2014 yaris bought at hertz

[jstert]

i was in need of a snowbird car in the southwest, and quickly settled on yaris as a simple, reliable, tossable vehicle. i had a good experience buying a 22k mile 2004 corolla le in 2006 from hertz in portland oregon, so figured that i could do no worse and try hertz again.

i found hertz car sales here had three yarii, all with 42-45k miles, all french made l models listed as hertz certified. hertz also sells non certified cars on a three day rental, but no yarii and i wanted the comfort of certification. there were non certified chevy sonics, that i didnt try because i wanted a certified car, and certified versa notes that i did try but passed over for the reliability of a yaris.

the yariii test drives were good and i picked the cleanest one, magnetic gray with new tires. it was listed at $9900 plus tax, etc. the autocheck was clean and it had been recently serviced. it drove quite well. unfortunately it and all hertzs according to the salesman, came with but one key. so after signing all the papers and buying it, i took it to the toyota dealership for more keys. good news: key is unchipped so only $15 for another master there (plus two more copies from wallyworld at $2 each later). bad news: on check-in at toyota the service advisor pointed out that the bumper and headlights are non-oem. apparently they were replaced at one point. at least on further inspection he found no structural damage otherwise.

i was really upset, i had duly noted hertz's multiple oral and written assurances of certified, with a clean autocheck, during the sales pitch. i returned to hertz immediately, and spoke with the manager who looked at the car and a slight bumper gap that i had missed before purchase, and disclaimed all knowledge of a non-oem bumber, even when i showed him a written $600 repair estimate from toyota to replace with oem parts. i then looked up at the wall and tacked there was a notice that said hertz's certification doesnt extend to cosmetic issues (got that, my yaris has scratches that i noted before buying it) but in fine print, this exclusion extends to bumpers.

ok, my bad, the joke is on me, let the buyer beware, etc. im writing this post just to let folks know that hertz does have yarii for under $10k at 40k miles, they drive well and i love mine, but they can have hidden issues too, and the certification/autocheck is inconclusive. i simply expected better from hertz, but instead i felt as if i had bought my yaris from joe's (apologies to all the josephs out there) used car lot. i had given mine a long, varied test drive, and have driven it since at freeway speeds for 1-2 hours, all great, so i can only assume that whatever reason caused my bumper and headlights to be replaced was solely cosmetic. since i intend to hold onto my yaris for a long time, i have gotten over thinking about the hit at resale that a non-oem bumper and headlights will eventually cost me. hertz? frown. yaris? smile.