ProV1

Hi, all

My first post here! I've seen multiple 2009 G37 Journey sedans for sale that are ex-rental cars - I know Hertz rents these out, among other rental companies. They have about 10-25k miles and priced nicely, also still under new car warranty but I know rental cars get abused big time.. has anyone bought one of these ex-rentals? What is your thought?

SM_Shadowman

I'd be worried even more with a sportier or more powerful car like the G about how badly it has been driven by the renters. Of course, this might also be true for any used car. Someone who leased or buys a new car every year might have neglected maintenance. Whereas Hertz without a doubt maintains the cars well but a few renters might have gone nuts with burnouts, handbrake turns, abusing the transmission, etc. Especially in a 332HP car.

Personally I drive rental cars as they were my own -- and I'd imagine many people also share those kinds of values or ethics. They also usually don't rent to teenagers or anyone under 25 (not that adults don't abuse cars too.) So the stereotype of used rental vehicles might be overstated. I guess it's a crapshoot no matter what. How much lower is the price than something similar from, say, carmax?

Mike

iTrader: (1)

Your average rental client rents 25-35 dollar a day cars, not 70+/day cars like the G.

How do you do a "handbrake turn" when the parking brake on an 7AT G is a pedal? Burnouts are fine; the tires are likely new.

These are not rented out to your average Joe's, and not to kids.

KLB

Have a mechanic inspect the car. There are a lot of them that do user car inspections. Rental car companies do generally take great care of their cars though. Helps to stop some lawsuits.

JaredRS

My little brother and my father have both bought ex-rental cars, and insist that they were a great deal for great cars. Now my dad happens to know the guy that runs the rental company, so maybe he is getting ones that werent beat up, but they have had no problems with either of them.

According to him: Rental cars are maintained very very well by these companies. Oil is changed religiously, all routine maintenece is done on time or ahead of intervals, because they just cant risk having a car break down on someone. Not to mention that cars are a pretty big investment.. they need to be able to use them as much as possible. Downtime for mechanical issues costs them a lot more than just routine maintenence would.


Now, with that being said, I would still take it to a shop and have it checked out, get a carfax, the whole nine. As was already said, the average joe isnt shelling out $70 a day to ride around in a g37 rental.. so the odds of it having been beaten like at $20 a day neon are slim.

hispeed-lowdrag

iTrader: (7)

I'm sure the companies to take care of them maintenence-wise, but it's the renters/drivers that I would worry about. Honestly, I would never buy a prior rental car. Save until you can afford one that's not a rental.

Acftconsultant

Let's put it this way, I do a lot of traveling for a living and when I want to try out a new car to see what all the hype is about what better way than to rent one. You can run the **** out of it and never look back. I mean if you are going to drop 40k on a car might as well really take it out for test drive!

JohnEnglish

search on youtube for "rental car" that alone should be enough why you should never buy an ex-rental

digitaldistorte

Uh...just because the oil has been changed regularly, and they put new tires on it before they sold it, doesn't mean the car has been taken care of....I guarantee someones neutral dropped it many times.

You can do all the regularly scheduled maintenance in the world, and it will still have big problems if you treat it like ****.

BLKG37X

iTrader: (-1)

Every car I ever rented, I treated as if it was a getaway car. The things I was affraid to do on my own car, I did on the rentals. The cars seem to survive my abuse just fine, but I'm sure that side effects will surface if subjected to further abuse. Some people who rent drive the rental like they would their own car, but most people don't.

If you can find a nice one owner G, which was taken care of, at a similar price... I think it would make a much better choice than buying an ex rent-a-car which was driven hard by hundreds of renters.

Even the best maintenance cannot erase such abuse.

SM_Shadowman

Didn't know that about the 7AT; mine has a handbrake. I was really just trying to give an example. Sure, the tires should be new, but that's also assuming someone is doing a burnout correctly and not effing up the transmission in the process.

I already mentioned they don't normally rent to anyone under 25. Other than that they'll rent to anyone who pays the money for it, average joe or not. It's not like they keep the G37s hidden away and only pull them out when a 55-year-old executive walks in.

Easily there could be a few folks who want to blow a few hundred bucks to rent a fast car for a short vacation or something and drive the hell out of it. Although a sedan is probably a less likely candidate vs a mustang or something like that.

beerme986

iTrader: (2)

I would never ever buy a rental. there are very few people who treat rentals like their own. I know that my local dealer treats their loaners like crap (car is never cleaned, warped rotors etc ...)

One salesmen I talked to before said that if cars dont sell quickly, they will just ship the cars oversea's and sell it the foreign markets.

Mike

iTrader: (1)

Remember, that your average G shopper looking for a 'previous rental' does not have a huge budget.

Rentals are usually Journeys with a sunroof (not even premium), but go for around 26k 1 year old with 10-12k miles on them.

I've seen a lot of previous rental cars, and nary a problem with them. Sure, the renter may floor it quite a bit, but who doesn't? The car has power, and its a major selling point. Neutral drops... you never know, but if the car is damaged, it'll be very clear.

Blackjack

iTrader: (3)

I rent cars every week because I travel so much... I see what is done to them. I would never even begin to consider buying one.

TheLocNar

iTrader: (5)

Don't do it.