I've been renting from the local flying club.
In the last five flights I've had 4 issues /maintance problems.

Find out who the "maintenance officer" for the club is, and let him
know the facts of life.

If there is no "maintenance officer", leave the club. If the club is
pinching pennies on maintenance, leave the club. If you don't find out
what went wrong with the plane that lost power, leave the club. There
are plenty of rental birds in the fleet -- there's no need to put up
with bad maintenance.

As for buying, I can heartily recommend it. Knowing who flew the plane
last, and having everything in the plane PRECISELY the way you left it
(and always leave it) is worth all the headaches, IMHO.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"