How to tell if a car is ex-rental?
Discussion
Hi there, I'm currently looking for a Used Volvo. Several Volvo dealerships have advised me that a K Reg on a Volvo denotes ex-rental. The person at thedealership I'm speaking to now - because they may have a car that meets my needs - tells me that this isn't something she's ever heard of. The car I'm seeing is K Reg. She says it's only had one private owner but obviously one private owner could mean Hertz!
Does anyone know if this is true? Or is the only way to know for sure is to look at the registration document?
FWIW, even if it was ex-rental, would 40k mileage for a 14 plate be an issue for you? I know it's fairly average mileage but wondering if it's something to be concerned about due to multiple drivers versus possibly (making assumptions here) one owner who has an incentive to drive it well.
TIA!
Does anyone know if this is true? Or is the only way to know for sure is to look at the registration document?
FWIW, even if it was ex-rental, would 40k mileage for a 14 plate be an issue for you? I know it's fairly average mileage but wondering if it's something to be concerned about due to multiple drivers versus possibly (making assumptions here) one owner who has an incentive to drive it well.
TIA!
GDPR has knocked the 'Previous Keeper' bit of the V5 on the head, but as it's in the trade, they should have the previous owner's V5, as they'll have used the yellow slip to take it into the trade. Name and address will be on there, and these days I expect seeing the V5 is the only way to check.
When I notice a Volvo hire car (lots around the Lakes at times) they do normally start with a K, but that doesn't mean private ones can't be registered in the same area (Luton/Northampton) Up here in PX/PN and I don't see too many cars beginning with K.
It wouldn't be unheard of for a car salesperson to try glossing over a short term rental history!
When I notice a Volvo hire car (lots around the Lakes at times) they do normally start with a K, but that doesn't mean private ones can't be registered in the same area (Luton/Northampton) Up here in PX/PN and I don't see too many cars beginning with K.
It wouldn't be unheard of for a car salesperson to try glossing over a short term rental history!
14 plate and one owner is very unlikely to be ex rental, the vast majority of ex rentals are given up after 9m to a year.
Ask to see the V5c, however the dealership may hide behind GDPR and refuse to show it to you.
I wouldn't worry anyway, as long as the service history is all up to date and it is a clean car.
The manufacturer who I work for; the number plates for rentals for them start H, however so do their company cars.
Ask to see the V5c, however the dealership may hide behind GDPR and refuse to show it to you.
I wouldn't worry anyway, as long as the service history is all up to date and it is a clean car.
The manufacturer who I work for; the number plates for rentals for them start H, however so do their company cars.
What if it was an ex rental? We bought a Passat that was 10 months old with 20K on the clock which was an ex Enterprise car.
We had it for 5 trouble free years and I've just had a look on the MOT history site and it's still going strong 11 years old with over 180K on the clock. IT also appears to have passed all but one MOT first time with the exception being for a tyre under the legal limit.
We had it for 5 trouble free years and I've just had a look on the MOT history site and it's still going strong 11 years old with over 180K on the clock. IT also appears to have passed all but one MOT first time with the exception being for a tyre under the legal limit.
HTP99 said:
14 plate and one owner is very unlikely to be ex rental, the vast majority of ex rentals are given up after 9m to a year.
Ask to see the V5c, however the dealership may hide behind GDPR and refuse to show it to you.
I wouldn't worry anyway, as long as the service history is all up to date and it is a clean car.
The manufacturer who I work for; the number plates for rentals for them start H, however so do their company cars.
Good point. I didn't know that most ex-rentals are given up so soon. Not an experienced car buyer here! Ask to see the V5c, however the dealership may hide behind GDPR and refuse to show it to you.
I wouldn't worry anyway, as long as the service history is all up to date and it is a clean car.
The manufacturer who I work for; the number plates for rentals for them start H, however so do their company cars.
The reg number starting with a 'K' normally means a Volvo has been registered by Volvo UK, this means it could be ex-rental, ex-staff scheme car, ex-marketing etc.
Volvo UK make the original use of the car known to dealers when selling them via their used car system so the dealer should really be able to tell you the answer to your question.
ETA - I would not even worry about it on a four year old car, if it was rental it will have been in use for 6 months or a year max.
Volvo UK make the original use of the car known to dealers when selling them via their used car system so the dealer should really be able to tell you the answer to your question.
ETA - I would not even worry about it on a four year old car, if it was rental it will have been in use for 6 months or a year max.
K prefixes only indicate that it had been registered at the Northampton or Borehamwood DVLA offices, (now both closed I believe?)
Paragon Automotive, one of the large dealer groups are based in Bedfordshire, so anything supplied new by them, including fleet sales, would have a K-prefix, but as above, if it was ex-rental, it would likely have been defleeted at 6 or 12 months, or 2-3 years if it was a contract hire vehicle.
There is every chance it was just a retail sale on Volvo finance that was supplied by the same dealer group that registers the fleet sales.
Paragon Automotive, one of the large dealer groups are based in Bedfordshire, so anything supplied new by them, including fleet sales, would have a K-prefix, but as above, if it was ex-rental, it would likely have been defleeted at 6 or 12 months, or 2-3 years if it was a contract hire vehicle.
There is every chance it was just a retail sale on Volvo finance that was supplied by the same dealer group that registers the fleet sales.
Wouldn't 10k a year for a rental car be quite low? That's about 30 miles a day. As above I can't see a rental co keeping a car in their fleet for 4 years
You were also asking for thoughts on total miles. 40k in 4 years seems fine to me. Fwiw my stepdad had a Volvo that was ex-Virgin Atlantic chauffeur fleet (for business class pick-ups). It was 2 years old and about 75k on the clock. Fine for him as very low price, he's retired, just drives it to the golf club etc and will hang onto it for 10 years I expect. 5 years in and no major problems.
You were also asking for thoughts on total miles. 40k in 4 years seems fine to me. Fwiw my stepdad had a Volvo that was ex-Virgin Atlantic chauffeur fleet (for business class pick-ups). It was 2 years old and about 75k on the clock. Fine for him as very low price, he's retired, just drives it to the golf club etc and will hang onto it for 10 years I expect. 5 years in and no major problems.
S11Steve said:
K prefixes only indicate that it had been registered at the Northampton or Borehamwood DVLA offices, (now both closed I believe?)
Yes, along with every other DVLA office, five years ago.But the "local area" letter is still roughly geographically allocated - so anything first registered around that part of the country (too north to be L-for-London or R-for-Reading, too west to be A-for-Anglia or E-for-Essex, too south to be B-for-Birmingham, too east to be O-for-Oxford) is going to be on a K-for-probably-Kettering-or-(Milton-)Keynes-but-it's-officially-slightly-desperately-random.
Volvo UK are in Maidenhead, but used to be in Marlow - you'd think'd that'd be R or maybe O, but maybe somebody there knew somebody in a local office, and it stuck.
Another vote here for one-owner after 4yrs not being rental. Two owners, though, and maybe it was. Would it matter?
TooMany2cvs said:
Yes, along with every other DVLA office, five years ago.
But the "local area" letter is still roughly geographically allocated - so anything first registered around that part of the country (too north to be L-for-London or R-for-Reading, too west to be A-for-Anglia or E-for-Essex, too south to be B-for-Birmingham, too east to be O-for-Oxford) is going to be on a K-for-probably-Kettering-or-(Milton-)Keynes-but-it's-officially-slightly-desperately-random.
Volvo UK are in Maidenhead, but used to be in Marlow - you'd think'd that'd be R or maybe O, but maybe somebody there knew somebody in a local office, and it stuck.
Another vote here for one-owner after 4yrs not being rental. Two owners, though, and maybe it was. Would it matter?
I wonder if they still have the K prefix due to having a training base in Daventry?But the "local area" letter is still roughly geographically allocated - so anything first registered around that part of the country (too north to be L-for-London or R-for-Reading, too west to be A-for-Anglia or E-for-Essex, too south to be B-for-Birmingham, too east to be O-for-Oxford) is going to be on a K-for-probably-Kettering-or-(Milton-)Keynes-but-it's-officially-slightly-desperately-random.
Volvo UK are in Maidenhead, but used to be in Marlow - you'd think'd that'd be R or maybe O, but maybe somebody there knew somebody in a local office, and it stuck.
Another vote here for one-owner after 4yrs not being rental. Two owners, though, and maybe it was. Would it matter?
TooMany2cvs said:
Yes, along with every other DVLA office, five years ago.
But the "local area" letter is still roughly geographically allocated - so anything first registered around that part of the country (too north to be L-for-London or R-for-Reading, too west to be A-for-Anglia or E-for-Essex, too south to be B-for-Birmingham, too east to be O-for-Oxford) is going to be on a K-for-probably-Kettering-or-(Milton-)Keynes-but-it's-officially-slightly-desperately-random.
Volvo UK are in Maidenhead, but used to be in Marlow - you'd think'd that'd be R or maybe O, but maybe somebody there knew somebody in a local office, and it stuck.
Another vote here for one-owner after 4yrs not being rental. Two owners, though, and maybe it was. Would it matter?
A few of the press/demo Volvo cars are registered with O prefixes, but Paragon (now part of BCA) at Thurleigh in Bedfordshire are the fleet logistics partner for Volvo, which I think includes the Volvo Finance vehicles that go out to private customers. But the "local area" letter is still roughly geographically allocated - so anything first registered around that part of the country (too north to be L-for-London or R-for-Reading, too west to be A-for-Anglia or E-for-Essex, too south to be B-for-Birmingham, too east to be O-for-Oxford) is going to be on a K-for-probably-Kettering-or-(Milton-)Keynes-but-it's-officially-slightly-desperately-random.
Volvo UK are in Maidenhead, but used to be in Marlow - you'd think'd that'd be R or maybe O, but maybe somebody there knew somebody in a local office, and it stuck.
Another vote here for one-owner after 4yrs not being rental. Two owners, though, and maybe it was. Would it matter?
All new fleet vehicles are PDI'd and registered from there, end of contract vehicles go back there for refurb and then onwards to the retail dealers. Same as Corby, Bicester, Sandtoft, Bruntingthorpe and a few other former airfields used for the same purpose.
(Pictures of Thurleigh are often posted around as being examples of over-production or failure of the scrappage scheme - https://goo.gl/maps/BJH2KDLQZR42 when in reality the entire stock typically turns over every 45 days)
S11Steve said:
but Paragon (now part of BCA) at Thurleigh in Bedfordshire are the fleet logistics partner for Volvo, which I think includes the Volvo Finance vehicles that go out to private customers.
Makes sense. I know Citroen press stuff etc used to be on Coventry plates loooong before the HQ moved from Slough to Pinley, simply because the fleet was all done from there.According to this, K registrations are from Luton and Northampton:
https://www.newreg.co.uk/dvla-number-plate-identif...
https://www.newreg.co.uk/dvla-number-plate-identif...
For the reasons mentioned above it may be generally true that all ex rental Volvos are on K plates.
That doesn't mean that all K plate Volvos are ex rental though.
Have to play 20 questions with the garage if they won't say who the previous keeper was and then offer it out against the full range of prejudices and stereotypes:
Is it a private or company name? Might have had lots of different drivers who didn't read it a story and tuck it in at night
Is it a man's name or a woman's? All the wheels will be kerbed, and every corner rubbed
Is it a name from my own ethnic group or a different one? Might smell of drugs or spicy food or baby sick.
Is it a young person's name or an old person's? Clutch will burn out after 1 week
That doesn't mean that all K plate Volvos are ex rental though.
Have to play 20 questions with the garage if they won't say who the previous keeper was and then offer it out against the full range of prejudices and stereotypes:
Is it a private or company name? Might have had lots of different drivers who didn't read it a story and tuck it in at night
Is it a man's name or a woman's? All the wheels will be kerbed, and every corner rubbed
Is it a name from my own ethnic group or a different one? Might smell of drugs or spicy food or baby sick.
Is it a young person's name or an old person's? Clutch will burn out after 1 week
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