[The South Moroccan]

Was reading an article on the Daily Telegraphy motoring website (sorry don't know how to do a link) which highlights just how widespread the mis selling of ex rental cars.

It happened to me, I was told it was ex Alfa management and it was actually ex Hertz when the V5 landed on my door mat, and because I personally would not have bought an ex rental car, I was able to get all my money back from the Alfa dealership.

Turns out this has been going on for years accross many dealerships and many brands. This was all news to me, I thought I had been shafted by an unprofessional salesman, turns out he was not alone.

Worth a read if someone can post a link as it serves as a warning. If you are happy to buy ex rental then why not, good discounts on nearly new cars. But if that's not for you make sure you do your home work. I'lll never buy a second hand car from a dealership without doing some careful checking on who the previous owner was.

 

[BIDET FITZAKAZI]

I used to sell cars and most manufacturers have contracts with rental companies, to be honest most are well maintained if they are with one of the major rental companies.
Driving school cars though can be a different matter and some are not registered as BSM or Joe Bloggs School of Motoring on the V5, but as a College or an accadamy etc with no mention of it being a driving school.
I would always show the V5 to any potential buyer but if you are buying from "virtual" stock through Alfa Romeo it will not state if it is an ex rental, driving school car or ex management.
If you cannot see the V5 always get the salesman to put on the order form that the sale is conditional to the car not being an ex rental etc, if he refuses or tries to bluff his way through, walk away.

 

[symon]

I had it happen to me.

My lovely 12k mile 9 month old 156 V6 that Fish Brothers Swindon told me came from alfa management actually had been owned by Hertz.

Not only that an inspection revealed it had been reprayed all over.


I was not very impressed.

The catalytic converter also fell apart within a couple of hundred miles but FB sorted that.

 

[Squadrone Rosso]

Article in Auto Express this week regarding driving school cars. The AA send their learner cars back to the dealer network with new clutch, brakes and tyres. Not all do though. Now that BSM have the MiTo, I would be really very careful buying a used one in the future. I suspect the predicted 60%+ residuals will nose dive too

 

[zulu ferret]

My Missus got hers,... Ex. Saga insurance loan car I think? Superb well serviced machine TBH. Even came with the odd grey hair to prove it's authenticity of useage. :

 

[symon]

My Missus got hers,... Ex. Saga insurance loan car I think? Superb well serviced machine TBH. Even came with the odd grey hair to prove it's authenticity of useage. :

As long as you know when you buy it there isn't a problem. Generally ex-hire cars with 80k etc on them that come from an auction or from a small dealer, will be cheap and well maintained (if higher than average mileage)

It is when you are not told and you pay top prices at a main dealer it is wrong.

 

[Icheb]

Even came with the odd grey hair to prove it's authenticity of useage. :

As long as it wasn't a curly one Zed :lol:

 

[Morgan166]

Worth a read if someone can post a link as it serves as a warning.

Done! :thumbs:

Used-car buyers unwittingly bought ex-rental vehicles - Telegraph

 

[zulu ferret]

Agreed Sy. Hers had 9k up,but there was a good selection with some having less miles, and others a few K more. Anyway I let her decide she was satisfied with how it suited her driving, with me just giving it the visuals top and bottom, and making sure it was mechanically sound. So far I have enjoyed being mainly a passenger,but I did a few maintenance tasks on it and for eighteen months it's been a gem.Cheap as chips, with most of the bits? I did have to remove that single strand of grey hair, but it wasn't a curly one which was a relief!

 

[symon]

One of our works company cars was sold to a local dealership recently as it was getting on a bit. We sold it for £800 and it was a Citroen C5 Estate 2.0HDi

The dealership advertised it as one owner - the place where I work, but it had in fact been a pool car and I know for a fact that it had a hard life. The reason why we were selling was because it was getting unreliable, tatty and soggy.

The dealer sold it for £2695


I imagine hire cars generally get treated similar to pool cars, thrashed to within an inch of their lives.

 

[Morgan166]

We have a group of pool cars at work. All Japanese (Hondas, Toyotas, Nissans), all low mileage, all nearly new...

... And all knackered.

I can only echo symon's comments above. Unless you're buying a car to run into the ground, I'd steer well clear of pool cars/hire cars. Multi-driver "ownerless" cars generally have the s**t kicked out of them by every sod and his dog. :tut:

One-driver company cars on the other hand - especially executive barges - are an absolute steal! :thumbs: I've bought a few of those in my time, and all had been well looked after and maintained regardless of expense.

 

[symon]

The place where I work now has 2 Alfa 159 1.9 JTD's

I wonder how they will last.

 

[swampthing]

Yeah, me too, last year when I bought the GT. I won't say from which dealer but my previous posts will easily indicate which one it was. It was advertised the same as yours (ex-Alfa), and it was only when the V5 arrived that I saw Hertz on there.

To be honest, I (clearly naively and stupidly ) just assumed thats what all the ex-Alfa management cars had on their V5s (yep, what a berk). I wasn't too bothered though given that it was a great price, only 8 months old and had the Fiat Auto Fleet (or something similar) first service stamp in the book.

Only over the coming months did a few things come to light - a definite respray to the rear hatch being the main thing (with bits of newspaper tucked just inside one of the parking sensors), and an airbag warning light that has caused no end of attempted diagnosing and fixing under warranty (I think it took 6 dealer visits in the end, with some new additional dealer-inflicted bonus problems that still aren't fixed - how kind of them). Anyway, clearly it had had a bump before I took ownership, but hey, its a lesson learned.

Next time I won't assume the dealer is telling me truth and will check it all out beforehand. Still, bit cheeky though...

 

[Guest]

Nothing wrong with ex rental cars usually - nicely "freed up" lol

I would disagree that ex rental cars are well maintained however - they are usually not maintained at all by the rental companies other than fluid levels/tyre pressures - because they are all moved on before the first service to save costs.

 

[DK GT]

It happened to me. I actually asked the question directly, but was told "ex-managment car". I should have looked at the V5 and will for ever more. Full story here.

The good news is, once all of the issues were ironed out, which took about 6 months, the car has been excellent, and in 18 months I have driven 42,000 miles in it.

 

[Guest]

what's the old expression........

'the fastest car on the road is a rental car'

i would walk away if i knew i was buying a rental, just about everyone i know who has ever driven a rental has caned then to within an inch of their lives

 

[DK GT]

To be honest i wasn't aware that it was such a large issue, so there is comfort in numbers I have to say.

As far as 'the fastest car on the road is a rental car' that might be true, but i doubt it.
1. Mine was kept at Heathrow - have you ever been there? it would be hard to rant anything for any period.
2. Rev limiters - these stop damage to engines.
3. Servicing - Mike is correct mine had 10,700 miles on and it gets through no oil between services.
4. Why? why would someone just 'thrash' a car because its a hire car? Yes we have all driven hire cars fast, but really, is it any faster than you in your car on your day?
5. What makes anyone think because it car has one owner it makes it a good car. One owner, lease or company cars can be just as badly look after.
6. Having read some of the saga's on here with other Alfa's bought privately and new my GT has been excellent.

 

[symon]

If you had a hire car for a few weeks would you lift the bonnet to check the oil?

I doubt it very much and if that car happened to be an Alfa or other car that tend to use oil then it could be disasterous.

 

[Ricer]

To be honest i wasn't aware that it was such a large issue, so there is comfort in numbers I have to say.

As far as 'the fastest car on the road is a rental car' that might be true, but i doubt it.
1. Mine was kept at Heathrow - have you ever been there? it would be hard to rant anything for any period. I frequently drop hire cars at Heathrow which I have driven from other hire stations.
2. Rev limiters - these stop damage to engines. They do, but I generally bounce hire cars off the limiter in the first 3 gears to 'research' the top-speed in each gear. I know this is wrong but I can't help it, it's like an addiction.
3. Servicing - Mike is correct mine had 10,700 miles on and it gets through no oil between services.
4. Why? why would someone just 'thrash' a car because its a hire car? Yes we have all driven hire cars fast, but really, is it any faster than you in your car on your day? I'm afraid I do, not like I stole it, but much harder than I'd ever drive my own car.
5. What makes anyone think because it car has one owner it makes it a good car. One owner, lease or company cars can be just as badly look after. Agreed, but if you have a company car for one-year, you're unlikely to rant it every day, with a hire car, it's like someone's new toy. Every day.
6. Having read some of the saga's on here with other Alfa's bought privately and new my GT has been excellent.

Personally, I'd do one of two thing: Either don't buy an ex hire/loan car, or get it at a heavily reduce price.

I can see your logic, but law of averages will dictate that most hire car have a harder life than most non-hire cars. Or maybe it's just me who rags them to near death . . . .

 

[DK GT]

Personally, I'd do one of two thing: Either don't buy an ex hire/loan car, or get it at a heavily reduce price.

You miss the point by a mile! Have you read my other posts? I assume not so just a quick recap - I actually asked the question directly, but was told "ex-managment car". I should have looked at the V5 and will for ever more.

I can see your logic, but law of averages will dictate that most hire car have a harder life than most non-hire cars. Or maybe it's just me who rags them to near death . . . .

What does near death actually mean?

If you had a hire car for a few weeks would you lift the bonnet to check the oil?

I doubt it very much and if that car happened to be an Alfa or other car that tend to use oil then it could be disasterous.

The point of this is what? I have stated (please see previous threads) that my car does not get through oil and how many people who are not 'petrol heads' (the great majority of people, and yes these people do drive Alfas) even know where the dipstick is, so again why would a hire car be more of a liability than anything else? just because it is not a hire car does not make it a good buy.