Used Fleet Cars - good/bad buy?

EastClare

Hi There
First time poster, be gentle! :eek: Did search, but didn't find anything in history that answered my q.

Looking at buying used VW Touran, found 2x2005 5-seater models on Carzone.ie, price is good.

The reg's are identical apart from 1-digit, leading me to suspect they are fleet cars? I got a check from motorcheck.ie. The cars are not imports, only issue is out-of-date tax for 200-odd days. The check does not list the owner, so I can't confirm for definate.

What should we look out for with a fleet car? Is mileage the main concern? My current car (also VW) has v high mileage (160k) and I didn't have a single problem with it...

Appreciate your words of wisdom. I usually post on magicmum, so I'm a little scared of you chaps over here!!

R.O.R

Best thing to do is see if you can find out who they belonged to and ask the company or fleet company for a service history. As long as you get hold of someone nice in that company they'll let you know whether to avoid or not.

If you do find out, and it's a fleet company, post here who it was - you never know, someone on here might know the vehicles (deffo not from my company).

It might just be a coincedence that the reg's are consecutive.

Midnight_EG

I've known of some fleet car owners filling them with the wrong type of fuel, so ask about that

Drummerboy08

Aint mine either....

If they are ex fleet, they *should* have a FSH, more than likely from a main dealer too.

The problem with ex fleet stuff is alot of the drivers just dont care about the cars - it aint their responsibility if something goes wrong etc, so some have a hard life.

On the other hand, there are the rare exceptions, who baby the car. I took back a 06 Honda Accord estate with almost 250,000kms on it a few months ago, but there wasnt even a mark on it!

Gary ITR

Midnight_EG wrote: »

I've known of some fleet car owners filling them with the wrong type of fuel, so ask about that

I know private car owners that have done that too. Turns out it's possible for anybody to do this. Shocking I know

Drummerboy08 wrote: »

The problem with ex fleet stuff is alot of the drivers just dont care about the cars - it aint their responsibility if something goes wrong etc, so some have a hard life.



On the other hand, there are the rare exceptions, who baby the car. I took back a 06 Honda Accord estate with almost 250,000kms on it a few months ago, but there wasnt even a mark on it!

As somebody that has driven a pile of fleet cars I certainly wouldn't buy any of the ones I had. Not that I abused them it was just that I would have done about 12-15 calls per day, so that's the car heating up and cooling down 12-15 times per day. Sitting in City Centre traffic, being filled to the brim with emergency deliveries twice a week which meant it's arse was scraping off the ground.

In saying that when we had an inspection my manager ripped the pee and gave me a gold star because my car looked better than when it came from the factory

Drummerboy08

Onkle wrote: »

As somebody that has driven a pile of fleet cars I certainly wouldn't buy any of the ones I had. Not that I abused them it was just that I would have done about 12-15 calls per day, so that's the car heating up and cooling down 12-15 times per day. Sitting in City Centre traffic, being filled to the brim with emergency deliveries twice a week which meant it's arse was scraping off the ground.

In saying that when we had an inspection my manager ripped the pee and gave me a gold star because my car looked better than when it came from the factory

It depends on the car I guess.

We had an A6 2.0TFSI with 140k on it last week, and it was as fresh as the day it was delivered. It's driver was an MD who used to drive up and down to Cork every week. Most of its mileage was done on the M7.

If your looking at a typical repmobile, like a Golf, Passat, Focus, Mondeo, etc, chances are its had a tough enough life. If its a car thats not as common amongst reps, such as the Touran, chances are it was mainly office based.

Midnight_EG

Onkle wrote: »

I know private car owners that have done that too. Turns out it's possible for anybody to do this. Shocking I know

Was there a need for the cheek =[

I was just stating something that I've heard more of in fleet cars than in private cars.

Gary ITR

Midnight_EG wrote: »

Was there a need for the cheek =[

Yes. Yes there was

Midnight_EG wrote: »

I was just stating something that I've heard more of in fleet cars than in private cars.

I've been years working for companies that have fleets of vans/cars and I only know one guy that has done this. And he was the biggest spoon on the planet

Midnight_EG

I worked in a certain certain garage and a guy there done it no less than 4 times in the space of 9 weeks :rolleyes:

-Chris-

Midnight_EG wrote: »

I was just stating something that I've heard more of in fleet cars than in private cars.

I have years of fleet experience and don't think I ever came across this, maybe once.
I read people posting about doing it here on a weekly basis.

Go figure...

-Chris-

Midnight_EG wrote: »

I worked in a certain certain garage and a guy there done it no less than 4 times in the space of 9 weeks :rolleyes:

Some people shouldn't be allowed to even hold car keys!

Midnight_EG

-Chris- wrote: »

Some people shouldn't be allowed to even hold car keys!

Reports show he was a competent driver, with the ability to to drive :cool:





Gran Turismo does wonders

-Chris-

EastClare wrote: »

Looking at buying used VW Touran, found 2x2005 5-seater models on Carzone.ie, price is good.

When pricing these cars, compare them to Golf estates - a 5 seat Touran commands no premium over a Golf estate - the 7 seat version would be worth more.

EastClare wrote: »

The reg's are identical apart from 1-digit, leading me to suspect they are fleet cars? I got a check from motorcheck.ie.

My guess would be that they're possibly hire-drives (cars that are sold to car hire companies and then bought back by the garage after a certain number of months).
Some would say to steer clear of such cars...

EastClare wrote: »

The cars are not imports, only issue is out-of-date tax for 200-odd days.

Don't worry about the tax, you're only liable for tax from the date you buy. They could be in near-daily use with a garage and never be taxed - garages have "trade plates" that allow them to drive untaxed/unregistered cars on public roads.

That being said, if the cars are out of tax for 200 days, I'd hazard a guess that they've been in stock in the garage for a similar time. This may give you some negotiation room.

EastClare wrote: »

What should we look out for with a fleet car? Is mileage the main concern? My current car (also VW) has v high mileage (160k) and I didn't have a single problem with it...

As said above, start with a full service history. Get someone who knows what they're doing to check the car for signs of accident damage.

If the car has no dealer number plate surrounds and no dealer sticker in the rear window, it's probably an ex-hire drive. Ask to see the keys, you'd be surprised how often the salesperson will forget to take the Budget Rentacar tags off the keyring.

Drummerboy08

-Chris- wrote: »

I have years of fleet experience and don't think I ever came across this, maybe once.
I read people posting about doing it here on a weekly basis.

Go figure...

One of the bigger fleets we have do this all the time. Whenever someone gets a rental car for the day, you can be sure there'll be a phone call an hour or so later to report the car not driving right.

"Ah here bud, Enterprise gave me a duff car..."
" have you been to the garage today? fill up with something you shouldnt have?"
"Oh, fcuk, yeah. Diesel, riiiight? This is a diesel isnt it?"

Facepalm.

Healyc

Drummerboy08 wrote: »

One of the bigger fleets we have do this all the time. Whenever someone gets a rental car for the day, you can be sure there'll be a phone call an hour or so later to report the car not driving right.

"Ah here bud, Enterprise gave me a duff car..."
" have you been to the garage today? fill up with something you shouldnt have?"
"Oh, fcuk, yeah. Diesel, riiiight? This is a diesel isnt it?"

Facepalm.

Ha ha ha, have heard this too often alright!

@ the op, they could be ex-fleet cars but it's not the end of the world. It will most likely have a full VW history but as said it's all down to the previous driver. Just get a mechanic to check it out for you.

BTW, you can now rule out 3 fleet companies as it's not one of ours!

Midnight_EG

Drummerboy08 wrote: »

One of the bigger fleets we have do this all the time. Whenever someone gets a rental car for the day, you can be sure there'll be a phone call an hour or so later to report the car not driving right.

"Ah here bud, Enterprise gave me a duff car..."
" have you been to the garage today? fill up with something you shouldnt have?"
"Oh, fcuk, yeah. Diesel, riiiight? This is a diesel isnt it?"

Facepalm.

All you doubters still doubting me? :P

EastClare

Thanks Guys for the responses.

We'll get a mechanic to check it out...

Its a great price, probably because they are 5-seaters rather than a 7-seaters, which suits us fine as we only have 2 children.

I'll look for the tells re dealer sticker, etc.

Ta

-Chris-

Midnight_EG wrote: »

All you doubters still doubting me? :P

Yes!


But not as much as I was at the start... :D

EastClare wrote: »

Thanks Guys for the responses.

We'll get a mechanic to check it out...

Its a great price, probably because they are 5-seaters rather than a 7-seaters, which suits us fine as we only have 2 children.

I'll look for the tells re dealer sticker, etc.

Ta

Are the cars online? Post the links here and we'll have a better guess.

EastClare

Here they are:

http://www.carzone.ie/search/results?searchsource=finder&nParam=4294910891%2B102456%2B285%2B328&channel=CARS&cacheBuster=1255864453705689#nParam=102456%2B285%2B328%2B200590%2B4294910936&sortby=Make|0&channel=CARS&currency=EUROS&searchResultsView=THUMBNAIL&maxrows=10

Drummerboy08

Is it the first one? Premier fleet auto's? I'd say its an import, and going on previous threads, i'd also advise you to steer clear of Premier Fleet Auto's......

Slightly oT, but is that avatar a pic of you when you were known as "Audichris", Chris? :P

EastClare

Sorry, no, its the Limerick one. Actually lists 2 cars...


http://www.carzone.ie/search/Volkswagen/Touran/1.9-TDi-/200924193106505/advert?channel=CARS

-Chris-

My feeling is that it's probably a coincidence, they don't look like ex-hire drives (and they're too old) and if they were both ex-fleet bought in the trade I'd be curious why they have different number plate surrounds.

It's a mystery to me!

-Chris-

Drummerboy08 wrote: »

Slightly oT, but is that avatar a pic of you when you were known as "Audichris", Chris? :P

That's AudiChristine, my weekend alter-ego

Gary ITR

Drummerboy08 wrote: »

Slightly oT, but is that avatar a pic of you when you were known as "Audichris", Chris? :P

I can't read his posts now... Just keep looking left

-Chris-

Ah come on now lads, we're slowly winning over EastClare from the magicmum forums... keep it on topic

Drummerboy08

-Chris- wrote: »

My feeling is that it's probably a coincidence, they don't look like ex-hire drives (and they're too old) and if they were both ex-fleet bought in the trade I'd be curious why they have different number plate surrounds.

It's a mystery to me!

Could be that the photo's were taken at different times? Maybe one arrived before the other, and they only got to put their own dealer surrounds on one?

Its definately more than a coincidence that there's only one number in the difference. I'd also think that maybe they leased them themselves, it would explain the L reg. Most other places would register it in Dublin.

EastClare

Hi guys
I reckon they are definately fleet cars. I checked the reg's on motortax.ie and they were both bought by dealer on 01/02/09.

I'm glad to hear they are too old for hire cars.

My last car was a salesmans car, so I'm not scared of that, I've always found VWs diesels 'able' for hard work!

You've been great! Thanks. Definately giving the magicmums a run for their money. Now, can you answer a question about nappy rash??!!!

-Chris-

EastClare wrote: »

You've been great! Thanks. Definately giving the magicmums a run for their money. Now, can you answer a question about nappy rash??!!!

You're welcome, but you won't ever tempt me into magicmums (unless I'm logged in under my wife's account, trying to get her site-banned ).

maidhc

I bought a 3 yo fleet car in 2006. I still have it and put 50k on it since. Apart from needing a DMF like every other modern diesel it has been fine.

Jobs

€8,450 - a nd still not sold? High milage? Or is there something really wrong with them?