Hey gang, anyone out there bought a
used 4runner ex rental vehicle? It seems
that most of the 2005 4runners on dealer
lots were bought at auction from the
rental companys. I talked to a guy at
Hertz sales, he says they sell the best
ones to the public and any with missing
maintenence or dented undercarriages etc
go to auction. So, I'm considering buying
one form Hertz. 2005 SR5 4X4 $22K.
I know lots of people think this may be
a bad idea, I would love to hear for someone who actually has experience
with this type of purchase. By the way,
I'll be using it for serious off roading so
not too concerned with cosmetics........

not a 4runner, but folks in my family have bought a couple rental cars.. without problems. was able to squeeze a warranty of the deal, and the discount was significant.
of course you immediately think that these cars are driven hard (hard meaning fast. i wouldnt think many ppl take a rental off-road), which is probably true. however they should be able to provide you all maintenance records to show its been kept up..

specifically this 4runner, is it v6 or v8 model? how bout mileage?

if its v8 with low mileage that would be a pretty good bargain in my area (midwest).

It would be a V6 with aprox 24,000 mi.
I am in California.....

It wasn't a 4Runner, but I bought a Pontiac Gran Prix from Enterprise. It was 8 mos. old when I got it, had 18k miles on the odometer, and I got it at an excellent price.

They provided the maintenance history on the vehicle, showed no accident history, and I was even able to buy an extended warranty on the car. I kept the car for 6 years, put 100k miles on it, and never had a problem with it. It had the options I would have chosen anyway (A/C, CD player, AT, etc.).

A vehicle from a rental company was probably driven by a middle-aged business man, not some NASCAR wanna-be doing 100mph in second gear. It was a good experience for me, and I wish you luck if you decide to try it.

I've seen too many people abuse the hell out of rental cars to ever consider actually purchasing one.

I'm sure most people are just normal drivers using the vehicle to get from point A to point B, but with some bad luck you might pick a vehicle that was abused big time.

The fact of the matter is that most people do not care about rental cars simply because they don't own them. I'm the kind of driver that avoids potholes, brakes and then coasts over a bump (never good to brake over a bump), etc... In other words, I take care of my vehicles and drive them in way that they will last. So maybe I'm anal, but I wouldn't want a vehicle that wasn't driven the way I choose to drive my own.

In fact, I would only buy a used car from the original owner, but only if I felt that he has the same road habits as me. Otherwise, I'd walk away from the deal.

I've known quite a few people purchase rental vehicles. None of them have ever had a problem. With a rental car, no single driver ever has the vehicle very long. So even if you get a faster, abusive, ect. driver...they don't drive it for very long. I am more careful with a rental than I am with my own car, because I don't want to pay for damages.

But the price doesn't sound great.

I would be a little hesitant about buying a used rental vehicle. First off, these cars are not broken in properly. People really don't care how they treat the car because they feel that it is "a rental." Secondly, people take the cheapest way out when it comes to putting gas in the car. Who knows what they put in the tank? Third, people do not treat rental vehicles the same way they treat their own. The bottom line is that this vehicle is not their own so who cares what happens! In addition, the price does not sound like such a good deal.

You made some really good points. I never even considered that most people put the cheapest gas they can find in a rental car. Jimmy Jays Jip Joint 1/2 gas 1/2 water fueling station... hahaha

And new vehicle break-in should always be done right. A rental driver just wouldn't care about stuff like that. I know that I wouldn't care...

Another big one for me-- Winter driving. I'm easy on the throttle until the vehile reaches full operating temperature. I have a friend who basically floors his vehicle right after he starts it up and puts it in drive. Even in the dead of winter is sub-freezing temps. Imaging how he would treat a rental?

Nope, no rentals for me. Well, at least not to buy. I'd like to rent a Hummer H3 to do some muddin' though....

If you can get them to stump up for a Toyota extended warranty, I say go for it... but only after having it inspected by a Toyota dealer to check for any major issues not covered under the remaining warranty. Most sellers are happy to let you borrow the car for a day, so just book it in with a dealer in the area.

Rental cars may or may not be abused by renters. The 4runner is a strong truck and I bet most never go off road (look at rental contract fine print and you'll see any insurance you buy does not cover you if you go off-road, even in a 4x4). Rental companies do, however, take fairly good care of the engines since they don't want cars breaking down.

The gas issue ain't a problem IMO. All gas has detergent in it, just some detergents are better than others. Just run a cleaner through the engine for the first couple tanks. And I wouldn't worry about the break-in issue either. It's a modern Toyota engine, after all, not a 1989 GMC engine. Have a dealer do a full engine diagnostic check just to be sure.

And I'd hazard a guess that 95% of ex-rental fleets go to auction, not just the 'bad" ones, so don't fall for that one. Companies like Hertz need to get old cars off their lots fast and don't have time to screw around selling to the public, especially since they buy the cars at discounted fleet price to start with.

That price sounds about right. 24K miles is high for a year-old car but not that high, and I think the price sorta reflects that. You might be able to have a warranty thrown in as part of the deal. I'd rather do that than haggle another $500 off the price.

My dad bought a Ford Thunderbird a while ago. It was a rental. He never had a problem, until some moron in a Saturn T- boned it. I worked for a rental company a while back, and they are serviced pretty good, and most of them are not abused. As far as breaking in the engine, todays engines do not need to be broken in like cars in the 80's or older.

I'd look at Carmax, at least you know they weren't necessarily acquired from a rental fleet.

It's not the service records, which I am sure are good, it's the abuse.

I rent enough cars and I know the maximum capability of each one by the time I return it.

A couple guys at work bought rentals and both had trans failures. But both were Chryslers.

Koz

I bought my second car from a rental company in '98 the only issue i had with it was the alternator going out. I sold it to my bro in '02 and he had a bunch of issues including the trans. going out. Im not sure if that was caused by the fact it was a rental or just because it was a cheap pontiac GP. When we traded it in on my 4r the dealer noted that it was a rental, im not sure if they took some of the value away because of that or not. I guess it does mak sense though, if you pay less for it because it was a rental you will then have to sell it for less.

Don't buy a rental 4x4... Many businesses rent them for clients during the summer months (or when I was a field biologist we used them too). They can get seriously abused (driven through almost anything) without any kind of maintenance for months, then returned. The rental agency then cleans them, changes the oil and sends them out to auction.

We didn't use Toyotas, we used Ford Broncos and 3/4 ton Suburbans. I remember doing 4WD burn outs in the parking lots, driving through powder sand, mud pits, in 130 degree heat for 3 months and never did any service to any of the rigs.

Check out the local specials in the paper... In Boston, a dealer was advertising a new 2006 SR5 V6 4WD for 23,500 (obviously no options on the vehicle). With gas going up, SUV sales are decreasing, and July and August are hot times to buy before the new model year comes out in September.

Bought my 04 SR5 4x4 from Hertz. It has 22k on it when I bought it. They provided all maint. records for the vehicle and gave me an additional 36,000 mile wrnty on top of the manuf one. Had it for about a year and a half. It did need aligned when I bought it, but nothing but routine maint has been done to it since. I was a little hesitant at first, but it has been a positive experience so far.