Is there any truth behind the notion that demo cars get trashed by potential customers during the test drive, or otherwise by the employees? I presume that the salesperson comes along on test drives?
Also, the warranty of the car would already started from when it was registered? Or does it start from when it’s purchased?
On balance, are demo cars something to consider in getting a good deal, or should they be avoided? Obviously they’re essentially used cars, but they’re the closest to new.
"test drives - 95% of the time done with a salesperson in the car"
I've test drove like 4 brands and never had a salesperson in the car with me. Is it just me?
Depends on the car and the salesperson, and how busy the dealership is.
For me…
VW (Golf GTI) and BMW (Mini Cooper S) both were unescorted.
Everything else, Honda (Civic), Mitsubishi (Evo X), Audi (A4), Mercedes (C250, GLC250, GLE300), etc.. have all been with the salesperson.
That's a lot of test drives! Got the Evo I presume?
@spacemannn: This was over my lifetime… out of that list, bought the Civic, Evo X, and the three Mercedes. I was so close to buying the A4 a couple of times as the dealers seemed to be extremely willing to 'do a deal' (even calling me when I was signing the papers at Mercedes) but I just didn't love the car enough.
Agreed with the above!
Hi JC :)
We went to the Lexus dealership and our test drive was unescorted but i could see the demo cars were just parked out on the busy road (probably more prone to scratches than anything).
People also probably brake hard to test out the suspensions.
Our Audi test drive was escorted but i the cars were parked inside the dealership.
If you can afford it, probably best to just buy brand new. Theres definitely something about brand new cars lol
It depends on the type of customer you are as well. I have never had a salesperson with me either. From low-end crap boxes, to high end $150k plus SUVs.
Also nowadays due to covid they don't generally send people with you. Also you can always say I'd like to drive it alone, in addition to saying you'd like to keep it overnight. I haven't had any issues.
may not be relevant for the car OP wants to buy but when I did test a Tesla Model S a few years back, the salesperson that was with me actually told me to try out flooring the accelerator to showcase the torque. That's almost as soon as we're out of the showroom and into the highway. No doubt to demonstrate the torque and also to get me excited about it (it worked, I always told that story to anyone asking about my experience).
I suppose one of the selling points of a car these days are how well it accelerates hence you are allowed, nay, encouraged to push it hard.
On another note, in two of my test drives on two Audis in NSW last year, I wasn't accompanied by salesperson at all, citing COVID safety.
An EV doesn't need to come up to temp like a combustion powered car though?
95% of the time done with a salesperson in the car
This is pre covid. I've done a few this year and all sales folks said cannot come along due to covid restrictions. They go through the basic controls to make sure you understand them and know what to do and that's it.
This is applicable to my dealership.
Yes, we abandoned it in April last year, but that's it
Tho WA does have their shit sorted pretty well with covid 😉
Thrashed
If by thrashed you mean accelerated hard for a few moments each test drive.
Hardly any are going to be driven hard immediately on startup. Most will drive out the gate, down the street while you familiarise yourself with the car for a bit. Then take off hard once or twice to see if it is powerful enough for you. It’s not really going to hurt a modern engine, the tolerances they are built to are pretty good.
Any handling test on a test drive will be pretty tame and not hurt a car with new suspension. It’s going to be hard to find a road where you can really chuck it into corners within a short drive of a dealer.
Some manufacturers recommend new owners not rev the engine or hold it at a constant RPM (such as long drives at a constant speed) during the first 1000 or so kilometres so the engine components wear in smoothly. I don't expect the dealer (and the people who have test-driven the vehicle) to have followed the above recommendation.
Demos of the above, along with the "performance" versions of cheaper mainstream cars are those that I would personally not normally consider. It's either "new" or "used" for those, unless the dealer is offering a price that is almost comparable to a non-demo used vehicle.
hold it at a constant RPM (such as long drives at a constant speed)
That’s hardly going to happen in a test drive.
Agree with demo versions of performance cars though. EVERYONE who tests is going to want to test the performance - and that means high revs.
That’s hardly going to happen in a test drive.
It's not - I've just included it for "completeness" of the recommendation.
We bought our first A-class as a demo and the only issue was the air conditioner; which was fixed under warranty. We got a really good deal and it came with some extras. The second A-class we got a better deal on a new one than a demo one. Demos are, certainly, worth looking at. They are, often, optioned up.
My last 3 cars have been ex-demo and I've never had a problem with any of them (Toyota and BMW). They feel just like a new car and have performed perfectly. They're covered by the same warranty as a new car. I'd only buy ex-demo from now on.
gotta inspect an exdemo more thoroughly too
we checked one that seemed like it was carrying something long inside and the back seat cushion was "compressed" like a dent
and they would only take off a few grand i was like hell naw
It would be less "thrashed" than any used car
ex demo the way to go to buy a car IMO
I test drove a Prius C and a Ford fiesta.
I thrased both.
Ford didnt have the turbo motor in demo, so I asked them to call me back when they did. I waited a month, gave up, bought the Prius C. It's surprisingly zippy up to 40km/h. So I can beat most cars off the lights. Esp those stop start ones.
You wanted a turbo charged car but ended up with a Prius?
LOL
I wanted a car in that price range that didnt use much fuel.
The Fiesta turbo used less fuel than the non turbo as it had one less cylinder. Turns out, they all had shitty gearboxes so I dodged a bullet there.
Auto gearbox? Yep, there was a problem with their PowerShift auto transmission, about 4 or 5 years back.
The manual gearboxes in the Fiesta are very nice, though.
@MS Paint: 2011 to 2016 with the Fiesta, according to this:
https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a27438193/ford-powershift-…
Yea Im still laughin at that!
I test drove a few hot hatches and the dealers really drive the crap out of them, redlining every gear lol. I didn't have the balls to drive them hard even though it wasn't my car and I was alone haha.
I'd say yes absolutely, no matter the type of car.
They get driven repeatedly, reasonably hard after a cold start.
Maybe OP's question should be does it matter? Personally I've not seen anyone complaining about engines falling apart in ex-demos.
Depends if you're keeping the car for life I guess.
A hard life early is bound to increase the chances of an earlier death.
Yes, but whether it makes much of a difference depends on the car.
If you were buying a performance orientated turbo car, a demo wouldn't be the best option as they're more likely to be driven harder, and haven't had a chance to warm up as most test drives are only 15-20min. Any other car would likely be fine.
These days, short of putting Jamie Whincup in the drivers' seat, there is not much you could do to a new car on a test drive, on public roads, at legal speeds, short of crashing it, that would effect a new car long-term.
I always used to treat cars carefully after a cold start until I was on a plane from Melbourne to Perth a few years ago. I started talking to the bloke next to me, who turned out to be a biochemist with a major oil company. He explained to me that with all the work that goes into oils and these days, cold starts were no problem. Same with service intervals on new cars these days; it's all down to the engine tolerances and modern oils. So much for getting your new model serviced after a 1000km running in period…
His only rider was to be a bit cautious with any car built before 2000 and use a modern oil, preferably synthetic.
When you are buying a 'demo' you are buying a used vehicle which simply hasn't had a transfer from dealer.
You get some statutory rights and are more likely to have recourse against the seller if you have issues, but it is still a vehicle which has been used.
Treat it accordingly.
I test drove a golf R and launch controlled it when it only had like 1500kms on the clock. I also flogged it pretty hard. Great test drive, dealer said, "here's the keys, have fun, be back in 30 mins or so".
I wouldn't buy a demo sports model (or anything with stuff like launch control) for this exact reason. You can guarantee everyone at the dealership tested the launch control as soon as they drove it.
Regular shopping cart Camry/Corolla would be absolutely fine though because they are so boring that no-one wants to even drive it, never mind try and thrash it.
That's exactly what the demo cars are there for.
I've never used the function in my own car though! 😊 It's quite obvious that launching it like that repeatedly can't be good for the drivetrain.
I've launched mine a few times :) It's way too much fun.
But thats what demos are for. Every time time you feel the need for some launch action. Just go for a trip to the dealer where you are "thinking of upgrading" to the latest demo model they have.
Keep in mind it’s not often that you get in a demo car completely cold either. It’s usually ‘wait here sir, I’ll bring it around for you’ then they leave it running too. Enough to get the oil circulating around the engine. Maybe not up to temp, but enough to prevent a hard launch on a completely cold car.
I recently bought a demo and saved $15k off the new car price. Have had no problems and the car was in perfect condition.
The only thing I found was a hair tie in the middle console.
Warranty starts from first registration and not from when I purchased it.
Friend who works for a euro dealership. All the employees take a demo car home and use as personal cars and they all flog it from what he's told me.
Mine was advertised as being driven by an "executive" at the dealership for personal use.
Never understood this - are executives supposed to be particularly sympathetic to their company cars or something?
Ha. I just thought of the Seinfeld ep where George bought a car because Jon Voight was the previous owner. I also don't get a lot of kudos/(profanity) when I tell stories of my car's executive history.
As long as it's not a two litre turbo sports car or an executive driven car it should not be a problem.
I have never seen a customer launch a large sports car at full throttle. 300+kW is a lot for someone not used to it.
The dealership manager isn't driving the base level hatch back. The parts guy is. Some employees will drive hard. Others will transport kids. All executive staff demos are used. But the demo discount often puts a car with 1000km at the same price the used car lot is trying to sell a car with 20,000km.
On the other hand, some dealerships are turning over that many cars some of their demos are un driven. They are physically the same as a new car, but registered.
Executive driven used cars are bought from manufacturer auction and are usually aged out hire cars. Those have been driven hard. Avoid unless you get a really good deal or there is a few years left of manufacture warranty left (and the previous usage did not void it).
I doubt it's driven any harder than I would drive my own car.
New cars need their engines broken in for the first 1000 kms to improve longevity and reduce long term issues. A demo model is driven by randos and dealership employees who don't give a toss about the cars longevity. They will be driving it like a normal car and most likely revving the tits off it to see how it goes.
If you don't care about that sort of thing then go for it. But if you're pedantic about keeping the car in optimal condition, then you're better off paying a few extra thousand and getting it new.
Engines get tested to the limit before the cars leave the production line. There is no need to 'run in' the engine for 1000kms.
Not true. Look it up. It's also advised in the cars manuals.
the issue is ppl start the engine from cold and rev hard without giving it a chance to warm up
I absolutely thrash a car when I demo it, kind of the point.
I certainly flogged all the demos I test drove, and the demos only had a 3k-7k discount off new so might as well buy new.
Mine had 9kms from going to get a tow bar and roof racks fitted. Demo isn’t always driven.
There's demo and there's demo.
Your demo was registered by the dealership but unlikely used as a test mule in order for the dealership to achieve targets or obtain other incentives.
I think if you buy a standard run about hatch or Euro hatch a demo should be fine. As other's have said it's also more likely to be highly specced, but oddly. Demo we looked at practically ticked all the boxes, but didn't have the comfort pack ie electric seats or heated seats. Just look at it as any used car purchase, but with very low kms. They usually have about 1.5 to 6km on the clock. If you work out the specced price new the saving can be worth it.
Also depending on brand you can still have success with repairs after the warranty date, but just need to argue your consumer rights.
Good luck OP
I bought a demo that hadn't actually made it to the lot for display/demo purposes.
Fully kitted out with better rims, paint etc.
Original rego was 1 year earlier so did lose that year of warranty.
Was a few grand less than the newer model even with all added extras and had literally 800 meters as it had sat in the yard, under cover, waiting to be called up by a dealership.
You can search for unused demo's, they are slightly more expensive than used ones but essentially it is a new car with added extras for less, was quite happy with the deal I got.
Edit: Mitsubishi Lancer, so low price car originally anyway was about a 15% discount plus added features on top so probably ended up closer to 20% off new model version.
Yes they do get thrashed a lot.
My friend worked at a car company in vic Mulgrave. They get to lease a brand new company car every 9-10 months or when odometer reached a certain figure, usually around 5-6000km. He said everyone thrashed them hard to get the best performance out of them. As well as putting child seats which damage the car seats and putting low quality fuel. After the lease these cars would be sold as what they called demo or dealer used.
So if you see demo cars even above 2000km I would say there were used by company or employees before.
This exactly. I have an evaluation vehicle from a major european car brand. It gets swapped out every 5-6months for a new one. It is then sold through the local dealer. It's done as an employee incentive because it costs them nothing (the manufacturer). The company does this to increase their registration numbers in a particular segment. These cars get the pants driven off them.
I'm interested to know what this means the drivers do. Do these drivers ignore the road rules? It makes no sense to risk fines, points, accidents etc just because they don't own the car. Or do they just do stupid sh*t like staying in 2nd gear on the freeway?
It just means treating the accelerator pedal like an on/off switch. Either all the way down, or not.
I've thrashed the sh8t out of all the cars I've ever owned and it's never seemed to have any negative impact on them. Cars are a lot tougher than they look.
So even if demo cars do get given a little more gas than normal what difference does it make really?
How long have you owned said thrashed cars? It’s not going to show early in their life.
Usually buy around 80,000km and thrash until around 180,000km where they are basically worthless anyway
Most cars sold today have an automatic transmission of some kind and it's much harder to abuse those than a manual.
Also, most garages will be in a suburban area so speed limits will be low-ish. Likely engines will be fully warm before you're able to drive faster anyway.
Exotics will have been fully tested by the manufacturer, likely on a dedicated test track as speed.
People is Australia drive slowly regardless.
Simply put, it's hard see much engine/transmission damage happening on a test drive or in a demo car.
Take the discount and enjoy!
Engine breaking in / running in is still a thing even in brand new cars. The user manual of my 2018 car has a section which instruct not to rev the engine higher than 3/4 its maximum permitted revs during the first 1000km, and not to tow. That exact same engine is still used by new cars sold right now by VW, Audi and Skoda. That’s just one example, pretty sure there are many more like that.
But when I first test drove that model before buying I got a car that had less than 1000km on the clock, the dealer never told me anything about revs, and I didn’t pay any attention either. While I didn’t thrash the car, I did rev it a bit to check how well it accelerates. Also during one of the test drives a sales rep came with me and he encouraged me to drive over bad sections of a road to demonstrate how the active dampening feature works. And demos are often known to be used by dealership employees for private use, there is a good chance use them to haul and tow stuff.
To answer OP’s question, Yes demos do get pushed a lot harder than a privately owned car. Which is why I personally think a similarly aged privately owned car (which was bought brand new) is a lot better buy than a Demo, unless you are getting a huge discount on the demo.
Its all BS. Engines these days are ready to be throttled the day they leave the factory. Many new cars do not even need a 1000km service any more.
And all the wives tales about "don't hit it till you have done 2000km". So everyone is waiting till 2000km then fanging the hell out of their new car ? Shit, what if the car wasnt ready for a fang till 2002km. Youll probably blow the thing up !
Its all nonsense.
Buy the demo, if the saving is worth it. It will have new car warranty from first rego which will cover any likelyhood of something being wrong.
It could be all BS, but I’d rather take the advice of the engineers/manufacturers who designed and built the car than some random person on a forum :)
There is a method to the madness https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Break-in_(mechanical_run-in)
The general consensus seems to be that they’ll be driven harder than average… I’m more worried about them being driven hard while cold/well under operating temp.
The way my wife test drives car I wouldn't buy an ex-demo. Think of accidently hitting both brake and accelerator pedals at the same time, hitting kerbs etc. When I recently test drove a Mazda 2 for my mum I found a quiet street and redlined it from standstill. Lots of engine noise but not a lot of speed.
Bought a demo last year. The dealer ad showed about 2,000km, but when I rang them he said they have to put it in that range to advertise as demos and in fact it would be a new car with closer to 10km on it.
10km was all it had when we picked it up for a nice discount off what they were going for everywhere else. Not sure how much thrashing can occur over 10km.
bought my suv as demo,
the only "trashing" was the salesman showcasing the acceleration on highway in Sports mode.
Otherwise, no visible diffirence.
I've given limiter a workout in every car I've test driven whether the salesperson was in the passenger seat or not. I've always assumed that everyone did the same and that can't be good for running in the motor. People can debate whether or not running in is necessary all they want, but I certainly wouldn't drive my own brand new car in the same manner.
most people only keep cars for a few years now, so in the long term, under warranty, it really doesnt matter.
I'll answer all your questions here. I used to work with a Euro carmaker company (HQ, not dealership) and knows a few people working across both Euro and Jap carmaker companies.
Q: Is there any truth behind the notion that demo cars get trashed by potential customers during the test drive, or otherwise by the employees?
A: Yes, but that risk is lower now than previous years. The probability of customers thrashing a car on a test drive is on the lower end of the scale compared to employee leasing. Employees are completely unsupervised and typically use about 5-7K KM before they have to switch to another car. Mind you, risk is higher with Euro cars compared to Jap cars because they're more fun to drive. I've heard horror stories but they are not in the majority. 10+ years ago, the problem was widespread with performance cars but the companies have since implemented policies and certain restrictions to minimise these issues. Caveat emptor.
Q: I presume that the salesperson comes along on test drives?
A: Most times. It depends on the visitor. I have test drove a few cars without supervision.
Q: Also, the warranty of the car would already started from when it was registered? Or does it start from when it’s purchased?
A: From time it was registered. So if a demo with five-year warranty is a year old, you'll have four years left of warranty.
Q: On balance, are demo cars something to consider in getting a good deal, or should they be avoided? Obviously they’re essentially used cars, but they’re the closest to new.
A: In my opinion, it's as good as a used car of similar mileage bought from a dealership - driver is unknown, but the dealership would have run tests on the car to make sure it's a-okay. Demos have additional perks over used cars if you have corporate benefits to it (e.g. 5 years free servicing, extended warranty, etc). Generally though, private used sales is the place for good (and crap) deals.
Do thorough research on the particular car you're wanting - try not to buy out of impulse. The car itself is most important. There are many variables when it comes to buying used cars - previous driver(s), mileage, driving locations, type of roads, etc. Purchasing a vehicle from a dealership will give you more peace of mind but you can mitigate the risk of private purchases by bringing your mechanic along and doing your PPSR checks to ensure it's not written off/ repairable write off. Make sure you have full service history and servicing is up to date (check when the next major service is). Take your time during inspection. If you're being rushed, walk away.
PS. It's a terrible time to buy a car at the moment because of supply constraints but I'm sure you have your reasons to buy it at this time. Best of luck!
I don't thrash cars when I test drive them. Maybe "accelerate in a spirited manner" just once to make sure everything's ok but no where near red line. I got a demo Mazda 6 last year with 2000km on the clock. Got 8k discount off new. Seems good so far.
I can without a doubt say that demo cars often find their way at Winton racecourse….. ^__^"
Put it this way the risk of someone causing undetectable damage to the car through a demo is probably lower than the risk of an undriven new vehicle having a major mechanical failure. Either way that’s what car warranty’s are for. If the car can’t handle driving spirited then it’s not going to be the car for me.
I like second hand cars with low mileage because they have been road tested by other idiots which generally means a major manufacturer problem has been ironed out already, and they don’t have the toxic new car smell anymore.
It depends on the car type, if its a high performance car then I would be hesitant, you could check the tires to see if they are still like new and are factory tires.
A friend of mine works for a certain german car dealer starting with B. The number of stories he has of them racing the cars and redlining them is impressive. They have delivered a few cars on barely legal tires as well make of that what you will.
In my case, I've had my car in for some repair work at a dealer and they offered me a loan car… Didn't realise it but it had only done about 600km… After two weeks with me it's done 1000+. It's a higher spec one with plenty of power (didn't beat a AMG cla45 though) and I'm not driving it rough but do like to rev higher than usual.
I'd have no issues getting a demo car.
is it true that we need to keep RPM below red line in a new car for first 1000 km of the car as engine gets conditioned ?
Yes, usually below half of its redline rpm where possible and not keeping the revs at a constant rate. Ie drop a gear when on the freeway at times etc.
It's in the beginning of the owners manual
Did not know this was a notion.
How do you think people treat rental cars?
Is there a difference between a showroom car and a demo car. I presume the demo car you can take it for a test drive.
Standard cars like Toyota's, Kias etc I wouldn't have an issue buying demo
High end luxury or high performance however - never. It's not the run in period - its the constant hard acceleration when the engine's cold and the constant turning on and off within short time frames that will decrease the life of certain parts within the motor. When these parts get "worn" in like this, its very difficult to go backwards
By the way, just because demos are driven by dealership staff, doesn't mean they get looked after. Similar mentality to that of a rental vehicle in many cases
Very much depends on the car. the main issues you will have with a more premium or sportier car is that people will want to give it the beans when the engine is still cold
also the fact that more than a few hundred butts have been in the drivers seat by the time you buy it.
Another aspect is that demo cars are used as loan vehicles during the week. I know that i've used the loan car to go buy manure from bunnings and to take on road trips if i happen to have it over a weekend or long weekend. I also tend to drive it more aggressively than my own car
Having worked for multiple dealerships, no I'm not "incredibly wrong". Very rarely do new car demo's get lent out to service customers. Service advisors get drive cars which are lent out to service guests