The number of daily rental vehicles with safety issues being offered to fleets appears to be rising, reckons the Association of Fleet Professionals (AFP).
The industry body said it’s hearing reports from members being provided with hire cars and vans in “unacceptable mechanical condition”, and warned that the situation appears to be deteriorating.
Paul Hollick, APF chair, said: “While this has always happened occasionally, there is a perception that the condition of hire vehicles is becoming noticeably poorer, although it appears to be a situation that appears to be affecting some hire companies more often than others.
“The very least that a fleet should expect of its daily rental supplier is that vehicles are delivered in a roadworthy condition and sadly, that doesn’t always appear to be happening, even from some major suppliers.”
The safety issues seem to be the result of both poor long-term maintenance, with vehicles breaking down found to have a range of outstanding fault codes, as well as other, more immediate and easily apparent problems.
The AFP said the trend could well be a hangover from the pandemic, when many rental firms embarked on massive disposal programmes only to experience an immediate surge in demand when working practices returned to more normal levels. The production shortages of the time meant many had to rethink their acquisition models and buy vehicles from all kinds of sources, including used vehicles.
“Largely, these are the cars and vans now seen on daily rental fleets, with many on 20-plates or older, which may explain the reason why issues surrounding condition are arising.”
Hollick also speculated that rental companies might be experiencing difficulties when it came to managing the logistics around maintenance, especially the speed of delivery and collection, and rotating vehicles on hire.
“Running cars and vans over several years, through their first MOT and beyond, is something that many daily rental fleets simply haven’t had to deal with previously in this respect.”
The AFP is advising fleets experiencing problems with rental vehicle condition to ensure that they don’t drive the vehicle and to report it to the rental company.
“You then need to have serious conversations with your suppliers and, if you are not satisfied with the answers, to look for new options.
“The time when you could assume a daily rental vehicle delivered for use by an employee was almost certainly safe for use appears to be past, at least for the moment.”
