Should You Buy a Used Tesla from Hertz?

In an informative story earlier this year by John Goreman of Torque News titled “Hertz Ditching Tens of Thousands of EVs―Here Is What The Company Said In Its Own Words”, the writer discussed the news that the car rental giant Hertz had decided to unload a large portion of their rental EVs.

Reportedly, this was decided upon by Hertz in order to boost profits for the company.

However, some of the points made from what Hertz actually stated in their explanation of their EV Exodus boiled down to:

• Hertz has found that electric vehicles are less profitable and come with a higher cost of operation.
• Hertz found that EVs lost their value faster than predicted.
• Hertz specifically mentioned that its electric vehicles had higher repair costs than its ICE vehicles in the fleet.

Not exactly selling points.

However, also not exactly unexpected findings as well if you have been following the costs of owning an EV of which there are some not-so-hidden and some hidden costs of owing an EV―depending how much research you do before buying one.

Is Buying a Tesla Rental from Hertz a Good Idea?

Taking a quick look at the Hertz Car Sales website for my area (Cincinnati, OH) there are a lot of 2022 and 2023 models that are running mostly between $21,000 to $27,000. In fact, some Tesla models are going even cheaper in other areas. Sounds attractive…right?!

Perhaps not.

Firstly, you have to consider who you are buying from. Car rental agencies do not necessarily have a stellar reputation:

• Car Renters Risk Arrest Because of This Rental Agency’s Policies
• How Car Rental Companies Scam People Out of Money
• Red Flag Used Car Dealers Do Not Want Buyers to Know About

Secondly, car rental agencies are notorious for not maintaining their fleet of vehicles to cut down on costs. How often have you rented a car only to have to see an annoying “Time for maintenance” ding and message on the dash?! Lack of evidence of maintenance on anu used car is a red flag for used car shoppers.

To further the point of why that cheap Tesla might not be a good buy for car shoppers looking for a great deal, here is a recent Scotty Kilmer YouTube channel episode where Scotty explains why buying one from Hertz is a really bad idea.

Please note: Only the first 10 minutes of the video are relevant to this topic.

Hertz is Being Forced to Sell Their Cars and You Can Get a Hell of a Deal

For additional articles on buying a used car, here are three for your consideration:

• Used Prius Shopper Warning by Toyota Mechanic
• An Important Used Car Hidden Damage Warning for Used Car Shoppers
• Why You Should Avoid Used Cars That Smell Like a Cat Litter Box

Timothy Boyer is an automotive reporter based in Cincinnati. Experienced with early car restorations, he regularly restores older vehicles with engine modifications for improved performance. Follow Tim on  “Zen and the Art of DIY Car Repair” website, the Zen Mechanic

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