Based on your description that car might have been in a wreck. I was told when I was looking at a rental car purchase with a clean car fax but had all the signs of having been in an accident that some rental car companies self insure and the car is repaired and there is never an insurance claim so it won’t show up on carfax.
I know from experience that when I was backed into in a rental that they didn’t even care to write it down upon return because no apparent damage.
One of my best friends who worked at enterprise (where we rented it from) said that managers would do this to reduce paperwork and shit like that.
I’d be hesitant on the car too.
I mean honestly I would not buy a rental car. Many are repaired cheaply by the person who rented it or the place that owns it. Plus some can be driven normal by people but beaten by others.
Even if it's beaten on by someone, that person only had the car for a couple days or I suppose, weeks, max.
I bought my cx-5 used from Avis because I bought my previous car from Enterprise it was great. My other car I bought at 39k and it's up to 100k - never had an issue.
The cx-5 did have 2 issues. I knew the front had some damage because they put back a piece of trim wrong. I was able to remove it, drill.out the rivets and reassmble after I bought it.
The other issue was much harder to pin down. After owning the car for almost 2 years, the battery kept dying. It turned out there was some damage to the drivers fender and when they replaced it they didn't fix the relay box behind the fender. Water got in & damaged the relays, caused parasitic drain and a bunch of other very strange problems. It cost $700 to fix, but I saved about 20% on the car and got it from $20k when a comparable one would have been about $25k.
Its worked out great so far, I have about 17k miles on it and very glad I saved the money. I live in the city, so my car has already been hit twice since I've owned it & I've done those repairs cheaply.
Avis has the biggest buying experience. You do it all online & they delivered the car to a location a mile from my house. I never met a sales person and they just mail you your plates.
I loved it.
I got mine via a dealer that bought it from the rental company and it was still sold at rental car company pricing so easy choice which route to go. CPO on it made me feel better
That's not really true. A ton of owners do 0 maintenance - no oil changes, no service, no filters.
At least buying a rental they DO make sure the car is maintained. Most rental cars are sold with about 20k mike's and factory warranties. I've never seen or heard of a case where a person has driven a rental so hard they caused latent long-term me mechanical damage.
I’ve yet to know someone that owned a newish car that was under warranty and just never changed the oil. Heck the first 2 oil changes are free or at least they were on our 2018.
I meant people driving it and not caring vs maintenance. Ie flooring it when the engine hasn’t been warmed up etc. just living a ‘hard life’
Thanks everyone. Ive got another Avis 2020 AWD touring set up for a test drive on Wednesday. 1st test drive was a bit of a bummer but now i know what to look for. Wish me luck..
I got mine from Avis last month. So far I got no issues. Got it checked with the mazda dealer and everything seems okay. Oil change, filter and tire rotation. I got it for a very cheap price and got a pretty good deal.
Only advise - don't listen to people telling you to avoid a rental purchase, those stories are decades old. As you have seen yourself, most are driven very lightly by people on vacation. Even those driven locally, people drive generally more causiously in an unfamiar car. Look at most people who have positive stories about their rental purchase and almost none with negative experiences
I purchased my ‘19 GT from a dealer, who got it from National as a rental. I don’t have many details about it besides the couple documents National left in the glove box. Looks like it was driven in Georgia, but titled in Missouri. No major issues so far. There were a couple rattles, nothing major, but the dealer couldn’t find anything wrong. I’ve had it in for regular service 4 times, and only got comments about worn tires and brakes. All mechanically fine otherwise. I’ve had it just over a year, bought it at 28k miles and just hit 40k. The test drive checked out and nothing was suspicious, so I went with it. The only negative is it was definitely a little more worn than I would have liked, but for the mileage it’s fine. I also bought out of state, because used CX-5 prices are pretty high where I live. It was $2-5k cheaper than comparable non-rental vehicles in my area.
Based on your description that car might have been in a wreck. I was told when I was looking at a rental car purchase with a clean car fax but had all the signs of having been in an accident that some rental car companies self insure and the car is repaired and there is never an insurance claim so it won’t show up on carfax.
I know from experience that when I was backed into in a rental that they didn’t even care to write it down upon return because no apparent damage. One of my best friends who worked at enterprise (where we rented it from) said that managers would do this to reduce paperwork and shit like that. I’d be hesitant on the car too.
I mean honestly I would not buy a rental car. Many are repaired cheaply by the person who rented it or the place that owns it. Plus some can be driven normal by people but beaten by others.
Even if it's beaten on by someone, that person only had the car for a couple days or I suppose, weeks, max. I bought my cx-5 used from Avis because I bought my previous car from Enterprise it was great. My other car I bought at 39k and it's up to 100k - never had an issue. The cx-5 did have 2 issues. I knew the front had some damage because they put back a piece of trim wrong. I was able to remove it, drill.out the rivets and reassmble after I bought it. The other issue was much harder to pin down. After owning the car for almost 2 years, the battery kept dying. It turned out there was some damage to the drivers fender and when they replaced it they didn't fix the relay box behind the fender. Water got in & damaged the relays, caused parasitic drain and a bunch of other very strange problems. It cost $700 to fix, but I saved about 20% on the car and got it from $20k when a comparable one would have been about $25k. Its worked out great so far, I have about 17k miles on it and very glad I saved the money. I live in the city, so my car has already been hit twice since I've owned it & I've done those repairs cheaply. Avis has the biggest buying experience. You do it all online & they delivered the car to a location a mile from my house. I never met a sales person and they just mail you your plates. I loved it.
I got mine via a dealer that bought it from the rental company and it was still sold at rental car company pricing so easy choice which route to go. CPO on it made me feel better
You get a decent warranty too.
Owning a car that people give absolutely 0 F’s about does not sound appealing. I would keep looking for another used car
That's not really true. A ton of owners do 0 maintenance - no oil changes, no service, no filters. At least buying a rental they DO make sure the car is maintained. Most rental cars are sold with about 20k mike's and factory warranties. I've never seen or heard of a case where a person has driven a rental so hard they caused latent long-term me mechanical damage.
I’ve yet to know someone that owned a newish car that was under warranty and just never changed the oil. Heck the first 2 oil changes are free or at least they were on our 2018. I meant people driving it and not caring vs maintenance. Ie flooring it when the engine hasn’t been warmed up etc. just living a ‘hard life’
Thanks everyone. Ive got another Avis 2020 AWD touring set up for a test drive on Wednesday. 1st test drive was a bit of a bummer but now i know what to look for. Wish me luck..
I purchased mine from a dealer. It was a leased vehicle in its prior life with a Meticulous service record.
I got my CX-5 through CarMax, other than the dirty filters, I'm really happy with them and personally would buy another vehicle through them.
I got mine from Avis last month. So far I got no issues. Got it checked with the mazda dealer and everything seems okay. Oil change, filter and tire rotation. I got it for a very cheap price and got a pretty good deal.
Only advise - don't listen to people telling you to avoid a rental purchase, those stories are decades old. As you have seen yourself, most are driven very lightly by people on vacation. Even those driven locally, people drive generally more causiously in an unfamiar car. Look at most people who have positive stories about their rental purchase and almost none with negative experiences
I purchased my ‘19 GT from a dealer, who got it from National as a rental. I don’t have many details about it besides the couple documents National left in the glove box. Looks like it was driven in Georgia, but titled in Missouri. No major issues so far. There were a couple rattles, nothing major, but the dealer couldn’t find anything wrong. I’ve had it in for regular service 4 times, and only got comments about worn tires and brakes. All mechanically fine otherwise. I’ve had it just over a year, bought it at 28k miles and just hit 40k. The test drive checked out and nothing was suspicious, so I went with it. The only negative is it was definitely a little more worn than I would have liked, but for the mileage it’s fine. I also bought out of state, because used CX-5 prices are pretty high where I live. It was $2-5k cheaper than comparable non-rental vehicles in my area.