The op may want to review the fine print on a first titled commercial rental


I received a loaner long past the warranty on my 06 G35 whenever it needed service.
I traded it in last August with 171796 miles

Telcoman

 

Many years ago my wife and I bought two rental cars, a Dodge Aries and later on a Nissan Stanza. Both turned out badly and we never did it again.

 

so the bottom line is a rental G is bad . I mean infinitis are somewhat more reliable than german counterparts but for a G it's risky. On the other hand if it was a Lexus maybe I would have less worries, buddys parent got a GS sedan all they did was change the oil and tires not has 160k miles told me it runs like a charm.

 

Buying a rental is like marrying a prostitute, you just don't do it!

 

This thread has got me thinking. I understand the rationale behind why rental cars are a bad idea. One time or another everyone has abused or seen someone abuse a rental car.

Today the same thing could be said of a lease vehicle.
Nowadays people lease as often as they buy and I have seen the same abusive treatment on quite a few leases as I once did rentals. The line, "its a rental" can also add "its a lease." Whether its running the engine when the dipstick is well below the L mark, ignoring maintenance schedules, or having a garage reshape things back enough so that the inspectors wont see it.
Usually the lease is returned there is an inspection but typically depending on if you are re-leasing another vehicle I have seen some inspections become more of a glance and OK'd and the more thorough inspections were mainly for cosmetic flaws.

 

Eh well...here is my 02 cents...

A rental car may get abused more - but it may also be better maintained than many other used cars. So the engine sees 7500 revs often - not a big deal unless it is stone cold...

I guess what I am saying is - a previous rental is not much different than buying any other used car - you have no idea how the previous owner treated it. IF you can get all the maintenance records, you may be a step ahead of most 'one owner' used cars. Remember the 'little old lady' may have put 25k miles on a car and never changed the oil. The rental may be driven harder with an oil change and other routine maintenance all performed at the required intervals at a dealer.

Having said that - if you can swing new, great. You have a full warrantee and you can be the one to flog...or baby it.

As for me - I don't abuse a rental any more than my own. I also take very good care of my own cars..

Maybe the best advice is this: look around a bit more and compare. If you still feel like the current find is the best deal - good for you. You are the one that has to be happy with it.

Good Luck!

 

Thanks for all the replied.

Yes I have been looking around and it seem that the rental price, can't be beat. I also see similar 2011 one but price is about 2K more. All price is per-negotiation.

Cosmetically the rental seem to be in much better shape. The other one is from leasing. I was thinking along the line of infiniti like toyota and honda are pretty dependable, even if it get beat on.

Perhaps I should look around more and skip the rental.

 

Patience is your best approach. Assuming you've established what you're willing to spend, and you've decided which make/model you're interested in, then it's only a matter of trolling for the right match.

I found my 2011 through AutoTrader.com at an out-of-state Infiniti dealership. It was a dealer buy-back on a lease surrender, with only 3900 miles on the car. Because it was technically used (and yet essentially brand new), there was at least $6000 depreciation on the car for the negotiated price. And that's in consideration of fair market value; my actual cost was almost $10000 off MSRP.

The point being, patience and research gets you there, OP.

 

I personally would not buy a rental because I am so extremely particular about smells, interior scuffs, curb rash and front/rear fascia dings/scrapes (these seem present on every rental I have ever seen). However, for the most part the people renting a mid-size performance sedan like this one are going to be older, business travelers so I doubt they are pulling hole-shots at lights and drifting through intersections. Most folks that rent cars when they travel are simply interested in getting from point A to B in comfort and in time for their next meeting.

One thing I have always wondered about rentals is just how well the rental car companies service their vehicles. However, you can run the VIN past any Infiniti dealer and check this out. If they do not use the dealer for service, I would shy away as you have no idea of the service history at this point (we service ourselves is too subjective for me).

 

You can find similar deals non rentals. I bought a g37s sedan fully loaded 30k 2011 25,500$
Bose, sport brakes, wheels, etc

Purchase date: yesterday

 

Add me to the list of people that would not purchase a rental because of the potential for abuse and little things like small scratches etc.. that you will probably never get out. I take care of my cars very well and little stuff does bother me a lot.

Years ago, I was shopping for a used sedan and armed myself with carfax subscription so that I can check out cars on the spot. Out of 5 cars that the dealer swore were not rentals, 4 ended up being rentals on the car fax report when I ran it. So I bought a car that was supposed to be driven by company executives, about 1 year old, low miles. Few years after, car fax report magically updated and not only was it a "fleet vehicle", but as my body shop pointed out, it was previously in a car accident. Go figure. After all this effort of trying to find a good deal on a used car and carefully checking its history.

 

My 2011 Journey was a rental.

The warranty is still in place. I had my rotors replaced under warranty and my clock replaced.

I have no problems at all with the car. I got it a great price.
The engine bay was clean and the wheels where in amazing shape (no curb rash). The interior was immaculate. It looked as if only the drivers seat was used.

My 2005 G35 was a lease return and it was in great shape also.

I think you are worrying to much. Take it to the infiniti dealer for a look over if it will calm your nerves.

 

Not to thread jack, but how would you tell if a car was indeed a rental? Does that show up on a Carfax?

 

yes it shows on the car fax

 

I worked for a major rental car company for 7 years and one thing I always wondered was the long term effects of running regular gas in cars that require premium for 30K+ miles.