Demonstrators - What's your view?
Discussion
What's your view on dealer demonstrators? I've been looking at new and of course I know the arguments for and against but with a local dealer having a couple of highly specced demo vehicles up with around a 20% saving for the sake of it being 4-6 months old with 3-5K on the clock it's hard to overlook.
The manufacturer is Lexus so whilst I'd ordinarily be a little skeptical about demonstrators being ragged to f
k I'm a little less so given the reliability in the first place IYSWIM.
The manufacturer is Lexus so whilst I'd ordinarily be a little skeptical about demonstrators being ragged to f
k I'm a little less so given the reliability in the first place IYSWIM.Urban Sports said:
Having been in the trade a few years ago driving the demonstrators and witnessing how they were driven by others there's not a chance in hell I'd knowingly buy one.
If it was a Golf or "traditional" car I'd agree fully and that's always been my view.I'm fairly sure a Lexus/Prius type of vehicle is 100% "fly by wire" because of the drivetrain so you can't actually do anything destructive using the pedals and gears even if you tried?
bhstewie said:
hstewie said: If it was a Golf or "traditional" car I'd agree fully and that's always been my view.
I'm fairly sure a Lexus/Prius type of vehicle is 100% "fly by wire" because of the drivetrain so you can't actually do anything destructive using the pedals and gears even if you tried?
Thrashing the engine before it's up to temperature? I'm fairly sure a Lexus/Prius type of vehicle is 100% "fly by wire" because of the drivetrain so you can't actually do anything destructive using the pedals and gears even if you tried?
RedAlfa said:
bhstewie said:
hstewie said: If it was a Golf or "traditional" car I'd agree fully and that's always been my view.
I'm fairly sure a Lexus/Prius type of vehicle is 100% "fly by wire" because of the drivetrain so you can't actually do anything destructive using the pedals and gears even if you tried?
Thrashing the engine before it's up to temperature? I'm fairly sure a Lexus/Prius type of vehicle is 100% "fly by wire" because of the drivetrain so you can't actually do anything destructive using the pedals and gears even if you tried?
rigga said:
Its a Lexus not a hot hatch, the type of people who would be in a Lexus demo in the first place would lead me to believe it hadn't been abused.
The IS300h F sport demo I was following while travelling to Tunbridge Wells this morning would disagree! I was surprised by the turn of speed, guess the salesman was running late as he turned off into the showroom at 10:05..bhstewie said:
hstewie said: What's your view on dealer demonstrators? I've been looking at new and of course I know the arguments for and against but with a local dealer having a couple of highly specced demo vehicles up with around a 20% saving for the sake of it being 4-6 months old with 3-5K on the clock it's hard to overlook.
The manufacturer is Lexus so whilst I'd ordinarily be a little skeptical about demonstrators being ragged to fk I'm a little less so given the reliability in the first place IYSWIM.
You can get 10% off a brand new car, so thats half the saving gone.The manufacturer is Lexus so whilst I'd ordinarily be a little skeptical about demonstrators being ragged to f
k I'm a little less so given the reliability in the first place IYSWIM.Also ex demo cars often have extras you wouldnt otherwise want / use so you're paying for stuff you dont want, so a fair percentage of the rest of the "saving" is smoke and mirrors.
As the car is six months old, you've lost 6 months warranty at the other end
As the car is on a previous plate, a new one will be worth more come resale time
You can get preferential manufacturer backed offers on new cars. At the moment Lexus are doing £750-£1000 contribution if you use their finance.
If you're using any sort of PCP / personal lease scheme, chances are the new car wont work out any more expensive.
Theres a fair chance its been a loan car, rather than a demo, which means uncared for driving.
You get a years free road tax on a new car, you'll lose that with the new taxing system.
Its highly unlikely the ex demo will be in the exact spec / colour combo you would otherwise have bought, so you end up "making do".
Daemon thanks, some very useful counter-points there. In no particular order (and just being factual on the specific car here, I'm not into "being right on the internet" else I wouldn't have asked the question 
)
Six months old - of course you're quite right on the warranty side and ditto it's a previous plate.
PCP isn't an issue as the cost to change would be small enough that I'd just pay it anyway.
Loan vs. demo - of course a fair point, not sure how I'd ever tell though I guess it comes down to buy off condition.
Tax - it's a hybrid so it's zero in this specific example.
Spec - actually it's nailed on the exact spec and colour I'd like but I'd go for a slightly lower grade if I went new as I wouldn't pay the extra IYSWIM - I wouldn't buy a wrong spec or colour just because it's cheaper because I'd be looking at it thinking "tt"
)Six months old - of course you're quite right on the warranty side and ditto it's a previous plate.
PCP isn't an issue as the cost to change would be small enough that I'd just pay it anyway.
Loan vs. demo - of course a fair point, not sure how I'd ever tell though I guess it comes down to buy off condition.
Tax - it's a hybrid so it's zero in this specific example.
Spec - actually it's nailed on the exact spec and colour I'd like but I'd go for a slightly lower grade if I went new as I wouldn't pay the extra IYSWIM - I wouldn't buy a wrong spec or colour just because it's cheaper because I'd be looking at it thinking "t
t" We sell most of our demo's in advance. The ones we order first and sell on later are actual demo's that are used for test drives. The ones sold are the ones we drive ourselves. The latter are well cared for and correctly run-in, and are delivered spotless. The others are of course less certain of that same treatment.
My experience of demo's is they are given the get go from day 1.
You say a Lexus buyer trying a demo is less likely to thrash, maybe so, but doesn't stop the salesmen. Beside, I spent some time with Honda, and although those Jazz's weren't ragged, the amount of stalling, crunching gears, and harsh braking from mainly OAP's not used to a new a car surely isn't good.
We've sold ex press office cars. In fact, if you can remember that Volkswagen Tiguan vs CX-5 on Top Gear and how those cars were treated. We sold that Tiguan. Yes it was cheap, but that had some abuse.
If you could get a good deal on a new one, for me that would always be my choice. It just gives you the peace of mind, plus it's exactly what you want. As deamon said, you are still paying for some options you probably didn't want.
However, all of that being said, there will be demo cars which will have been driven perfectly, and well run in. It all depends on who's driven it. Ultimately just the luck of the dice.
You say a Lexus buyer trying a demo is less likely to thrash, maybe so, but doesn't stop the salesmen. Beside, I spent some time with Honda, and although those Jazz's weren't ragged, the amount of stalling, crunching gears, and harsh braking from mainly OAP's not used to a new a car surely isn't good.
We've sold ex press office cars. In fact, if you can remember that Volkswagen Tiguan vs CX-5 on Top Gear and how those cars were treated. We sold that Tiguan. Yes it was cheap, but that had some abuse.
If you could get a good deal on a new one, for me that would always be my choice. It just gives you the peace of mind, plus it's exactly what you want. As deamon said, you are still paying for some options you probably didn't want.
However, all of that being said, there will be demo cars which will have been driven perfectly, and well run in. It all depends on who's driven it. Ultimately just the luck of the dice.
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