Are there any precautions I should take when buying a car that was previously leased?

Question

I found a car that seems nice. I'm going to look into it further and call tomorrow, but I ran the VIN in autocheck.com, and it has a leased or fleet vehicle before? Are there any precautions I should take due to that fact? Thanks

Answer 1

It depends on the type of lease it was. If it was leased by a company,it was probably pretty well maintained. If you check the oil,and under the filler cap has a tan watery look.it could mean engine trouble.Shifting a standard into its top gear and attempting to pull out on flat ground,should cause the car to stall. If not,it has a bad clutch. How does the car shift? If auto,look for noises,and banging. Listen to engine for unusual noises! Good Luck!

Answer 2

Depends on the type of car. If it's a relatively low-priced Chevy, Ford, or Chrysler it was probably not well maintain regardless of whether it was leased by an individual or a company.

Cheap cars are usually leased by people who have little money and want the lowest payments. They don't have much left over for proper maintenance.

If it is a BMW, Mercedes, Audi, Lexus, Infiniti, Toyota, Honda, it was probably leased by an individual who did a good job in maintaining the car.

More expensive cars are usually leased by people who have money but want to preserve it for other purposes. They have the money to properly maintain their leased cars.

Answer 3

I'd stay away from it. People tend to beat on leased vehicles(especially fleet ones). I'd have a mechanic inspect it thoroughly.