What exactly are ex-demonstrators? Are they likely to represent good value?
I am thinking of changing my car and have been offered an ex-demonstrator by the local BMW dealership. It has done less than 17,000 miles and is said to have been used daily by salesmen as a company car and, of course, for test drives (but not as a loan car while customers have their cars serviced). It appears to be a blameless example and the price seems reasonable.
As someone who is loathe to fork out for massive first-year depreciation on a new car, this seems a good idea. However I wonder what such cars represent: on the one hand, in-house cars are presumably well cared for; on the other, there are all those short trips by prospective purchasers...
Is anyone prepared to spill the beans about how demonstrators are treated?
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usually they are very well looked after .. think about it its a demonstrator they are trying to get you to buy one by having a go in it . you are not likely to do that if its a pile of doo doo are you hence they are kept in perfect condition regardless of cost and have you ever misbehaved on a test drive with the salesman in the car with you .... i thought not best behaviour isn't it.
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In a word, thrashed. Of course, if the price is right and the mileage low enough, in all probability no harm will be done.
At 17k and with variable servicing intervals, it's likely that this BMW will be due its first service real soon now, and while there's unlikely to be any major work needed, you need to factor that into the valuation.
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In case anyone is wondering why Keo and I disagree slightly over demonstrator treatment... maybe the prospective purchaser won't misbehave, but the salesman almost certainly will, either on his own or when showing it to a potential customer, especially if it has any performance potential.
(I've seen a 1.3 Fiesta being treated as though on a rally stage when being shown to my mother, at the time aged 47 and wearing a twinset and that applies to Audis that I've seen in use or being demoed too.)
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You should also be aware that "demonstrators' are sometimes used as hire cars, are lent to customers whose vehicles are off the road, are general runarounds etc. Although they should stand up to reasonable use, they are not necessarily used by reasonable people. Crucially, ask for the accident repair record.
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I am most grateful to the above for their useful (at the same time, wildly disparate) responses. What I'm really after is Inside Knowledge from a dealership salesman or mechanic who can really dish the dirt.
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i am ex mechanic volkswagen audi porsche . only thing that would concern me is 17k on the clock is high for a demonstrator more like the garages general fleet car used to fetch parts drop customers at work etc.
cheers...keo
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My guess is that their treatment varies widely from dealer to dealer and, while you will doubtless get some interesting tales, the trick is knowing which applies to the particular dealer you have in mind.
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From what I've read, demonstrators are also sometimes looted for spares for customer's cars.
I looked at an ex demonstrator/courtesy car at a main dealer - it was filthy all over, scrubbed front tyres, and had scratches on the drivers door handle. I was assured it would all be put right if I bought. I didn't
It was a 6 month old Volvo S60
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I would buy one of our ex-demos, they are all fairly low mileage when disposed of, and to be honest I've not seen them been subjected to any treatment that I don't subject my own car to, and I paid for my own car myself. ;-)
On the whole they are kept in good condition, we can't sell a car to a customer if the demonstrator is a dog!
Blue
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Blue: subtle difference between a demonstrator (low miles, genuine) and a "demonstrator" with 3/4 of the global circumference on the clock, and possibly used by all and sundry without supervision. Like "management vehicle", a trading term. Caveat emptor:)
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Not to mention the speedo being disconnected for long family trips!
Roger.
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The demo Toyota I had a test drive in was showing 1 mile at the start and end of the test drive.
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Demonstrator cars can have anything from 20 - 2000 miles on them - maybe more.
The dealer, by law IIRC, has to keep the 'demo car' for 90 days before selling it - so as well as being used during the day as as demo car to potential customers, it may also be used as a staff car.
Something with 10000 miles is not a demonstrator (IMO) and will have probably have been used primarily by sales staff/management for transport.
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I'd say a demo car could have 6000 miles on it without difficulty, but 17k worries me.
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My current Leon 1.9 Tdi was bought as an ex-demo from a local dealership. The car had just 1,500 miles on it, 200 of which were racked up by me, becasue i asked if i could borrow the car overnight to have a proper test drive.
The only thing to be wary off are the extras. Mine had nicer, larger alloys (option for a few hundred quid), leather steering wheel (option at a few hundred quid) and Seat mats (the carpet type which are about £70 dealer supplied).
None of the above were included in the sale. Original alloys and steering wheel were re-fitted and I managed to bargain for a new set of Seat mats, 4 Seat Mudflaps, lock nuts, a tank of diesel and the remaining 9 months road tax. The dealer was up-front about the optional items and offered to let me buy them at a discounted rate. I opted not to. A less scrupulous dealer may not be so open until the dotted line has your signature on it.
They also fitted the CD changer and front fogs to the car for free, I only paid to purchase them. There were two scratches on the front passenger door which were too large to ignore. They paid to repair these without debate. Total saving to myself on the new price £2,255 - 17%.
Currently looking for an ex-demo mk V golf TDI for leoness.
Leon
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