Would you buy a former rental car?
 

Hello everyone. I tried to do a search with mixed results. I found a 2010 Kona blue Mustang premium V6 with 22694 miles the dealer wants 18990 for it the dealership says they are selling it as a certified pre owned car. Carfax shows it was a former rental car in Orlando Florida and the car was bought at auction by the dealership. It appears to be okay but, I wonder what people did to the car during their rental time. Any thoughts on what a good price would be? and what type of negotiating approaches to use? Or should I just look elsewhere.
Thanks
Robert

I would rather buy a lease than a rental. I'm not going to say what I've done with rental cars :X

I bought one once. 2000 grand prix gt. Maybe it was the car or it having been a rental. I don't know but that car was nothing but problems. Drive train parts failing that should not have been failing. I ended up having to get rid of the car being it was one problem after another. Maybe other people have had better experiences. But I will not buy one again.

Think about it this way: If the car was going to stay reliable, the rental car company wouldnt have sold it. Rental companies know they have a very short life with their cars because of the abuse they see on a daily basis. At the point they sell them, it costs them less to buy a new car than it would to keep the current car maintained/fixed.

There is no way under any circumstance I would ever buy a rental car.

Never in a million years.

AFTER the car checked out by a mechanic and AFTER I negotiated a killer deal, then MAYBE...

Since it was a prior rental vehicle, I wouldn't touch it for over $19k, tops, after it checked out as was just what I wanted.

My family bought a 1998 Taurus from Hertz back in the day. It ran to around ~110k miles and then the trans started slipping. I wouldn't recommend buying a rental, especially a Mustang. You can't rent a Mustang without doing something stupid to it.

Just search youtube for "rental car abuse" or "rental mustang".

Then you will see why it's a bad idea.

Pretty much agreed with the above. It's POSSIBLE to get a car that saw former rental duty that's ok, but the odds of getting a good used car are much more favorable with one that had a previous life as a private owner vehicle or leased car

I agree with Nuke - I would have a mechanic check it out first.

Also, I probably wouldn't do it unless it has leather seats - stains can be a nightmare especially if you didn't cause them.

Mine was a rental. owned it for a little over a year with no problems so far other than the same kinds of things new owners have. there are a few other people who have own rentals here too.

untrue all rental car companies only rent out late model cars because that is all people want to rent and to stay competitive. nobody is going to want rent a old car.

buying a used car can be more problematic then a rental one because of maintenance. a rental may or may not have been run hard but the rental company has a maintenance schedule they follow whereas a used car from a private party could be ridden lightly but not known or cared about changing oil, what kind, when etc.

And although youtube will show plenty of people abusing rental cars there are more videos of people abusing there own cars.

Also know this is why you must be 16 years old to drive a car but 25 years old to rent.

my advice is to approach with caution and use you best judgement as you would with any used sports car but know that you still should be covered under warranty