Is it a good idea to buy this Volvo that used to be in Hawaii?
September 4, 2015 12:01 PM Subscribe
We're thinking of buying a 2013 Volvo that is up for sale at a non-Volvo car dealer in Southern California. A background check revealed that apparently the car was initially licensed as a rental in Hawaii (?!?) and later owned in California. This seems really ... odd. Is there any reason to be afraid there is something wrong with the car?
We don't know anything about why the car would have been sent from Hawaii to CA. We haven't seen the car in person yet. The price is good. A check of the VIN does not reveal any accidents.
We don't know anything about why the car would have been sent from Hawaii to CA. We haven't seen the car in person yet. The price is good. A check of the VIN does not reveal any accidents.
Best answer: Many used cars on the mainland were previously rentals in Hawaii, and they often have fewer miles than mainland rental cars because, well, the islands are only so big. Definitely get the carfax and have the car examined in person. Check especially for water damage, rust, and brake issues. I moved to Hawaii two months ago, and rented a number of cars on and off for the first six weeks (until I got my own car) -- every single one had messed up brakes from people riding the brakes the entire way down the 10,000ft elevation road from the volcano to sea level. I'd also check the suspension and alignment (these might not be the actual terms, but you know what I mean) - plenty of people do pseudo-off-roading in their rental cars here, even though it's a breach of the rental agreement.
posted by melissasaurus at 12:35 PM on September 4, 2015 [3 favorites]
posted by melissasaurus at 12:35 PM on September 4, 2015 [3 favorites]
Where in Hawaii? YMMV on Maui or the big island, but I live on Oahu. Used to live in California and bought a used car there, so I'm familiar with used car pricing/mileage in both markets. I also bought (and am very happy with) a retired rental car from the local Hertz car sales. Most cars on their lot had low enough miles/was young enough that the factory warranty still applied.
teremala is correct in that most used cars available locally are former rental cars - as evidenced by looking up the records of used cars around here, as well as the guys from one of the local dealers coming in to pick out cars to sell for the weekend while I was talking to my sales guy (quote from him backed up by my own research - "you can buy from me or buy from those guys for a few grand more").
If I were you, I'd be more concerned about how the previous owner treated the car vs its time as a rental, especially in Hawaii. People around here when complaining about traffic bounce around the completely unverified figure of 50K cars coming to Oahu each year. That many cars, on an island where it's hard to do more than 10K miles a year, that never sees winter? I wouldn't put it past me to recommend someone buy a used rental from here and pay to have it shipped back to the mainland themselves - they'd probably still come out ahead in terms of vehicle condition/price. Especially compared to California where it's hard to drive less than 15K a year.
posted by NoRelationToLea at 12:38 PM on September 4, 2015
teremala is correct in that most used cars available locally are former rental cars - as evidenced by looking up the records of used cars around here, as well as the guys from one of the local dealers coming in to pick out cars to sell for the weekend while I was talking to my sales guy (quote from him backed up by my own research - "you can buy from me or buy from those guys for a few grand more").
If I were you, I'd be more concerned about how the previous owner treated the car vs its time as a rental, especially in Hawaii. People around here when complaining about traffic bounce around the completely unverified figure of 50K cars coming to Oahu each year. That many cars, on an island where it's hard to do more than 10K miles a year, that never sees winter? I wouldn't put it past me to recommend someone buy a used rental from here and pay to have it shipped back to the mainland themselves - they'd probably still come out ahead in terms of vehicle condition/price. Especially compared to California where it's hard to drive less than 15K a year.
posted by NoRelationToLea at 12:38 PM on September 4, 2015
I don't get why this would be any different than any other car bought in one state and sold in another.
One explanation would be a used car dealer in Hawaii selling some of his stock to a California dealer. Or perhaps the rental company found they had a bigger rental market for Volvos in California than in Hawaii, or when they were done with it that rental company might've shipped it to where they could sell it for more than enough to cover the shipping costs. Or the rental company sold it to someone in Hawaii who later moved, with the car, to the mainland.
My family lived in Hawaii for a couple years; while there my parents bought a station wagon. We later moved back to the mainland with that station wagon --- did it's first registration having been in Hawaii mean it was somehow damaged or defective when they sold it several years and three states later?
posted by easily confused at 12:44 PM on September 4, 2015
One explanation would be a used car dealer in Hawaii selling some of his stock to a California dealer. Or perhaps the rental company found they had a bigger rental market for Volvos in California than in Hawaii, or when they were done with it that rental company might've shipped it to where they could sell it for more than enough to cover the shipping costs. Or the rental company sold it to someone in Hawaii who later moved, with the car, to the mainland.
My family lived in Hawaii for a couple years; while there my parents bought a station wagon. We later moved back to the mainland with that station wagon --- did it's first registration having been in Hawaii mean it was somehow damaged or defective when they sold it several years and three states later?
posted by easily confused at 12:44 PM on September 4, 2015
One thing about cars in Hawaii is the salt air. Definitely check for corrosion and corrosion repairs that may not have solved the problem.
posted by rhizome at 1:35 PM on September 4, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by rhizome at 1:35 PM on September 4, 2015 [4 favorites]
I have memories from when I lived in Hawaii of being told that no car in Hawaii stays rust-free.
posted by aniola at 1:36 PM on September 4, 2015
posted by aniola at 1:36 PM on September 4, 2015
Just check for rust. Rental cars don't get a lot of miles in HI and the driving conditions are generally not tough. It's not unusual to ship a car back and forth from CA to HI, it's about a $1k to do so, companies and individuals do so all the time for various reasons, such as liquidating assets when a business shuts down or personal relocations etc., which might be what happened in your case. HI does have annual required safety check/inspection like other states do.
posted by zdravo at 1:45 PM on September 4, 2015
posted by zdravo at 1:45 PM on September 4, 2015
Totally normal. Rental companies send their cars to an auction (well, there is basically just one auction house with many locations) after they're done with them where car dealers buy them for their inventory. The auctions are often online so it's not unusual for a dealer to have cars from all over the country.
It came from an area near salt water so you should be a little more concerned with rust but as long as there isn't a problem now, there shouldn't be one later.
Rental car companies take VERY good care of their cars and my father (who has been a used car sales manager for 25+ years thinks they're the best value whenever anyone needs to buy a car (used or otherwise).
posted by VTX at 2:45 PM on September 4, 2015
It came from an area near salt water so you should be a little more concerned with rust but as long as there isn't a problem now, there shouldn't be one later.
Rental car companies take VERY good care of their cars and my father (who has been a used car sales manager for 25+ years thinks they're the best value whenever anyone needs to buy a car (used or otherwise).
posted by VTX at 2:45 PM on September 4, 2015
Best answer: The other the reason the car could have been moved is that it was owned by someone in the military and they shipped it back with them when their tour was over. I would second everything that has been said about salt air and rust, it should be fine, just be thorough when inspecting it.
posted by deadwater at 9:39 PM on September 4, 2015
posted by deadwater at 9:39 PM on September 4, 2015
Keep in mind that rentals are often abused. No one cares how they treat a rental - check it out and get it inspected.
posted by bendy at 9:48 PM on September 5, 2015
posted by bendy at 9:48 PM on September 5, 2015
Response by poster: Just a quick update to close this:
We had the car inspected by a dealer (for a fee), and they said it was in fine condition. We further determined that the car was a rental the whole time (first in Hawaii, then in CA). Perhaps it was shipped to CA for the reasons advanced by teremala or easily confused.
Regarding easily confused's point about "I don't get why this would be any different than any other car bought in one state and sold in another": it's nothing against Hawaii. We simply assumed that it's more expensive to ship a car from Hawaii than between states on the mainland, and probably more expensive to get it delivered to Hawaii in the first place. This extra expense made us wonder why it was done. We asked here in case people had relevant experiences or ideas. And they did! So it was a good idea to ask, IMHO.
posted by StrawberryPie at 7:36 PM on September 21, 2015
We had the car inspected by a dealer (for a fee), and they said it was in fine condition. We further determined that the car was a rental the whole time (first in Hawaii, then in CA). Perhaps it was shipped to CA for the reasons advanced by teremala or easily confused.
Regarding easily confused's point about "I don't get why this would be any different than any other car bought in one state and sold in another": it's nothing against Hawaii. We simply assumed that it's more expensive to ship a car from Hawaii than between states on the mainland, and probably more expensive to get it delivered to Hawaii in the first place. This extra expense made us wonder why it was done. We asked here in case people had relevant experiences or ideas. And they did! So it was a good idea to ask, IMHO.
posted by StrawberryPie at 7:36 PM on September 21, 2015
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posted by teremala at 12:03 PM on September 4, 2015 [4 favorites]