Where To Buy Ex Rental Cars

thegoth

Hi,

I was just wondering if anyone knows where I could buy an ex rental car ?

Michael

crosstownk

Most ex-rental cars are sold by the rental company direct to motor traders with no warranty. The motor traders sell them on to the public with a warranty and after servicing them and cleaning. However, most cars that a rental company dispose of are 6 months to a year old and still have manufacturers warranty.

Anan1

Quite a few garages also sell ex-rental cars, I know Belgard used to. Personally, I'd buy privately. If the car's still under manufacturers warranty then why pay more to a dealer?

R.O.R

Try Bolands of Wexford - they hold the franchise for Hertz in Ireland. I'm sure I've seen a link on one of the Rental companies websites as well. Can't remember which one though. Try Avis.ie, Enterprise.com/ie, and of course Merlincarrental.ie. Probably all sold through dealers as previously mentioned.

mloc123

I wouldn't buy a rental car, I know from my times driving them I have always giving them hell..

Alun

You don't say where you are, but Esmonde Motors in Stillorgan have a lot of ex Murrays rental Fords for sale starting in October or so. Now isn't a good time really, since this is peak rental season.

bazz26

Most rental companies hire out a fleet of cars every March for the tourist season and lease them for about 6 months, sometimes longer. They usually lease them either directly from a main dealer or leasing company.

Then usually the second or third week of September they start returning to the dealers in batches and are put up for sale on the forecourts with the balance of the manufacturer's warranty still available. You can save about €2k - €3k off the price of a new one.

I find ex-rentals are touch and go - you can get a good one and you can get a dog that has been treated very bad. The old saying "The fastest car in the world is a rental car" comes to mind. Saying that my father has bought a couple of ex-rentals over the years and never had any issues with them. The really bad ones usually find their way to auction houses if the trade cannot move them.

crosstownk

bazz26 wrote:

Most rental companies hire out a fleet of cars every March for the tourist season and lease them for about 6 months, sometimes longer. They usually lease them either directly from a main dealer or leasing company.

True - but only for the summer months - high tourist season - but the rest of the fleet is usually owned by the rental company. This is the base fleet that they use all year. Most of these cars are disposed of by the rental company after one year. Some cars are kept for up to three years - not many but usually the large executive saloons.

The type of car that Bazz26 mentions are the type your hear advertised on the radio in September as "06 cars at great prices". They are returned once the tourist season declines. They are only leased on a 6 month basis.

The ones that are owned by the large rental companies (Hertz, AVIS, Enterprise, Europcar) are sold by the rental company to traders. Smaller rental companies (Caseys, Malones) are usually run by dealers and sold as second hand through the dealership.

Mac 3

Hertz cars are often new cars sold to Hertz or leased from the Garages owned by the Bolands in Wexford and Waterford, that's how a lot of them have W and WX Regs. After a certain length of time is up, they make thier way back to the respective garages with small mileage AFAIK..

Most people are careful when they have a car rented nobody want to be forking out for damage to a car that's not thiers, but I know a few who have done the dog.. And besides, some of these guys who work in the Rental compounds washing and cleaning the cars might not be the most careful of drivers

crosstownk

Mac 3 wrote:

that's how a lot of them have W and WX Regs.

True, but in the main most rental cars have D registrations. There is a perception among the general public that D reg cars are easier to sell than others. Bolands will register as many as possible in WX, W or WD plates but not all. Most will have D plates.

In the case of the cars that are leased for 6 months from dealers (turnbacks) they are usually registered by the dealer initially so as he can sell them easier from his forecourt. Essentially it is easier to sell a C reg car in Cork or a CN reg in Cavan. The cars that are owned by rental companies are usually registered by location with a view to an eventual easy sale.

chuckles30

September is the best time to go looking. I've had one and I know others (both friends and family) and we've never experienced any bother with them. Plus you often get the extra's included that you mightn't bother with if you were buying new.

crosstownk

chuckles30 wrote:

September is the best time to go looking. I've had one and I know others (both friends and family) and we've never experienced any bother with them. Plus you often get the extra's included that you mightn't bother with if you were buying new.

Yes - September is when the dealers are selling them a bit below retail prices simply because they have made such good money by short term leasing them to the rental companies. Push the deal hard - especially if you don't have a trade in.

Better still, if you know someone in the motor trade, get them to buy direct from the rental company on your behalf. Although it'll be a strict "as is" sale, you'll still have a fair portion of manufacturers warranty.

colm_mcm

Go on the basis that the've been crashed at some stage and get them looked over.

bazz26

Yes, rental cars tend to have a lot of panels damaged and have either been repaired or replaced. It is fairly tricky to try and spot this as the cars are only about 6 months old so the original paint work is still fresh. Uneven panel gaps are usually a good place to start. Also things like the gearbox and clutch get terrible abuse from tourists especially Americans used to autos.

crosstownk

colm_mcm wrote:

Go on the basis that the've been crashed at some stage and get them looked over.

Absolutely. This is the reason why they are sold 'as is' to the trade and not the general public. It is assumed that a trade buyer will know what he is buying unlike the retail purchaser.

Where possible try to see all the rental company's sale stock. Note the mileages on all the cars - those with substantially lower mileage usually have been off the road for a while - most likely because of crash repairs.

colm_mcm

Buy one from a main dealer. any half decent one won't sell one with damage.

crosstownk

colm_mcm wrote:

Buy one from a main dealer. any half decent one won't sell one with damage.

Yeah - if the dealer takes back a short term lease car from a rental company and discovers it's damaged then he can return it to the rental company and get reimbursed for it. The rental company will then sell it to trade.

So a main dealer is the safest - but not the cheapest option.

HashSlinging

You can pick up ex fleet cars in wilsons auctions, I think they're based on the quays somewhere, a lot of ex ford credit cars (Ford, Volvo etc) so will have FSH but prolly high mileage.

kilasser

Just bought an 05 Focus of a ford main dealer. Lovely car not a mark on it runs perfectly, very pleased with it. But I got the new logbook today and the one previous owner is Hertz (the car rental company). Should the dealer have told me it was an Ex rental car? IM very happy with the car, But a little concerned that it was an ex rental car and I was not told. What do you guys think?

Do-more

kilasser wrote:

Just bought an 05 Focus of a ford main dealer. Lovely car not a mark on it runs perfectly, very pleased with it. But I got the new logbook today and the one previous owner is Hertz (the car rental company). Should the dealer have told me it was an Ex rental car? IM very happy with the car, But a little concerned that it was an ex rental car and I was not told. What do you guys think?

Your best bet is to ask the question to your local Consumer Affairs office, I know that there are strict laws about disclosing known damage to cars, but not sure about declaring registered owners. Strange that it should have the name Hertz on the logbook they normally register in a holding companies name such as Makey Uppey Ltd. to disguise the fact.


Many of the cars in Merlin Motor City are ex-rentals.

crosstownk

kilasser wrote:

Just bought an 05 Focus of a ford main dealer. Lovely car not a mark on it runs perfectly, very pleased with it. But I got the new logbook today and the one previous owner is Hertz (the car rental company). Should the dealer have told me it was an Ex rental car? IM very happy with the car, But a little concerned that it was an ex rental car and I was not told. What do you guys think?

Hertz also have a lease division. It may have been an ex lease car rather than a rental car.

bazz26

kilasser wrote:

Just bought an 05 Focus of a ford main dealer. Lovely car not a mark on it runs perfectly, very pleased with it. But I got the new logbook today and the one previous owner is Hertz (the car rental company). Should the dealer have told me it was an Ex rental car? IM very happy with the car, But a little concerned that it was an ex rental car and I was not told. What do you guys think?

Afaik I don't think they are obliged to tell you about the previous owner but if I was looking at buying a second hand car that was only a year old one of my first questions would be "was it a leased/rental car?" If the answer is yes then I would examine the body work in more detail and make sure my mechanic double checks things like suspension, steering, brakes and clutch.

Preset No.3

Ah Rentals! Going down the M25 in the Uk in a nissan almera. Bout 70mph. Whats happens if you try putting it into reverse? Ah sure just for the crack, its a rental. Or seein how fast you can go in 2nd gear, ah sure its only a rental!