Take it for a good long test drive and ensure everything works ok.
Ensure you like how the car drives, rides, handles etc. and the seating is comfortable etc. Give yourself time to assess the car and don't let a sales person rush you into trying to buy before you are completely satisfied.
Check warrantee is valid.
Check bodywork is good and engine clean & smart, tyres should reflect mileage as should internals such as seats & boot space should be as new etc.
Ask for all paperwork regarding the car's history, it should have been serviced if it's done 12500 miles or 1+ year old.
Haggle the price, it's a buyers market, be prepared to walk away if you're not happy with anything. If you choose to buy ensure you read all the small print and don't sign anything until you are completely happy, have a tea or coffee whilst you're going over the paperwork.
Enjoy the adventure & experience.
|
get the registration number
visit
www.taxdisc.direct.gov.uk/EvlPortalApp/
and do a vehicle enquiry on it
that will give some basic info
|
Any "nearly new" Ford Focus stands a good chance of being ex-Hertz.
I would steer clear of buying a hire car (I've seen first-hand how much abuse they are given - especially by some company users).
Look for telltale signs : stickers that don't belong - you usually find a small barcode type sticker on one of the windows which is the Hertz asset tag. These have been replaced by mag-stripe and even RFID stickers recently. Also look for "no smoking" stickers on the dash. Look at the underside of the boot carpet (thats where Hertz usually keep their yellow "known damage sticker" and they often forget to remove it).
The V5 may not help you - they often "hide" Hertz ownership under different company names - and often Ford lease the cars to Hertz and retain ownership throughout. Obviously if it has a private name on it, ask to speak to the previous owner.
The tax disc may give you some clues (look for "fleet" on the stamp).
Don't take the usual baloney about it being a "Ford Managers car"... 9 times out of 10 it's a Hertz car.
Look at the service book for the "supplying dealers" details. If it's a genuine car it should have a "pukka" selling dealer. Look for tell-tale words like "fleet operations" or "Ford Dagenham" in the dealer stamp. Also look for missing handbooks (e.g. Audi guide, dealer network guide etc). Is the handbook wallet there? (often goes walkies in a hire car). if it is there, does it have any stickers with the reg number on it which would suggest it's sat in a filing cupboard with 100 others? A private owner is unlikely to do this!
Ditto the numberplates. What garage name is on the bottom of these? What is the post-code?
Look for high tyre wear on the fronts - e.g. a 10,000 miler with only 3mm of tread is likely to have suffered a lot of clutch-dumping tyre smoking action.
Look for floormats, or for scuff/dirt marks on the carpet. Most private owners use floor mats, so if there are none there and the carpet is filthy it would suggest a non-private owner. Look for other positive signs of private ownership - e.g. mudflaps or a tow-bar or an aftermarket tax disc holder etc. If it's an ex-hire car, it generally won't have any of these.
Look for small dings and scratches on the doors, bumpers, wheel rims etc - these are a good sign. If it's a hire car, these will have been touched up and repaired before sale - wheras many private cars with 10,000 miles on the clock have some signs of wear and tear. Does it smell of fresh paint which suggests repair work?
Also if it's a high/unusual spec (e.g. Ghia) it is less likely to be a Hertz car. Certain options are also rare on Hertz cars - e.g. optional SatNav.
|
"I would steer clear of buying a hire car (I've seen first-hand how much abuse they are given - especially by some company users)."
So I take it you only ever buy brand new cars, or only second hand ones where you know every driver since it was new?
In my experience ex hire Fords are some of the bargains out there. 6 months old, a few thousand miles, plenty of warranty left and 30+% off list.
Different drivers every week are probably better for a new car than a mimser who runs it in at less than 1500 revs for the first 2,000 miles and takes 6 months to do the run in mileage.
If the OP is nervous about going to a supermarket - some of which do sell non UK spec imports go via Ford Direct through a main Ford dealer. Whenever I've been looking they have never hidden the fact the cars are ex hire.
|
|
Good friends of mine bought a 2.0 diesel Focus at about 6 months old. They needed a new DMF within 3 months of owning the car - no problem as it was covered under warranty, but not convenient when they were lent a Ka for a week; large buggies apparently *don't* fit in Kas.
|
|
|
So I take it you only ever buy brand new cars or only second hand ones where you know every driver since it was new?
Nope. Didn't say that. If you can't work out the inherent difference between someone who owns a car privately and has £10000's of their own cash tied up in it, and someone who's just hired it for the day for £40, then I'm afraid I can't help you.
In my experience ex hire Fords are some of the bargains out there.
In my experience ex-hire cars have been thrashed and clutch-dumped to within an inch of their lives.
Different drivers every week are probably better for a new car than a mimser who runs it in at less than 1500 revs for the first 2 000 miles and takes 6 months to do the run in mileage.
If you say so!
Whenever I've been looking they have never hidden the fact the cars are ex hire.
There's plenty of evidence that they often do "hide" the history.
At the end of the day, it's your choice and your look-out. I don't really give a stuff what you do! :-)
|
> In my experience ex-hire cars have been thrashed and clutch-dumped ..
Oh dear, we are back on the black-and-white argument. Either it's ex-rental cars, French cars, VW dealers ... you name it. Some people have had good experiences, others bad; and each one assumes every other example is the same. When you are looking at a statistical sample of one (the car you are thinking of buying) you have to examine it for yourself and decide. The condition outside and inside, tyres, carpets, pedals, under the boot 'carpet', dings on the screen (has that been replaced?), all the usual things. Then any paperwork.
But please don't just argue generalities. All ex-rentals aren't perfect, or rubbish - but where you find them for sale may be a good indication. Franchised dealers have more reputation to protect (in theory anyway) and that is partly what you pay for.
|
|
|
|
|
whoopwhoop you are spot on there!
A few years ago we were offered a few month old, low mileage diesel Vectra. I asked who the previous owner was and was told Vauxhall Management. We did the deal and when the V5 arrived it said Eurocar car hire. We had some problems with it and eventually traded in after only a few months. We now buy new.
|
That's a very good run down whoopwhoop - lots of useful & subtle little tell-tales about a car's history. I'm surprised by some posters' sanguine attitudes to (possible) ex-hire cars - to me any piece of machinery works longer & better when it's been used sympathetically & moderately.
Although some say that 'mimsing' cars aren't as well run-in or may suffer premature engine wear because of low mileage, I'm sure there are many more 15 year-old mimsy cars than hire cars around & working well , pro rata.
|
|
|
|
Any "nearly new" Ford Focus stands a good chance of being ex-Hertz.
There seem to be a quite lot of ads for nearly new Focuses with around 3-5K miles on the clock. Are those likely to be Hertz or from some other source? (I thought hire companies keep them until 12-13K miles typically?)
thanks
Julian
|
I thought hire companies keep them until 12-13K miles typically?
The example from my post above only had a very low mileage.
|
|
|
|
Any "nearly new" Ford Focus stands a good chance of being ex-Hertz. I would steer clear of buying a hire car (I've seen first-hand how much abuse they are given - especially by some company users).
We have a 53 plate Focus that was a 9 month old ex-Hertz car with 12K on the clock when I bought it.
This car has been the most trouble free, smoothest and sweetest running car I have ever had, and I usually drive new Audis as my normal work vehicle.
I think this car must have had a life of getting picked up from Heathrow and driven for 100 miles to its destination and then back again, because it seems to have bedded in just perfect.
In fact it would be difficult to find a nearly new Focus that was privately owned I think.
|
|
|
|
get the registration number visit www.taxdisc.direct.gov.uk/EvlPortalApp/
I've just done this with a car which I am collecting from a dealer on Thursday. The car has no tax disc. However, the results of the search show "Date of Liability - 01 01 2010" and "Licence not due".
Does this mean it was taxed starting 1st January this year, and the previous owner or the dealer hasn't returned the tax disc for a refund? If so, what will happen when I apply for a tax disc on Thursday?
|
Alanovich,
It probably means you could drive it to the tax office without worrying about ANPR cameras on the way.
Having the car sat outside the tax office might help when it comes to taxing it, if there's a query.
I'd have thought your explanation of "I've just bought it from a garage and they said it doesn't have a valid tax disc and therefore supplied it without one" should be good enough.
|
|
You may be right, IIH. I think I'll drive it to Borehamwood DVLA. If I can find it!
|
Any popular model of car less than 2 years old is probably going to be an ex hire car
How many private owners sell their "new" cars earlier than 3 years old?, very few would be my guess
Company cars are not going to be sold until they reach 3 years/xxx miles.
MVP
|
|
It's fine if you know it's a hire car before you take the plunge. But why do dealers have to fib? I expect its because most people realise a hire car is going to be thrashed - and may well have had body repairs. And would rather not do the deal.
|
> Most people realise a hire car is going to be thrashed ..
Another generality. I agree it's a possibility, especially with a 'not my car' attitude - it's also quite likely that a rental car has just done frequent trips on the motorway, which may be a good way of loosening up a diesel engine. If it's done about 13K miles in six months, that's odds-on. And most rental outfits tend to scare their customers into avoiding damage to the cars.
|
> Most people realise a hire car is going to be thrashed ..
Can someone point me in the direction of where all these hire cars are thrashed? I live in an urban area, drive 15-20,000 miles a year at all times of the day in lots of different areas.
I still haven't noticed thousands of cars being raced from lights, doing doughnuts or handbrake turns at every opportunity.
I see lots of hire cars - the Hertz barcode and the Enterprise 'e' being the ones which are easily identified and they all seem to be driven the same as any other car on the road.
Hiring a car is much tougher than it used to be with increased minimum ages - I used to hire at 18, that's impossible now with the main companies - and there are higher excesses.
Most people jump in a hire car, drive it like they would their own (which may not be mechanically sympathetic, but it's not intended abuse) and hand it back.
|
I bought an ex hire Citroen ZX a few years back - not a thing went wrong with it.
I may buck the trend here, whenever I have a hire car, unless its the Uno I took up Mount Teide in Tenerife, I usually take more care of it than I do my own car. Especially when the hire company has got an open account with my credit card to charge any perceived damage to it!
|
Alanovich wrote: ...You may be right, IIH. I think I'll drive it to Borehamwood DVLA. If I can find it!...
Piece of DVLA licensing office trivia:
The office that used to serve that area of NW London/Herts/Middx was used by the BBC as the setting for Newtown police station in the series Z-Cars.
I think the old office was nearer to London than the current one in Borehamwood, maybe somewhere around Kingsbury.
Anyone know exactly where?
|
|
Thrashing is not necessarily by the hirer: think rental company employees (aka jockeys) shifting stock. Cold. Very quickly.
|
|
|
|
