Cars Blog  Finance Blogs » Cars » Are former rental cars
unreliable?  Are former rental cars unreliable?  By Claes Bell ·
Wednesday, July 13, 2011 Posted: 4 pm ET  I received an email
this week from a rental car industry insider asking me if I had
any figures on the percentage of late-model used cars that were
originally owned by rental companies. I didn't have up-to-date
numbers for her, but we did eventually get into an interesting
discussion about the merits of buying used-cars formerly owned
by rental car companies, and it got me thinking.  Usually when
you go to buy a late-model used car that's two to three years
old, that used car comes from one of three places:    1. A new-
car lover who was willing to trade in their car and take the
depreciation hit to own the latest and greatest car model.   2.
A leaser turning in a car coming off a 24-month or 36-month
lease.   3. A rental car company routinely selling off used
inventory.  Cars in that last category sometimes raise red flags
in car buyers' minds. The