Buying a used car from Enterprise?

Darrell999 · Post by **Darrell999** » Tue Oct 19, 2004 9:51 pm

I'm looking to buy a used car, and I noticed that an Enterprise dealer near me has some good prospects. I was planning on going, but then I noticed that Enterprise is also a car rental company.
?????
Does this necessarily mean that all the cars that they sell have been used as rentals, or are the rental part and the used car part two separate operations?

Any experience with this dealer?

Thanks in advance.

ChaoZ · Post by **ChaoZ** » Tue Oct 19, 2004 9:56 pm

I'm betting the cars are former rental-fleet cars.

Tareeq · Post by **Tareeq** » Tue Oct 19, 2004 9:58 pm

ChaoZ wrote:I'm betting the cars are former rental-fleet cars.

You're betting right.

Think about how you treat rental cars. Then decide whether you want to buy one used.

Better yet, think of Hunter Thompson...

Coskesh · Post by **Coskesh** » Tue Oct 19, 2004 10:16 pm

My credit union was sponsoring a Enterprise Sale. Even with the expected condition of rentals, a 2002/2003 Toyota Camry for $15k sounded like a good deal (~35,000 miles).

I'd say take a good look at one, could be a good deal. I'd assume most of the damage inflicted on rentals is cosmetic anyway.

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Wed Oct 20, 2004 10:56 am

My brother-in-law once bought a retired rental car. What an idiot. Don't do it.

Sunderer · Post by **Sunderer** » Wed Oct 20, 2004 11:03 am

Find out if I ever drove the rental. If so, please don't buy it. Somebody might have crammed it into reverse while cruising at 70 mph. I don't think that grinding sound was an indication of good things.

Austin · Post by **Austin** » Wed Oct 20, 2004 11:05 am

I also would steer you away from rentals. They will try to counter with, "but they are well maintained!" All the oil changes in the world aren't going to make up for the abuse the average rental car suffers.

geezer · Post by **geezer** » Wed Oct 20, 2004 11:33 am

Austin wrote:I also would steer you away from rentals. They will try to counter with, "but they are well maintained!" All the oil changes in the world aren't going to make up for the abuse the average rental car suffers.

what he said

Aliasbuck · Post by **Aliasbuck** » Wed Oct 20, 2004 11:44 am

Don't buy it! Sure, Scott Bakula may have driven it at one time, but at the same time, the mother ship has taken a heck of a beating in the last year.

jlu · Post by **jlu** » Wed Oct 20, 2004 11:47 am

My mother bought her last car from a rental firm despite my protestations. Had very good luck with it.

Me, I would not buy a former rental, because I know how I used to abuse rentals. As I have gotten older, I treat them pretty well though.

Biyobi · Post by **Biyobi** » Wed Oct 20, 2004 12:55 pm

One of my friends bought a car from Enterprise about 3 years ago and he's had no problems with it at all, and he's pretty abusive to his vehicles.

The Meal · Post by **The Meal** » Wed Oct 20, 2004 1:00 pm

I've only every heard positive experiences with folks who've gone this route, despite my own anecdotal evidence as to how rentals are treated. I'm thinking that there aren't as many folks out here who beat on their rental cars as I may have been lead to believe.

I still have never seriously considered purchsing a used car from a rental lot, however.

~Neal

Giles Habibula · Post by **Giles Habibula** » Wed Oct 20, 2004 2:57 pm

How good of a deal can you get from these guys?
If they're cheap, it may be worth the risk....
Like maybe half of book value. I'm guessing not though.

Darrell999 · Post by **Darrell999** » Wed Oct 20, 2004 4:29 pm

Thanks for the advice, gentlemen.
I came to the conclusion that, since reliability is my top concern (with cost a close second), I'm not sure I want to take the risk of getting a lemon. You just never know if they've been driven hard or not, but it seems like the probability is higher with these rentals.

Austin · Post by **Austin** » Wed Oct 20, 2004 4:52 pm

What are you looking for in a vehicle. There are some knowledgeable people here who would love to spout off advice. /looks at geezer.

What price range, size etc...

Post by **FishPants** » Wed Oct 20, 2004 6:46 pm

Ex-rental vehicles are fine if you buy a higher end car. If you buy the Suzuki Swift or Dodge Neon, well chances are that was rented by 18 year old kids (well ok 18 year old kids can rent cars in Canada, not most states but you get the picture) and they treat the cars like hell. I bought a 2003 Explorer Eddie Bauer edition that had 20K (Kms not Miles at that) on it for a very very very good deal. It used to be a Hertz Prestige Rental car; and was in perfect running condition; along with factory warranty remaining (and I purchased the Ford extended service plan)... So in the event anything does happen, it's not out of my pocket.

Crux · Post by **Crux** » Wed Oct 20, 2004 8:13 pm

One question: how exactly do you boys and girls abuse your rental cars? I mean 99% of rentals are automatics, so you can't exactly quick-shift and burn out the clutch. Unless you take your rental cars out into a parking lot and do donuts, I really can't see the wear on a rental being markedly worse than a privately owned vehicle of the same mileage.

D.A.Lewis · Post by **D.A.Lewis** » Wed Oct 20, 2004 10:07 pm

How many lurker thought this was somehow about Star Trek.

Well I certainly never thought that.

BTW, Enterprise sucks, they still have the nerver to charge milage on rentals. I don't know if I could trust buying a car from them.

Darrell999 · Post by **Darrell999** » Thu Oct 21, 2004 3:29 pm

What are you looking for in a vehicle. There are some knowledgeable people here who would love to spout off advice. /looks at geezer.

What price range, size etc...

Thanks for the idea, Austin--I think I'll pursue that! But I guess I should do it in a thread with a different name...

gellar · Post by **gellar** » Thu Oct 21, 2004 3:35 pm

aussie77 wrote:One question: how exactly do you boys and girls abuse your rental cars? I mean 99% of rentals are automatics, so you can't exactly quick-shift and burn out the clutch. Unless you take your rental cars out into a parking lot and do donuts, I really can't see the wear on a rental being markedly worse than a privately owned vehicle of the same mileage.

I used to work at a rental car agency (Enterprise, actually), so you'd think I'd have more sympathy for these cars. But I don't.

A short list of things I've "tried" in a rental car:

*Answered the question: "Can I shove it into reverse at speed?"
*Torque brake at every opportunity
*E-Brake turn every turn that's safe
*Redline through every gear, even when cold
*On a FWD rental, put lunch trays under the rear wheels and do donuts in parking lots.
*Hit large dips at speed to launch the car into the air.
*The aforementioned donuts.

And of course.... there is this:

Yes, that is a rental. No, that's not me driving. That was this weekend's Rally-X here in SoCal.

Of course, I don't think ALL renters are this bad. I'm 24 and insane.

gellar

Austin · Post by **Austin** » Thu Oct 21, 2004 3:38 pm

FishPants wrote:Ex-rental vehicles are fine if you buy a higher end car. If you buy the Suzuki Swift or Dodge Neon, well chances are that was rented by 18 year old kids (well ok 18 year old kids can rent cars in Canada, not most states but you get the picture) and they treat the cars like hell. I bought a 2003 Explorer Eddie Bauer edition that had 20K (Kms not Miles at that) on it for a very very very good deal. It used to be a Hertz Prestige Rental car; and was in perfect running condition; along with factory warranty remaining (and I purchased the Ford extended service plan)... So in the event anything does happen, it's not out of my pocket.

This may be a good point. My Saab is in the shop (already... I just bought it Friday

) and they didn't have any loaners. They are renting me a car from Enterprise actually. I was half expecting to walk out to a Grand Am or something but low and behold it was a Caddalac SRX. I really don't see too many people abusing these, unless they buy the extened insurance coverage.

Of course for $15.00 I suppose I could kick the crap out of this thing. (I wouldn't beat it up anyway, but I also don't buy the extra coverage so this sucker will go back exactly how I took it out.

)