Similar to the Hertz thread, picture less maintenence, more abuse.
Not looking for a smoking deal, just something that fills the bill and I can afford. I see nice trucks also with a "Rebuild" Title, stay away?
Similar to the Hertz thread, picture less maintenence, more abuse.
Not looking for a smoking deal, just something that fills the bill and I can afford. I see nice trucks also with a "Rebuild" Title, stay away?
Yes, depending on the fleet and how they maintain.
https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/tell-me-about-fleet-vehicles/171322/page1/
914Driver said:Similar to the Hertz thread, picture less maintenence, more abuse.
Not looking for a smoking deal, just something that fills the bill and I can afford. I see nice trucks also with a "Rebuild" Title, stay away?
Depends on the state. In my old home of Nebraska, a "Rebuilt" title could be required if it had it's engine or transmission replaced, but that can also be a "classic" car only sort of thing.
Well you have a 15 year old truck with very low miles for it's age. Pricing on it is a subjective thing. Some would say "It's old and should be cheaper!" others would say "But it's only got 56K miles!" Bottom line is you have to deice if it's worth it.
FYI. I did buy a commercial lease vehicle in 2017. It was a 2013 F-150 with 144K miles on it. It looked and drove like new! The hitch showed no wear at all! The bed with the factory remove able bed liner looked as good as the day it was installed at the factory! Other than needing a brake job it needed nothing. The brakes I did myself. I also replaced the wheels and tires with something nicer.
So that's my experience with a vehicle that is somewhat similar to what you're thinking about doing only you're looking at an older vehicle but with less miles.
I did, assuming rental fleet counts. My 2017 Grand Caravan GT is an ex-Enterprise rental. I doubt it saw more abusive use than during my ownership. Had just under 25K miles when I bought it in July 2018 and passed 74K. So far I've just done a few oil changes and bought new tires for it.
Needs more info. While some fleet vehicles are undermaintained and heavily abused, a lot of fleets may be abused, but well taken care of. Well, hell... that's what I'm gonna do. I've had two police cars. Regardless, you'll be replacing a part here or there. It's more important to know the quirks and weak parts of the vehicle. In that truck's case, it either has a punishable 4.6 modular v8 spark plug blowing engine (never had it happen in any of my modulars) or it has a 5.4L that is known for timing chain issues and should be replaced ASAP. I'd be crawling underneath to check the rust situation before looking any further on anything. It'll have a brake line running along the fuel tank that can be a fun spot to spring a leak.
It depends on the fleet. I would never by one of our vehicles, we wring every bit of useable life out of ours
I wanted a used truck that was reliable but not pretty enough that Id be worried about scratching the paint or afraid to get it dirty. I wound up buying a 2007 F150 with 153k on it a couple years ago. The truck was originally owned by an electrical contractor. The guy who owned it when I bought it drove it until he retired. The company sold it to him as part of his retirement package. He had all (and I mean ALL) of the service records. It had a couple minor issues. The driver's seat cover was torn, leaky diff pinion seal, etc. There are a couple chips out of the paint on the tailgate. I bought a new seat cover and foam off eBay and installed it myself. I had a shop do the pinion seal and plugs. I wound up having to retorque the plugs. Apparently that's a common problem. Other than that we've put ~10k on it and it has been rock solid. I think getting the records is key. You can tell how it was treated. I'd want to know the story behind the rebuilt title. Was it in an accident, flood damage or did they just replace the motor? Personally I won't buy any car that's been rebuilt from an flood damage or accident. There's just too many things that can be still go wrong.
I have.
Most of the vehicles I buy for the business are previous fleet vehicles. I buy them with 100K-200K on them and run them until they start looking old. The last several were E150 bought cheap and run to half a million miles.
The current fleet of Colorado trucks have just shy of 300k on them. They are starting to look dated. Replacing them was on this year's agenda before the economy tanked. I'll probably run them another year or so now.
Thanks guys. Colorado or Frontier is my size, don't really need a full size. Hard to find a mid-sized truck with only two doors lately.
In reply to 914Driver :
I don't see many two door trucks anymore, even in full size. Of the three mid-sized trucks I have, all are extended cabs. My full size is a crew cab.
I bought a 95 P71 in about 2000, found out right after it was gavelled down that it had been through the auction a couple of months before, then resold.
Kept it about five years. Still one of my favorite cars ever. It was a slick top, unmarked, with the stock interior. No holes in the roof, no decals, no A pillar spotlight, etc. It had the stock seats, and even had cruise control.
I figured that it had been used by the clerk of the court or something. Turned out, it was actually the county's designated chase car for high speed pursuit.
The invoices in the glove box told the story. They showed new tires every 8,000 miles, and new brakes every 12,000.
The transmission was rebuilt at 40,000. One invoice for a single tire noted, "ran over stop stick in pursuit."
I met the guy that maintained it the next year. He remembered it and confirmed it's role with the county. He said he had wanted to buy it.
I drove it all over the west coast of Florida doing relief work, took it on some road trips, then gave it to my wife for a daily for a couple of years, and finally gave it to my dad. Still miss it.
The next year, I bought a 4x4 ranger that had used by the Hillsborough county Parks department. It was beat up, but well maintained and ran ok. Sold it on to my father in law, who barely drove it and maintained it less, so I don't know how it would have been.
I'd still buy another fleet car again. Any used car is a gamble.
Years ago I bought my Brother in Laws "fleet" vehicle. It was a fully loaded Mercury Sable LS premium with all the available bells and whistles.
It was dealership maintained with all the records. Granted, he was a drug rep and had to keep vehicle presentable to impress medical field folks.
mr2s2000elise said:Yes, depending on the fleet and how they maintain.
https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/tell-me-about-fleet-vehicles/171322/page1/
Thanks, where's the Search button?
I mean, I'd buy an old cop car....
914Driver said:Thanks guys. Colorado or Frontier is my size, don't really need a full size. Hard to find a mid-sized truck with only two doors lately.
Didn't you buy an old truck from the southwest?
We bought an early year colorado from the city of baltimore years ago. Aside from the dent in the side where some idiot clearly backed one of their trailers into it it didn't have any problems.
Old truck from the southwest was too nice to do truck things with.
914Driver said:Old truck from the southwest was too nice to do truck things with.
Does not compute.
My MIL bought a ex-RJR fleet car back in late 08. Outside have using copious amounts of oil, thanks GM, and it basically sitting long periods of time leading to lot rot of the brakes. Never had a real issue with it.
Bought this 3 years ago as a 1 year answer to my towing question. Former DOT truck with 248k on it now. Has needed normal northeast truck things like brake lines and rockers, but has otherwise been a faithful buddy.
I'd love to buy one of the trucks the base uses but have no idea if/when/how they go on sale. They're Fords, ranging from F150-F350.
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