I do to them, and I know other people do.. kick the absolute shit out of them

WhiPontiac

09-02-2005, 10:36 AM

After reading all of this, I kinda wish I had a rental right now.

TyrantsBabyGurl

09-12-2005, 11:28 PM

My car was a rental. im the 2nd owner. Its a 1999.It had 33,000 miles on it when I bought it in 2002. It now has 158,000. The only things I have ever replaced on this car were the breaks,shocks,and recently fuel filter and pump. Of course I got oil changes regularly. Its really been a great car. I got it when I was 18. It's my first car and still my daily driver.

XoticGA

09-13-2005, 06:19 AM

I had a rental car, brand new Cobalt (Big :shit: pile) anyway... I beat on it a lil bit.. Not a whole lot you can do with no HP :lol:

Sp3edR4cer

09-14-2005, 11:32 AM

I bought my wife's care 03 alero and mine 03 Grand am GT and they were both rental cars from enterprise and buying them 1 year old with warrenty left it knocked 13K dollars of the original sticker and i have not had any problems at all with the cars they are strong and look good. I am all about buying rental cars. Also the cars i bought were off a GM lot so they were GM certified as well.

blckgrndam99

09-14-2005, 08:04 PM

we took a rental dodge stratus off roading. enough said id never buy a rental knowing what other kids do to them

erimar77

09-15-2005, 10:15 AM

people may have treated the car bad while driving... maybe.. but you know the car has been vaccumed and washed between every person that's driven it. plus all the regular maintenance has been done... what's wrong with that?

Evil Tender

09-15-2005, 12:55 PM

I worked at 2 rental Companys Under the Cendant Corp. Which Own both Avis and Budget rental cars Alantic, In all 4 Alantic Provinces, something like 300 franshises, Anyway I worked at the main HQ for Budget before it was bought out by Cendant, it was privetly run....

Do not buy rental Vheicals from Privetly run Companys. Make sure the Avis, Or budget you buy from is owned by Cendant Corp. Before Budget was owned by Cendant, they would not change the oil, durning the recommend time/KM They were very slack with policeys and what not. Once they were Bought out they joined the Avis HQ (avis already being owned by cendant) Cendant made sure cars were very well maintained and kept safe, any problems were taken care of no matter how big or small.

I am not saying all privtely owned Avis, Budget,or any other top name rental company sucks, I am just saying I have seen first hand the contrast or quaility care for Cars and Trucks between the Corparte owned companys and the Privte.

As far as I know Avis and Budget through out the states is basicly magority owned (more avis than budget) by Cendant, Through out Canada they are ownend 70 precent (mostly avis again)

Just check to make sure your not buying from a privite company franshise. There is a magor quality differance

Gimli

09-15-2005, 01:27 PM

Originally posted by Evil Tender
Just check to make sure your not buying from a privite company franshise. There is a magor quality differance

The problem is that most of the time the cars are auctioned off and then resold by dealers/used car lots, which makes knowing exactly where the car comes from very difficult.

Evil Tender

09-15-2005, 01:46 PM

Originally posted by Gimli
The problem is that most of the time the cars are auctioned off and then resold by dealers/used car lots, which makes knowing exactly where the car comes from very difficult.
That is also true, Adesa in Nova a scotia handales all renatal car selling, but you can find out from the dealer where it was from, when they buy the car, they get the paper work and will also have papers showing it was previously owned by whoever, or whatever, you just have to ask to see the previous ownership documents. I found out that My car was owned by a top offical at sobeys and it was a company car, that he was bought....i know..oh wow a grand am, id be a little annoyed that my compnay bought me a grand am....not becasue of what it is but evryone else with compnay bought cars usally have luxuray cars...meh I cant complain cuz he or she that owned it didnt drive the piss out of it.

slowbird

09-16-2005, 08:00 AM

I agree that buying a used car in general is risky. People think that buying a car off lease is better than a rental. Not always.

My old manager had a Nissan Whatever and she had a 3 or 4 year lease on it.

She rarely drove it. By the last year of the lease she had just over 50k on it.

SHE NEVER CHANGED THE OIL :explode:

litterally.

I'd hate to be the poor soul that bought that car thinking it was in great shape.
"Nissan! Low Mileage! Lady Driven!"
my ass.

Gimli

09-17-2005, 04:29 PM

Originally posted by buchajo
Just out of curiousity... is there any way to tell if a car's been beaten up or not, before you buy it?

Like let's say a person didn't change the oil in their car for 50,000 miles and then changed it just before they sold the car. Would the average prospective buyer be able to tell, without tearing the engine all apart?

Or what if they drove the shit out of the car several times/week? Would the average prospective buyer be able to tell what kind of condition the transmission was in?

I don't know. I'm just asking.

A test drive and inspection by a good mechanic can usually tell if there are any obvious signs of neglect and/or abuse but chances are a lot of it is internal and cannot necessarily be experienced first hand.

Originally posted by buchajo
But the more that I think about it, buying any used car really does seem pretty scary. Unless of course you buy a used car off some old person, or somebody you know and trust.

I think I'll just save up my money and buy my next car new too. :)

As I've said before in this thread that's what I chose to do a few years ago and so far it's served me well. I have an almost four year-old Grand Am with over 110k km on it and nothing major having to be taken care of. The worst I had was a leaking radiator a few weeks ago but that was caused by road work debris, not bad maintenance or abuse.

My previous two cars I got used and had nothing but problems with. One the transmission had to be replaced at 90k km (thank god for extended warranties on this one) and left me stranded with a bad starter on Dec. 23rd, 200 km from home.

JoeyK

09-17-2005, 05:34 PM

... I didn't read through the entire thread but our bodyshop also rents cars. Yes, we do a great job of keeping them maintained. They are thuroughly gone through both mechanically & cleaned after each rental. BUt,.. as stated & from my personal experience working where I do, I sure as hell would not want to buy a rental. People treat them like ba$tard children;) Most of them are rode hard & put away wet & then put out to pasture. We trade em every 2 years because of the beatings we all know they recieve. But then again, buying any car, especially a used car isjust a roll of the dice.

wrenbirdx2

09-18-2005, 08:24 AM

i bought a 02 grand am in 04 it was a rental it had 20,000 miles on it a few small scratches but i havent had a single problem with it it was a gm certified used i love my car and wouldnt trade it for the world(i think it was rented to a company)

JoeyK

09-18-2005, 08:58 AM

Are you talking about a Gm program car? Which is/was a leased car.

ChevelleSSLS6

09-18-2005, 10:04 PM

Originally posted by Rayz
Yea but most people beat rental cars

Exactly. I'd rather go to a repo lot myself.

Themeneea

09-19-2005, 04:48 PM

i rent cars every month, and all i know is that the oil is always black

1996v6corsica

09-22-2005, 11:57 PM

doesnt matter what color the oil is really.. its gonna get dirty.. rub some between your fingers.. you can tell the difference between good and bad oil.. bad oil starts to feel like water when it breaks down

Abbaby

09-23-2005, 12:05 AM

Mine was a rental I bought it in March 05 with 19,500 miles. Its at 23,600 now and already needs new brakes. My last car, I didnt have to replace the brakes til 33,000 miles.

TA^Guy

09-23-2005, 02:49 AM

Originally posted by buchajo
So what's the big deal here then? Either way... former rental or not, buying a used car in general is a huge gamble. Let's just admit that and stop kidding ourselves. ;)
Yeah I dont know many people who tear down the motor of a car before they purchase it to inspect it for severe or unusal wear.

How many parents let their kids drive their cars. Now think how often you look at a used car and say to yourself, 'Well it was adult owned, thats good.'

Originally posted by erimar77
people may have treated the car bad while driving... maybe.. but you know the car has been vaccumed and washed between every person that's driven it. plus all the regular maintenance has been done... what's wrong with that?
What is wrong with it is that you have a good looking car with a motor ready to fall apart.

Sure it was washed and vaccumed, as long as it looks good sitting on the side of the road when it spins a bearing and seizes the engine.
Originally posted by buchajo
Like let's say a person didn't change the oil in their car for 50,000 miles and then changed it just before they sold the car. Would the average prospective buyer be able to tell, without tearing the engine all apart?

Or what if they drove the shit out of the car several times/week? Would the average prospective buyer be able to tell what kind of condition the transmission was in?

I think I'll just save up my money and buy my next car new too. :)
No and No.

On some vehicle it's possible that one could pull the oil pan or tranny pan and look for metal shavings and/or inspect the bottomend of the motor, check clearences, etc. But usually this would never happen.

Usually you'll put it on a lift, check the front end, engine mounts and tranny mounts. Bad suspension parts might mean it's driving hard, my S10 for example could probally use some new ball joints in the future because I love to take the corners as fast as my tires will hold. Worn tires are also a sign, and don't forget to check wheel wells for traces of burnt rubber. Bad engine mounts and tranny mounts could be a result of high stress, like hard launches or heavy acceleration.

Check fluid levels and condition. A abused tranny will usually have a burnt smell to it and be darker than usual. Same goes for the differental fluid. This could show signs if the vehicle towed something or carried heavy loads. Pulling a spark plugs cna help to. Check for proper fuel mixture, see if its running hot or even if you have denotation.

I always said I would never purchase another brand new car due to how the value drops as soon as your name is on the title. But we keep looking for our next new ride.