Experiences using Hertz Rent2Buy to buy a used car

whatSay said:   Any thoughts/experiences with enterprise car sales?

I actually bought my 2005 Ford Explorer from Enterrpise about 3 years ago. I swore that I would never step into another regular ripoff dealership so when I saw that Enterprise was no haggle and would accept my trade, I went to check them out. They told me that they only sold their best vehicles themselves. The others would be bought by other local dealers, which happened to be there when I was there. I went in on the defensive after my last dealings with a dealer but everything was upfront and clear. They actually paid the remainder of my trade's lien, which was a little more than the trade-in value. They made their $ on the extended warranty, which was more than warranty direct but could be bundled into the financing. Also, to my surprise, the bank actually sent a letter telling me that my interest rate had been lowered. The car was in great condition and I just sold it. I may also have been fortunate because the location had JUST opened and was eager to gain customers.

Well, I believe the vehicle price was advertised as being $1000 to $2000 below the KBB suggested price at the time and I'm sure that I also checked to make sure it was below the Edmunds suggested price. I simply refused to waste hours suffering in the local crooked dealerships around my area so I didn't pay too much attention to their "advertised" prices. Like I said, I knew the warranty was more expensive but I wanted to bundle it and they didn't try lieing about it, like other dealers.

clickme236 said:   So I finally picked up my Rent 2 Buy 2010 Matrix yesterday. I had reserved it last Tuesday to pickup last Friday...and it wasn't made available until too late this past Wednesday. The ride is smooth and there seem to be no mechanical issues with it. It has some scratches on both sides and the bumper and a couple of dents on the front fender which they failed to mention prior to pickup. I have until tomorrow to decide whether to buy...Unless you're actually saving serious money I suggest being more thorough than "there seem to be...". I last bought a car from Hertz when they were professional and nice and had the records, and still probably ended up spending $1500 somewhat unexpectedly. I'd saved enough on an Avalon XLS that I was still happy, though. All four tires were crap and must have come with free imbedded nails, since I got two flats in the next month or so (and never before or after), one of the wheels was warped, probably as a result the rear bearings died a year later, and I spent some $350 with DentPro making the body look good.

joayepes said:   Does the Rent2Buy program also depend on your credit scores? Very interested in this program but don't have that great of a credit score.Probably not, unless Hertz is providing financing. As I read it here, the buyer is responsible for payment/financing and Hertz does nothing about transfering title until they have money in hand.

clickme236, the rust may be from winter road salt getting into the engine compartment from winter driving. Not much you can do to prevent that rust from occurring, especially if the parts are not hosed off quickly after driving in those conditions. I would expect to see stuff like that in a car driven in a Northern state. Would I be concerned? Yes!

clickme236 said:   When they put it on the lift only the pipe going from the catalytic converter to the muffler had rust. The muffler itself seemed rust free. I didn't expect to see that much on a 2 yr old car. I'm going to check the oil dipstick and tranny to see if they show signs of water contamination. I'm not sure if I'm just too paranoid at this point... I'd pick a real mechanic from the CarTalk web site and spend a little money getting a good inspection. A franchise muffler shop expanded into other opportunities isn't my idea of an inspection. And would probably pass on an unusually rusty car.

Too bad Hertz hooks you with a rather expensive rental fee that induces you to go ahead and take the leap. I haven't bought many used cars (in fact almost exclusively from Hertz, in the good old days) but I thought anyone reputable would let you take a reasonable test drive and get an inspection for free (albeit not over several days, although it could be argued that you didn't do more than x hours of actual driving in that period).

clickme236 said:   BTW, I just discovered that although Hertz doesn't provide service records, I was able to obtain it from toyota's website by signing up as an owner. All you need is the VIN #. I wish it had dawned on me before purchasing...interesting invasion of privacy - isn't the VIN clearly visible through the windshield? (Also Toyota would only know when Hertz used their services - which they might not do in cases of non-warranty damage.)

clickme236 said:   The VIN is listed on the website before you even buy it! The Toyota website just tells you what and where services were performed.My privacy concern is that I can look at your Toyota (regardless of where you bought it), write down the VIN, and apparently go to a Toyota site where I can learn stuff that you might wish were private.

Generational thing, I suppose. The youth of today will already have put all that stuff on their facebook page. (e.g. "Look at the lamp-post I smashed into when I got wasted last week! Dealer charged me two grand to get it fixed, and I didn't dare tell my insurance company.")

clickme236 said:   So I finally picked up my Rent 2 Buy 2010 Matrix yesterday. I had reserved it last Tuesday to pickup last Friday...and it wasn't made available until too late this past Wednesday. The ride is smooth and there seem to be no mechanical issues with it. It has some scratches on both sides and the bumper and a couple of dents on the front fender which they failed to mention prior to pickup. I have until tomorrow to decide whether to buy...

Did you purchase the Matrix? Interested to know what your experience is because I am going to test drive a 2010 Matrix from Hertz Rent to Buy next week.

My experience purchasing from Hertz Rent2Buy a month ago:

Decent experience, overall. Selecting and reserving the vehicle from their site was easy. Price was about $13,000 for a 2010 Mazda 5 with 33k miles on it. No Craigslist ad or dealership came anywhere near that--they were all asking at least $2,000 more. They called me over the phone several times to remind me that despite the fact that I had reserved the vehicle, I should not go to pick it up until they called me to confirm its availability. I did call their central office once to ask a question about the warranty and was unimpressed with the individual I spoke to at that particular time, but in general I found their call support folks helpful and friendly.

When I came to check out the car, they gave me a walkaround. In particular, they pointed out that there was a small dent in each side door, and a scratch on the rear bumper. The sliding doors sounded like the rollers needed cleaning / lube. Additionally, it was missing the drivers' side floormat, which I am not sure if they mentioned at the time or not. Other things I noticed that weren't pointed out: Some scuffing on the plastic on the inside, especially the cargo area. A plastic hook protruding from the car wall was broken. I also noticed that the Hertz "NeverLost" GPS system was installed, and asked that they remove it, but they told me that they were unable to do so at that location. This turned out to be a bit of an annoyance, since it would automatically turn on and beep at me each time I turned the car on, and then later I did have to take the car down to the airport (40 minute drive one way) to have them remove it at their fleet location. They could have saved me the trouble by removing it before I rented the car. I also had my mechanic check the car out--he said it looked good, though the transmission fluid was quite dirty and would need changing soon after purchasing the car.

I decided to purchase the car. I was paying cash up front, which may have simplified things. I did have an issue transferring the amount via ACH because I neglected to add their vehicle number as a note to the transfer--took a bit of sorting out with their call support people. All the while, I got automated calls telling me that I hadn't made my payment yet. Very annoying. While *technically* my fault, I do think they could have fixed this on their own, as they knew the to-the-cent transfer amount needed and could have confirmed with me, rather than telling me I hadn't sent the money when I clearly HAD.

Signing and notarizing the paperwork in a quick 2-day turnaround was a bit of a hassle, but got done. No real complaints with the rest of the paperwork. They made it fairly simple as long as you paid attention to what to sign, where.

Overall, I'd say 3/5 stars. Pros: Good price on a decent car, no haggling. Cons: No ability to check the car out before trial-renting, support center is still a bit disconnected from the local rental facilities, still a few inconveniences associated with the purchasing process.

Hi All,

I am looking for a used car and recently came to know about R2B option. Hertz cars seems to be leading the race, I know enterprise is another. Does anyone know any other good source of R2B option.

I read the thread and there seems to be some discussion about negotiating with Hertz. Did anyone finally was able to make them reduce their price or is it really "not negotiable".

It seems Hertz have recently changed their Warranty policy form 1yr/12k miles to 2months/2000 miles which is kinda sad.

Another question, may be a dumb one. I am looking for 2012 model of Camry, does anyone, by his/her experience, know by what time of the year they start selling same year model.

Thanks.

Just bought a rental from Hertz in late-December (a 2011 Rav4). The car is in fantastic condition, had a mechanic check it, and he said he couldn't believe I got it for the price I did. I don't drive far to work (less than 3 miles roundtrip), so in 3 years the mileage will even out. I bike commute in the spring/summer/fall (I live in the PNW), so it really will only get roadtrips, hiking excursions, and winter driving. The process took a while, so you have to be patient, but I would totally do it again without hesitation. Sure beats the money you lose on buying a new car and driving off the lot! Love a good deal!