I am interested in a vehicle I saw advertised in the LA Times by Hertz Rent2Buy. Since then, I have been researching this program and think it is interesting. I am posting here as I think others may be interested and I would also like to hear if anyone has had an experience with this program.
Basic Premise: Hertz sells late model rental cars to the public at roughly the same price they are getting at auction to avoid transportation & auction fees. The customer rents the car for $49/day for 3 days to test the car before buying. During those 3 days you can inspect the car, etc.
The prices are quite competitive and are "firm" from what everyone tells me. There doesn't seem to be any room to negotiate and if anyone has been able to negotiate I am curious how they went about it.
I am picking up the car tomorrow morning and I will update this thread as I go through this experience with my thoughts and ideas in case anyone else is interested.
A few of the downsides of this program are that you're buying an ex-rental car which has likely been driven rougher than average. Many of the cars are rather new but have a lot of miles for their age. On the other hand, I take some comfort in the fact that the routine maintenance has been performed regularly and many are still under factory warranty.
Message edited by: TannerP on 2009-07-30 15:23:05 CDT
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Haven't used rent2buy but I've bought Hertz rental cars before and never had issue, even with a recent one just 2 years ago. They have the service records available so you can avoid taking a car that has had nagging check engine lights reported (and you KNOW that the renters will report something like this). The depreciation hit has been absorbed so it's very satisfying taking a one year old car off the lot like this.
An update - we picked up the car which was at a location about an hour away from us. We liked the car (and the price) so much that we decided to drive it around town for an hour and make our decision quickly to avoid driving back and forth. We took it to a local Firestone and paid the $20 for a vehicle inspection. I was most interested in the brakes and tires as everything else was still under OEM warranty.
Brakes checked out at 70% left and tires had recently been replaced with 80% tread remaining. Car had some cosmetic scratches but no dings and we are going to get it detailed Monday.
This is a new program, although Hertz car sales has been around for a long time. With the Rent2Buy program you buy the car AS-IS with no 1 year/12,000 mile warranty that they offer on retail car sales. The pricing is non-negotiable (at least I couldn't get them to budge on it) although in my case the vehicle was priced at average trade-in value based on the NADA black book, which was a great price in my area.
Apparently in most states you can rent the car for 3 days, then if you decide you like it, you go online and print out the documents, fax them in and wire the money and you can do the transaction completely remotely. However, in CA I was not able to do this due to local laws and everything had to be finalized in person.
Overall, I didn't take full advantage of the 3 day test period, however, I think this could be a hassle-free way to buy a car if you can get over a few of the downsides (higher miles, cosmetic issues, etc.)
Good deal, glad it worked out. What kind of car did you get?
I'm a little leery because I know how a majority of people drive rentals. Just a few weeks ago I rented two Ford Fusion V6 models back to back, with almost the same mileage. The first one drove like a dream and was very peppy, the second was squirrely on the highway and ran very rough at higher RPM. I'd buy the first but not the second, as it clearly had been run very hard.
It sounds like a good deal. I've been thinking of buying a car for my wife and been checking the 4runners. I just did a short comparison between 4runners in Hertz to KBB and they are way under. I think I'll reserve one of the test drives and I'll keep you posted.
Update!!! I went out and test drove a 4Runner. I found that it was a very decent price and my mechanic had nothing to say about its condition. I bought it and now I'm a proud owner of a new-used 4Runner.
Interesting thread, I was wondering how the Rent2Buy program was. I bought my car from Hertz Car Sales (before Rent2Buy existed) @ 12 months old w/ 14K miles. Great car, obviously didn't need the warranty since it still had two years of the factory warranty remaining - but they did touch up all the scratches, removed dents, and repainted the bumpers. The back bumper will invariably get scratched up due to people lugging their suitcases in and out of the trunk.
The only problem I forsee is that most of the rental cars are never waxed/polished so the paint might not be in the best shape. That said, if the car is only a year or two old I think regular washing and waxing will bring it back to showroom condition just fine. My car looks wayyy better than when I bought it since I detail it every week when I have time.
I might use this program in a few months. Considering that I would only keep the car 3-4 years, I'm not too concerned about the paint or other minor cosmetic problems. I found some good buy's on the Chevy Malibu, not a big fan of that car, but for the price, it will do the job.
Are all their cars really from their rental fleet? Because about ten years ago, Budget started to heavily advertise their used car sales operation, with William Shatner as its spokesman, and it turned out that most of their offerings were regular used cars bought from auctions. I believe Hertz turned out to sell mostly auction cars, too.
larrymoencurly said:Are all their cars really from their rental fleet? Because about ten years ago, Budget started to heavily advertise their used car sales operation, with William Shatner as its spokesman, and it turned out that most of their offerings were regular used cars bought from auctions. I believe Hertz turned out to sell mostly auction cars, too.
These are actually cars from the rental fleet. You rent them from a corporate owned Hertz location to test it out. When I bought my car a couple of years ago, it still had the Hertz barcodes.. Enterprise takes trade-ins so I assume not all of their cars are from their fleet.
There are definitely some good deals to be had with Hertz. Their website showed an '09 Corolla LE as the "last car sold" and I think it was only $13.7K with under 30K miles.
Interesting. How do the Mazda 5 fare in the used car market? Wanted to buy this car new - but not many available in the dealership. Find below a Mazda 5 quote from Hertzrent2buy.com
We are buying Sienna from Rent2Buy. The vehicle seems to be really good for its price. The purchasing process is quite time consuming. My vehicle purchasing process is still going on for over one week.
@torajm: Initially we were looking for Mazda5. The delarers in our area are ready offer the new 2009 sport model for little over $15k. We inclined towards new one than 08 Touring from Rent2Buy. But after test driving Mazda5 and Sienna, my family chose Sienna. IMO both Sienna and Mazda5 are excellent vehicles in their categories.
torajm said:Interesting. How do the Mazda 5 fare in the used car market? Wanted to buy this car new - but not many available in the dealership. Find below a Mazda 5 quote from Hertzrent2buy.com
MAZDA 5 TRNG 2008 for $13,800
$13.8K sounds like a good price. Of course, you'll want to do some research on Edmunds - and if you're serious, see about negotiating with the dealership on a new '09.
I had a brief stint with an '08 Mazda 5 but it had 30K WELL USED miles on it. The suspension was creaking and the tires were approaching the tread wear indicator line, so I had to exchange it for another rental. It seems like a nice car though. Not as big as a minivan, but it had nice perks like 17" alloys, a sunroof, CD changer, and side airbags. The 2.3L I4 is rather peppy to boot.
PhaniY said:@torajm: Initially we were looking for Mazda5. The delarers in our area are ready offer the new 2009 sport model for little over $15k. We inclined towards new one than 08 Touring from Rent2Buy. But after test driving Mazda5 and Sienna, my family chose Sienna. IMO both Sienna and Mazda5 are excellent vehicles in their categories.
The Sienna is an excellent minivan, though it commands a price premium. You might want to do some research on the VVT-i oil line leak - the 3.5L V6 has problems with it breaking/rupturing; Toyota has corrected this beginning with '09 models.
S105dude said:PhaniY said:@torajm: Initially we were looking for Mazda5. The delarers in our area are ready offer the new 2009 sport model for little over $15k. We inclined towards new one than 08 Touring from Rent2Buy. But after test driving Mazda5 and Sienna, my family chose Sienna. IMO both Sienna and Mazda5 are excellent vehicles in their categories.
The Sienna is an excellent minivan, though it commands a price premium. You might want to do some research on the VVT-i oil line leak - the 3.5L V6 has problems with it breaking/rupturing; Toyota has corrected this beginning with '09 models.
Hi,
It is really good to know this as, one of my friend is having Sienna and he is really happy as it is very spacious and you can go for a long distance trips as well with your family and this is very confortable as, I do travel in this.
I've bought two cars from Hertz with no regrets and am thinking about one more. But their sales locations are now "independently owned and operated." That suggests that they're just used car dealers with a license to display a "Hertz" sign. That would be a far cry from the old scheme, where you were dealing with Hertz Inc and buying year-old cars with maintenance records and a low-pressure interface.
The fact that Hertz itself is offering a new "rent to buy" scheme also suggests that's now the only way to buy a Hertz rental car from Hertz.
Has anyone had a chat with one of the independent dealers to confirm/deny the above? And for those who've done the Rent To Buy, do you get to see the maintenance records?
The location I bought my car from is still corporate owned. I'm pretty sure the "independently owned and operated" Hertz licensee locations are just as you described - a used car lot that pays Hertz to use their name. I wouldn't buy from one of those. As far as the Rent2Buy, I don't see why you wouldn't be able to see the service records. In fact, that's a selling point since many private owners can't be bothered to keep records the way rental companies do.
Oddly, my local Hertz Rent2Buy doesn't have any Camrys for sale right now cause they usually have a ton of 'em. They do have a bunch of Corvettes though! I glanced through their listings and I like the 2008 Mazda 6i for $13K w/ 21K miles.. If I needed a new car right now, I would like to say I'd buy a fully loaded 2010 Legacy but for literally half the price, I could get a very decent car. My own ex-Hertz rental has been exceptionally reliable so thankfully I should be set for a while. My battery is passing the 5yr mark next month (original Panasonic OEM from Japan, too bad Toyota doesn't sell it in the US!) and I'll probably replace it soon as a precaution. I'd rather not push my luck
Bought a car from Hertz Rent to Buy and paid in full Oct.2 including Mass.sales tax and $198.00 "processing fee." Fee was to cover obtaining title,registration and license plates. It is now Oct.26 and car has been parked in my driveway unable to be used due to lack of reg. and plates. The paper work involved has been horrendous requiring many phone calls,having forms notarized,and three overnight Fedex mailings(pd.for by Hertz). Car purchased was a 2008 Hyundai and their warranty does NOT tranfer to former rental vehicles.Hertz offers a 60 day 2500 mile warranty on vehicle but in this case almost 30 days have been used up with the car sitting in driveway. Even though price was good I would never use Rent to Buy again.
Message edited by: BostonDan on 2009-10-26 11:22:59 CDT
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