jrss13 Posted October 10, 2008 Share Posted October 10, 2008 So, I am debating between picking up a new 09 LGT LTD, or trying to save some money and get into a used 08. I found a used 08 that has 18,000 miles and has some very minor damage to the drivers side door and quarter panel. I can probably get into it for $19,000 vs $26 for a brand new 09. It has a completely clean carfax, but is listed as a corporate fleet vehicle. I assume it was the the owner or someone pretty high up in the corporation. I'm thinking that he probably scraped his door against something, and decided it was time for a new car. Anyways, has anyone had any experience purchasing a corporate fleet vehicle? The damage looks VERY minimal from the pictures. I obviously want to check it out in person, but it looks like you can't even notice it from a distance. I have asked the dealer to forward me more pictures. Does this seem like a pretty decent deal? It would reduce my payments by probably about $50-$60 a month, and would be a 5 yr loan vs a 6 yr for the 09. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chenc544 Posted October 10, 2008 Share Posted October 10, 2008 Looks like he might have grazed someone's bumper pulling into a parking spot or something. Doesn't look to bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gianspi Posted October 10, 2008 Share Posted October 10, 2008 I would never buy a fleet/lease/loaner...ever. Think about it. If you had a free car for 10,000 miles that you could simply give back, would you keep up on the maintenance and treat it right? In all honesty, I would beat the living S$!T out of it. enough zip ties and duct tape will fix anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slomoe2008 Posted October 10, 2008 Share Posted October 10, 2008 A fleet owned vehicle should not scare you. I drive a company vehicle and all maintence is picked up by the company. Further more failure to do any scheduled maintainence and there is a failure that warranty does not pick up because of failure do the maintinace then you are responsible for that repair. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrss13 Posted October 10, 2008 Author Share Posted October 10, 2008 Here are some additional photo's they sent me today. It definitely doesn't look bad at all. They have it listed just under $20,000 too, so it may be worth the 5 hour drive to check it out. Looking at KBB and edmunds, the price seems very good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Backlash Posted October 11, 2008 Share Posted October 11, 2008 A fleet owned vehicle should not scare you. I drive a company vehicle and all maintence is picked up by the company. Further more failure to do any scheduled maintainence and there is a failure that warranty does not pick up because of failure do the maintinace then you are responsible for that repair. just a case in point on company/fleet vehicles. My Brother in law. Every 2 years or so he gets a new company car/van. He always gets a 4wd or awd version of the vehicle. Normally a minivan or once a ford Escape, last car was a ford Edge. (he makes the point that he needs a 4wd/awd system to get to some of his clients, and for the most part is true) the truth was he wanted 4wd and something big enough to tow a small trailer, via a hitch he would not be allowed to put on... but does anyway. we take it off before he has to give the vehicle up for new model. True the company picks up the maint on the cars. and he always had regular scheduled maint done. but the way he drives them... it's a company car. Hell the Ford Escape had been run to death. My brother in law couldn't change the oil if his life depended on it... that's how much he knows of cars, but he likes to drive the hell out of them like he does. driving with him at times is scary... last year as he was about to turn in his Pontiac minivan for the Ford Edge, we went fishing in Montana two weeks before his trade. somewhere out there in the backroads is a driveline cover for the rear. cause he just insisted that HE drive instead of use our gas in my Dad's Truck. Did the company notice it? nope. car was perfectly fine to them. all you have to do is look under the van, albiet know what you are looking for... and you will see a sheared bolt and a slightly bent peice of the hanger where a cover once was. Not all company cars are treated the same. the car in question looks like it's on a lot, is this a Subaru dealer lot? If this is some used car lot, i'd say no. a Subaru Dealer lot, you at least know that Subaru did go through the car. true a warranty would cover you if anything goes wrong, but i'd say the odds something that can go wrong.. will be higher. buy an extended warranty if you do buy it, just in case. 2nd fleet vehicle story. mine. I bought a 1990 S-10 Truck in 1992. good price, and found out it was a fleet vehicle as well. i'll list the things that went wrong with it: Engine blown Transmission broke Radiator sprung a leak Rearend gear broke door jam came unwelded AC unit cracked heater core went out. Now, everything was 100% coverered under warranty. I did purchase an extended warranty just in case, and glad i did. and before you say "it's a Chevy/S-10/Blah blah blah" Come to find out, the truck was bought as part of a Texas Fleet, can't remember the company's name. When they traded them in for new trucks, some were shipped to Spokane where i live. The transmission in the S-10 when it broke the Dealer said that I had swapped the transmission. Come to find out, the Company in Texas swapped the transmission out already... and put in the Auto for the 2.8 V6, when the Truck had the 4.3 v6. they ran the Radiator dry enough that they cracked the Engine block. and welded it up... cheap fix. that eventually gave way while i had it. the rearend gear broke due to the incorrect Tranny, which broke not to long after the rear end gear was replaced. Yeah, everything was covered. but what a hassle. Carfax had NO record of any trouble with the truck, the dealer NEVER found anything wrong with it before they sold it to me... it wasn't until the transmission died that they were able to trace the numbers back to other trucks in texas, and found the Auto shop the company used and got the entire story on my truck. would i buy a fleet vehicle again? nope. YMMV, but fleet is not for me. now my mothers business has a Dodge Sprinter van. i'd buy that thing from her though... i know the history on that one personaly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Long Island Legacy Posted October 11, 2008 Share Posted October 11, 2008 Dude that Repair on the door will honestly run you about 2 grand to have it fixed correctly. I had a dent on my door similar to that, and i did not have my entire door shell replaced and it looks like shit. If anyone says they can fix it without a new shell it will deff never look the same. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Backlash Posted October 11, 2008 Share Posted October 11, 2008 not sure it would cost 2 grand. but then again the prices to have things fixed on cars anymore... and something i forgot to put in my long post above. When I asked if it's on a Subaru lot (or any major brand dealer lot for that matter) the way the used cars, and i'd assume Fleet as well, are handled anymore is MUCH better than they used to be. you hear all the commercials about 100 point inspection, Certified pre-owned etc. a Major brand lot would normally have gone through the car with a much finer tooth comb than a random used car lot. and are you sure this is a "Fleet/corporate" vehicle? or does a Lease return fall into that category by default also? I wonder if a Lease return falls into corporate by some twisted fine print that nobody reads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrss13 Posted October 11, 2008 Author Share Posted October 11, 2008 It is not a Subaru dealer, they sell brand new Dodge, Chrysler and Jeep. So at least they aren't any random used car lot. I couldn't imagine it would cost 2 grand to fix that door, to be honest, I could probably live with it. But if it bothered me that much, my uncle runs a pretty big local auto body shop. My concern is with the corporate fleet. I am being told it was a owner of a company who traded it in on a new dodge ram truck because he needed something larger. It is still covered by warranty for 4 more years. He told me through email that I could get it for $19,600. - I am sure I could work him down to $19,000 without too much trouble. I'm just debating it it's worth it, or if I should spend the extra $7500 for a 09. I don't know if I want a $435 monthly payment for 6 years vs $380 for 5 years Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Backlash Posted October 11, 2008 Share Posted October 11, 2008 my only concern would be the fleet part as well, if it were me. I am being told it was a owner of a company who traded it in on a new dodge ram truck because he needed something larger. then again, how can that be fleet? sounds more like it was a personal car, but he used some "fleet/Corporate" loophole/option to get the car cheaper. Like having his Company buy the Car and it was titled in the company name, instead of him for tax purposes. now the car isn't sounding as bad. heh, tell the dealer you'll pay $20k for it if they fix the door Or just straight ask them how good of a deal they will give you to fix the door. (after you get them to agree to $19k) Never know, they may be willing to fix it to sell the car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katalyst Posted October 11, 2008 Share Posted October 11, 2008 ^ def try and work out a deal to fix the door, might as well. or, get them to knock off 1k so you can fix the door yourself but then take it to your uncle who can hook you up for much less. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrss13 Posted October 12, 2008 Author Share Posted October 12, 2008 I am going to try to call him on Monday and see what they are willing to do before I head out there to look at it. It it were a couple hours closer, I'd have already checked it out... but 5-6 hours is quite a hike. My understanding is that it was a corporate fleet vehicle to save taxes too.. who gets a 5 sp turbo charged car for a company car? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ridgeracer Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 Looks like a fair deal to me...Good luck "Gimme mines Balboa...Gimme mines".....Clubber Lang - Mr. T Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LongHiway Posted October 13, 2008 Share Posted October 13, 2008 I've bought 2 Subaru fleet cars though much lower mileage (5 K & 3 K). No problems though maybe I've been lucky. Both times I've gotten more options on the car than I'd buy myself and they were sort of thrown into the deal for free. It's a used car so Subaru took the initial depreciation hit. Buyer beware. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishbone Posted October 14, 2008 Share Posted October 14, 2008 Between my wife and I we've owned 2 company cars and never had any problem with any of them. Granted, they were in the fleet for only 1 year. Having said that, the level of scrutiny I would put that car under would be unbelievably high. In the past I didn't care so much, now I would. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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