Do Not Buy A New Car If You Trust...

[violhence]

...that just because the car is brand new or relatively new, that there is no damage already done to it. I bought my 2007 Legacy Limited and it only had about 4000 miles on it. It was a bit of a dealer demo. I still love the car, but I have to admit that there were a few spots where you can notice a bit of minor scratches/ damage if you look real closely in the hidden spots. Most of it is not visible, especially not from the outside but minor damage is there nontheless. I just read a thread recently that was posted by another member saying that he found paint damage on a brand new 2008 Subaru Legacy LGT. The car had never been driven by anyone at all except for the dealership sales people when they were handing out a few test drives. The point that I want to stress is that even if you have a car that sits on the lot and it is brand new in terms of the year and has less than 100 miles on it, it is still not new. Chances are the silly sales person took it for the test drive and stuck those magnetic plates on it and scratched the paint. Or he or she scraped up something on the inside. That is why it is important to get your cars looked at very very carefully - especially if the car is new because a new car gives you the illusion of flawlessness. I am sure I can get a handful of responses here from people who bought a new car and then found some prior damage on it a few weeks later when the car was at home. Anyone agree with me here...

[BDII]

NEVER buy a demo. NEVER

 

Trust me on this.....

 

[BDII]

I used to beat on all the demo's when I sold cars...

 

what would you do if they gave you car and said:

 

"here is a free car. put 7500 miles on and return it. And BTW, we will pay for gas."

[violhence]

yeah you guys have a good point. Mines is not too bad though - just a minor scratch in a hidden spot or two. But what I was trying to get at is that even with brand new cars, that are not demos, sales people still find ways to damage even those. That is what surprises me.

 

I want my next car right out of the factory. I will wait outside until they are done building it and then I will grab it. I don't even want anyone anywhere near the car. Driving it right off the assembly line.

[GraysonSubaru]

ive bought demos...my lgt was a demo. i had a jeep demo, my mom still has her 2001 Mazda tribute demo, none ever had any troubles.

 

once a car leaves a paint booth, the damage begins...even things as light as sand dust going over the vehicle while being at the port/transport depo can leave minor imperfections. being on a transport truck going 60mph is not helping either and of course every time you wash a car, it will leave marks.

 

look how many coats of paint and how collectors and rebuilders are of classics where they put 20 coats of paint and another 20 of clear on the cars to help keep it look blemish free.

 

You can look at ANY new car at a dealer and find some sort of blemish if you look hard enough.

 

it isnt really a dealer that might be at fault for a slight scratch here or a little blemish, it is because it is not in the paint booth any longer and is being exposed to so many things in its atmosphere.

 

on the gas/demo thing, most dealers dont pay for gas in a manager's demo any longer. too expensive.

[BDII]

Grayson, I like you and all dude....

 

but demos are exactly that.

[GraysonSubaru]

Grayson, I like you and all dude....

 

but demos are exactly that.

 

 

are exactly what?

 

demo condition is going to depend on who drove it. We only have a handful of people at the dealership I am at that even have demos.

 

Owner, Jeep manager, Subaru manager. thats it. Owner is driving a commander as is the jeep manager. the Subaru guy just drives whatever. is in an automatic LGT now.

 

i drive very hard in my car, but dont have any problems, even at 85k. i think demo's having problems can also be related to the product sometimes more than the manager that drove it. when most of us buy a turbo Subaru, we generally drive them pretty hard. not all demo's are driven hard and the ones that are, are just done by someone else besides the first titled owner.

 

we have a pretty big policy against how company vehicles are driven, especially demo's because they have the dealer's tag on them as well as grayson info. the manager defiinitely doesnt want to be reported as driving badly or they take the chance of losing a demo and having to purchase their own vehicle. granted some dealers dont have this and i am sure there are demos that are really beat on, but in 13 yrs in the car business, I have seen more people abuse a car on a test drive than i have company employees -- plus if they (dealer employee) wreck it, they have a $2500 deductable that comes out of their own pocket.

[violhence]

I love my demo. I got a good deal on it but I just want people not to take examining new cars for granted. If a car was used, you would examine it all over to make sure it has no damage. Do that to new cars as well.

[GraysonSubaru]

I love my demo. I got a good deal on it but I just want people not to take examining new cars for granted. If a car was used, you would examine it all over to make sure it has no damage. Do that to new cars as well.

 

 

agreed. on a new or used car, once you drive it off the lot, in theory they can deny any dings, scratches, etc were on it at delivery because noone can verify if they where there are delivery or if they happened once the customer drove the car down the road.

 

if you look over your vehicle closely after it has been cleaned (and/or before it was cleaned), then you can point out things..maybe a ding, a scratch, etc.

 

look the vehicle over after your test drive before you do numbers. if you find a mark or anything, you can use that in negotiating...or even just refuse that one because of the blemish.

 

if you purchase that one, make sure to look it over again after it was cleaned to make sure dirt wasnt hiding anything and to make sure they didnt do anything to it while cleaning it.

 

that way your bases are covered should you find anything. be meticulous in looking it over because if you arent, the first time you wash it, you will find every mark you missed.

[BDII]

are exactly what?

 

demo condition is going to depend on who drove it. We only have a handful of people at the dealership I am at that even have demos.

 

.

 

 

I have 100% faith that the demo's at your dealership are mint.

 

Not all dealers are like you though, in fact the majority are not. I would NEVER recomend buying a demo.

[SubieAutoXer]

You'd have to come across a pretty ignorant sales force/management team to allow demo cars to be mistreated. From what I've seen they end up going through the break in/quirk solution stage with better and more prompt service than any other car on the lot.

 

Figure it spends 10-13 hours at the dealerships anyways so any issues get handled immediately and properly. I don't know of any business that's going to personally mistreat and damage their inventory before they sell it to a customer. I also don't know of any dealership that pays for gas on a demo unless it's actually been test driven by customers that often.

[FameMax]

A demo is a great way to save money, when buying a car. Natually any car can get imperfections if it is sitting outside. If a car is still on a MSO, manufactuers certificate of orgin, technically it is a new car because it has never been registered or title before.

[pillboy]

Demos are not for perfectionists...if you're an average person, buy a demo...you won't notice anything wrong.

 

Test drove an Outback with just a few thou on it, salesman's daily driver, and the interior looked like he had been hauling concrete blocks...in the front seat...unbelted.