Never Buy a Rental Car

I wish I would have had my camera for this one.

I had my work truck at the dealership for an oil change. As I'm waiting in the lobby, a guy comes in and says he works for a local rental car company. Apparently the last renter of this Camry said they hit something and the car wasn't running right. "This should be good", I think to myself.

I'm in the service bay BS'ing with the tech while we both once over my patrol truck when the Camry pulls into the stall next to us. Pop the hood and the first thing we notice is that the engine seems to be slanting at an odd angle. The car gets put on the lift and from the bottom (at first) the damage doesn't look that bad. There are a few fresh scratches on the oil pan and exhaust expansion joint as well as the front valance. Then we look to see where the oil is dripping from and !

The best we can guess is that the renter caught some major air and came down full weight on the passenger side front...jarring the car hard enough to rip the motor mount right off of the engine block leaving a nice little window to view the crankshaft. The impact bent all of the suspension components, tore the inner CV boot, and bent the CV axle. I really wish I had pictures of this.

Moral of the story:
If you were ever considering buying a used rental car...DON'T!!!

 

I hope he spent the $20.00 on the insurance

 

Pics of said patrol truck.....

 

x2, i know at Hunington beach they have niice patrol tacos

 

I thought the lifeguards are the only ones with the Tacomas?

 

hahaha epic...

 

Unfortunately...the dealer I go to is also a Chevy dealer and my work truck is the arch nemesis of the Tacoma...



It really is as horrible as everyone thinks it is...but for as hard as I drive it in the terrain I drive it through, it holds its own.

 

How do those Firestone MTs do?

 

I've been in rental cars on trails that I wouldn't take my truck on. Or at least speeds I wouldn't take my truck on said trails. Lol

 

A few months ago my brother in law had a 2010 Ford Fusion Rental. I went puddle splashing at 50mph. I managed to break the plastic liner on the undercarriage under the engine

 

From experience in the rental car industry, I can attest to misuse by renters, though in all fairness, the main agency I associated with supposedly only sold "the top 10%" of their fleet vehicles through their 'car sales' division. Most others were auctioned off.

In other words, you should be better off getting a car from a rental car 'sales' division than from 'Joe's Used Cars' (if you can't see the previous owners), because they sell their more sketch vehicles to auctions (which in turn are sold at used car lots).

But frankly, I probably wouldn't want a rental car no matter its origin...

 

I will give you a bit of insider knowledge about rental cars as I work in the industry...

When we are through with the cars, they are sent back to the dealers and all the necessary repairs are made to them under the manufacture's warranty.

Unless you are buying a rental car from an auction, you should be fine...

 

Don't be gental, its a rental.

 

I am very impressed with the Destination M/T's. They are surprisingly quiet on the highway. I never want for more traction with them, no matter the surface (no experience with them on ice). Whether it's soft sand, sharp rocks, or slick mud they hold their line and keep the truck moving. Normal driving on a normal vehicle should yield at least 40,000 miles. I'll be lucky to get 20,000, but I'm horribly abusive to tires out here. I turned a set of BFG A/T's into racing slicks in about 15,000.

Back on topic:
The next time I'm near the dealership, I'm going to see if they can give me copies of the photos they took of the damage for insurance purposes.

 

who would do such a thing. damn kids these days