Anyone Ever Bought An Ex Hire/courtesy Car?

xycom1

I bought an ex-rental Corsa that was originally owned by Enterprise, then a private owner. Thank god for the remaining warranty - had quite a few engine problems which led to the car spending weeks in a Vauxhall dealership undergoing ££££ of repairs (as they couldn't find the exact cause of the problem...) and then hire car charges covered by Vauxhall in the meantime.

May have just been bad luck/coincidence, but I certainly would avoid ex-hire cars in the future.

BillTrac

I know this an old resurrected thread, but I bought a 56 plate Focus Zetec from Evans Halshaw. Year old had 15000 on the clock. I have had it over two years now and still enjoy driving it. Only costs are the usual..servicing, tyres. Would certainly look at one again

Maybe see this thread in a couple of years..?

Billy-no-Money

Old thread I know - but what the heck.

I'd rather buy a car that's been 'thrashed' by a wide variety of drivers than one that's been driven by one owner with one driving style.
If that single owner had a habit of holding the car on the clutch - expect problems.
If that single owner always redlined the engine from cold - expect problems.

Of 200 drivers not all will have 'thrashed', not all will have held on the clutch or whatever other driving misdemeanour you can think of - so the car won't have been excessively exposed to one driver's habits. I regularly hire cars for business use - my driving's spirited but mechanically sensitive, and I suspect there are many more like me.

Also - hire companies don't usually allow smoking these days, and it's unlikely to have been used to carry big dogs or lots of kids.

Anyway - a modern engine, especially petrol, likes nothing more than a good thrashing!

Green.Lander

I got a ford fiesta (ex hertz) no problem if you get from a main dealer with some backup if things go wrong

bb69

Hello I know its old thread but... lol

I am interested in buying a ford <7k miles the ones I have looked at I have been told are ex demonstrator cars.. How would I be able to verify that it is a Ex demo and not a hire?

Thanks in advance

Kilty_2

bb69 wrote: »

Hello I know its old thread but... lol

I am interested in buying a ford <7k miles the ones I have looked at I have been told are ex demonstrator cars.. How would I be able to verify that it is a Ex demo and not a hire?

Thanks in advance

Ask to see the V5 - it should be in the name of the dealer if it is an ex-demonstrator.

<7k miles sounds about right for ex-demo. Ex-demo could also be courtesy cars btw.

crism

I know I know it's an old thread... but helpful
Yeah ex-demos or hire cars..
I have bought Vectra 1.9 CDTI from Hartwell's Southampton in 2008, car was only a half year old and discounted about a 10K. They didn't want to give me the reg number (then I could check the previous owner), just a mileage, an info how did the car looked like, that a company was a previous owner and its mileage - 12400.
To actually do this sort of mileage in such a short period of time, i though that the car had to be driven on long distances only, therefore it couldn't be hire company, so not trashed by 200 drivers. I decided to go for it and put a deposit to have it sorted.
When the car arrived, the bloke who was selling it to me, called me that I can pick it up, and of course sort out the finance.
When I arrived, it came out that car was not prepared at all; small stone chip on the windscreen, cigarettes smoke still inside, scratches to the rear bumper like someone was packing up large stuff to the boot. I told them that if these will not be sorted out, then I'm not taking the delivery. I've managed to get the price down another 500 pounds. Following day, car looked as new; damage to the windscreen repaired, smell inside has gone, rear bumper sprayed over the damage and polished - no marks up to today.
Only thing I didn't notice taking up the delivery was a burning smell inside cabin, when stopping - say on a lights...
When reg certificate arrived from VOSA, it came out that previous owner was ... Enterprise... I though great! My first car, reasonably new to drive my new family safe, and a trouble ahead already...
After driving the car for about a half a year time, I finally noticed the burning smell and went to Seward's in Poole to have it sorted. After a hassle (a nice lady in the service desk who is actually thinking that she knows what the problem is before you describe it to her), they decided to change Turbocharger (under a warranty). After the exchange the smell was still present - they have changed a part in the exhaust system (also under the warranty) - the smell dissapeared. These however didn't necessarily had to be a problem because a hire company has been a previous owner - there was few complaints about the issue on this particular model on different forums then ... who knows?
Anyway.. the car runs smooth, no lack of power at all, gears shifts smoothly, I have clocked 38000 up to now, without any problems apart of the described at all.
Conclusion?
Would buy ex hire car again, but only under condition that it has at least 2 years warranty still on. - If something should come up then you are always covered, so no replacements costs involved, unless you ain't have too much spare time.. Also be careful when you are buying any preowned car: always, always check registration number, ask for the previous owners before you decide to put any money to take such a car. I didn't, and in some way I regret my decision that I didn't drop the offer when they didn't want to tell me the reg number of the car.. Well, next time I'll be more careful and won't trust anyone at dealership - they all come out to be two faced, just to sell you a car. What will happen afterwards - its your problem unless you can afford a solicitor.

The only question I may have now, is how does the fact of owning ex hire car reflects when you are trying to sell it? does it affect its value when leaving say as part exchange?

Phil_C666

I think i speak for everyone when i say hire cars are thrashed.So its a case of matching a car thats been well maintained but canned by everyone who drove it.

sassy_one

zoeleigh wrote: »

Hi

We have been looking at getting a Ford Focus but they are quite expensive, especially for the newer shape.

After looking at the likes of Arnold Clark etc with not much luck, we went to our local Ford place, they said to get it cheaper they can get ex motability or hire/courtesy cars.

They have found us a new shape one 06 plate, 5 door 1.6 lx, 12,802 miles for £8,495. The print out has Hertz on it so it's either ex hire or courtesy.

Anyone ever bought in this way? Any opinions?

Thanks

I personally have not and wouldn't buy a ex hire car as, although they may have been serviced well you have no ideal who has been driving them and how bad the engines have been treated not alone the rest of the car.

Often they are high mileage too, but in to days world, that shouldn't put you off too much.

For the money you save, you will most likely need to re invest in the car in the near future, so you need to ask if it's a saving worth running that risk against

BTW, good choice of car

skiddlydiddly

This article about running in engines might change your mind about buying an ex hire car.

http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm

Of course there's still the clutch, gearbox and thrashing with a cold engine to worry about.