An alternative for price-sensitive shoppers who want to browse a variety of cars in person is to shop the retail sales lots of rental-car companies. Consumers often are highly averse to the idea of buying a used rental car, because they imagine the cars have been abused.
"The reality is that rental cars are clean, their entire maintenance history is documented, and their price can be quite attractive," says Tim Walsh, VP of car sales at Enterprise Rent- A-Car. Like the manufacturers, Enterprise and other rental companies inspect their cars and only choose the best examples for retail sales. As at CarMax, rental-car companies can offer a variety of brands and models. And Enterprise adds a 12-month/ 12,000-mile warranty to cars it sells, but since most of the cars are one or two years old with between 12,000 and 36,000 miles on them, they're also covered by the remainder of their factory warranties. "We not only put that warranty on it; we give customers a seven-day repurchase agreement," Walsh says. "If they aren't satisfied, they can bring that car back."
One upside to the rental approach is that the inventory is young, often just one to two model years old. The downside is that many such fleet or program cars are only moderately equipped, so if you want your ride fully loaded, you may or may not find it in a rental-car lot. Still, sales volumes are significant; Enterprise, for example, sells more than 100,000 cars to retail customers each year through its 125 lots.
The moral of the story? The used-car marketplace has changed dramatically in recent years and will continue to evolve toward emulating the experience of buying new. Everyone loves that intoxicating new-car smell, and nothing will ever replace it. But many consumers have come to appreciate another scent: the aroma of the freshly minted money they can save when buying a smartly chosen, late-model pre-owned car, truck, or sport/utility.
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