BMW M3 Coupe e92 Ex-Demo - To buy or Not to Buy?!?

[tomwhite]

Hi Guys/Girls,

I'm new to the Pistonheads Forum, but I was keen to get your thoughts on the following;

I recently placed a deposit down on a M3 Coupe from a BMW Main dealer which has covered 17.5K Miles and has had two owners.

The car comes with 12 Months Warranty etc, and I'm due to pick it up on the weekend.

Whilst checking through the paperwork, I've just discovered that the car is an Ex-Demo and I was not told this at all during the "sales phase" by the salesman...

I wondered what are the pitfalls and or benefits for buying this car? Its left a bitter taste in my mouth having not been told it was a Demo and some people have said avoid and others not to worry ! Its just four days until I'm meant to pick it up and I'm quite concerned !

Any help or advice would be fantastic.

Thanks a lot in Advance.

Tom

[kmc1]

Nothing in itself is wrong with buying an ex demo (would be used for test drives, maybe as a courtesy car but unlikely as it's an M3, and as a staff car).

You may be lucky and have a few optional extras included as well (again used to entice prospective new owners into spending more money!).


Personaly i wouldn't be too bothered about it and besides you have the warrenty



Relax and enjoy your new car

[waterwonder]

I'd try and find out a bit more about its 'demo' life if I was you before jumping to any conclusions that its been thrashed.

I would be more concerned if it was used regularly by a salesman / manager as there personal car as in my experience (having been one of them) these are the people who tend to thrash the buggery out of cars.

The other side of the coin is that the dealership is under no particular obligation to tell you about its owners, unless you specifically ask. So if you pull out of the deal tread carefully so as not to forfeit your deposit.


ETA You could also try use it as leverage for a better deal.

Edited by waterwonder on Wednesday 23 February 15:59

[tomw25]

Thanks for the replies, I think it should be OK - but I'm most disappointed by not being told it was an Ex-Demo and if I wasn't told this, what else was I not told?

It has a really good spec, and was slightly lower priced than others on the market...

True it has a warranty so it should not pose any issues, how about if I sell it again in 12 Months and the potential buyer would be the 4th owner of an Ex-Demo car with less than 30K on the clock?!

Would you be put off buying it then?

Thanks once again !

[SteveS Cup]

I think I'd be annoyed tbh.

I took out a Seat Ibiza Bocanegra at the weekend, the salesman ragged it around then I ragged it around. He tried selling it with a few k's of the list price. I respectfully told him I'd never buy the car on the basis that it's only done 150 miles and we've just been ragging the hell out of it for the last 10 minutes.

If it wasn't a performance orientated car I think I'd be less bothered. But an M3??? If it was a demo car it must have been given hell from new.

But saying that, everyone goes on about how new cars don't need to be run in... I for one certainly would.

[SteveS Cup]

hora said:

If its a dealer ex-demo and has done <5k miles whilst a demo then it wouldn't phase me.

It would have had alot of short journeys but on a testdrive you hardly hang the back out and rip through the revs do you?

Every test drive I've been on the Salesman normally gives it a massive bootfull when it's not even warmed up properly. At the end of the day an M3 is a performance car, so you're going to want to explore it's performance. On an engine that's not been run in, possibly not warmed up properly... that's not a good mix.

I'm not saying it's a bad buy... I just wouldn't do it myself.

This could be the case with any 2nd hand car though, not everyone is going to treat the car with mechanical sympathy.

[lauda]

hora said:

If its a dealer ex-demo and has done <5k miles whilst a demo then it wouldn't phase me.

It would have had alot of short journeys but on a testdrive you hardly hang the back out and rip through the revs do you?

Erm....no. Never.

[Soovy]

tomw25 said:

Thanks for the replies, I think it should be OK - but I'm most disappointed by not being told it was an Ex-Demo and if I wasn't told this, what else was I not told?

It has a really good spec, and was slightly lower priced than others on the market...

True it has a warranty so it should not pose any issues, how about if I sell it again in 12 Months and the potential buyer would be the 4th owner of an Ex-Demo car with less than 30K on the clock?!

Would you be put off buying it then?

Thanks once again !

They don't have to tell you anything, you should have asked and read the paperwork.

If you pull out they'll probably keep your deposit.

[SteveS Cup]

lauda said:

Erm....no. Never.

LOL. I remember test driving an Integra Type R DC5 and having let off oversteer round one of my favourite roundabouts on the local Lotus test run... the salesman actually enjoyed it!

I push a car on a test drive further than I'd push my own car.

[john_p]

How old is it?

[phib]

Yes so long as its not this one ...


I know its not as its LHD

Phib

[lauda]

hora said:

lauda said:

Erm....no. Never.

Ah, you mean when your allowed to run a car/take cars home

Not really. When I test drove a Civic Type-R from a Honda dealer, the salesman drove it like he'd stolen it and then encouraged me to do the same. I would not have wanted to have bought that car as an ex-demo.

[kmc1]

Any second hand car regardless of where it is bought will have an unknown factor to it.

How do you know that the second owner wasn't a complete bell-end and red lined it from cold every morning or used on a track every weekend.

If you are that concerned then maybe buying new would be better (but I'm guessing it wouldn't be an M3 then?).

Point I'm trying to make is you must buy with your eyes open. Check the car over throughily(sp?), pay for an inspection if needed.

With any used purchased there is always a risk.

[tomw25]

Thanks for the replies...

I should have asked more questions, but I was keen to secure it, the price was good, but I realised that this should have prompted more questions from me !

The Car was Registered in September 2007...17.5K, 2 Owners in Total..

[oldcynic]

I suspect it's been treated no worse than if it was bought by someone who had no intention of keeping it in the first place. If you were planning to keep a car for 6/9 months would you run it in carefully or thrash it everywhere from cold to get the maximum return for your not inconsiderable cost?

My current Volvo was a showroom demonstrator, £2000 cheaper than it's nearest alternative and better equipped too. It was specced up to the eyeballs as a family car to sell the options. I've been running it for 7 years now and I think it's had a harder time with my wife driving than it ever did as a demonstrator.

[RobM77]

Not a very honest sales tactic that. I had a similar thing happen...

I'm down south too, and bought a 330ci from a BMW dealer years ago (and I'm now wondering if it's the same dealer!). It got to the point where we'd arranged the price and everything, and just as I was about to sign for it the salesman stopped me and told me it was a personal import and not a UK car. I'd arranged insurance, moved the money around, and most importantly had my heart set on the car. I decided to go ahead as he'd literally put me on the spot and I'd sold my previous car the day before and got the train up there to collect the car! I had trouble insuring the car, and even more trouble trying to trade it in. What's more, when the Lotus dealer I was buying my next car from rung around to get a trade in price, the dealership that originally sold me the car gave a shockingly low price "because it's an import and we don't normally like dealing with them"....

[volvoforlife]

If its an ex-demo car, then I wouldn't go anywhere near it. Imagine how many redlines its done from a cold start. Dealers just start the car up and rag it to show-off to customers. I would just back out right now and get your deposit back. And to confirm, an ex-demo car with 4 owners just rings alarm bells to me.

If its an ex-HQ car which was run by the management of BMW and not lent out to anyone, then go for it.

Edited by volvoforlife on Wednesday 23 February 16:38

[amirzed]

Some guy over on E90post had the M3 that Stig used to set the lap time with round the TG test track, as I recall he reported no issues in his year or so of ownership and I think whatever the dealer demo's get treated it won't be anything like what that car went through....

[rallycross]

Are you sure it was a demonstrater? Might have just been registered and used for a few months. - a large number of new BMW's are registered by the dealers and used for a few thousand miles before being sold as used stock - 'management cars'. Does the cars no harm.

[tomw25]

More Info:

First 4K Miles Demo - Ran by Dealer Principal who apparently had use of other cars

Was lent out for test drives but never as a loan car....

Owner: Bought car April 2008 Sold recently back to Garage, in this time April 2008 - Feb 2011 had covered just 13.5K

Car has had new front tyres, replaced axel oil at back, new pads at back, and seal and protect...

I am slightly happier with this...

Car was 2K cheaper than nearest alternative and has more spec and lower mileage..

All work, Oil tops ups, oil change etc done by same Garage - Car had last Oil and Microfibre service in March 2010 at 13K