Ex press cars - to be avoided or to be revered?

[ian_uk1975]

I'm looking at a W211 AMG E55, but stumbled across some info today that it's an ex press car (ie. a car used in some magazine road tests at the time, etc). My feeling would be that these cars probably get ragged at the time and should probably be avoided later in their lives, but what's the concensus here?

[ruff'n'smov]

How many miles has it done ??

Most will have less than 4k done by the press, so not had the chance to do much damage.

[ciaranthemurph]

One of my cars was supposedly an ex-press fleet car. Although I bought it at 180k, so I'd imagine any problems would have been ironed out at this point. It never had any big bills in the (very comprehensive) service history and it's on 230K now, so I'd say that all is ok. If the car is in good condition on inspection, I'd imagine that it would be better to go on that.

[Ari]

Have you never seen TOp Gear!?

[kbird]

I bought a Ferrari 456M GT and a 575 Maranello from Carrs Ferrari in Exeter both were high mileage press cars and neither missed a beat. Well used, well maintained cars are a better buy than garage queens as long as you continue to use them.....

[ian_uk1975]

All makes sense, thanks.

[jamiebae]

Press cars are often 'massaged' or at the very least they are checked very thoroughly to ensure they are the perfect example of their breed and not a Friday afternoon car.

At least you know about it before you buy. I was once told a story about a customer who bought a 12 month old SsangYong Musso (late 90s one) from their local dealer. A week later they returned in the car demanding to see the dealer principal, while brandishing a copy of a magazine featuring a pic of their car airbourne over a jump on an offroad course!

[Pentoman]

Back at the start of the century someone from a magazine told me BMW magazine test cars are built on a different production line. I haven't been able to confirm this since.

[jamiebae]

Ask Chris Harris about Ferrari press cars

According to a source at McLaren the MP4-12C is better to drive, and faster than a production 458 Italia, but the press cars are not quite the same as the regular production ones.

[dxbtiger]

Harry Metcalfe quite like his.

[Garlick]

If price is right and the condition appeals to you then I would.

People say otherwise, but I have seen press garages and while the cars get used hard when in the hands of 'the press' the maintenance between loans is second to none. The last thing a manufacturer wants is a press car going to a mag with rattling trim, low power or tired ANYTHING.

They are well looked after, but whether you can live with stumbling across a smokey drift shot in a magazine later on is a decision only you can make.

[ZeeTacoe]

jamiebae said:

Ask Chris Harris about Ferrari press cars

According to a source at McLaren the MP4-12C is better to drive, and faster than a production 458 Italia, but the press cars are not quite the same as the regular production ones.

Hardly an impartial source is it?

[Lordglenmorangie]

Done forty thousand in a press car, never missed a beat

[jamiebae]

ZeeTacoe said:

jamiebae said:

Ask Chris Harris about Ferrari press cars

According to a source at McLaren the MP4-12C is better to drive, and faster than a production 458 Italia, but the press cars are not quite the same as the regular production ones.

Hardly an impartial source is it?

Indeed, but given the amount of work which went into developing the car and the fact they have bought at least two 458s to benchmark against I'd still believe them personally.

[smugglersvin]

I guess it depends on who has been driving the car, I would feel sorry for anyone who bought a car as an ex demo, only to see it on top gear lol.

[F i F]

Personally I think the antics Top Gear give things is an extreme. There are some press who will try to check the times and do the clutch dropping launches but I guess the majority would just drive it fairly normally.

We get not press cars but manufacturer demos as they try and sell us to the job fleet. Some manufacturers clearly prepare their demo cars immaculately, and some have every conceivable extra on them, would you believe a Passat pushing £50k?

However there are certain manufacturers who seem to not be particularly careful about presentation. Lost count of Audis with odd tyre pressures and running on fumes. Just what you want, "Oh I'm in a rush, have you got a car?" "Yes we've just got a demo, see how it goes." Leap in fire it up, fuel warning light DING!! Of course it could be the fleet manager pulling a fast one.

[warren182]

If I had the choice, I'd avoid. Often read about press cars being used with barely any miles on them, what are the chances they're run-in correctly?

[Zwolf]

Pentoman said:

Back at the start of the century someone from a magazine told me BMW magazine test cars are built on a different production line.

[versus]

i wouldn't touch it.

[Gooly]

ZeeTacoe said:

Hardly an impartial source is it?

It's not the only source though, the rumour of Ferrari massaging their press cars has been around for a long, long time now, and quite a few other auto journals have reported on it. Whether or not that makes it any more accurate, I don't know, but it's food for thought.