I don't know a thing about guitars, but when DS decided to learn flute, I know that once we had found a teacher the rest just fell into place. She had a preferred brand (or three) and two places she trusted for purchasing or renting, and offered to come with us if I needed help at the store.
We ended up renting for a year (that is, it has almost been a year now) and we're about to switch to a new flute and buy it outright. The music store allows us to apply all the rental payments toward purchase, even if we switch models, so it worked out rather well that way.
