# Buying a used rental car? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 20, 2019, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-a-used-rental-car/840592 "2019-09-20T22:48:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![tenacious\_j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/439d5e/32.png) [@tenacious\_j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tenacious_j)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2019, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-a-used-rental-car/840592/21 "2019-09-22T02:09:13Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Then there was the Alamo I rented decades ago. The right rear door would sometimes fling open during a left turn. :eek: That whole experience put me off Alamo for life. That sucks. I love me some Alamo. I don’t know why I prefer them; I guess they just have better pricing and good service for the places I go, and usually have the car model I like. What I don’t love? Car dealers. From the comments here and talking to a few people maybe I’ll just find the closest Hertz sales and see what they’re selling. Traditional dealers can kiss my ass. Worked out a great price with the “online sales manager” and got it in writing. Went in to see the car and the pushy salesman said he never heard of her and she couldn’t offer on the company’s behalf. Then told me they’d never let anyone test drive alone, then lowballed me (lots) on the trade. Makes me want to call carmax and tell them to just deliver the model I want. How do they still get away with this stuff? thanks everyone for your input. I definitely won’t rule out a previous rental. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2019, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-a-used-rental-car/840592/22 "2019-09-22T02:18:34Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Do you remember which company you rented it from? I remember, but that particular rental car company has changed corporate owners several times since then, so I don’t think it’s fair to imply its maintenance is as shabby now as it was. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2019, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-a-used-rental-car/840592/23 "2019-09-23T00:15:39Z")
What is “abuse”? Flooring it everywhere you go? If the computer allows it, it’s within the normal operating characteristics of the vehicle. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2019, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-a-used-rental-car/840592/24 "2019-09-23T15:15:09Z")
> [@Bumbazine](#): > > My last car before my present one was a Mazda 626 that I bought from, IIRC, Enterprise with ~10,000 miles on it. We kept that car for 12 years and, IIRC, ~165,000 miles. We traded it for our present ride because the POS FORD transmission\* went belly up. I bet a very large percentage of all neutral slams are done in rental cars. Things like that end up shortening the life of the car or significant parts, like the transmission. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2019, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-a-used-rental-car/840592/25 "2019-09-23T15:47:17Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > I bet a very large percentage of all neutral slams are done in rental cars. Things like that end up shortening the life of the car or significant parts, like the transmission. What are “neutral slams”? ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2019, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-a-used-rental-car/840592/26 "2019-09-23T15:56:42Z")
What cars are available to rent that would even tempt you to drive them abusively? Interesting to see the comments about manual transmissions in rental cars. Those can’t be from Americans. ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2019, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-a-used-rental-car/840592/27 "2019-09-23T16:34:45Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > I would have immediately asked if, when he had a rental car, he abused it. > > I know that I don’t abuse my rental cars. Why would I? I’m either on vacation or on business and either way, I don’t need the hassle of dealing with a car I wrecked. > > My buddy just bought an ex-Hertz vehicle 2 days ago. His mechanic said it was in great shape. So far, he’s happy with it and with the price he paid. Agree 100%. People tend to make assumptions based on their personal habits as if that is the status quo, and they don’t usually realize it. “I abuse rental cars, therefore I assume all rental cars are abused.” The reality is that even if rental cars are occasionally driven hard while being rented; they are also meticulously maintained in most instances. Plus, when I apply my own version of my theory above… I think that once I grew up a little bit, I just rented cars to get me from point A to B. I didn’t drive them overly hard. I just… drove them. Like I would any other vehicle. I would’t have a problem at all buying a former rental car if it checked out OK by an independent mechanic. ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2019, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-a-used-rental-car/840592/28 "2019-09-23T16:39:45Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > What are “neutral slams”? My guess is what’s found in Urban Dictionary under [Neutral Drop](https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Neutral%20drop): \*When you put your vehicle in neutral gear, rev the RPM’s up real high then throw it into drive. Thus making your tires spin. This is normally done on vehicles with automatic transmissions that dont have the power to burnout by fully depressing the gas pedal. \* My response to this is: Who would do this to rental car they they’re responsible for? My followup response is: Now I know why rental cars don’t want to rent to people 24 years old, and under. ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2019, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-a-used-rental-car/840592/29 "2019-09-23T16:47:36Z")
How much detail do rental car companies keep about how their cars were driven? With the computers and telemetry that modern cars have built in, I would expect the companies could know exactly where, when, and how the car was driven by each renter. I have always assumed they can upload ODBII data along with any other custom data they collect. Is that true? Do companies have any restrictions about willfully driving the cars in destructive ways, such as doing the neutral drop? I would expect that the rental insurance they offer is to cover normal driving conditions rather than treating the car like a 4-wheel drive or drag racer. ---
**Author:** ![MikeF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MikeF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeF)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2019, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-a-used-rental-car/840592/30 "2019-09-23T17:06:43Z")
We bought a Toyota Corolla from Hertz last spring, a 2018 with just over 12,000 miles for $13,000. Nothing fancy, but several thousand less than dealers were asking for cars with many more miles on them. No haggling or pressure. I’d do it again. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2019, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-a-used-rental-car/840592/31 "2019-09-23T19:26:43Z")
Just think of all the farts in the seat. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2019, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-a-used-rental-car/840592/32 "2019-09-23T19:31:15Z")
> [@Enright3](#): > > My response to this is: Who would do this to rental car they they’re responsible for? > My followup response is: Now I know why rental cars don’t want to rent to people 24 years old, and under. They would do it because it is fun for those who crave speed and acceleration, and they don’t care as much about a vehicle they don’t own. It likely won’t cause any immediate failure, just long-term damage. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2019, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-a-used-rental-car/840592/33 "2019-09-23T19:52:06Z")
Or they just read _Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas_ and think they need to run a suspension test or two – gotta see what the heap is capable of. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2019, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-a-used-rental-car/840592/34 "2019-09-23T21:49:54Z")
Our daughter, MilliCal, bought a used rental car something over a year ago. The problem didn’t show up immediately, but the transmission, it turned out, was shot. Not a cheap thing to fix. It had also been in an accident that hadn’t been reported. We’re never buying a used rental car again. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2019, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-a-used-rental-car/840592/35 "2019-09-23T22:24:15Z")
Can you even do a neutral slam in a modern car? I’ll have to try it tomorrow, but I’m fairly certain that the software won’t allow it. Hell, it complains if I move the knob to Park and turn off the car too quickly (something to the effect that I turned off the car while still in gear, thus the e-brake is being applied automatically). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buying-a-used-rental-car/840592.md?page=1)