elmwood22 Posted May 18, 2008 Share Posted May 18, 2008 Just looking for thoughts on buying a car that was once a rental. I have my skepticisms, but it is also a suby. Anyways, I stumbled upon an immaculate 2007 Outback w/ 19,000 on the odometer. I carfaxed the VIN and it came up as a rental in Alabama, which explains the 19,000 miles in 10 months. Thoughts, feelings would be appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rooster2 Posted May 18, 2008 Share Posted May 18, 2008 I know several people that have bought rental cars over the years, and have been satisfyed with their cars. The rental car companies do a good job of changing the oil, and other maintenance. I wouldn't be scared about buying a rental car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted May 18, 2008 Share Posted May 18, 2008 If you want some peace of mind, get an extented warrenty (yes its the only time i'll suggest one). The rental quality is only as good as the base car. I would tell you to go running away from kia's, and other tin cans that only college students can afford. As you start getting higher up in range (and rental cost) they don't get as beat on as much. Do service all the fluids when you get it just to get a baseline. nipper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1997reduxe Posted May 18, 2008 Share Posted May 18, 2008 This is my tired old singsong, but... I bought mine with 140K on it. When I bought it I got a carfax report and it said it was a fleet car till like 55000 miles. I don't think the 2nd owners took that much care of it--a college girl drove it to school etc. Now it has 250K. Some issues, but amazing. No burning oil, no leakage. (Reminds me, got to change oil this week and check it today.) Of course, it's the EJ22 engine... I always recommend to people to take advantage of the like 200-250 dollar, in that range, checkover at Subaru, plus a compression check. Or something similar, and likely cheaper, at your trusty local mechanic. But 19000 miles is very low, and something very bad would have had to have been done to it to be significant... Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
subaru360 Posted May 19, 2008 Share Posted May 19, 2008 Could go either way, rental fleet cars usually have good maintence, but it could have been beaten on by somebody who rented it. My Mom has a former rental car and has never had a problem. It's not a Subie though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bheinen74 Posted May 19, 2008 Share Posted May 19, 2008 I have heard stories of people renting AWD rental cars so they can go out mudding or into the mountain trails, why "beat on" personal car, when you can just rent one and "Beat the crap" out of it. I would not do this, but its the stories that would definitely think twice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OB99W Posted May 19, 2008 Share Posted May 19, 2008 Many rental cars seem to get decent maintenance. However, I've needed to rent cars several times in the last few years, and maybe I can offer a cautionary perspective. In my experience, a particular rental company (which shall remain nameless) seems to have a hard time keeping tires properly inflated -- interestingly, that isn't at just one of their locations. The most recent car I rented (not from the company that's stingy with air) informed me via its computer readout that the oil was low; it indeed was, by nearly 2 quarts. I agree with Nipper that purchase of an extended warranty makes sense for a rental (or off-lease) car. EDIT: One more thing -- Cars that are damaged before they reach the dealer are sometimes repaired and purchased by rental companies at a reduced price (they aren't supposed to be sold by the dealer as "new" in most places). Also, any car may have been damaged while on rental. Inspecting carefully for signs of bodywork is a good idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bulwnkl Posted May 19, 2008 Share Posted May 19, 2008 I agree with Nipper that purchase of an extended warranty makes sense for a rental (or off-lease) car. I'll second the notion of a very careful check of an off-lease vehicle. Personally, I think that rentals in general are pretty well maintained (IME). I'd go with an ex-rental over a car I knew was off-lease to a private party most any day. Again, I agree with the advice to check for repaired damage. It may or may not matter to you, but be aware that it's not uncommon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elmwood22 Posted May 19, 2008 Author Share Posted May 19, 2008 I thank everyone for the feedback.....even the not so good news you don't want to hear. That being said...... I made the purchase of the former rental w/ 19,000miles for just over $15k. The Carfax report came back clean, it comes w/ the standard 3yr/36k bumper to bumper & the 5yr/60k powertrain warranties. I decided to forgo the extended warranty, I hope that decision does not come back to bite me in the rear. I will say "Sorry Nipper" but who is going to be the sorry one in the long run if this doesn't work out. The car drives and handles like it is new. The exterior has a small nick on the drivers side door, but no dings or flaws other than that. The interior is very clean with a few light pink spots on the rear passenger floor, (there the "you have to search in order to find types of spots) The engine compartment as well as all of the fluids are clean and smelling normal, no burnt smells of any sort. The engine makes no odd or weird noises either. Just had the auto-start installed, soon it will be the block heater. Averaged 29.2 mpg on the way home from the dealer. I will keep everyone tuned in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nipper Posted May 19, 2008 Share Posted May 19, 2008 I thank everyone for the feedback.....even the not so good news you don't want to hear. That being said...... I made the purchase of the former rental w/ 19,000miles for just over $15k. The Carfax report came back clean, it comes w/ the standard 3yr/36k bumper to bumper & the 5yr/60k powertrain warranties. I decided to forgo the extended warranty, I hope that decision does not come back to bite me in the rear. I will say "Sorry Nipper" but who is going to be the sorry one in the long run if this doesn't work out. The car drives and handles like it is new. The exterior has a small nick on the drivers side door, but no dings or flaws other than that. The interior is very clean with a few light pink spots on the rear passenger floor, (there the "you have to search in order to find types of spots) The engine compartment as well as all of the fluids are clean and smelling normal, no burnt smells of any sort. The engine makes no odd or weird noises either. Just had the auto-start installed, soon it will be the block heater. Averaged 29.2 mpg on the way home from the dealer. I will keep everyone tuned in. What agency did you buy it from? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
audio_file Posted May 19, 2008 Share Posted May 19, 2008 (as a former car sales guy) read the fine print on the warranty, better yet, call up a service center and ask them to pull up the warranty info on your new car . . . sometimes rental companies can negotiate a better price from a manufacturer by forgoing the "power train warranty" that extends beyond the "bumper to bumper" warranty. example: many, many dodge/chrysler products are used by rental companies, fleet vehicles (United Rentals) etc. as a dodge/chrysler dealership, we would sometimes supplement our used car inventory (as is a common practice) with auction cars- 90% of which were rental/fleet vehicles. even though dodge/chrysler (at the time) featured a 7yr 70K "powertrain" warranty from "in service date" on almost every model produced (diesel trucks were even longer) we were warned never to tell a customer that on an auctioned rental/fleet vehicle that they would have whatever the remainder was on that 7yr 70k powertrain coverage because companies like Budget, Enterprise, United Rentals etc. lease the cars new from chrysler/dodge with only the 3yr 36k bumper to bumper warranty to save money on the mass lease deals. often what would happen if someone didn't inform a client correctly about the warranty coverage on their used rental car is that the client would bring the car in for some powertrain related issue outside of the 3yr 36k period, and they would be told by a service adviser that they had no powertrain extended coverage like they would've if they'd bought the car new . . . after one or two innocent mistakes with this, the dealership finally called dodge/chrysler to see why that particular VIN'd car had no coverage beyond the 3/36, and dodge/chrysler informed them of the rental company's practice of opting out of the powertrain coverage to save money (and the dealership ate repair costs, because the client was mis-informed) so . . . long story short, call your local subaru dealer, give them your vin, and just verify that you have coverage on the powertrain beyond the bumper to bumper period . . . their service computers will pull it right up. good luck chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elmwood22 Posted May 19, 2008 Author Share Posted May 19, 2008 We purchased the car from Miller Hill Subaru in Duluth, MN. I just got off the phone with the dealer and they confirmed/verified I have the 3yr/36k bumper to bumper and the 5yr/60k on the powertrain. Thanks for the heads up!! When we purchased the vehicle the salesman was adamant about the vehicle still being under warranty. Had they sold me the car knowing it didn't have the warranty, but still said it did, there would have been hell to pay. Anyways, all is well in MN. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
audio_file Posted May 20, 2008 Share Posted May 20, 2008 great!! enjoy your new car!! chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattocs Posted May 20, 2008 Share Posted May 20, 2008 I've rented cars before. I know what i've done in them. I probably wouldn't buy one. I had a AWD Ford Edge once. That thing moved real nice for a wagon. :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheSubaruJunkie Posted May 20, 2008 Share Posted May 20, 2008 If your buying from a Budget Rental in Las Vegas, stay away from the gold Crystler SeBring... I F'd that car up!! :headbang: But I can tell you the eBrake works great -Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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