Buy a former service loaner?

[VicVinegar]

I'm playing with the idea of buying a slightly used vehicle to replace my wife's current SUV because I have nearly convinced myself that it is a ticking time bomb of repair bills.

Anyway, I was looking at Subaru Outbacks and noticed one dealer had 3-4 service loaners listed. Subaru Certified, and some had as low as 4k miles on them. They also had the option (bluetooth phone and audio) I've been trying to find, which is apparently difficult to find on these Outbacks since it required a stereo package.

Now a service loaner with 25k on it, I might be leery about abuse. But only 4k? How bad could it be? Especially with a Subaru Outback. It isn't like it was taken to the track.

I might not even get an Outback, but was just wondering what someone else's take on this kind of offering is. The price was pretty good too for a certified 2011 with that low of miles. It was one of that particular dealer's loaners too, you can still see the sticker on the rear window saying so, so it isn't like they bought a bunch at auction to sell.

 

[bepperb]

I probably wouldn't buy a rental corvette. An Outback is different. I would inspect it like anything else, roll underneath if possible, bring a code reader for stored codes (probably not necessary if you're under a long warranty), look for accident or other incidents that could happen on any car.

I really doubt abuse is any worse than someone who would lease a vehicle, and that is where "low mileage" "barely used" cars come from, either fleets or leases.

 

[JosephHarmon]

They would be fine.

They would be warranted

 

[John_K]

Originally Posted By: JosephHarmon
They would be fine.

They would be warranted


The Sonata in my sig was a loaner with 5k on it. 7 years and 65k miles later no issues, best car we've ever owned. I would say go for it.

John

 

[AuthorEditor]

In my limited experience with them, service loaners tend to be pretty nice cars that appear to be well maintained because the dealer wants to make an impression on the customer and encourage them to upgrade their ride. Probably a good deal if you want something lightly used.

 

[daves87rs]

Originally Posted By: JosephHarmon
They would be fine.

They would be warranted


+1

 

[VicVinegar]

That is what I was thinking. Certified used and low miles, probably not much of a leap of faith involved.

One more scenario I wouldn't mind some input on. Last night I am going through the used car inventory and came across a "too good to be true" price and I am not sure what to make of it.

The car is a Toyota at a Toyota dealership. It is Toyota Certified. Low miles for a 3 year old car. Current advertised price on the website is about $8.5k below Edmunds TMV for a certified used model in this trim. Pictures show it looks fine. Carfax was posted and there is no history of wrecks. It was leased by one owner prior to this. I even double checked the dealer's website to make sure it wasn't an error on the Autotrader listing.

Where is the catch guys? ~32k on it and certified, so it can't be messed up mechanically. I've seen similar vehicles in the area listed below "book" value, but still about $5k more than this one is. It is silver...so its not like the color is awful or something. Unfortunately the dealer is pretty far from me to swing by and check it out.

 

[MrCritical]

If I was sure it was a dealer service loaner, probably would be fine.

If there was absolutely any chance it had been a daily rental, no way.

 

[The Critic]

How much of a price diff is there between new and an ex-loaner?

I've found that on 30k+ cars, the loaners can be a good deal. But cars < $25k, the price diff is hardly worth it.

 

[eljefino]

Certified doesn't mean much.

The catch could be it's nailed down and they won't let you buy it.

It probably started life as one of six of its exact same color/ options and they shoved it into fleet service.

 

[Hokiefyd]

Originally Posted By: eljefino
Certified doesn't mean much.


It may or may not, but that depends on the manufacturer. You sometimes get better warranties on Certified vehicles than you would on even a new model, especially when it comes to the power train. Most Certified programs offer something like a 7/100 mile power train warranty, whereas new gets you either 3/36 or 5/60.

On that particular Toyota vehicle (what is it?), you'll get a 7/100 power train warranty, and they'll likely try to sell you a "certified wrap" warranty which covers most of the rest of the car for the same 7/100 timeframe. Negotiate with them on it; you can buy these for less than half of their initial offer (I have, twice). You end up getting a relatively low risk vehicle for a lot less than new.