Found a 2013 white Mustang with V6 after searching
online that I'm interested in. $20,000 with only 16,355
miles. Now it was used as a rental, I'm skeptical about
it. It's an awesome price, but is it a great risk since it was
a rental?

 

Rentals are generally a risk. When you have no idea who the drivers were it can be quite a gamble. There are far too many people that love to beat on and abuse rentals. I have personally seen some people deliberately run over curbs, slam the car into a wrong gear (even tried reverse while the car was going 30 mph), leaving the windows open all night in all kinds of weather, and the list goes on. It's amazing what you see in a full career in law enforcement. We won't even discuss the reckless driving in these cars or the DUI drivers or vomit from the car sick kids.
Remember the special Hertz Mustangs that were sold to the public after being rentals? Many were really rough, and I mean rough!!
Now, are there exceptions to the rental car rule?? You bet there are, and again I have seen a 3,500 miles rental purchased that was really 'new' after only a cross country trip from CA to FL (the Tampa office didn't want to send the car back or re-register it in FL). In your situation I would NOT gamble on a rental with 16k miles. Too many chances of problems. Also remember that many rental companies have minimum wage workers in charge of maintenance. My brother in law once rented a car that had 12 lbs of pressure in one of the rear tires. It held air too, no nails or punctures, just no maintenance or anyone checking. Also, they stretch the oil changes real bad, sometimes 7,500 miles or more of clogged city driving. Yeah, that's a car I want to own. No thanks!!

 

I've bought one, not a Mustang though, and had a pretty good experience. My son used to work for Enterprise Rent a Car and he explained to me that (at least with them) the top 10% in quality and condition are sold by that company. The rest are shipped out to the 20% interest-low rent car dealers. We bought a Sonata 3 years ago (son got a sales bonus, the price was right and they had a discount for that make and model-paid $13K and Blue Book was just under $19K) and the thing runs like a champ. I wouldn't hesitate to buy a Mustang from Enterprise, except SWMBO would revolt with another one in the driveway. Other rental companies may have differing policies and procedures though.

 

It is a HUGE risk. I know people who pulverize rental cars for the sheer pleasure of doing it, as they see it as "getting back" at the rental car company for overcharging them. I was surprised at some of the people who owned up to this, wouldn't have expected them to be like that.
Twenty grand is still a lot of money to pay for a car that's been abused. It's a performance car, being a Mustang, so chances are even greater that this thing has seen some hard miles in its short life. Remember there's no such thing as a free lunch.

 

I agree here. It's amazing what some people do to a rental. Good luck on your decision. For me, I would stay away.

 

I understand what you're saying. Appreciate the feedback. I think
I'm gonna stay away from it. lol

 

That's a plan Damon. There's a bunch of good used ones out there. You'll find yours soon.

 

There is a reason they are cheaper...

 

i have lot full of hertz rented vehicle in my company parking lot. almost 90% are well kept n driven for company purposeonly...but this is not the case for vacationers ... they would trash it in no time.. so yes ur risk is high.. u dd take a good decision.

 

I agree. I bought one that had 18k on it in about 15 mos and had sat on a lot for about 3 mos. So it still had 18k/18mos bumper to bumper warranty left on it. I figured the factory warranty would fix anything that had been abused. I ran it through its paces and it was in fine mechanical condition. Saved about $5k.
I'd do it again for a second car providing it still had warranty. The big rental companies are really good about maintenance and you can usually look up the docs and carfax for wrecks.

 

Yes - because of the perception. Not necessarily the reality.

Plus the rental companies have absorbed the 'drive off the lot' value hit - just like individual's buying new eat. So that's a significant part of the lower price also.

Machines are pretty tough and not everybody is a low life that trashes other people's stuff.

 

long story short...


I have done unholy things to pretty much every single rental car I have driven.

 

I honestly can't say about the one you want, but the one I have now was a rental and I after I have put 50,000 miles on it, I still love it!

 

Ask for the history of the car. I can print a detailed report of every rental, repair, and recovery for any of my rental trucks. Down to the internal sales receipts for adding oil or replacing windshield wipers.

Buy smart....get records and contact your local lemon buster to have the car inspected.

 

If it was a GT which as a rental car place its not gonna be... then I'd say it might be worth it even if had to put a new engine in it. Winter is fast approaching wait for it to hit then you can get really great deals I got my 2012 GT premium for 26k OTD with 2k miles on it so barely broken in. Not many sport/muscle cars are purchased during winter makes it a lot easier to negotiate a great price That is unless you live in a warm climate :P

 

Well then... you just pigeon holed yourself on that one!

 

$20,000? You can get a brand new V6 for only a little more...and a used NON rental for the same or less.

 

 

I just traded my Charger that was a rental car before I owned it, While having a back up camera installed the installer found a bag of cocaine in the door A-frame.

I'm in Law enforcement and can tell you that ALOOOOT of sketchy people rent cars and do really bad things in them. You never know what your getting and assume all the risk. Just keep that in mind.

 

you wouldn't buy a mattress from a motel...