Would you buy an ex hire car
Discussion
As an ex-company car driver the only high mileage car that I would buy is a company car from a fleet owned by a large company (or a company of any size owned by lovely Scots folk 
). These cars have always been serviced on schedule and if anything is wrong it is in the garage and fixed asap.
). These cars have always been serviced on schedule and if anything is wrong it is in the garage and fixed asap. Edited by v8woollie on Thursday 10th January 15:25
The Alamo card I found in the glovebox makes me suspect my Vectra was a hire car. I bought it at 8 months old with 14,000 miles for 8K in 2002. Ten trouble free years latter it's now up to 171,000.
Modern cars are a bit harder to cane to death than they used to be, rev limiters and ECUs help enormously. Just check for tracking and suspension damage.
Modern cars are a bit harder to cane to death than they used to be, rev limiters and ECUs help enormously. Just check for tracking and suspension damage.
I wouldn't worry about it being a hire car any more than other used car. You've no idea with most used cars how they've been driven, the benefit with the hire car is that it will have been repaired or serviced properly if anything was broken. A 1.6 Focus is also a mid-range hire so will probably have been hired by someone a little older or better off than say a 1.0L Yaris.
7k miles is nothing, so if everything looks ok and the price is right then I don't see any cause for concern.
7k miles is nothing, so if everything looks ok and the price is right then I don't see any cause for concern.
897sma said:
A 1.6 Focus is also a mid-range hire so will probably have been hired by someone a little older or better off than say a 1.0L Yaris..
It will have been driven by all sorts of people but rarely for more than a couple of weeks. I reckon very few of them will have thrashed my Vectra like I have - it still had the writing on the sidewalls for example.v8woollie said:
As an ex-company car driver the only high mileage car that I would buy is a company car from a fleet owned by a large company. These cars have always been serviced on schedule and if anything is wrong it is in the garage and fixed asap.
Simon darling....I take 3 BMWs at a time on contract hire and ensure they never miss a service and get handled properly (excluding the stolen one) since the cost of the fine at the end can be mouthwatering.FSH is the key, regardless of organisation size
Jockman said:
Simon darling....I take 3 BMWs at a time on contract hire and ensure they never miss a service and get handled properly (excluding the stolen one) since the cost of the fine at the end can be mouthwatering.
It's the potential penalties that always put me off contract hire, are they normally fair or have you been really stung in the past?Jockman said:
Simon darling....I take 3 BMWs at a time on contract hire and ensure they never miss a service and get handled properly (excluding the stolen one) since the cost of the fine at the end can be mouthwatering.
FSH is the key, regardless of organisation size
I have amended my posting accordingly FSH is the key, regardless of organisation size
CDP said:
It's the potential penalties that always put me off contract hire, are they normally fair or have you been really stung in the past?
Never incurred the penalties Carl. At the last review point one of the service stamps in the book was missing so they levied a penalty, only to remove it when I produced the Garage invoice and rushed down to get the book stamped.Excess mileage fines are relevant if you mess up your maths in the first place but as a Company I've found it useful in...
1. claiming half the vat back
2. good corporate image
3. tax relief on premiums (to a limit)
Jockman said:
Never incurred the penalties Carl. At the last review point one of the service stamps in the book was missing so they levied a penalty, only to remove it when I produced the Garage invoice and rushed down to get the book stamped.
Excess mileage fines are relevant if you mess up your maths in the first place but as a Company I've found it useful in...
1. claiming half the vat back
2. good corporate image
3. tax relief on premiums (to a limit)
Thanks for that. I've always wondered where the boundaries between fair wear and tear and damage start. The mileage is something that is at least predictable if you get it wrong and a lot of the companies don't seem to be excessive (7 to 10ppm +VAT for an average saloon IIRC).Excess mileage fines are relevant if you mess up your maths in the first place but as a Company I've found it useful in...
1. claiming half the vat back
2. good corporate image
3. tax relief on premiums (to a limit)
^ 100%.
In my youth I absolutely destroyed the company shed Mondeo, glowing red/white brake discs, snapped a drive shaft, killed the clutch..... granted it wasn't all me but the failures happened on me. It was massively abused. That said all was probably put right under warranty.... miracle the engine lived tbh.
The Mondeo it was replaced with was treated with more respect as it was actually quite a nice car
In my youth I absolutely destroyed the company shed Mondeo, glowing red/white brake discs, snapped a drive shaft, killed the clutch..... granted it wasn't all me but the failures happened on me. It was massively abused. That said all was probably put right under warranty.... miracle the engine lived tbh.
The Mondeo it was replaced with was treated with more respect as it was actually quite a nice car
ds2000 said:
^ 100%.
In my youth I absolutely destroyed the company shed Mondeo
The Mondeo it was replaced with was treated with more respect as it was actually quite a nice car
Two previous companies I've worked at had totally sIn my youth I absolutely destroyed the company shed Mondeo
The Mondeo it was replaced with was treated with more respect as it was actually quite a nice car
te pool cars and as a result they were thrashed by everyone who had the misfortune to get lumbered with them ( as opposed to the hire cars, which were treated fine, well, apart from the one I got stuck on Southport beach and then had to go to the police station in order to find someone who could tow it before the tide came in ! ).But I reckon if the company had a couple of decent pool cars then they would not have been abused.
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