In car auctions there is a large fleet of former rent-a-cars from major rent-a-car companies and very often dealerships will get their used vehicles from auctions. These vehicles are driven by numerous different people, who have different habits. Sometimes, people who rent the cars tend to abuse these vehicles and treat them in ways they would not treat their own car.
This is why rental cars are of lesser value than other vehicles of the same brand and the same age that were owned by an individual. The law in a few states requires car dealers to disclose in writing the fact that a vehicle was a rental. However, in the states where there is no such law, car dealers typically hide this information, or even misrepresent the vehicle’s history in an effort to make the sale.
In some car dealerships these vehicles are labeled as “Program Vehicles”, which gives the customers the impression that the vehicle history is of some higher quality. The fact that the vehicle has a previous rental history is material, because consumers will probably not buy it if they known this fact. The failure of the dealer to disclose this information to the buyer is auto dealer fraud.
