VANITY-- PURCHASING A FORMER RENTAL CAR

I used to Manage a branch office of a regional car rental company. Since it was a much smaller company than the national rental companies, we kept our fleet active for a few years before selling them directly to the public. My mentality, as was the mentality of other managers in the field, was keeping the vehicles serviced and in tip top shape was our bread and butter. Can't rent out a car that is falling apart or isn't running properly...people will complain and want a different one. I started in the company doing maintenance and mechanics. If these people are half as picky as I always was, the car was taken care of.

No matter how well maintained a vehicle is, it can still have some problems happen soon after purchase. Have a mechanic you know and trust check it out, and there are places on line that you can check to see if it's ever been in an accident. If it has been in any type of accident, have a reputable body shop check it out....especially the frame.

All in all, in my 7 years in the field, rentals are some of the best maintained vehicles.

I bought a 2001 Saturn from Enterprise in March of 2003. The car had 33K miles at the time, and it's run like a top ever since. All I've had to do is change the oil, change the tires (once so I could replace the Firestones with Goodyears), and change a battery. Unlike my '93 Escort that needed ~$2-3K worth of maintenance a year once it hit 60K miles...

Thanks for the info.

I found out that it was owned by a rental company thru the CarFax Report, which came back clean on everything else. There was no "smoke" smell, but they said that they stick an ionizer in it for a couple of days to get rid of all smells. (My Mountaineer could really use that!)

The car seems to be in really good shape inside and out and there are no visible signs of damage. I'm getting more comfortable about the rental thing, but still have a day to think (the car is to be ready Thursday).

Thanks again for the input everybody.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.