Previous owners

[S888 SRB]

Mine was last registered to Hertz

Although i don't care, it drives fine, bodyworks good, no untoward noises so not overly concerned... honest..... !

[skippyroo]

the guy i buy my cars from, sources yhem straight from VX Fleet, so u always get a good car with a low mileage, and no probs so far

[m8internet]

Policy for replacement vehicles varies between Hire Car Companies
However, if bought new there is a minimum time limit before tax costs are incurred
As a result many hire car companies keep them for this minimum period then dispose of them to avoid the tax cost, the time limit being 7 months from date of first registration
As a result, most of these are under 20K miles, and rarely reached their first service

Fleet Management cars are usually bought in bulk contract from new
They are then kept for 2 years and 6 months, the assigned driver is then contacted to advise them they need to replace the vehicle
Using this time limit avoids the need to incur costs and replacement vehicles with VOR issues for MoT
Sometimes a service interval can be misses as a result, but this is usually brought back up to date by the next owner when purchased via auction or trade sales

Company cars are used similar to Fleet Management, but these rarely end up at VX dealerships, unless the company has instructed the vehicle be returned to the nearest dealership (usually when an employee leaves at short notice)
Unlike Fleet Management cars, these company car drivers usually get a choice and order the car direct from the dealership themselves
As a result, they often have several factory options fitted, to take them to the company car allowance and tax limit!

Unregistered cars
You've all seen these!
A dealership has bought several cars to meet their sales target
In most cases the dealership is the first owner, and if you are high mileage driver then when you come to sell at over 100K miles that won't make much difference to the resale value, so these are absolute bargains!
If you get the timing right the car will have less than 10 miles and still be unregistered, and this type of buying is for the patient buyer as it might take several visits to their premises to spot them, or to talk to the right salesperson
Equally, speak direct to the sales manager, and advise them you are interested in a pre-buy of one
You might wait several months, but you will save thousands!

My own car is a VX Fleet Management car
It was used by Arnold Clark to demonstrate the SRi 3.0 v6 CDTI for company car drivers
It then sat for 6 months out of use at the back of one of their dealerships, a very difficult car to sell!

[Ste]

Mine was ex Avis, 13,000 miles less than one year old when i bought.

The big hire companys even have notices on the dash that the mileage MUST not exceed 13 or 14,000 miles, depending on company. And to contact them if you are in danger of doing so.

I have driven a LOT of hire cars from Ford to Mercedes and they all invariably have this sticker. Usually hired from National, Hertz or Avis.