After a while, tool rental services stabilize at tools near end of life but still marginally usable. Go rent something from a tool rental shop and see what you get.
I rent tools all the time they work well but are typically mid tier and 1/5 -1/3 of the price of a new one. There is a lot of labor involved after a rental to clean up and maintain the tool in decent working order though.
Also, it's not always only about the price. Sometimes, you simply don't have the space to store some of these tools too. For instance, a pressure washer can take up a lot of room and if you only need it for a 1-day cleanup, renting means you don’t have to find space or worry about storing it long-term.
I think that’s the biggest issue that OP maybe hasn’t acknowledged
You're right, some tool rental service are not perfect! Maybe if they had a better platform and more users, they would be able to update their inventory more frequently. This is also what we aim to help solve.
It's inherent in the rental model that the inventory is worn out.
Auto rental works because there's a secondary market in used cars. There's nothing comparable in tools.
You're right, tools are a different game compared to cars or housing. That said, this means challenges that we're trying to solve. If it were easy, more people would already be doing it.