Easy way to determine if ex rental car?
Discussion
What sort of car is it? Is there a reason you suspect it might be?
For what it's worth, I doubt it will impact the reliability of the car and (as you are finding) no one will know when you come to sell so shouldn't impact future value. I'd just be going on condition and service history.
For what it's worth, I doubt it will impact the reliability of the car and (as you are finding) no one will know when you come to sell so shouldn't impact future value. I'd just be going on condition and service history.
Sir Bagalot said:
Looking at a 1-2 year old car.
Is there an easy way to determine if it's ex rental?
A few years back you could just ask to see the V5 and that pretty much revealed who the owner was (and yes I know that Hertz etc have holding company names to register the car under)
You can still ask to see the V5 and it will still show the previous owner. The dealer will have the full V5. If they don’t want to show it to you….. well…..Is there an easy way to determine if it's ex rental?
A few years back you could just ask to see the V5 and that pretty much revealed who the owner was (and yes I know that Hertz etc have holding company names to register the car under)
The Rotrex Kid said:
Sir Bagalot said:
Looking at a 1-2 year old car.
Is there an easy way to determine if it's ex rental?
A few years back you could just ask to see the V5 and that pretty much revealed who the owner was (and yes I know that Hertz etc have holding company names to register the car under)
You can still ask to see the V5 and it will still show the previous owner. The dealer will have the full V5. If they don’t want to show it to you….. well…..Is there an easy way to determine if it's ex rental?
A few years back you could just ask to see the V5 and that pretty much revealed who the owner was (and yes I know that Hertz etc have holding company names to register the car under)
66HFM said:
Also check the service history, as previously, not sure if the same now, but the hire companies didn't use the main dealers for servicing they used to use local garages
That was certainly the case for my colleagues who get medium term rentals instead of company cars - they book the servicing via some online portal and the lowest bidder comes and collects the car from the office car park and returns it later in the day - usually seems to be one man band type businesses.I don’t see it as an issue personally as if it’s a c.1 year old car it will have likely experienced the full range of driver types from miss daisy to lunatic and everything in between. As long as the condition is as you’d expect on a 1 year old car I’d be happy. Older cars with multiple owners, it’s a non issue.
66HFM said:
Also check the service history, as previously, not sure if the same now, but the hire companies didn't use the main dealers for servicing they used to use local garages
I thought the rental companies policy was to dispose of the car before it was due its first service.I've hired plenty of cars with the service light on or a sticker on saying do not exceed x number of miles.
Ballistic said:
I thought the rental companies policy was to dispose of the car before it was due its first service.
I've hired plenty of cars with the service light on or a sticker on saying do not exceed x number of miles.
Most were run like this as they basically purchase cars and sell them as quick as possible, sometimes for more than they paid but Covid supply stopped this model with some fleets running cars up to 70,000 miles. Over the next 12 months things should get back to normal with most companies.I've hired plenty of cars with the service light on or a sticker on saying do not exceed x number of miles.
As is often the case condition is king
The boot scuffs suggestion is a good idea
I drive rental cars every couple of weeks and I’m still surprised at the amount 3 years old and 40k plus on the dash
The rental branch I use at the airport have just started to move on a lot of the cars that are ageing and have had a huge delivery of MG SUVs both the HS and ZS.
Assuming MG must do a decent volume deal to the hire companies for such a large quantity, must be 60% of the available cars are MG
I recall a friend who was a senior buyer for a hire company pre Stellantis owning Vauxhall (2015?).
He told me they got a huge volume deal from Vauxhall on the Astra, effectively the cost of each Astra was under £6k! I always found that hard to believe but he was adamant it was the case.
The boot scuffs suggestion is a good idea
I drive rental cars every couple of weeks and I’m still surprised at the amount 3 years old and 40k plus on the dash
The rental branch I use at the airport have just started to move on a lot of the cars that are ageing and have had a huge delivery of MG SUVs both the HS and ZS.
Assuming MG must do a decent volume deal to the hire companies for such a large quantity, must be 60% of the available cars are MG
I recall a friend who was a senior buyer for a hire company pre Stellantis owning Vauxhall (2015?).
He told me they got a huge volume deal from Vauxhall on the Astra, effectively the cost of each Astra was under £6k! I always found that hard to believe but he was adamant it was the case.
ACCYSTAN said:
As is often the case condition is king
The boot scuffs suggestion is a good idea
I drive rental cars every couple of weeks and I’m still surprised at the amount 3 years old and 40k plus on the dash
The rental branch I use at the airport have just started to move on a lot of the cars that are ageing and have had a huge delivery of MG SUVs both the HS and ZS.
Assuming MG must do a decent volume deal to the hire companies for such a large quantity, must be 60% of the available cars are MG
I recall a friend who was a senior buyer for a hire company pre Stellantis owning Vauxhall (2015?).
He told me they got a huge volume deal from Vauxhall on the Astra, effectively the cost of each Astra was under £6k! I always found that hard to believe but he was adamant it was the case.
I agree. I got a 21 plate Citroen C5 SUV thing a fortnight ago. Nothing wrong with it. But my perception is that supply is still icky at times for rental fleets.The boot scuffs suggestion is a good idea
I drive rental cars every couple of weeks and I’m still surprised at the amount 3 years old and 40k plus on the dash
The rental branch I use at the airport have just started to move on a lot of the cars that are ageing and have had a huge delivery of MG SUVs both the HS and ZS.
Assuming MG must do a decent volume deal to the hire companies for such a large quantity, must be 60% of the available cars are MG
I recall a friend who was a senior buyer for a hire company pre Stellantis owning Vauxhall (2015?).
He told me they got a huge volume deal from Vauxhall on the Astra, effectively the cost of each Astra was under £6k! I always found that hard to believe but he was adamant it was the case.
ACCYSTAN said:
I recall a friend who was a senior buyer for a hire company pre Stellantis owning Vauxhall (2015?).
He told me they got a huge volume deal from Vauxhall on the Astra, effectively the cost of each Astra was under £6k! I always found that hard to believe but he was adamant it was the case.
Probably right pre VAT as rental cars are purchased as VAT qualifying cars. I recall in 2008 an Astra SXI 1.6 was about £16k list and there was a rental company parking them and selling them at 90 days old with no miles for £8500 and they were making money.He told me they got a huge volume deal from Vauxhall on the Astra, effectively the cost of each Astra was under £6k! I always found that hard to believe but he was adamant it was the case.
Looking down some of the leasing pricing supplied to us discounts are coming onboard again. Some mainstream ICE cars are already at 25% with a few EV’s hitting 45%.
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