Buying a used Van

[chefdennis]

Ok, heres what i have just come across. MAJOR Rental/Leasing company owned Vans. These vans were leased to businesses on long term contracts (3-5 yrs). They were serviced per the maintainence agreement in the original lease by the Leasing companies service centers and all records go with the vans. Case in pint, 2004 GMC ext van gas v-8 , A/C 120,000 miles. All maintainance and repairs done by the leasing service center for the 3 yr term of the lease. All records go with it. 30 day unlimited mileage powertrain warranty, can purchase a 100,000 6 month warranty.

This is a major company with over 500 service, leasing, rental centers all over the country with over 2000 approved independent garages also.

Pro's and con's please........

Oh and the prices is better then what i have seen on most sites classifed forums.

 

[greg334]

OK I was a fleet manager once, the first thing I learned is leased vehicles are not maintained like you would assume. Some of the vehicles are poorly maintained to be exact and others are patched together with some of the worst work that could be done on a vehicle.


With this in mind, the vans that are leased are usually part of a commercial deal so there is no control over how they are treated. What I mean is that a personal lease (which is a waste of money) leaves the burden on the person to return the vehicle in an expected shape, i.e. no stone chips, no dents, clean interior etc… But a commercial lease does not make this requirement as part of a larger lease agreement, an overlooked issue.

No matter, there are a lot of deals to be made with post lease vehicles. As with any vehicle purchase that you will use as a tool, you got to do due diligence when locating and purchasing. This means don’t just take the work of someone but go and get the thing checked out. For a van it is still a mechanic look it over, get a printout of the work done by the manufacture/dealer and the oil analyzed.