Should you buy an ex demo car
Discussion
Been looking around and seen a couple of ex demos - about 6,000 miles on the clock - six months old.
Question - how well do dealers look after their demos - my guess is that they may keep them clean but they may not have been treated 'well' - by which I mean could well have been driven hard and badly!
In which case - is an ex demo really a good deal - could it lead to problems later on in the car's life - I tend to keep them till they have done around 125,000 miles on the clock.
Question - how well do dealers look after their demos - my guess is that they may keep them clean but they may not have been treated 'well' - by which I mean could well have been driven hard and badly!
In which case - is an ex demo really a good deal - could it lead to problems later on in the car's life - I tend to keep them till they have done around 125,000 miles on the clock.
Can’t see the problem myself.
I’ve just bought a 6 month old car with less than 2k on the clock.
An ex company car but I’ve no idea how it’s been driven but you could say the same about any second hand car.
If anything I’d say an ex demo car is going to be driven more gently than a similar car in private/ company unless it’s been used as the salesman’s personal car as well.
Anyway you’d have to rag a modern car to death to make the slightest bit of difference to it’s longevity.
Many ex-demo cars are also Ex courtesy cars from the service department.
When I pick up a courtesy car, like most people I would imagine, I don’t suddenly turn into Luke Duke and look for the nearest ramp to launch the car from or the nearest dirt road to thrash the thing down as if I was being pursued by Rosco P Coltrane and Flash.
There is no reason to not consider them just like any other second hand car. You still have the balance of the Manufacturer’s Warranty as well for piece of mind.
When I pick up a courtesy car, like most people I would imagine, I don’t suddenly turn into Luke Duke and look for the nearest ramp to launch the car from or the nearest dirt road to thrash the thing down as if I was being pursued by Rosco P Coltrane and Flash.
There is no reason to not consider them just like any other second hand car. You still have the balance of the Manufacturer’s Warranty as well for piece of mind.
Superleg48 said:
When I pick up a courtesy car, like most people I would imagine, I don’t suddenly turn into Luke Duke and look for the nearest ramp to launch the car from or the nearest dirt road to thrash the thing down as if I was being pursued by Rosco P Coltrane and Flash.
Just me then? Thought it was mandatory!? 
When they say ex demo car it is likely to be one which was given to one of the sales people for 6 months to use as their own car which was also used as a demo during the working day when that sales person was working, it should be viewed the same as any other used car in my view.
A friend of mine works at a VW dealership and he would change his car every 6 months and the previous car ended up on the forecourt as approved used.
A friend of mine works at a VW dealership and he would change his car every 6 months and the previous car ended up on the forecourt as approved used.
Missus Timbo and I only ever buy pre-reg/ex-demo cars as they offer very good value (my latest car was 30% off list and had 11, yes eleven!, miles on the clock) and we've never had a problem that I could attribute to them not being brand new.
Edited by timbo999 on Saturday 10th April 09:32
Superleg48 said:
Many ex-demo cars are also Ex courtesy cars from the service department.
When I pick up a courtesy car, like most people I would imagine, I don’t suddenly turn into Luke Duke and look for the nearest ramp to launch the car from or the nearest dirt road to thrash the thing down as if I was being pursued by Rosco P Coltrane and Flash.
There is no reason to not consider them just like any other second hand car. You still have the balance of the Manufacturer’s Warranty as well for piece of mind.
Absolutely. Doesn’t matter if it has several drivers, that may even improve lt. The term ‘ demonstrator’ is an easy way to discount nearly new stock . If it looks new, smells new and drives like new, it’s new to you!When I pick up a courtesy car, like most people I would imagine, I don’t suddenly turn into Luke Duke and look for the nearest ramp to launch the car from or the nearest dirt road to thrash the thing down as if I was being pursued by Rosco P Coltrane and Flash.
There is no reason to not consider them just like any other second hand car. You still have the balance of the Manufacturer’s Warranty as well for piece of mind.
There seem to be quite a few “demo” cars on Porsche’s approved used site with mileages between 5 and 100 last time i looked. https://finder.porsche.com/gb/en_GB/718-Cayman-S-3...
timbo999 said:
MIssus Timbo and I only ever buy pre-reg/ex-demo cars as they offer very good value (my latest car was 30% off list and had 11, yes eleven!, miles on the clock) and we've never had a problem that I could attribute to them not being brand new.
To be fair I think there is a world of difference between "ex-Demo" and "Pre-Reg". I bought a pre-reg car in 2008 that had done single figure mileage - nobody has had a chance to rag it around!
With an ex-demo or ex-courtesy car on 6K or so you have no way of knowing how it has been treated, although they are often well-specced.
But if the price is right you may get a bargain.
Dealers will have a number of cars at their disposal.. Each sales advisor would normally have one, as would most of the management.. Then the Service Dept will have quite a few to loan to customers whilst their cars are being serviced - Service Dept normally also have ones to use for customer lifts etc. Due to the pandemic there will be quite a few that haven't turned a wheel for a while, but generally there is no reason why you wouldn't buy an ex-demo tbh..
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