Buying an ex-rental....

SB118

SB118

SB118

Soldato
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"Sunny" Plymouth
A few months ago we bought a 12 month old Hyundai i800 from the local Hyundai dealer. We needed a car that will last and can fit the whole family. It was spotless inside, with only one small piece of broken plastic in the boot along the bottom edge of the hatch opening. It was in good condition and still had 4 years manufacturer warranty left.

We paid the asking price (which was only £2000 more than private sales were at the time), they didn't need to come down as these things are (were) selling immediately (we missed the previous one they had because we had a busy couple of days and they already had a deposit on the van when we went to view it!).

It's been in the workshop for a week now having a gearbox problem sorted (2nd gear missing when the box is cold) and we've found out that the previous owner of the van was a rental company (ERAC Ltd on the logbook turns out to be Enterprise Rent-a-Car)

The warranty is still solid if it's used as a commercial vehicle but some of the stuff has a lower mileage limit on it)

I thought dealers were supposed to declare if a vehicle was a rental when they advertised it? (it wasn't priced like an ex-rental)

edit - its having its 20k service while the gearbox is being sorted, it had 16k when we bought it.
 
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This is where a lot of the year old cars come from - private buyers keep cars longer and most company leases are more than 12 months.
 
Hmm , I wouldn't like it if bought from a dealer, not sure if there's anything you can do about it though
 
It's unlikely to be the sort of car that's abused as a rental though. Most people don't abuse rental cars despite what the internet thinks.
 
Exactly, most manufacturers “break in period” seems to be don’t rag the guts out of it or tow massive heavy things for the first K. Neither of which the majority of people do anyway.

Perhaps it it was an ex rental race car then maybe?
 
they probably should, but they dont have to say really, if its from a dealers then it should be in good enough condition overall otherwise they couldnt display it, my pug 2008 isnt ex rental, but the sales guy thought it be in my interest to tell me it was lady owned and she upgraded to the newer 2008 lol, i dont expect much of reasons why someone takes a car for part ex, so long the car is fine for the price i pay.
 
[TW]Fox said:
It's unlikely to be the sort of car that's abused as a rental though. Most people don't abuse rental cars despite what the internet thinks.
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yeah, you would have to watch out for those small engine corsa's or astra's and polo's, golf's, clios, pug hatchbacks, if its a young person previously using it then who knows, ive had courtesy cars that have been run down which luckily i only required for 24-48hrs lol
 
SB118 said:
I thought dealers were supposed to declare if a vehicle was a rental when they advertised it? (it wasn't priced like an ex-rental)
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Can't say I've ever heard that one and I've been in the motor trade for over 30 years.

I work for what you would call a car supermarket and we sell hundreds of ex rental or ex lease cars every month and none are advertised as such. As TWFox says, it's what keeps the nearly new market buoyant.
 
[TW]Fox said:
Interesting, the manual on the mini seemed quite insistent that you shouldn't go above 4500rpm until it has 1200 miles on it.
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That is interesting. What year and engine was that out of interest?

I've just checked the Insignia owners manual and I'm pretty sure there's nothing in there about running in.
 
2018, manual covers all engines as the rpm limit is 3500 for diesel.

Just checked my F10 manual too, says the same thing - 3500rpm for 1200 miles and avoid auto kickdown.
 
[TW]Fox said:
Interesting, the manual on the mini seemed quite insistent that you shouldn't go above 4500rpm until it has 1200 miles on it.
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Does seem odd. Audi told me (and the manual mentions nothing to the contrary) that I should just drive it. Obviously to let it warm up properly (oil/water), but drive it "normally" from the get go.
 
Looking back at how we drove rentals and how my mate treats them, even though he works at a rental company. I wouldn't want one... Pedal to the metal and e brake turns:D
 
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