Can someone tell me the point of registering a car as a "fleet" vehicle pretty easily? I'm lost since I thought a car line just earned that name after many of its cars were used by cops, rangers, governments, etc. Completely wrong there, I guess.

Karl, regarding your reference to the Wikipedia article, I have three comments/observations.

First, remember that Wikipedia is only as good as the last info that someone edited into a subject. As has been shown on many an occasion, many people who post there have a hidden agenda or bias. This article shows a bias, IMO. It may not be much and could certainly be argued, but the article certainly lumps all fleet types into one rather unattractive bunch. Do not forget that Wikipedia articles and/or information may be 100% accurate and unbiased, somewhat accurate and complete, or very misleading and biased. It all depends upon the integrity and viewpoint of the author.

Second, I have personally purchased three off-lease/ex-rental vehicles in my car buying life and have had the best of luck doing so. These three cars have the honor of being my most reliable and long-lived purchases outside of one new car I bought. This includes my current 1997 Bonneville, purchased off-lease with 31K on the clock. I have had no issues other than the expected maintenance items, plus the standard UIM and LIM gasket failures. And they were not until over 125K.

Third, from a personal perspective...I believe it is much more important to carefully inspect a car inside and out and have a trusted mechanic drive it for a considered professional opinion, than to trust generalizations about groups of used car catagories. And frankly, unless I knew the person offering up a used car for sale, I would have more feelings of concern about that person'* care and maintenance record than I would from a large company that spent regular money to maintain vehicles for a fleet.

It certainly helps to see a record of the maintenance on a vehicle and many fleet operators have those records that they will provide on a vehicle they are replacing.

OK, there you have my 2 cents, FWIW.

I agree with Lash. My friend'* dad has an '89 cavalier that was used as a rental car for 15k miles. Right now, it has around 180k miles, and he has not had to replace anything major on the car; just regular maintenance items. Basically, I'd say it'd be a car-by-car decision. Inspect the car thoroughly, check everything just like you normally would. See if they can build in a warranty to the car. You can also use that as a buying strategy, especially since he'* a friend. He'* gonna give you a good deal either way, I think, since he probably got it for cheap. I say go with it

Found the link in this thread. Thanks!

Carfax FTL. According to Carfax, my car was never in an accident (I know it was, filed a police report, insurance claim, everything) and the original owner still owns my car.

Carfax shows my 95 Bonneville as a one owner but I'm the third.

yeah, carfax doesn't reflect the accident my 89 was in nor the 93....and it said my 98 was bought in mn, registered in ct and then re sold in wisconsin i know where the car was, thats not where it was.

Carfax doesn't show that my car was ever totaled either...and it was.

Edit...the new carfax report i just got does show the accident, but not that the car was totalled.