Things to check when buying a GT that was a rental!

[Deleted member 35786]

Bottom line if you like the car and it checks out, price is good then buy it. It is on warranty so any issues you just take it to Ford and have them handle it. No worries..
Its a gamble with any car you buy private, dealer etc.. They all tell you what you want to hear. Good luck and enjoy the car if you get it.
https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/articles/the_pros_and_cons_of_buying_a_rental_car

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[BlackandBlue]

I would much rather have a rental then a high school graduation gift to an 18 year old going off to be a broke college kid.

Rental companies change oil religiously.
Rental companies fix problems ASAP.
Rental companies wash car regularly.
Rental companies inspect cars after every rental for damage or problems.

Broke college kid never changed oil.
Broke college kid doesn’t wash car.
Broke college kid loans car out.
Broke college kid treats car like he didn’t work for it.

So at least with a rental you know what you are getting.

 

[5-OH]

I don’t drive stolen cars, but every time I rent a car I do.

 

[AlmostFamous]

All you guys out there who dog rentals and even feel the need to brag about it are immature idiots. You're wasting a car that someone else might be spending their life savings on and for what? Grow up.

Ok Corvette driver who never goes above 10mph under the speed limit.

 

[frank s]

I bought a Mustang convertible from Budget's lot. Less than 11,000 miles, and very well priced. Never a problem with any aspect of the car, except that it was the gateway to a five-more-Mustang habit.

Oh, yes: after about six months of ownership I received a Warrant Warning letter from DMV, telling me I had to pay up or not be able to register the car. I sent an amused but pleasant letter to DMV, pointing out that the car was still a Budget rental when the parking offense in question occurred. Actually received a reply showing they had done their research and agreed not to prosecute the warrant. Thanks, guys.

 

[CommyO]

All you guys out there who dog rentals and even feel the need to brag about it are immature idiots. You're wasting a car that someone else might be spending their life savings on and for what? Grow up.

So you're saying we should rent a car and not drive the absolute piss out of it? Not gonna happen bud.

No way I'd touch a rental with a 6 foot pole cause that hoe has been used and abused

 

[DekiDoo]

All you guys out there who dog rentals and even feel the need to brag about it are immature idiots. You're wasting a car that someone else might be spending their life savings on and for what? Grow up.

It's immaturity and poor upbringing

 

[Sivi70980]

Rentals and company vehicles are driven with the utmost respect from me. My own car gets driven however I see fit. Sometimes that immature streak hits me and I drive a block or 10 like a pissed off teenager and then calm down and smile the rest of the drive. It appears I'm in the smaller crowd that doesn't want to break something I don't own. I try not to disrespect others or their property and I view a rental car as a privilege not to abuse. All this being said, after I special ordered my first vehicle, I'll never buy used or what's force fed on a lot again. Given the choice, a lower mileage rental will be just as bad mechanically as the "new" car on the lot that's been test driven a few times. No proper break in or maybe yes to this depending on your break in views and anything that's happened is covered up before you see it. Now the interior "shagen wagen" thing, never thought of this before and I'll be disinfecting rentals from now on so thanks for this lol.

 

[Ericc B]

So you're saying we should rent a car and not drive the absolute piss out of it?

That's exactly what I'm saying. It's common courtesy to treat other people's stuff with respect. If you wanna trash your own car be my guest, as long as you don't endanger other people doing it.

 

[Monopoly]

Worked for a rental company in high school. Our fav thing todo was slam the cars in reverse. While going backwards slam it in Drive and spin the tires on the dirt road around back. We absolutely beat the crap out of those vehicles.

Then again several people have bought rentals, had no issues with it and lasted a long time.

Guess anything can happen when buying used from anywhere!

 

[Bladex10]

The most reliable car i've ever owned was a previous rental(Still have it, Honda Accord with 260k miles) and the biggest piece of shit lemon i've ever owned was a brand new car with 80 miles on it. It goes both ways when it comes to buying cars. Just do your research, Look the car over well and go based on that.

 

[Coyotestang13]

So you're saying we should rent a car and not drive the absolute piss out of it? Not gonna happen bud.

No way I'd touch a rental with a 6 foot pole cause that hoe has been used and abused

There's a difference between driving it hard and having a good time and beating the snot out of it. I honestly hope every person that abuses a rental car gets a bill for the damages and/or replacement parts (tires).

 

[UnkTob]

Alrighty..... Here's the summary and lessons learned!

More thought on the big question of "Buy a Rental" or "Not"-
I know there were many that advised against it, but as a guy that rents cars A LOT for work, and works with many people who rent cars A LOT, I was able to have quite a few conversations with some regular renters. Sure, you have to be careful, but really, from the engine standpoint, it isn't that much riskier than buying a used GT from a private party.

From the engine stand point:
Sure when I get in a fun rental car, I'll jump on it some every now and then, but most of the driving is just regular driving. (This is what I also heard from people that rent a lot- some from business travel, others from personal travel) But!... Almost everyone puts the cheapest crappiest gas they can find into a rental car. So when I went up to Washington to look at my potential 2018 GT Convertible Premium, I spent LOTS of time listening to the engine, looking underneath the hood and crawling underneath, having the sales guy hold the throttle at different RPM's and multiple test drives. He told me I did more checks and inspection than anyone he's ever had before. LOL But he also said he learned lots, which is cool, since much of what I learned was stuff I learned about on this forum.

Exterior Concerns:
Now, for anyone who is also considering purchasing a former rental, (good luck finding a decently priced used convertible mustang that wasn't a rental! lol), the other big trade off are possible exterior problems- People not used to the car can easily scrape things up- Front valance & bumper, real valance and bumper, rear view mirrors (could also be from the rental car company crew trying to cram as many cars in as possible!), door dings & chips on the door edges, and even the edges of the fenders. Of course, look for curb rash, since that could be an indicator of a bad smack that could have put a wheel out of round. There are a few scuffs and scratches on this one, (including a couple on the fenders ), but I pointed them out in the photos, they threatened to fire their detail company, so the detail company really went through the car and re-detailed it, and the paint overall looks pretty damn good! One other area to check- the front bumper cover's paint looks MUCH MORE susceptible to scratches, so when you look at that from an angle you can really see some scratches from when it was washed a thousand times.
Flat areas to hold the renters coffee, purse, backpack, etc. Unfortunately, many people don't think twice about setting shit down on the paint of their car as they dig out keys, or their phone or what ever, so be sure to really look at any surface that is flat and could hold things, ie: roof (Not a problem on a convertible!), trunk, maybe even the hood, especially near the windshield. Also... it was a rental, so a vast majority of the time it was driven, somebody probably threw their luggage in the trunk, so you are pretty much guaranteed that there will be scuffs and scratches around the entrance to the trunk on the rear bumper cover.

Interior Concerns:
Of course with so many people getting in and out of the car, there could be some wear & tear, which is to be expected, but you want to make sure it isn't too bad.. although that's pretty obvious. However, somebody pointed out to check out the door sills. (Good point!) People not familiar with the car (and probably many not used to getting into a low car) will smack the sill with their shoe WAAAAY more often than you who owns the vehicle probably does. Good news- if it is really bad, not too expensive to replace. Bad news- might not really 100% match if you do replace it (Since the other plastic piece in the kick panel will probably have some wear so the newness of the sill could stand out)

Yeah, great! But what did you do!?!? Did you buy it or not?!?!
After hours of checking the car over, and driving it, I decided to go ahead! Still has some of the factory main warranty left, and of course it still has the 6yr/60k on the drivetrain left.
Good news- Man!!!! I love this car! I do miss my Ruby Red 2014 Convertible, (In my opinion the most beautiful looking paint available on the Mustang), but I really like how elegant but MEAN the magnetic metallic grey looks! And then of course, there's the power. Literally 50% more than my V6, which was no slouch, and could do 0-60 in just under 6 seconds, but 0-60 in 4 seconds feels like a completely different beast! lol So much fun to drive, and so much more coolness and tech than my 14!

The not so good news- I ended up cutting my trip down since I heard some oddness from the engine. Yes, despite all that poking and prodding, checking and listening, the next morning I heard a crazy knocking sound when I started it up. It cold started, (sounds awesome!) then after a few moments the rpm's dropped, still sounded good, but then a little bit after that as it warmed fully up, the rpm's dropped one more time to regular idle, and then I heard the knocking... So to be on the safe side, I canceled my hotels for the next couple of days for my mini-vacation down the Oregon coast, and instead pointed it back home to Idaho.
Back to the good news-
I've had it checked out by the local dealership and so far, they haven't heard the knock. It really could just be bad gas. I was in the middle of no where, heading up and around the Washington coast, and had to fill it up at some shack of a general store/gas station. It was 92 octane, (hard to find back home in Idaho!) but I don't even recall which brand of gas they had on their signs. The dealership is going to hang on to it while they are waiting for the right rear window regulator to come in, and their main engine tech is going to start it up periodically to see if he can hear the knocking.

What's next?-
To make it not look like a rental car. LOL Engine wise, I'm not changing anything for awhile, but I'm cosmetically "fixing" somethings I don't like about the 2018 convertibles while also making it mine.

1- Got rid of that stupid looking "spoiler" thingy the convertibles come with. (Seriously Ford? It looks like you just made a plastic cover to cover up the holes that were there for a real spoiler!) Added a Foose designed MMD one.
2- Replaced the chrome shiny 5.0 emblems with the black (Sticking with gloss to match the currently on backorder nice shiny all black wheels)
3- Pulled the chrome GT emblem off of the rear deck and replaced it with a nice magnetic metallic color matched one from CJ Pony Parts.

More to come! Front pony which in magnetic metallic is also backordered, and the wheels and tires will hopefully ship soon. MMD side scoops arrive today, but won't put them on till the backordered inserts show up. After those things are done, I'm leaning towards some stripes from BigWorm with the red pinstripes on the outside. (Oh.. I'm also painting those big awesome calipers red (going to try to use my Circuit vinyl cutter/plotter to make some "Mustang" stencils so they aren't just straight red. (I use that vinyl cutter for when I paint my RC Cars))

 

[frank s]

Looks good. After that courtship I'd not expect to hear of any divorce proceedings, even in the event she turns out to have some kind of differently-abled condition.

 

[Sivi70980]

Glad to hear she's working out for you! Have fun and be safe!

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