Buying a used car from dealer/used car shop (lease, rental, insurance)

[gus030]

I've been looking at used cars and found 3 cars I really like. One is more expensive because its selling at the Acura dealership (it is Acura TL). The other 2 Acura TLs are less expensive but are selling at a Nissan dealer and a independent used car dealer.

Is it better to buy the car an Acura dealer so I know it had the most care put into it?

The carfax for the 2 cars at the places other then Acura dealer also worry me...should I be worried about this?


Car A: (carfax)
8/2007 owner 1 purchased
3/2008 body electrical system checked
4/2010 body electrical system check/recommended maintence performed
8/2011 Sold at auction
9/2011 dealer vehicle offered for sale
3/2012 dealer vehicle offered for sale
My concern is the electrical system and why it was sold at auction and still not sold for close to 7 months

Car B: (autocheck)
Vehicle use check: fleet, rental and/or lease records
Loan/lien records
Full history:
4/2007: title lien reported
1/2010: reported at auto auction, auction announced as fleet/lease
2/2010: vehicle in dealer inventory
4/2010: title (lien reported)
5/2010: independent inspection/theft deterrant equipped
10/2011: independent inspection/theft deterrant equipped
3/2012: registration event/renewal
How do i interpret the 'fleet/lease' auction? The dealer is telling me this is because it was a leased car but I don't trust them 100%.

[StealthRabbit]

Do yourself a favor and buy a one-owner FROM owner. If you MUST use a dealer.... get a certified used car from Acura dealership WITH a FREE warranty. (Not one of those you buy for $3000!!!_ Anyone worth their salt will give you a good warranty if they are selling a good car for a premium.

I WOULD NOT by a lease return or ex rental car. (JMHO; YMMV)

[Me007gold]

Fleet car means, its was an ex rental car, and I would not touch that with a 20ft pole. Yep if you must buy from dealer, buy Acura certified. I would not place to much stock in a car sitting on a lot for a while, most cars do sit for a good period of time, although if a car is bouncing form dealer to dealer, there is something wrong with the car most likely, and should be avoided as well

[jlawrence01]

Originally Posted by Me007gold

Fleet car means, its was an ex rental car, and I would not touch that with a 20ft pole.

That is NOT necessarily true. There are corporate and government fleets.

[00molavi]

Originally Posted by StealthRabbit

I WOULD NOT by a lease return or ex rental car. (JMHO; YMMV)

Sometimes rental cars get better treatment than one owner ones. If the one owner has a crazy owner, then that's it, at least the rental car gets some variation of it. I have never mistreated a rental car.

Also, it depends on the type of the car. A minivan rarely gets driven hard even as a rental, now a Mustang-well I would be careful.

To the OP, those electrical checks etc on carfax means nothing. People take their new cars back to the dealer for every noise and creak. I took mine back in the 1st two weeks because I was not sure if the transmission fluid is where it is supposed to be. It is a Honda and the dipstick range is like 0.2 Inches. I am sure that might show on carfax as "transmission check".

[bmwguydc]

Generally, if a a rental car company has a problem with the car, they send it back to the manufacturer, which can be "program" cars that appear on the dealer's lots with rental history in the ownership abstract. As with any car, it should be inspected, and certain types of cars tend to be a bit more abused by rental ownership. I agree with the above that the type of car also has bearing as to whether or not it would be good buy as a rental. For example, a rental Ford Fusion is less likely to have an issue, owing to numbers in the fleet, profile of typical renter, etc. than would be a car like the Challenger or Camaro, that some would rent with the intention of doing stupid things that they would never do in their own vehicles.

[CrossfitNut]

Just get the cars inspected by a trusted local mechanic to get an idea of each cars actual condition.

Carfax is not all inclusive, it may expose problems but when comparing cars a clean carfax v. One with red flags means little. The clean one could have issues that were never reported.

Best bet of the three is CPO from Acura with a factory extended warranty unless your mechanic finds an issue of concern.

I am generally skeptical of independent dealers because they tend to buy cars at auctions which usually are there because a more reputable dealer didn't want them or insurance companies sent them there.

But ultimately the cars need to be inspected independently to determine which is the best option.

[richb]

Originally Posted by jlawrence01

That is NOT necessarily true. There are corporate and government fleets.

Which are as mistreated as a rental as well. A car not owned by an individual is likely to be abused. People never take care of stuff they use but don't own.

[rbohm]

as with ANY used car, you want an independent mechanic to check the car over for you, regardless of where you buy the car from. its nice to have a carfax type report, but they dont tell you everything. that certified used car from the acura dealer could be a pile of rubbish, and the cars from a local used car dealer could be diamonds in the rough(as it were).

[greg42]

FWIW, it's extremely unlikely that a TL was in a true rental fleet. It's more likely individual lease or maybe corp fleet or maybe simply owned by a small corp. The little company I work for owns a few cars; I wonder if that alone would trigger the "fleet use" flag on those.

Of course, sure, you could argue that in some cases the same caveats apply. I wouldn't want any of our minivans as a used car. I have bought an ex-rental before with good results though, so it really varies.