I looked at one back in August before I purchased. It had about 17k miles, 19 off road premium. It was super clean and maintained. The best deal I could get was 35k. I bought the same vehicle new new for just under 37k.

I'm in California, Bay Area. Hertz sells 4Runner 2019 4WD with 15k-20k miles for about $32k out the door. With regular 36k miles / 3 years Toyota warranty. Show me similar deal from any other source in CALIFORNIA. I'm curious.

Buying a former rental car ranks up there with sticking your finger in a light socket. Most people are smart enough not to do it. But then others...

People buy rental cars that have clean CarFax reports thinking that nothing has ever gone wrong with the vehicle. Not so in most cases.

The rental companies aren't legally required to report damage to carfax or insurance because they are self-insured. Meaning, they usually have a local shop do repairs as cheaply as possible and under the table.

Rental cars get moved from office to office and can start out in Chicago getting subjected to salted roads and horrible potholes, and then end up for sale in San Diego with no record of where it's been.

My girlfriend bought a used rental car without consulting me first. Found evidence of multiple poor body repairs and having been in extremely corrosive environments despite it supposedly coming from California.

She works in the aviation industry and treats the rentals she gets very gently and assumed that everyone else did as well.

She now knows better. But, she had to get burned and learn the hard way.

I have my test drive booked for Thursday. I already got service records of the car that I will be test driving. What's interesting is that all of the services were in California, different cities. That means most likely the car hasn't been driven across the country or in salt. Also, Toyota's "Warranty and Maintenance Guide" recommends to change oil at 10 000 miles intervals. Hertz per these records changes oil and oil filter every 7500 miles.

I'm going to test drive it and most likely return within 2 hours. Unless it's perfect. My mindset is on testing multiple cars to find the best one. If I return within 2 hours, I pay nothing, it's complimentary.

I have ODB2 scanner with me, I have digital caliper, tape measure, flashlight, camera, pen and paper. I'm noting everything about the car, I write down tire tread, brake pad thickness and other things. It helps later to negotiate better deal but also compare different cars. Sometimes you can get new tires or something else extra. I'm planning on showing up little early and performing initial checks of the car on the outside before my 2 hour rental clock starts to maximize actual test drive time.

What I'm worried most is the 4x4 drive. I'm afraid somebody might have engaged it and drove on pavement. And I don't have a way to detect that. Obviously I will test drive the vehicle and inspect very well around the joints but that might not be enough. If one driver engages 4x4 and leaves it on, would new driver after starting the car also have 4x4 engaged?

I appreciate the concept of buying used to avoid the depreciation hit. I’d look for a used vehicle with a single owner and not a fleet or rental vehicle though if it was my money.

Just buy new. Tacomas and 4 runners not worth it buying buying used if 3 years old. Maybe a 4 year old one...

I see dealerships in my area advertise 2019 SR5 4WD at $39k MSRP with $1000/$1500 discounts off that. Do you think it's possible to purchase it for $32-$33k out the door? I can wait and pull the trigger on December 31 if that's what it takes. Never ever purchased a vehicle from the dealership so I have no experience.

I agree but with one clarification - nobody is "legally required" to report anything to CARFAX or insurance. In fact, CARFAX pays for that information.

I have no problem buying used cars, rental or otherwise. I've bought things that have been beat to hell even...it all just factors into the price for me. I have to point out as well that I really dislike owing money on cars. I don't drive things that appreciate in value, and you never know when your circumstances might change. People manage this risk different ways (or don't) but part of my approach is low debt and reliable vehicles.

It also helps me if they have a few imperfections when I buy them. It lowers the price and keeps me realistic about what what's going to happen to a vehicle driven on public roads and parked in public lots. I like it a lot, but it's just a truck...

We sell previous rental Toyota including 4runner all the times. Rental company actually maintain and services their fleet very well. We sell hundreds of new Toyota to Enterprise each year and buy a lot of them back at the end of of about a year with anywhere between 18k-35k miles. Not every 4runner are taken off road. Most renters just want to drive one around town. Not saying a few might be rented to venture off road, that is entirely possible but majority of it are being driven in town. I won't worry too much about it if its a good deal. Just do the normal common sense inspection of obvious sign of physical abuse. Buying one from a Toyota dealer typically cost more but most of them are being Certified which comes with extra warranty and meet Toyota higher standard of quality and 160 points inspection. Good luck and enjoy your (new to you) 4runner.

I have very similar beliefs. I would rather buy discounted car with some visual dings than buy expensive, perfect one and have careless people on parking lots ding it for me. End result 1 year later is the same so why pay more?

Drivers in Bay Area are very inconsiderate, especially around parking lots.

Would you reveal what kind of prices are you paying for these cars? I'm curious to see how much of a difference there is between corporate buyer and retail buyer like me. The cars we are talking would be 2019 4Runners with around 20k miles.

yes. people are consistently buying 2019 SR5P for 33-35k OTD

as the end of the year approaches that price will only get better as dealerships will want older models gone to make room for 2020s

you can buy 2019 trd orp for 37-38k OTD

I just bought a rental 4runner a few weeks ago (enterprise). 2019 TRD Orp. 27k miles. I climbed all over and under the thing checking it out and it's got a tiny scratch here and there but other than that it's in excellent shape. Decent carfax maintenance reports. 29k OTD in Tennessee. I'm pretty happy with it. Traded in my 2016 SR5 premium with 87k miles and got 26k for it. I may end up regretting it but we shall see. Saved 8 grand which is about 25% on a 1 year old car.

How did you test the 4WD system? Did you do anything specific? 4WD system is what I'm worried most about and I don't have any good method to check it other than standard visual check of all components and exhaustive test drive with different maneuvers to see for unusual behaviors and noises.