Rental CX-5s showing up on Autotrader

[Chocolate]

I recently searched for 2019 CX-5s on Autotrader to check resale values. I noticed that if you sort by price low to high, there are a ton of newly listed rental cars. Take a look and see how many there are. There don't appear to be any turbo models (GT-R/Signature) with rental histories.

Due to the current destruction of rental car demand, https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/23/business/hertz-avis-budget-enterprise-C-19-crisis/index.html companies are selling off their fleets and these cars are starting to show up at dealers after being auctioned.

The U.S. rental fleet is approximately 1.5 million vehicles in total. Avis expects to reduce their fleet by 20% by the end of June. This will reduce the resale values of many non-collectible late model vehicles.

 

[CX5_Driver]

some related reading:

Coronavirus just lopped 10% off the value of your car

Dealers report a gap between wholesale values and retail prices, which may dip through June, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

www.cnet.com

Used car prices plummet, but the deals may not last. Here's why

While wholesale prices of used cars fell 11.4% in April, a shortage of new vehicles following COVID-19 assembly plant shutdowns could boost them.

www.freep.com

"Wholesale prices for used cars fell 11.4% in April, but began to recover late in the month, according to Manheim’s figures. The auctioneer’s inventory was up 40% by mid-April. Manheim furloughed more than 6,000 employees because of the slowdown. "

https://cars.usnews.com/cars-trucks/coronavirus-and-cars

How Will The Coronavirus Impact Car Prices?

Used Car Prices Are Likely Coming Down, But It May Not Happen For A Few Months

The impact of the coronavirus on the car market is turning into a worst-case scenario for automakers, lenders, dealers, and rental companies. Naturally, consumers can expect prices to fall in the pre-owned market, but the full impact of COVID-19 may not materialize for several months.

jalopnik.com

Automakers, rental firms fear coronavirus shutdowns could sink used-car prices

Used-vehicle auctions are for now virtually paralyzed, much like the rest of the economy.

www.latimes.com

my current personal working theory is that the auto industry is artificially propping up car sales (not going to auction) in hopes consumers won't notice and the inflated "value" of vehicles stays high. Remember there is a whole industry in lending focused around auto financing and they also have an interest in keeping vehicles prices "normal". The vehicle industry is a lot like retail diamonds... there are PLENTY of diamonds in the supply chain - but Debeers and others hold inventory to drive prices up.

DeBeers Diamonds

PRICEOFDIAMONDS.ORG - Comprehensive uptodate information and news about all aspects of diamonds

priceofdiamonds.org

Diamonds Are Bullshit

Let's agree that diamonds are bulls*** and reject their role in the marriage process. Let's admit that as a society we got tricked for about century into coveting sparkling pieces of carbon, but it's time to end the nonsense.

www.huffpost.com

even that industry is feeling the pressure

De Beers Cuts Diamond Prices by About 5% as Industry Crisis Deepens

De Beers is taking more drastic steps to stem the crisis in the diamond industry by cutting prices across the board for the first time in years.

www.bloomberg.com

The water above the dam (vehicle inventory used and new) is just about at bursting capacity. One of two things will happen. The damn will burst (flood of vehicles dumped on the market) in hopes of makes ~some~ money OR we will start seeing reports of usable vehicles getting crushed/destroyed/shipped overseas (at a loss to protect the brand "value").

think brand protection doesn't happen?

Burberry BURNED £28m worth of clothes last year

DESIGNER fashion label Burberry BURNT £28million worth of clothes last year, it has been reported. The upmarket clothing line, famous for its checked design, has destroyed £90m of products in the p…

www.thesun.co.uk

 

[Jmaz]

Why bother with the dealers.Anybody check the prices of late model of compact/midsize suv's on the Hertz website.Looks like deals to be had and probably to get better.A "no haggle" price can be haggled.

 

[youri]

Hertz just filed for bankruptcy. So plenty of deal to be had there. For me personally, i wouldn’t touch a rental car unless it is literally brand new. I rent cars a lot for work travel, and no one takes good care of the ride they rent.

 

[Chocolate]

I wouldn't touch one either. I find it amusing the Carfax marks a rental CX-5 with 30,000 miles as a 1 owner vehicle. More like 100 owners. However, there are people that buy them, though they sit unsold for longer, and these CXs will continue to show up in the listings on Autotrader in the near future and drag down prices a bit for these trim levels.

 

[velocityc6]

My 2019 CX5 GT was a rental to start its life then sold to me by a Mazda dealer. Purchased it with 13k miles back in January, still plenty of warranty left. Drives like a new car and I saved 4-5k vs purchasing new, no regrets.

Most 90%+ if not all pre-owned 2019/2020's are going to be either former Mazda curtosy vehicles or former rentals. Just way it is.

My wifes 2018 was a former dealer loaner, we purchased it with 8k miles back a couple years ago. 35k on it now and it's been perfect as well.

Money talks, when you can land these at a nice savings pre-owned why not.

Any used car can be potentially driven hard, always important to have that warranty in case its needed.

 

[jcrout7992]

I wouldn't touch one either. I find it amusing the Carfax marks a rental CX-5 with 30,000 miles as a 1 owner vehicle. More like 100 owners. However, there are people that buy them, though they sit unsold for longer, and these CXs will clog up the listings on Autotrader in the near future and drag down prices a bit for these trim levels.

It's like a pornstar telling you you're her first boyfriend.

 

[velocityc6]

Just to add to this, there are a few Mazda dealers in my area that snap up as many former rental Mazdas as possible for resale....some dealers sell them as CPO for 2-3k more then other dealers who don't CPO but reduce the asking price a couple grand.
Very common practice at least out here in the Northeast.

 

[Chocolate]

Every single Carfax for the first 3 pages of Price: Low to High results (stopped counting after that) are Rental vehicles. Tons of Touring models.

 

[Unobtanium]

I wouldn't touch one either. I find it amusing the Carfax marks a rental CX-5 with 30,000 miles as a 1 owner vehicle. More like 100 owners. However, there are people that buy them, though they sit unsold for longer, and these CXs will clog up the listings on Autotrader in the near future and drag down prices a bit for these trim levels.

My last CX5 was a rental. It was fine.

 

[youri]

I guess i should explain myself a bit more. A previous rental may turn out fine, but it has a higher likelihood of having being driven hard and carelessly in its first few years. Scratches and dents are also very common, often repaired without records by the rental company and nobody respects the break in period (if there is one, i realise not every car model needs one).

You pay less up front for the higher risk of having issues down the line. These are long terms, premature wear issues that will manifest themselves at the later stage of the vehicle life. If you don’t plan on keeping your car for a long time, then the risk is reduced and the deal is even more interesting. I like to keep my car until 9-10 years of use so to me early upkeep is important.
Of course, any used car has the risk of having being driven hard or poorly maintained by its owner, but with a single owner there is less chances of that happening and if you can get the backstory on the vehicle then you can make a more informed judgement. With a rental car the risk is higher, everyone can make a judgment call on wether that is acceptable to them or not. I guess my initial post should have been more along the line of : if it is a previous rental expect it to have been poorly taken care of in its first stage of life. I have seen it all, i have seen banged up cars being returned, i have received car with missing or loose trims, scratches on the bumper, rims, doors, trunk. I have added a few scratches myself accidentally on some of them. Received a car late at night with the service light on, but it was too late and left with it anyway.

These cars are more at risks of accidents and fender-bender because they are driven by people unfamiliar with the vehicle in unfamiliar locations.

So people here seems to have had good experience with the ones they’ve purchased. That’s great and i hope it remains that way but the risk is there and the price reflects it. Sometime it’s worth it, all of my previous used cars where great deal with a bit of history to them, but rental cars i am not interested in.

 

[GTA-CX9]

No car is a guarantee. But Youri lays it out nicely, I'd be ashamed to say what I've done to rentals.

I don't just wonder about renters. I can't see maintenance being done to the level many on a car forum would like done. We're here for a reason, we love our cars.

Oil, brakes, filters, shocks, do I really believe the manager insisted on top maintenance? Someone here must know a mechanic who works with these rental locations. I wonder what the relationship is like.

If I were to ever get one, I'd need one under warranty. And I'd tell myself there is a downside and I'd need to live with that potential.

 

[Unobtanium]

I guess i should explain myself a bit more. A previous rental may turn out fine, but it has a higher likelihood of having being driven hard and carelessly in its first few years. Scratches and dents are also very common, often repaired without records by the rental company and nobody respects the break in period (if there is one, i realise not every car model needs one).

You pay less up front for the higher risk of having issues down the line. These are long terms, premature wear issues that will manifest themselves at the later stage of the vehicle life. If you don’t plan on keeping your car for a long time, then the risk is reduced and the deal is even more interesting. I like to keep my car until 9-10 years of use so to me early upkeep is important.
Of course, any used car has the risk of having being driven hard or poorly maintained by its owner, but with a single owner there is less chances of that happening and if you can get the backstory on the vehicle then you can make a more informed judgement. With a rental car the risk is higher, everyone can make a judgment call on wether that is acceptable to them or not. I guess my initial post should have been more along the line of : if it is a previous rental expect it to have been poorly taken care of in its first stage of life. I have seen it all, i have seen banged up cars being returned, i have received car with missing or loose trims, scratches on the bumper, rims, doors, trunk. I have added a few scratches myself accidentally on some of them. Received a car late at night with the service light on, but it was too late and left with it anyway.

These cars are more at risks of accidents and fender-bender because they are driven by people unfamiliar with the vehicle in unfamiliar locations.

So people here seems to have had good experience with the ones they’ve purchased. That’s great and i hope it remains that way but the risk is there and the price reflects it. Sometime it’s worth it, all of my previous used cars where great deal with a bit of history to them, but rental cars i am not interested in.

As a former dealership employee, I can assure you that many personally owned vehicles are treated horribly. Oil changes happen upon trade in in some cases, lol!
We had one T Bird on the lot that made it 36k miles before it seized. No oil left. What was, was more a grease.
The cars are driven at the factory and for transport, too, and that isnt gentle especially at ports/rail yards.
I only kept my rental for 106k miles. Zero issues in could attribute to its rental life.

 

[velocityc6]

Carfax will show maintance records, I looked at this before purchase as an easy way to see if regular servicing was done.
This was the first time I purchased a former rental, so far so good.
Being it's a Mazda with excellent mechanical reliability, that goes a long way in boosting preowned confidence.

 

[TotalMazda1]

I recently searched for 2019 CX-5s on Autotrader to check resale values. I noticed that if you sort by price low to high, there are a ton of newly listed rental cars. Take a look and see how many there are. There don't appear to be any turbo models (GT-R/Signature) with rental histories.

Due to the current destruction of rental car demand, https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/23/business/hertz-avis-budget-enterprise-C-19-crisis/index.html companies are selling off their fleets and these cars are starting to show up at dealers after being auctioned.

The U.S. rental fleet is approximately 1.5 million vehicles in total. Avis expects to reduce their fleet by 20% by the end of June. This will reduce the resale values of many non-collectible late model vehicles.

How can you tell that it is a former rental car on autotrader? Just asking

 

[CX5_Driver]

How can you tell that it is a former rental car on autotrader? Just asking

It is not immediately shown as a rental if that is what your asking. Autotrader like so many other obscure this data for obvious reasons. But let's step through the process for Autotrader.

1) find a vehicle
example: https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicledetails.xhtml?listingId=551549393

first clue it is a one year old vehicle ~just shy of 30,000 miles. Rental fleets sell their vehicles at or near this mileage.

second clue - online only retailers like VROOM and CARVANA and many others grab these vehicles for an easy flip. They basically put them on a lift, look for anything obviously loose/broken. Do a basic operation test. Wash / wax / detail the vehicle and then take professional photos - blam online! I've read the turn around for one of these cars is less than 4 days.

2) scroll down to

notice still no mention of rental. But go ahead and click on the "Free CARFAX Report"

and TADA

rental vehicle history revealed.

 

[jmhumr]

I think the rental buying stigma is largely unfounded for non-sporty cars. Sure, some people treat them bad. But tons are airport rentals used by business travelers who do nothing but drive and park at a hotel. Also, most renters are paranoid as hell about getting charged for damage.

Now, I can see things being way different for those mustangs and corvettes for sale by hertz...

 

[youri]

I am one of those business traveller. I used to be in rental cars 2 weeks out of each month. Credit card provides damage insurance and work also pays for full accident coverage so not paranoid like others may be. I don’t treat the cars i rent gently, but i don’t beat them to s*** either.

I have almost never received a car without the dings and scratches that i mentioned earlier, but that is probably true of most used cars i guess. All i am saying is you don’t really know what you are getting. You can get a car that did most of its 30 000km doing highway driving and road trips, or you can get one that spent its 30 000 km in stop and go traffic in LA going from airport to hotel ( that’s worst in my opinion). But the history of the vehicle is what it is, just know that this is what you are buying into and figure out if the deal is right for you.

 

[hal2]

I think the rental buying stigma is largely unfounded for non-sporty cars. Sure, some people treat them bad. But tons are airport rentals used by business travelers who do nothing but drive and park at a hotel. Also, most renters are paranoid as hell about getting charged for damage.

Now, I can see things being way different for those mustangs and corvettes for sale by hertz...

^This

My extended family travels and rents often. I've seen them and others drive rentals. Unfamiliar surroundings actually makes people more cautious. The stigma of the way people drive rentals is outdated. Take a look at tourist spots/hotels and you'll see middle aged and older drivers usually very cautious. Also, I don't think they're returning damaged vehicles to service - they can't afford to

 

[Chocolate]