Hertz is asking customers if they want to keep their Tesla rental

[AliRafiee]

https://jalopnik.com/hertz-is-so-desperate-to-unload-tesla-inventory-its-cus-1851727725

Hertz bought a bunch of Tesla Model 3s for its rental fleet and quickly realized that Tesla depreciation would be extra bad at scale. In an aggressive effort to sell off its remaining Tesla inventory, the rental company is sending extra cheap buyout options to rental customers. If you like your rental, Hertz will sell it to you for an extra cheap good deal. One Hertz customer took to Reddit to show off a screenshot of the deal he got directly from Hertz, a 2023 Tesla Model 3 with 30,000 miles on the odometer for $17,913.

Sponsored

 

[HuntingPudel]

Can’t shake a stick at a deal like that. Wow. ??

 

[Maui]

Heck of a price negotiation. 1 day rental, buy for $17K

 

[Tomatoboy]

Dang, that kind of price dumping isn’t going to help Tesla resale values…it’s moving into late 4th gen Taurus territory. Those were some amazing deals on the used market though. Got one of my best bang for the buck cars off corporate fleet during those days, a couple grand two year old early 2000s Taurus that stayed in the family for over a decade, just getting shifted to the next new driver for years.

 

[Dear_OP]

Jalopnik has a thing against EV and Teslas in general. Will have to take this with a grain of salt.
I don't mind picking up a 2023 Model Y at that price point though.... Teslas get updated all the time via OTA so they don't age as quickly as legacy automaker EVs.

 

[Thunderbuck]

Tesla seriously shafted Hertz and shot themselves in the foot at the same time.

Rental fleets were a great opportunity for Tesla to get drivers to try their cars. Tesla even found a great way to allow Hertz customers use the Tesla app during their rental to really make it an authentic, near-ownership experience.

After all that time and effort to get Hertz' Tesla fleet off the ground, Elon capriciously slashed prices and guaranteed that steep depreciation from the prices Hertz bought at. Tesla's road-rash-prone wheels weren't helping matters any, either, and were resulting in huge repair bills (the last time I rented a Model Y from Hertz I had an attendant come out to see the damage on the rims and he said "Oh, we don't even care about that any more... they're ALL like that").

I'm sorry that the Hertz fleet wasn't valued as the marketing opportunity that it was.

 

[MBCook]

Jalopnik has a thing against EV and Teslas in general. Will have to take this with a grain of salt.
I don't mind picking up a 2023 Model Y at that price point though.... Teslas get updated all the time via OTA so they don't age as quickly as legacy automaker EVs.

Maybe, but it has been a disaster for Hertz. They were hoping to save a month a ton of money on maintenance. Instead the high cost of repairs for small fender benders seems to have screwed their plans.

Additionally where I live almost no one wants to rent an EV. I asked my local Hertz the last time I was in there (last year) and they said they can’t get anyone to take them. The only people who will are already EV drivers.

I don’t entirely blame them. Even if you’re not going on a road trip of any kind if you’re not used to an EV I’m not sure it’s a great idea to rent one in a city you’re not used to and deal with all that with no experience and a quick discussion from the counter guy if they even know anything.

they love people like me who will take one off their hands during a rental (well, I got a Bolt for CarPlay reasons) because otherwise it would sit there and I’m not using up one of the cars that people are willing to actually take.

it was a decent idea by Hertz. Unfortunately they were just a couple of years too early and didn’t expect the cars would be so expensive to repair.

Add in all the anti-EV political stuff that some people have and I’m sure a lot of Hertz locations are happy just to get rid of it and not have to deal with it right now. Try again in a couple of years when EVs are far more common and they have a decent chance of renting them out instead of just having them sit on the lot.

 

[phil]

Elon capriciously slashed prices and guaranteed that steep depreciation...

I can't believe you are making me defend this guy!

Mr. Musk is guilty of a great many things, but "capricious" price-slashing is not one of them. He is in business for profit, and cuts prices only when the market compels him to do so. Never on whimsy or caprice.

 

[67 Stang Convertible]

Now, if only their Shelby Mach-E's were $17K, I'd jump!!

What price would make you go after one of the 67 they have listed??

 

[Donna216]

Buying a rental never not sounds like a bad idea to me.?

 

[AliRafiee]

This EBQ seems to be a good dead.

https://www.hertzcarsales.com/certi...EQB 250 -2121c5fcac184a8dd49a5bd9e1bdd025.htm

 

[Maui]

Now, if only their Shelby Mach-E's were $17K, I'd jump!!

What price would make you go after one of the 67 they have listed??

This reads of optimistic pricing. Make an offer I suspect they will take any reasonable offer.

 

[Maui]

Additionally where I live almost no one wants to rent an EV. I asked my local Hertz the last time I was in there (last year) and they said they can’t get anyone to take them. The only people who will are already EV drivers.

I drove several in OKC, which is very unfriendly to EVs, in order to see what I liked. My only issue was getting the one I wanted. Also the trim levels can be all over the place. Would love a service where I could rent a specific car and trim level for a week.

Maybe, but it has been a disaster for Hertz. They were hoping to save a month a ton of money on maintenance. Instead the high cost of repairs for small fender benders seems to have screwed their plans.

Consider so much as a rock going through the vents, on a mme, can be upwards of $1,000 to fix depending on what broke or got smashed.

Now consider if you get the insurance they typically charge on avg somewhere between 15-30 dollars. Moving these higher would make sense but would also be counter productive and reduce rentals. Not sure how the CC insurance options would work or if they are throwing in language to cover themselves.

 

[moog]

Whole new meaning to the term "rent-to-own"

 

[OH2AZ2OH]

I drove several in OKC, which is very unfriendly to EVs, in order to see what I liked. My only issue was getting the one I wanted. Also the trim levels can be all over the place. Would love a service where I could rent a specific car and trim level for a week.

'Have you looked into Turo? Think of it as AirBnB for cars. Depending on where you are, there can be lots of options.

Sponsored