Buying a rental

jiminho

Hi folks,
Want to get your opinion on a used car I'm wanting to buy. It's a former rental car. Some facts:
It's a 7 seater SUV
2017 model, first registered June 2016.
36k km on it. Living in Canada so average per annum is ~20k
Very good condition and it's got all the bells and whistles. 
I'm currently driving a former rental car now for the last 2 years and it's given me no problems, however, i did buy it when at had ~25k km on it.
Cons
The two big ones are that is has high km (almost double the average for its age) and that it was of course a rental so who knows how it was driven.
Pros
i know the rental agency it came from is a large company and after giving them a call, there servicing is very thorough. First oil change is at 8k km and then every 5k km after that. The maintanence schedule apparently is completed to a tee because its linked with the car so it can't be rented online until it has been serviced.
Conversely, the car i'm thinking of buying is a 7 seater SUV which makes me think the people who rented this arent exactly boy racers. If it was a hatchback or saloon then my thoughts may differ but the people who were renting this were probably families going on vacation. Also, i think everyone has this preconceived notion that people end up doing donuts and drag races in rentals. When i rent a car, i actually treat it better than my personal vehicle as i cognizant of any dings or scratches that they may end up putting on my final bill.
Its a Hyundai so its got the remaining warranty of 5yr/100k kms. Piece of mind .
The price is competitive right now but the main thing is that there should be lots of room to haggle as there aren't many people who want to buy a rental.
Thoughts?

bear1

I'd be curious why the rental company wants rid of it after 6 months.

Toyotafanboi

bear1 wrote: »

I'd be curious why the rental company wants rid of it after 6 months.

Sounds like its 12 months old, that wouldn't be an unusual timeframe to be getting out at.

bear1

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

Sounds like its 12 months old, that wouldn't be an unusual timeframe to be getting out at.

Oh right, misunderstood that it's a 2016 model registered in 2017.
If it's a good deal then go ahead. It's Canada so I'd imagine not too many people would know the ins and outs how it looks there.
Personally I wouldn't buy an ex rental.

Toyotafanboi

Yeah, I don't think many people actually treat their rental like the fastest car in the world, but a lot of people are horrifically bad drivers and can help but melt clutches and whack the wheels off of kerbs etc when in an unfamiliar car.

jiminho

Took it for another test drive and brought it to a car park and gave it a thorough inspection. Well as thorough as u can be without putting it on a lift. Started negotiating but it was over pretty quickly which is surprising because it's been on the lot for the last few months and there's not many people buying cars right now. Ah well, I'm not really under any pressure to get a new one. Cheers lads

Del2005

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

Yeah, I don't think many people actually treat their rental like the fastest car in the world, but a lot of people are horrifically bad drivers and can help but melt clutches and whack the wheels off of kerbs etc when in an unfamiliar car.

An American SUV won't have a clutch and the tyres are usually so big the wheels won't hit a kerb. If it was an Irish hatch it'd be a different story

bear1

Del2005 wrote: »

An American SUV won't have a clutch and the tyres are usually so big the wheels won't hit a kerb. If it was an Irish hatch it'd be a different story

It's a hyundai..

Pkiernan

My first car in the states was a 1 year old ex rental Explorer from Hertz at 29000 miles.
Great car. Sold it several years later with 106000 miles.

veetwin

For me the biggest problem with buying an ex rental is not the way customers treat them but the way rental staff rally brand new out of the box cars that should be driven sympathetically for the first few km. I work at the airport and see this abuse every day. One ended up on it's roof at the entrance to t2 short term car park a few years ago and it's surprising it doesn't happen more often.

DaveyDave

Given the size of the rental market in North America I'd be happy to buy an ex rental. Can't count how many second hand Mustangs Alamo were selling. Less than 2 years old and 20-30k miles for cheap. Obviously a Mustang rental is going to be driven, I fooked my rental so much I filled it twice in 2 weeks. Got a good squeal from the tyres a few times.

They're generally kept in good condition though. Aside from new tyres and light cosmetic damage they're replaced frequently to keep the fleet new so you wouldn't have anything to worry about in cars that old. Especially if it's not a Mustang and is a standard sedan or SUV.

Mustang I had was 33,000 miles which I'd consider quite a lot but it must have been a fresh 2015 model. I'd still happily take it though, solid Ford EcoBoost engine.