Would you buy a 2018 Model S that was a rental?

[laim]

New to the forum! Been reading for about a week as I’ve been thinking about getting a Tesla (currently drive a Leaf). this is my first post!

I saw a 2018 Model S 75D with about 20K miles on it the other day at a dealership and test drove it. The salesperson said it had been a rental.

I have typically shied away from cars that had been rentals. The salesperson gave me a spiel about how rentals were the best cars to buy because they were so well maintained. Not sure I believe that.

Would you have concerns buying a Model S that had been a rental?

thank you!!

 

[Tam]

...The salesperson gave me a spiel about how rentals were the best cars to buy because they were so well maintained...

I would be suspicious of that theory if it's a gasoline car because if they skipped routine maintenance like oil change, that could be bad.

But if they skip maintenance on a Tesla, your Air Conditioning might smell bad due to an old air filter but that's about it.

 

[SO16]

New to the forum! Been reading for about a week as I’ve been thinking about getting a Tesla (currently drive a Leaf). this is my first post!

I saw a 2018 Model S 75D with about 20K miles on it the other day at a dealership and test drove it. The salesperson said it had been a rental.

I have typically shied away from cars that had been rentals. The salesperson gave me a spiel about how rentals were the best cars to buy because they were so well maintained. Not sure I believe that.

Would you have concerns buying a Model S that had been a rental?

thank you!!

If it was a gas car, I’d shy away from it. People are typically hard on rentals. Fortunately I think you can drive an EV a bit harder without that worry. I’d be more concerned about making sure any autopilot features transfer to you since buying from a dealer.

Check out onlyusedtesla.com for other options or buy used from Tesla.

 

[Lasttoy]

If it's a 2018? It still has all the warranty left on it. Normally dealers will reset warranty back to zero if it's a rental. Before I bought my S from a third party, I called Tesla, they told me all the maintenance had been done. After I bought it, they sent me the original window invoice.
That was 4 yrs ago, not sure now how much u can get out of them.

 

[amiral_sub]

if say yes ! You know EVs as you own a leaf. If the interior and exterior are in good condition, where could be the problem ?

 

[whitex]

In order to answer any kind of "would you buy" question always requires details, such as what is the car, model, options, mileage, accident/salvage status, and of course price. If the question is "would you rather buy a rental vs. single owner used car, assuming same car, same condition, same price" I'd go with single owner car. If there is a 50% discount for rental vs. single owner, I'd most likely go for rental, assuming it passes my inspection. Any other conditions, you'd need to provide more details on the deal.

 

[Battpower]

Reasons I would be cautious would relate to non-obvious damage say from hitting a pothole. Rentals are usually checked visually if not by the rental Co then by the renter at each rental for fear of being saddled with blame for existing damage.

If the rental outlet is near to Tesla Service then they could have minor issues looked at easily, but if further away then they are more likely to have let non-critical items stack up.

Check tyres very carefully including the tread area. I have seen chunks of tread missing that I would never have expected with most cars. Rental users very likely to floor the accelarator several times each rental. Why else rent a Tesla?

For same reason check carefully for drive shaft related judder, especially in high suspension setting (if air).

Also, double check and get in writing any 'soft options' (charging, AP, whatever) that you think are going to transfer with the car, and get them to provide current evidence directly from Tesla to confirm.

As others said, I would be less put off having an ex rental EV than ICE, but it's not a simple 'no need to worry' scenario, and your diligence will need to relate to different areas.

 

[ewoodrick]

If the price is right, why not? Set your standard for what the price should be.

 

[AMPd]

I rented a model s from enterprise and it was really nice. Other than the smell of weed I had no issue with it, wear and tear was very minimal, it had 20k miles on it.

 

[D.E.]

Was the car charged and left at 100% charge routinely? That might be routine for a rental.
That is hard on the battery and should show up as decreased range. I’d have a look at that before purchasing.

In general I try to keep my charge 80% or less, unless I’m going on a trip, then I may go higher. Still even if charging to 100%, I’ll time it so it fully charges about the time I leave, that way the car doesn’t sit at 100% charge for long.

As far as the dealer’s claim that rental cars are better because they’re better maintained, that probably doesn’t apply for the Tesla, there’s no routine maintenance. There’s tire rotation on some models but that’s about it.

I think the battery, then possibly wear and tear from renters would be my concerns.

 

[PhilDavid]

Why not pay Tesla an hour of labor to so a prepurchase inspection?

They can then also verify what features and options are active in the car.

 

[D.E.]

Why not pay Tesla an hour of labor to so a prepurchase inspection?

They can then also verify what features and options are active in the car.

That would be money very well spent.

 

[D.E.]

You’ll want to look under the car as well. Look for impact damage to the battery, damage from improper jacking, also look for missing fasteners that might indicate the battery was removed at some point. One fellow posted an inspection video, that would be well worth watching.

 

[SabrToothSqrl]

I once had the fastest car in the world.
a 2017 RAV4.

you know why? because it was a RENTAL.

Also: fastest car in world:

 

[mkc731]

Was the car charged and left at 100% charge routinely? That might be routine for a rental.
That is hard on the battery and should show up as decreased range. I’d have a look at that before purchasing.

In general I try to keep my charge 80% or less, unless I’m going on a trip, then I may go higher. Still even if charging to 100%, I’ll time it so it fully charges about the time I leave, that way the car doesn’t sit at 100% charge for long.

As far as the dealer’s claim that rental cars are better because they’re better maintained, that probably doesn’t apply for the Tesla, there’s no routine maintenance. There’s tire rotation on some models but that’s about it.

I think the battery, then possibly wear and tear from renters would be my concerns.

Relatedly, if the car was mostly charged using superchargers, you may experience throttling of supercharging speed sooner than is typical with a car charged mostly on a slow AC charger. There are various estimates of how much supercharging you would need to do before throttling is appreciable, but you may start to notice significantly reduced charging speeds after the car has supercharged for 10,000-20,000 kwh (so maybe 30k-60k miles of supercharged range). So you could be close to throttling if the car was almost entirely supercharged.

 

[Battpower]

Relatedly, if the car was mostly charged using superchargers, you may experience throttling of supercharging speed sooner than is typical with a car charged mostly on a slow AC charger. There are various estimates of how much supercharging you would need to do before throttling is appreciable, but you may start to notice significantly reduced charging speeds after the car has supercharged for 10,000-20,000 kwh (so maybe 30k-60k miles of supercharged range). So you could be close to throttling if the car was almost entirely supercharged.

is there any way of seeing evidence of this without hooking up to diag port?

 

[cookie99]

New to the forum! Been reading for about a week as I’ve been thinking about getting a Tesla (currently drive a Leaf). this is my first post!

I saw a 2018 Model S 75D with about 20K miles on it the other day at a dealership and test drove it. The salesperson said it had been a rental.

I have typically shied away from cars that had been rentals. The salesperson gave me a spiel about how rentals were the best cars to buy because they were so well maintained. Not sure I believe that.

Would you have concerns buying a Model S that had been a rental?

thank you!!

these are enterprise loaner cars that tesla gives out when you service your car. At 2 years they are all considered end of life by enterprise and sold in bulk to auctions. Enterprise dumps hundreds of them in auction every month. Dealers pick them up, make a small markup and send them back out in the wild. They're not bad, just all very basic trim level, which is actually not bad for a 2018, as Air suspension ,glass roof and premium sound are all standard for 2018. They're all going to come in black paint and cloth seats. just gotta pick the one with the least amount of butt-wear.

no autopilot though, gotta add $3k. and ofcourse 7k for FSD

 

[Darmie]

When I sold my Model S, Tesla wanted me to acknowledge if it was a private sale or to a 3rd party. I called and ask why the question on the email. They mention that 3party the warranty on the car was not transferable from any dealer. Now, this was over a year ago and things do change. Who was the rental company. Heck contact them and see if there are any Tesla deals. Why pay for the dealer markup. Throwing around "It's a rental" thing I find odd, especially it being a tesla.

 

[D.E.]

When I sold my Model S, Tesla wanted me to acknowledge if it was a private sale or to a 3rd party. I called and ask why the question on the email. They mention that 3party the warranty on the car was not transferable from any dealer. Now, this was over a year ago and things do change. Who was the rental company. Heck contact them and see if there are any Tesla deals. Why pay for the dealer markup. Throwing around "It's a rental" thing I find odd, especially it being a tesla.

If you are suggesting that Tesla won’t honor the normal warranty if the car has been sold by a dealer, I don’t think that is right. The balance of the warranty should stay with the car.

 

[2101Guy]

mitigate your risk by simply asking the seller if you can pay for a pre purchase inspection out of pocket, for a full inspection the closest Tesla Service Center. They can check everything, including battery and motor condition, degradation of battery, etc