I work where evidence based information from properly controlled trials provides the day to day basis, rather than anecdotal.

So is there a comprehensive trusted review that demonstrates that ex demo cars are worse than non ex demo cars, even better still by brand?

Anecdotally I have purchased ex demo a BMW a VW and never had a problem, was I "lucky" ?

looking how some owners treat their cars, some times you are better buying a ex demo lol

I went to look at loads of cars when buying my Audi and even at dealers only 12 months old , the state of some cars was shocking.
again when I bought my Cayman I went down south 5 or 6 time to be met with st cars.
I would not even phone any one up who lived down south for a car these days.

I guess the more money you have the worst the car seems to get treated, most are bought on PCP for 3 years and handed back.
And becasue of that no one gives a st about them.
Even the dealers down south seem well below standars set in the Midlands.


As for female owned cars, in my experience , they don't keep the revs down when cold, they curb the wheels, they never check oil or tyres. When I see a 1 female owned car I don't phone up about it, more than likley the cars got no oil in it, and has been through a car wash 300 times, added to that ring scratch marks on the door handles.

Demo cars are likely to lead a pretty hard early life. It's hard to imagine them being run in gently. If I was trying a demo car I would want to experience the full rev range and wouldn't be too concerned about running it in by the book.

The best kept cars are usually those owned by keen enthusiasts from new. Quite a rarity with the modern era cars and disposable mentality.

I think the first definition you will need is what constitutes a 'demo' car. Cars sold as 'ex-demo' at dealers can be any of the below:

1. Management/Director car from dealer group
2. Employee lease scheme (ie. Audi's driven by Bentley workforce, Mercedes driven by McLaren F1 staff)
3. Cars that have been used for test drives
4. Press cars that have been used for photo shoots
5. Press cars that have been used for road tests
6. Cars that have been used for track days (eg. porsche silversone cars / porsche marketing cars for demos)
7. Loan cars for services etc.

etc. etc.

There are obviously huge differences in their usage profile depending on their history, just like the history of private owners can vary wildly.

You most definitely do NOT want one of these. I had company lease cars for years and treated them like bic pens. They were returned for retail sale at under 10K miles and you really would not want to be the next owner! They are just treated as a disposable item and thrashed mercilessly from day 1. Cars I've personally bought from new have led a much different early life, carefully following the run-in regime etc, regular hand cleaning/polishing etc. Totally different mentality.

I have an Employee Lease car and I treat it with kid gloves. Why would I risk damaging the reputation of our cars by abusing them? I would have no problem in buying one of my own lease cars.

or had already been changed

I think if its a keeper then you might not want an ex demo car due to the hard life they may get (even during during the running in period). Case in point: yesterday I phoned a BMW dealer about an E90 M3 they have up for sale which is currently a demonstrator with 2,500 miles on the clock. I asked the sales lady to confirm tread depths on front and rear. 6mm and 4mm respectively. So thats the rears nearly shot in 2,500 miles! Whilst the owners maunual prescribes gentle driving and not to exceed 5,500 RPM for the first 1,250 miles (IIRC)then gradually increase max RPM. Dealers dont care as the car will be out of warranty by the time the issues occur + clutches are maybe seen as consumables not covered by warranty.

Which is why if you're keeping it for a couple of years, you shouldn't have much to worry about.

My view is that a normal second hand car might have been thrashed before properly run and when dead cold. But a demo car definitely will have been thrashed before run in and when dead cold. How much that's actually matters, is another question.