i'm shopping around for cars, found a dodge charger i like, and so just wanted to get some opinions on this particular vehicle.

it's a 2008 dodge charger, just the base model v6. here's the kicker...it has 56k miles on it and was a rental car for about 18-22 months.

they are asking $12999.00. another dealership up the street has the same car, but w/ 1k less miles, for $11999, which could give me some room to haggle. (edit: the dealership w/ the cheaper one is pretty shady...dont want to buy a car from them!)

just give it to me straight haha. if i'm dumb for even considering this, just say it. i don't know enough about cars to know this stuff.

thanks

 

Personally, I haven't really heard about any real issues about them. They haven't been all that popular for the most part just for the simple fact that people refuse to accept that the updated charger is a four door. Many don't think it looks quite right.

I would move on if my budget would allow and try for the hemi. It might cost more, but I think you would be happier in the long run. Not to mention, I'm wary of rental cars. I see how most people drive them, and I know that I wouldn't want that sitting in my driveway.

Hopefully L and R or Mango will chime in here.

Edit: KBB thinks that a 2008 base charger is worth a little more than that: http://www.kbb.com/kbb/UsedCars/Pric...397|65802|0|0|

And here is an R/T..... http://www.kbb.com/kbb/UsedCars/Pric...02|0|0|#survey

 

I'd love to have one with a hemi, but my ford exploder is getting ready to blow up and I can't afford more than about $13k. I'm hoping to trade in the exploder here pretty quickly so I can at least get some trade in before it does actually explode haha.

The charger is great, no question about that. Mostly just concerned about buying an 08' w/ that high of mileage. And it being a rental car...that could mean it was well maintained, but also could mean it was rode pretty rough.

 

Then I think that your better option would be to buy a cheapo depot $500-800 car and try to save up for what you want...

 

personally..this would make me worried...and if your seriously considering this car..bring a mechanic buddy or take it to a shop you trust..cause i mean yeah thats not to long for a rental car..but still thats long enough to get the **** beat out of it..and not get maintained propperly..being smoked in etc

 

Is it a SE or SXT?

 

KBB says a basic SXT 2 wheel drive suggested retail is 15K, private party 12.5K (forgot to mention those are Excellent Conditon prices). You probably know that KBB prices by geographic location, not knowing where you are I plugged in a Dallas Zip. Aso in 2008 the 4 wheel drive versions were released so the more information on the car you looking at will yield the closest real value.

I would give less since it was a rental, their driven hard (at least I drive them extra hard when renting)

 

Like Mango said, knowing if it is an SE or SXT is a biggy. Find that out.

Now, as far as the car being a rental car before, that wouldn't worry me to much as long as the transmission was fine and you can check that out with a test drive. Run it kinda hard to see if the tranny pops or jumps. The reason that I say a rental not being to bad is that if a dealer has it now, that means the car was bought at auction. Not many small private owned rental companies will get rid of their cars with that low of mileage. The big ones, will however to recover more money. The bigger rental companies wash their cars regularly and change the oil when required. They have much more to lose if something goes wrong with the car.

I just bought an explorer. I had my option from 2 of them. The one that I bought was from a rental company (the other was private owned). I opted for the rental companies car, just for those reasons that I stated. The one that I got was soooooooo clean it and ran pretty good as well. Also, the one that I picked had 10k more miles on it. Of course no matter which one I would have chosen, the fluids were changed immediatley, brakes checked, and took a wrench to a few other things JUST TO MAKE SURE.

I would be a little more leery about buying one that was private owned unless I was actually buying from that person not a dealer, just because you don't know what the service like was done while under ownership unless it was under warranty, which in this case neither car is.

I could always pass along the wisdom that has been the answer to this aged old question for several years. Request to take the car to YOUR garage to have YOUR mechanic check it out. If the dealer gets scared by this comment or won't let it happen, walk away and FAST!!!!

 

Great advice but I expecially liked the last part!

 

I know I stated that I'm a little gun shy on rental cars, but hell, one of our favorite cars was bought as a rental. That was the 85 Monte SS. Thing had 20K when my Mother bought it, and it has all of 65K on it now.