How much do dealers usually pay for....

[CapnCrunch]

...ex rental cars at auction? I'm trying to find a late model used suv and almost 99% of them are ex rentals, and they're all seem to priced on the high end.

In my mind I'd think an ex-rental would get on the low end of the CBB and VMR wholesale values, but based on the high asking prices it makes me wonder if they pay more than that? Or are they just buying super low and marking these things up 25%?

I'd like to write it off as just a few of them marking them up excessively, but asking prices are pretty consistent from dealer to dealer.

:confused:

[dirtsniffer]

Marking them up at least 25%

[G-ZUS]

Auction cars are not as cheap as you'd think, everyone is paying top dollars at the auctions these days - even for salvage vehicles :nut:

[Tik-Tok]

Originally posted by CapnCrunch

I'd like to write it off as just a few of them marking them up excessively, but asking prices are pretty consistent from dealer to dealer.



Culmination of both. Some mark them up outrageously high, others look at what those dealerships are asking for and mark theirs accordingly.

Personally, I'd never, ever, ever buy a vehicle I knew was a rental. Ever.

[Xtrema]

Originally posted by Tik-Tok
Personally, I'd never, ever, ever buy a vehicle I knew was a rental. Ever.

Other than high mileage with low age, what else will tip you off as a rental? Not like they have to disclose that info anyway.

[J.M.]

Originally posted by G-ZUS
Auction cars are not as cheap as you'd think, everyone is paying top dollars at the auctions these days - even for salvage vehicles :nut:

Even salvage vehicles :nut:

[Mitsu3000gt]

Originally posted by Tik-Tok

Personally, I'd never, ever, ever buy a vehicle I knew was a rental. Ever.

This. I would never own ANYTHING that has been a rental, least of all a car. Nothing gets treated worse. Not sure if there is a way to tell for sure, if you're buying it from an auction though, other than it would almost certainly be a giant POS.

[ExtraSlow]

It's true, I was keeping my eye on a few cars at dealer auctions, and I found that the prices were about the same as you'd be able to find on kijiji for similar vehicles. Not many deals to be had.
Part of the reason for this is that all those big auctions are online, so you are competing with every dealer in western canada. Easily a hundred buys have looked at every "good" car, and have put in a bid either through a broker or online.

Also, rental cars aren't sold unreserved. They know what they need to make on those cars, and they have no issues running them through a couple months of auctions to get the price they want.

[GTS4tw]

Originally posted by Xtrema


Other than high mileage with low age, what else will tip you off as a rental? Not like they have to disclose that info anyway.

In B.C. you have to state that it was used as a rental, there is a box to tick on the registration. Not the same in Alberta?

[jdmXSI]

I would stay away from rental cars, "they are driven hard and put away we"t so to speak. Unless things have changed since I used to work at budget rent a car, there was little to regular maintenance done. Fro example, the cars were driven up to 20000ish kms and never had oil changes done, they just added a little oil when it was low. I guess thats kinda like an oil change, right?

[CapnCrunch]

Being a rental shows up on the carproof, even in Alberta. It says something like "listed for auction, announced as daily rental".

I don't think rentals are that bad. I would never get anything like a sports car or anything remotely fast, but looking at a gutless 8 passenger suv, my only real concerns are dings and dents, accidents, and interior stains and tears.

Regardless, I'm not here to discuss whether rentals are good or bad.

I'm just trying to figure out why a dealership would pay so much for an ex-rental. Especially considering half the comments in this thread are OMG NEVER EVER!!!

[AndyL]

Dunno - we swung into regal just before xmas and stuff was selling ridiculously lower than it should have.

But that may have been due to timing (saturday before xmas)

[nytrydr89]

I work at a dealership and there is next to nothing made on each enterprise unit we go through. Usually they are listed for $500 above cost. The reason they are brought in is to one put deals in the book and two it then gives the finance office opportunity to make money on reserve, add ons, warranties, etc.

Also the pricing is consistent from dealer to dealer because they are all bought roughly for the same price. The market is so saturated that all dealers must list at lowest price possible to move the units they have. Consumers will go where they can find the cheapest one with the lowest mileage.

[nytrydr89]

Originally posted by GTS4tw


In B.C. you have to state that it was used as a rental, there is a box to tick on the registration. Not the same in Alberta?

CarProof is Alberta must be disclosed to anyone buying a used vehicle from a licensed dealer. Consumer must sign and acknowledge the report prior to taking delivery. Front page on CarProof shows vehicle was previously registered as rental.

[rage2]

Do dealers buy a lot of cars from public auctions? I thought they buy most of their used inventory off dealer only auctions that aren't available to the public?

[nytrydr89]

Originally posted by rage2
Do dealers buy a lot of cars from public auctions? I thought they buy most of their used inventory off dealer only auctions that aren't available to the public?

Most of whats being referred to in this thread are bought directly from the rental companies. Some rental spec units are purchased at Adesa and alot of the Adesa rental spec units are from other provinces.

[G-ZUS]

^ When I worked at National (~6 years ago), they weren't allowed to sell to anyone other than through the auction. We used to go drop them off @ Adesa.

Some of the smaller car lots do buy cars @ regal etc, not sure about the big name dealers @rage2

[CapnCrunch]

Originally posted by nytrydr89


Most of whats being referred to in this thread are bought directly from the rental companies. Some rental spec units are purchased at Adesa and alot of the Adesa rental spec units are from other provinces.

All of the ones I've found in Alberta went through auction. I'm guessing it was the Adesa one, as its dealers only.

Public auctions seem to have a lot of crap. Mostly repo'd 5 year old vehicles. I'd rather own a ex-rental than a repo.

[TomcoPDR]

Originally posted by G-ZUS
^ When I worked at National (~6 years ago), they weren't allowed to sell to anyone other than through the auction. We used to go drop them off @ Adesa.



Cause those are leased from manufacturers. There are some units that's you can purchase directly from the rental agency.

You see more in the states when individual rental stores are individually owned/franchised. So store owners actually own and manage their own fleet