You can buy a Truck from the bankrupted Hertz but is it a good deal?

Trucks ain’t cheap these days and finding a good deal on one is seldom easy. However, now that Hertz has filed for bankruptcy they’ve been moving their rental car inventory including their inventory of trucks. But, is it a good deal? We examine.

Thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, travel cratered in the first and second quarters of 2020. Travel companies like Hertz, who have heavily leveraged assets (vehicles), have been hit very hard by the travel slowdown. Hertz, in particular, filed for bankruptcy protection seeking relief from their heavy debt burden.

As a result, they’ve been moving their rental car inventory faster than normal as they seek to gin up cash as quickly as possible. Thousands of cars are for sale with many at levels well below Kelly Blue Book (KBB) levels. But, trucks tend to hold their resale value these days…is buying a truck from a Hertz a good deal? We got the details below.

The Hertz truck inventory contains a mix of Fords and Chevys and a mix of sizes including the F150, Silverado 1500 and the Colorado. They also occasionally have the odd Dodge Ram or GMC, but they are far less common. Let’s see a few trucks currently for sale from their inventory:

2020 Silverado 1500 LT Truck Double Cab with less than 3,000 miles for $33.5k

2020 Silverado 1500 LT Truck Double Cab, less 12,000 miles for $33k

2020 F-150 Truck SuperCrew Cab with 6,000 miles for $37.5k

F-150 XL Truck SuperCrew Cab with 26,000 miles for $33.2k

See full Hertz Truck inventory here

See how to buy a Hertz luxury car here

So, is it a good deal?

Many people eschew the notion of buying a former rental car and their reasons are relatively sound. Often, rental cars are rode hard and put away wet. In many cases they have high miles for their age. But, most rental car companies now perform multi-point inspections similar to other used car dealers and even offer warranties, etc. Buying a rental car isn’t what it once was, but it still carries some risk.

While Hertz has many of their overall rental car inventory on sale with deep discounts (many well below KBB) their trucks appear to marked at less competitive levels. This is likely because trucks tend to hold their resale value a little more than other cars.

By our estimation, buying a used truck from Hertz’s inventory is probably not the best deal you could find for a truck these days. That said, it’s worth a peak – you never know.