Purchase a Former Rental?

Would you avoid purchasing a 4Runner that was a former rental vehicle? Even if it was certified preowned with an extended warranty?

Thanks in advance for your insights.

 

I did. So far so good but I'll keep you updated

 

How many miles and who’s paying for the extended warranty?

 

"Nothing parties like a rental" is a saying for a reason. Is every former rental dinged, spilled in, power braked, or otherwise rode hard and hung up wet? No. But imho more are than personal vehicles. And that's just mechanically. I've read plenty of thin paint/clear stories and I'm guessing rentals arent consistently waxed or even washed with regard to scratching the paint.

 

First thing I'd look at would be the skid plates. Without scratches I'd buy..... a few scrapes or scratches probably buy..... dented nope. If it doesn't have skids, also a no. This would indicate to me that the seller is hiding something. Other thing to look at is where the rear shock is bolted to the axle. That area is prone to getting bashed while off-roading. The bottom of the rear differential, too.

 

As stated above, lots of people see rentals also as torcher test vehicles. The rentals I have been in the past few years I would never want, amazing how good a vehicle can be cleaned up to look like nothing ever happened

 

Toyota’s Certified Pre-Owned Warranty is 12mo/12k miles bumper to bumper and then a 7yr/100k limited power train warranty.

 

It's a gamble, for sure. My former girlfriend brought home a 2018 Nissan Rogue with 30k miles on it a couple of years ago from the local Toyota dealer.

Impulse buy in which she neglected to have me inspect the vehicle before buying. It was a former rental. It had signs of flood damage, had hail damage on the roof that she couldn't see, had multiple poor body repairs done, and a clean Carfax report.

Rental companies don't disclose damage to Carfax because they are self-insured. That's something to factor in if you don't know how to spot repairs.

Plus, it came from the Midwest, which uses salt on the roads, and it was already showing corrosion damage. I told her to return it immediately because they had scammed her and that vehicle would be nothing but trouble. She declined to follow my advice and ended up spending thousands in repairs over the next year before we broke up.

On the other hand, that girlfriend worked at the local airport and often arranged rental vehicles for corporate clients, so her experience was that rental vehicles were respected and treated gingerly by people that rented them. They had several 4Runners cycle through, and she loved driving them, which is why she loved mine.

 

I wouldn't buy a rental. But if I was going to, it would have to be significantly discounted. "CPO" means the vehicle is likely marked up, so I definitely wouldn't recommend that. CPO is a sales tactic. Consumers love it though. They think they are getting some sort of piece of mind while for the most part they are only getting one year tacked onto the factory warranty. Dealers simply make sure nothing crazy is likely to fail in that timeframe, and usually nothing does. Maybe they put new brakes and tires on it or something. For the most part, any warranty claims you have will likely be paid for in the markup anyways. Whatever wear and tear happened during the rental period will likely rear its ugly head well after the CPO is up.

 

Lol no. I don't even like renting a used rental

 

I did it. Was a severe pain in the ass to get them to have one I could look at, they kept renting them back out. So far so good as well.

 

I knew a lady once that rental a 4Runner and drove it into an abandon mine shaft hole!! Ever since she told me the story, I would never purchase a rental or fleet truck. ONLY purchase 1 owners if your buying used!!

 

i think i've chimed in on an inquiry like this before. rental units that don't meet the standard for reselling under the rental companies resell brand will go straight to auction. a rental unit headed to auction can vary in reason from something as mundane as mileage being too high to be on a resell lot to reconditioning or damage repair costs being too high.

there are other reasons a fleet vehicle may be on a manufacturers dealership lot including buy back from the rental company or some other fleet agreement.

I would be cautious if buying directly from the rental company, as the rental co's inspection process doesn't quite meet the level of neuroticism an owners community like ours works with.

I would be extra cautious if buying a truck that has fleet history through a dealership, and would inspect it with every tool available as a purchaser.

i do have a direct connection to a rental car company (wife) and have pretty good insight into the resale part of that business. rental companies do things differently from each other and may be different from how my wife's company does things.

 

Pass on rentals.
I am not a crazy driver when it comes to rentals, but it is expected that rentals take a lot of abuse.
Even with rental companies taking good care of the vehicle, I would be hesitant.

 

If it’s the deal of a lifetime and the car checks out, then yes. Otherwise, try and look for a clean one or two owner low mileage car.

Deal of a lifetime example - 2020 SR5 4WD with 40k miles, no rust, no damage underneath, no paintwork done, etc. priced below $30k.

 

This was mine but at mid 30's. All body lines looked good, no rust I could see underneath, nothing on the carfax (not that it matters) and warranty extended out an extra year or two and x amount of miles. I'm pretty happy with the purchase so far, it was slightly rushed though given my wife got in an accident that totaled out our only vehicle and I needed something quick. I'll update as I move get some time in and under it.

 

I bet half the guys here abuse their personal vehicles more than rentals. Yet some buy used.

 

very true. even with the knowledge i have there still is the stigma of rental car abuse and what kind of humanity occurs in them.

 

Causing my own problems is different than inheritng everyone else's. Not only do rentals get thrashed the interiors are disgusting.

Me abusing my own vehicle is different than me buying your already abused vehicle. And used 4runner prices are so close to new why even bother with used? To save a few thousand? Lol

 

You didn't get it. Has nothing to do with the 4R you own now.

People on here buy used vehicles. And you saying its not trashed (sometimes) like a rental? Whos to know for sure.

 

Well then I got a deal. 2021 ORP 42k miles for 34000.

 

Definitely would pass on a rental for sale, those things get abused and neglected.

 

Thanks all for your thoughts.

 

our last 5 or 6 vehicles, including the 2019 4Runner I bought four years ago have been former rentals. never had any issues. The 4Runner has 72k on the odometer and is still damn near perfect.

 

Just to add, this will always be a polarizing topic. I personally have never abused a rental, and I would assume most 4runner renters are doing so because they need the space (kids, multiple people, etc). Its a crapshoot for sure, but if you know what to look for you can tell a lot about a vehicle by it's signs. No harm in checking a few out. You would never know how a vehicle was actually treated unless you owned it.

 

I'll chime in since I recently purchased a rental last month. I traded my tacoma for a 21 4runner trd off road premium CPO. It had 48,000 miles and was being sold for about $40,000 from my local dealer. It was a rental all its life in New Mexico so I didn't really need to worry about rust underneath. 1000% I could've gotten a better deal and non rental if I kept waiting for the right one, but I was impatient. The other reason I wanted to get rid of truck sooner than later was because of Toyota's famous super white paint peel. Unfortunately it wasn't all that great. After I got the 4runner home, I noticed there was a lot of swirls, paint chips and scuffs on the black paint. I guess people down in New Mexico don't trim their nails because there was a ton of scratches in the door handle pocket. I was too impatient and blinded by the excitement of getting a new car that I missed all those issues with the paint. The interior is much better. All the touch area in the drivers seat area looks good. There were some small stains in the back seats, but with the right product, I don't think it will be a problem. Recently got underneath to grease the driveshaft and everything looks good so far. No scrapes.

I've considered trading it for a different 4runner that's not black or white, but then again I'm probably just going to lose more money doing it so I think I'll keep it for now.

 

I would bet rentals are put on a regular maintenance schedule more often than most privately owned vehicles.

If two used cars were identical in cosmetic, one was a rental and the other POV I would probably consider the rental as the better candidate.

Not everyone beats on a rental car.

 

I bought one, but from another dealership. I didn’t even notice until after I bought it because it was in really good shape. Reading these other comments has me worried though and I set that I didn’t get a great deal but oh well. I still love it and haven’t had any complaints yet. Driving forward with my build!

 

Early 2022 my Tacoma was in for recall work and the dealership gave me a 2021 T4R SR5P as a loaner for three months that had less than 9k on the odometer. Other than a door ding on the passenger side door the car was perfect. When the MIL came on due to mileage I notified the dealership and brought it in for service. Once complete I kept driving it until my truck was returned two months later. They said they were going to sell it once I gave it back, I seriously considered trading my Tacoma for it only it was one of two colors I didn't want, MGM.

Even though it was a rental I took care of it like it was my own. The dealership has always taken care of me with my Tacoma, had given me this 4runner for a loaner so I wasnt going to trash it. I dont beat on vehicles in my possession especially if I dont own it.

I don't look for rentals but that was a used rental car that went for sale in immaculate condition. I ended up putting almost 7k miles on it in those three months and other than mileage it was as pristine as the day I picked it up.

It was my first experience with having a 4runner and after that I knew our next vehicle would be one. When the wife was ready we bought her a used 2021 SR5P 4WD lease turn in with less than 20k miles on it for 43K. Left over 2022s and 2023s with 2WD were going for over 50k.

The 2021 we bought was flawless however two weeks after buying it we had to replace the headunit because it kept rebooting. It was all done under warranty.

 

Personally I wouldn't be too concerned about it, I think my previous vehicle could have been a rental car, it has a notation of fleet use on the Carfax. I bought it in 2012 at 90k and it's at 230k miles now with no major issues. Not sure it was actually a rental, one wouldn't think a Volvo station wagon would be a rental, I feel like it was probably a company car or maybe a Volvo corporate car. Either way it was in really great shape and a great price at the time, so whatever. MSRP in 07 was about 42k, I paid 13k in 2012.