Hi

Would you guys consider buying a rental? Clean carfax report with no accident.

2012 G37X w/ premium package with 33K on it for $25,877.

I would assume since it's a 2012 it would still be under factory warranty. Would warranty be different if it's a rental car, anyone know?

Thanks

 

Welcome search the forum for other threads exactly like this one.

Short answer - no I personally wouldn't buy that one. I'm not sure abut warranty status, but perhaps it being used as a commercial vehicle may negate the warranty. I don't know that but you should look into it. Particularly considering how some of the members here intentionally abuse rental cars (or even leased vehicles) I may tend not to go for it.

 

There are two schools or thought about rental cars:
1. People drive them gently since they're not "their" car and they don't want to neglect something expensive.
2. People who drive them like they stole it since it's not their car.

 

My very first G35 was a rental fleet car. I initially hesitated before purchasing, but with plenty of time and miles left under warranty I pulled the trigger. Never had issues with it. Mechanically, the car was fine, and when during occasional dealership visits, never had a problem with warranty repairs.

To other peoples' points, because it is a rental there are things to watch for. I'd closely examine the interior to make sure there are no cigarette burn marks or other major blemishes. I'd also take a close look at the exterior, specifically at the trim to see if there is any evidence of paint overspray, which would suggest the car was in an accident (which didnt make it on a Carfax report.)

 

you can never tell with a rental car, you can either get lucky or get bad luck. I know for sure when I drive a loaner G I abuse it...

 

Welcome!

No I wouldn't buy it.

What I think you should do is visit the Infiniti web site.

Build a 2013 to your liking

Request internet quotes from three dealers

Visit each for test drives and negotiate out the door price

Then subtract the price of the used one and divide the total by 10 years

That is how much an additional cost of a brand new vehicle with a factory warranty will cost you per year. Plus you get a loaner vehicle for the life of the new vehicle whenever you go in for service.

Something to think about when you are about to spend what houses used to cost on a used vehicle.

Just my $.02

Telcoman

 

Probably the worse abuse a rental car ever gets is having the engine driven hard while still cold. Other than that (very likely) scenario, it's just a car, and rental drivers aren't Jason Statham on a movie set, no matter what they think.

All that said... no, I would not buy a rental.

But good for you looking for a very recently used car. It's a much wiser financial approach than buying brand new, even if there is some risk and effort. Do your homework, be patient, and never let other people spend your money for you with lame advice.

 

My Black Obsidian 2012 G37x w/ Premium was a Rental car, and was owned by someone else before me... Only things i've done to it so far,
- replace intake air filter
- replace cabin air filter
- had an end link replaced due to weird rattle noise going over choppy roads (Warranty)
- gave the body a polish to make it somewhat shine (I need better tools & product to do paint correction)
- Bought a spare key fob from ebay and got it programmed (Dealer didn't have a spare key)

This I will do in the coming weeks,
- Replace PS steering fluid (Drove a 2013 G37x as a loaner, steering felt better)
- Replace rear brake pads (Only 3-4mm's of pad left)
- 48'000 Km's servicing (Replacing all my fluids, AWD, Coolant, Transmission)
- Dump a bottle of BG 44K in my fuel tank to carbon deposits in engine.
- Give throttle body a good wipe & clean
- Have the ECU reset to relearn my driving style.
- Buy winter tires

Being somewhat OCD, the only things that has bugged be about my G is,
- Stock tires create tons of road noise (Goodyear RSA)
- 2 door dings (one on the wheel arch closer towards the rear passenger side door, one on my driver side quarter panel, will get these fixed by next week with Paintless Dent Repair)
- Shifting / Throttle Lag (Going to have Infiniti look at that to see if my 7AT needs to be reprogrammed, and have them give my throttle bodies a good wipe)
- Front license plate holes (Ontario vehicle required to have front license plate, I will probably get my bumper refinished and clear bra'd after this upcoming winter)
- Small hole on interior door trim on rear passenger side door trim. Not noticeable unless to look underneath the door, (Can easily find a new door panel on Ebay if it really bugs me)
- Some scratches on the body.

This is my experience being a third owner of my G37x. If you do take the plunge I would consider looking through it meticulously, and negotiate with the sales person. Compare it to a 2013, and see if you feel a difference.

 

You are assuming the OP will keep the car for 10 yrs. Also, I'm pretty sure the factory warranty will transfer over to the rental car, which there is half the life left. Also, you may want to check your loaner car terms. It may differ by dealership, but I'm pretty sure it's for warranty repairs, and not routine maintenance (assuming you bring your car to the dealer for oil changes, etc.).

But to the OP's question, I wouldn't buy one not so much because the engine was abused. Like ROchester mentioned, most people will not drive it like Jason Statham in the Transporter. They may drive it hard, but not so much abusive. Most people that rent cars are either going on long trips, so you get a lot of highway miles. Or you get people with insurance rentals when they are in an accident. Even those would be rare for a G because most insurance pays up to $30/day, which mostly likely, the renter will have to pay an upgrade fee if they want the G. The majority will just take the basic Dodge Avenger or whatever they give them. My main concern is more cosmetic. Every rental car I've been in, no matter how new it is, always have some scratches on the exterior and interior trims. The seats, interior liners, and trim pieces are usually in really bad shape and may smell funny. If you're ok with all that, then go for it.

 

Personally, I would avoid buying a rental car like the plague if at all possible. I've "been there done that" long before the days of CarFax, etc., when I bought a used '89 T-bird that I later determined had been a rental car. Never again!

That being said, if you are seriously considering buying this rental G37, obtaining all the previous service records is mandatory IMO.

Also, If you are planning on keeping this G significantly beyond the factory warranty period, I feel that purchasing the extended Infiniti warranty would be money well-spent.

 

it's not that rare of a car on the used market - shop around until you find one you're comfortable with...personally I'd stay away from a rental.

 

Our first G was an 07 and was a commercial lease return, it was a company executive that was the driver. Sold the car w/ 40k to a friend and it now has almost 100k miles and no issues other than the TSBs and the crappy chip-happy paint.
Any used car transaction is a roll of the dice unless you personally know how it was taken care of which is very rare. Check it out thoroughly, and be sure to take advantage of the warranty if anything is amiss, and the TSBs too.

FWIW I never abuse loaners or rent-a-cars, just prefer to respect property that isn't mine.

 

I would say do it, and it gives you more bargaining power as well.

My reasoning is every car I have owned the ones I drove hard but did the routine maintenance have always had less or no problems compared to cars I baby and perform maintenance on early. Go figure.

 

based on the way I treat rental cars - hell no I wouldn't buy a rental!

 

I wouldnt touch a rental car. Everyone knows how much they've been abused. Especially a g37