2007 Liberty "Rental" Purchase.

[Ktmguy23]

I went to the dealer and started looking for a slightly used liberty. I found an
'07 Sport that was Extremely clean. It had 20,400 miles and I could only find one small scratch on it. I assumed it was a exec vehicle or a lease of some sort. So we got the deal worked out and I requested a Carfax before I signed paperwork. When I got the Carfax it said it was purchased new by a "Major Rental Car Comany" from Mass. Initially I was a little hesitant about buying a rental. All of the used Liberty's I find in that year range seem to be rentals. Should I be worried about buying a rental.

My question is have any of you done it or what are your thoughts on this?

 

[theshoestore]

A couple of years ago, I had the same thing happen with a car purchase. Was looking at a 2004 Taurus, and the Carfax said it did about 1 year of rental time in California, with about 25,000 miles. The dealer had then purchased it and used it as a courtesy car for a few months before selling with about 30,000. It was in very good condition, inside and out, much like you mentioned.

We were able to get a somewhat decent sale price on it, maybe you could use that to haggle the price a bit. There should also be a bit of the factory warranty left if anything goes wrong, or you could haggle on an extended, etc.

I know most rentals tend to get beat up, so you could always have a mechanic check it out to see if anything mechanical with it is trashed. That would be my best suggestion.

Or theres always the better Jeep on the lot tomorrow

 

[AbsoluteRenegade]

Most of the rentals now get inspected very thoroughly and cleaned after each rental, they are one of the top car purchases around here in NYS.

 

[BillyBones]

unrelated, theshoestore are you trying to be sneaky and hide your jeep?

 

[Marlon_JB2]

Over 30% of Libertys sold in 2007 were sold to fleets.

Sad, but true.

20k miles is a bit odd, and definitely "rental" mileage. If it had 12k ish miles it might have been a corporate lease.

 

[offrovering]

a lot of rentals, like previously stated, are now checked over, washed, kept up, after each rental. hopefully it was a reputable rental company that had the resources to keep up on it.

if it was a corporate fleet lease, buy it, they are some of the best kept cars. clean, washed, worked on, etc. usually arent driven as roughly as a Hertz rental car down in Orlando Fla, back and forth to Disney

overall, I wouldnt worry too much, rental car sales are a lot better than they used to be, it used to be something to stay away from, now they keep up on them. just look for the major signs of wear and tear.

 

[Atrus]

It would worry me slightly but not be a deal breaker. I know how friends treat rentals.

On the other hand, I ended up getting a carfax on my last car after I bought it. I forget how it was worded, but it lead me to believe it was either a fleet vehicle or a corporate fleet vehicle. Anyway, it had 32k on it when I bought it, almost 6 years later I sold it to get the KJ - it had 130k on it. It was a great car, I had no major issues other than maintenance and wear.

 

[offroadohio]

My 07 was an enterprise rental, we bought it at 19,900k. Enterprise is a pretty reputable company and I've rented from them before the inspect everything befopre it leave and when its returned. We've had issues with out KJ but nothing that was directly cuased by being a rental. two window regulators, and a tcase that doesnt go in lo correctly (still have to look into it, most likely a miss adjusted cable)

 

[Kevin]

I'd only buy an off rental if the price was right. SUVs might be different but everyone abuses the crap out of rental cars, which would always be in the back of my mind. Hell when I was a freshmen in college my car was in for warranty repair so I was given a loaner from Enterprise. Lets just say I offered to drive to every "dirty" event.

 

[k99jk99j]

i bought a 99 cherokee that was an enterprise rental. it now has 76,000 miles and only thing replace is front wheel bearing (not rental related). i would do it again! but make sure you test drive for an hour or two! mike

 

[dbarkley]

My 06 liberty was a rental vehicle. We did a car fax and it showed that it was a rental and no accidents. A few months later it quit working and we found out that the wiring harness was smashed from what looked like a frontend collision. Somehow the rental company got the car fixed without having to report the accident. Of course the factory warranty did not cover the problem since it was related to an accident. So you have a 50/50 shot at getting a good vehicle. When we bought it it had 8,000 miles and now it has 26,000.

 

[BluPhant]

Mine was a fleet vehicle (found out after pulling carfax long after buying it) with 24k miles on it when I bought it, at 77k now w/ no issues.

-Blu

 

[MAZDASPEED]

Our '07 was a rental in MD, just purchased it last week here in MA. Registered last March it had 25,000mi on it. No rust, one tiny scuff on the hood but the truck runs and looks great. We got it certified so we get the 8yr/80k warranty. Pics in the pictures video's section. $15K out the door.

 

[Ry' N Jen]

You know what the best four wheel drive is?
Any rental car!

Our 2004 was a lease return and the interior and exterior is absolutely spotless!
Under the hood, the bottom of the vehicle, and the drive train/suspension components all looks brand new as well.
Apart from normal scheduled maintenance, recalls, we've only had one repair and that the replacement of the water pump.

 

[Ktmguy23]

Well, I went ahead and bought a Liberty. I found another one that we liked a bit better than the one I originally posted about. We ended up with a '07 Sport with 15,236 miles on the clock. This truck is absolutely spotless inside and out. It was also a rental of some sort.

From what I can see so far I really like this vehicle. The only thing I have some concern about is the fuel mileage so far. I have only went about 46 miles and I have noticed quite a change on the fuel guage. I will have to get some hard numbers. I checked the tire pressure and air filter so far. I noticed the tire pressure was a bit high but other than that everything checked good. I really hope I can average in the low 20's on fuel, but we'll see.

 

[AbsoluteRenegade]

My Renegade was driven by the owner of the stealership, and then as the "we'll deliver you whererver you want while your car is in the shop" vehicle. Dealership maintained and spotless. Only problem with that was a scratch I found when I was inspecting the vehicle, the guy told me the history behind the vehicle, called the owner/manger out who laughed and said that was from a hanger while moving his daughter into college. I then saw a picture of his daughter....lets just say she could scratch me anytime.

 

[tan's2002kjlimited]

Well, I went ahead and bought a Liberty.
From what I can see so far I really like this vehicle. The only thing I have some concern about is the fuel mileage so far. I really hope I can average in the low 20's on fuel, but we'll see.

Sorry, in advance. Good luck on the MPG dream. Everyone here will chime in agreeing that you don't buy a Jeep for it's fuel economy.

The Official "My Gas Mileage *****" Thread http://www.jeepkj.com/forum/showthread.php?t=25904

 

[Atrus]

Fer real. Summertime, I get about 18 mpg or so. Right now, about 16. I do 50/50 highway/city during the week, and then weekends all city. MPG steadily jumps during the week, and then the weekend slaughters it.

 

[Vtolds]

I bought a 2004 Hyundai Elantra which was a rental car in Jersey. It had 20,000 on it and it was in perfect condition, nothing was wrong with it while I owned it.

 

[gijoe31484]

the first thing i do with a rental is see how high i can jump it. well before that you gotta warm up the slicks by power breaking it a bit so you can get good traction to get up to speed. i usually jump around 3-4 feet... tires are worthless when i'm done...hahahaha