Last week I posted that car rental behemoth Hertz might be forced to sell a lot of its automotive inventory to avert a possible bankruptcy. I also outlined how a massive sell-off by Hertz could affect used car prices. Well, there is a post by our friends at Muscle Cars and Trucks that has been published saying that Hertz is indeed selling off cars. 

The consequences of COVID-19

To be fair, Hertz Global Holding Inc. has always sold cars. The rental business as a whole rotates its inventory in and out frequently. So, why is it a big deal if Hertz is selling cars? It normally is not a big deal. However, with the global COVID-19 lockdown, Hertz’s business took a beating from canceled reservations and from lack of new reservations to replace them. Also, Travel has been restricted. Consequently, Hertz has been hurting financially and needs to unload on a massive scale. Hertz owns over 560,000 cars in the United States alone. A massive sell-off could dilute used car prices.

Now, it seems, some of their prized automobiles are hitting the market. Hertz limited edition Corvettes have become available on their site. This may be the time to grab one up if the price is right for you. 

Hertz edition Corvette Z06

This morning there were over 15 Certified pre-owned 2019 Corvette Z06 models for sale. Right now, there are seven left starting at $57,394. All of them are yellow with black stripes. They are part of a limited run of 100 Corvettes made to commemorate Hertz’s 100 years of being in the rental business. When new, these cars were near the $100,000 mark. They are all a year old and have under 35,000 miles on their odometers. Also, Hertz badging adorns the 650 horsepower vehicle. 

The Hertz edition Mustangs have been steadily increasing in value and collectibility as they have aged. No doubt, these Hertz edition Corvettes will also, after a while, start increasing in value, especially since there were only 100 commissioned for the rental company. Rarity certainly works in its favor. 

Not a massive sell-off

These few Corvettes do not constitute a massive sell-off, however. Hertz’s website only lists 37,000 vehicles currently for sales within 1,000 miles of my location. That is a far cry from the hundreds of thousands that could possibly be on the chopping block if the company does actually go to bankruptcy. More than likely, the cars currently on the site are representative of their normal rotation of vehicles moving out of their fleet. 

Time is short

That is not to say that one should not keep an eye out for a sell-off. It is still conceivable that Hertz will start moving metal with greater intensity in the coming days or weeks. Keeping an eye out on the website would be prudent if someone is looking for a fire sale to happen as Hertz was only given until May 22nd to come up with $400 million. Time is short for the rental company unless something shakes loose quickly.