Buying a used rental car is a good deal. I used to work for a rental car agency, and I’d hear customers tell me this all the time. If you’re lucky, maybe, but there are myriad reasons why you shouldn’t. I’ll spare everyone the novella and list the main reasons why:
1) They are abused…badly. Most would assume this is by the renters, and that does happen occasionally, but the overwhelming majority drive like normal humans. No, it’s the rental car employees. Have you ever seen the movie Waiting…? It’s like that, but with rental cars instead of overpriced food.
2) They are poorly maintained. A rental car company does the bare minimum maintenance to keep them on the road and making revenue. Servicing a car = zero utilization, and sometimes they will even delay a much-needed oil change/tire rotation because they need to rent it and have no other cars on the lot.
3) They aren’t much, if any, cheaper than any other used car, at least not that I’ve seen. Not to mention that rental cars are often equipped with the bare minimum options that are only available to fleet customers. Even with my employee discount, I was able to find better deals on the same car that was CPO at a dealer.
YMMV, but shop around before you commit.
I did this once when I purchased a 2013 Chevy Sonic hatchback. I found out a few years later that it had been involved in a fender-bender that no one could give me information about. But it was cheap — I only paid $199 a month for it. Just know what you’re getting into if you do plan on buying a used rental car.