During the coronavirus pandemic, rental car companies took a big hit with passengers sticking close to home and airports turned into virtual ghost towns. Hertz, which also owns the companies Dollar and Thrifty, announced bankruptcy on Friday. Industry analysts expect a substantial portion of the company’s fleet to sell out.
So this will carry some offers to car buyers, experts say, may very well wish to consider.
Huge discounts
Even when we were not in an economic recession, shoppers at one of the big car rental companies like Hertz, Avis or Enterprise were still able to find a decent deal on a used car.
Car – rental companies regularly auction off vehicles, usually after one or two years of operation. For example, a spokeswoman says that Enterprise, which also owns the Alamo and National brands, sells a million used cars worldwide a year.
And they also market these cars online to other used car dealers at no-haggle rates often at a substantial discount.
Ivan Drury, an automotive industry analyst with Edmunds.com, last year tried to buy a used car, he bought from Avis a 2018 Ford Fusion Hybrid.
He had previously analyzed used car prices for his job in 2017 and found that rental car companies were selling their own used cars at much cheaper rates than other used car dealers, to his surprise. Based on the specific model, purchasing directly from a rental company rather than a used car dealer could save anywhere from 5 percent to 15 percent, he found.
“The deals are just too fantastic in some cases,” he said, “I was sort of floored.”
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