When is a Demo not a Demo. Cars

[Quickstatus]

When is a Demo not a Demo?.

While waiting for my VW Golf to be declared either a write off or a repair job. (NRMA taking its time- accident 4March)

I went to look at a Demo/Used VW Passat Alltrack Diesel (Not made anymore, one of 5 left in the country still for same)

Advertised as a Demo. Registered Jan 2019. Loaned by Dealer to a sporting club it sponsors. Currently done 10000km

I said its a 2nd hand/used vehicle. Dealer says its a Demo. Warranty clock starts from date of first registration.

Redbook value says its $16000 less than what they are advertising it for.

 

[tgh]

I know it's hard to face the stigma..( you bought what) but Volvo have been making bloody good 4 paw diesels.
Personally I don't like the feel of the cars.. but the build quality is probably as good or better than anyone else.
Otoh VW group products are more mainstream drivers cars.. all go where they are pointed ( or at least try to)

 

[blackcat20]

That's not a demo, thats a second hand vehicle.

 

[Pushka]

That's not a demo, thats a second hand vehicle.

Agree. A demo is a car that has only been used for test runs. I know mine had less than 500 k on the dial. 10000 is second hand by about 9000 k's.

And the "official" guide

 

[TheRealTMA]

Agree. A demo is a car that has only been used for test runs. I know mine had less than 500 k on the dial. 10000 is second hand by about 9000 k's.

And the "official" guide

View attachment 209656

Depends if the dealer winds back the Speedo. Bought a Alfa 156 once that was 1 year old from dealer and it had 0 km on the clock. Their response was, “oh the instrument panel had a fault and we had to replace it”. Good car though.

 

[Pushka]

Depends if the dealer winds back the Speedo. Bought a Alfa 156 once that was 1 year old from dealer and it had 0 km on the clock. Their response was, “oh the instrument panel had a fault and we had to replace it”. Good car though.

Of course. But my car was only a couple of months old anyway. And very pristine

 

[NickCorr]

If the ownership is still in the name of the dealer, they might be trying to enforce a loophole, but with that many K's they are being cheeky.. Not worth the money, look elsewhere...

 

[Quickstatus]

I’ll just show them the Redbook valuation. This one is definitely not a demo car. Demo implies a new car with insignificant mileage

 

[TheRealTMA]

Of course. But my car was only a couple of months old anyway. And very pristine

They were selling it as a demo...

I found out the details later. Car had done 11500 km “as a demo”. Which is why front tyres had to be replaced 10K km later.

Was nice. Silver with red leather!

 

[Happy Dude]

Isn't it just semantics? Who cares what the dealer calls it - it's a car that's done 10,000km and has the balance of the new car warranty since Jan 19. Your offer should reflect that.

I personally could not buy a VW. Their treatment of the public in relation to the emissions fraud is indefensible.

 

[Flying Fox]

Totally agree. They can call it a banana for all I care. Its about what price you pay for it.

My last car was a 'demo'. It had 56kms on the clock but had not been registered by the dealer but was flagged on their system as demo. The salesman and I had to physically walk around three warehouses to find it in the back gathering dust. Mr Salesman couldn't work out why it was a demo but I got the demo price and we negotiated down from there.

Best of luck to you on the deal. Otherwise walk away.

 

[Quickstatus]

All car manufacturers are the same wrt to dodgy practices.

But yes semantics but its quite amazing that the dealers try to hold the line that theirs is a demo and not a used car.

I think once or ages past a certain date it’s a demo.

 

[ausfox]

A few years ago I was kicking tyres in a large used car yard when I encountered a car that my brother in law had traded.
When the salesman saw me taking notice he oozed across and enthusiastically assured me the car was a demonstrator with 40000k's on the clock. I nearly fell to the ground with hysterical laughter.
I gave him a full briefing and pointed out that the previous owner was worse than Whelan the wrecker with absolutely no mechanical sympathy.
Left him a bit bewildered at being caught out so badly.

 

[drron]

Way back in the day after buying my first new car,a Datsun 1600,I suspected that the service wasn't being done as described so I marked the spark plugs which it said would be replaced and also numbered the tyres on the inside which were going to be rotated.Neither was done,refused to pay which they reluctantly agreed to after I threatened to report them.Never went back getting it serviced by a guy called Nat Zanardo who used to race a 1600 at Bathurst-it was a totally different car.

 

[Julesmac]

Mate of ours ran the used car division for a large Mercedes dealer. Whenever his car was in for a service Mrmac would amble over to the lot and find one he liked the look of, & say let me take that for a few days. Our wiseguy mate used to say - if you want to turn a demo into a used car, lend it to Mrmac for a couple of days!

 

[Flying Fox]

A few years ago I was kicking tyres in a large used car yard when I encountered a car that my brother in law had traded.
When the salesman saw me taking notice he oozed across and enthusiastically assured me the car was a demonstrator with 40000k's on the clock. I nearly fell to the ground with hysterical laughter.
I gave him a full briefing and pointed out that the previous owner was worse than Whelan the wrecker with absolutely no mechanical sympathy.
Left him a bit bewildered at being caught out so badly.

Shame so many sales people are out and out liars. This is why they have the bad reputation for being untrustworthy.

 

[k_sheep]

Way back in the day after buying my first new car,a Datsun 1600,I suspected that the service wasn't being done as described so I marked the spark plugs which it said would be replaced and also numbered the tyres on the inside which were going to be rotated.Neither was done,refused to pay which they reluctantly agreed to after I threatened to report them.Never went back getting it serviced by a guy called Nat Zanardo who used to race a 1600 at Bathurst-it was a totally different car.

It still happens! Being a girl, I always get told at a service 'this definitely needs such and such done or you'll definitely die in a fiery crash next week'. Funnily enough on a second opinion, it's always something different .....

But it's not just the girls. Mr k_sheep had doubts about the Subaru official service centre, so he did a bunch of stuff himself including putting a brand new air cabin filter in, just before service. Surely enough, they produced 'his' filthy air cabin filter as proof of how bad it was, and to justify the extra expense on the bill. When he produced the 2 day old receipt and a picture of him installing it, they were somewhat offput ..... but funnily enough, no apology offered, just an offer to 'check out the mistake'. A letter to management went completely unanswered. Scum. Needless to say, it now goes to a (hopefully!) more honest independant mechanic.

 

[tgh]

sigh ..car service is a hot bed of sexism, sad really
SWMBO takes me along to sort them out when they want to do dumb stuff.

 

[Quickstatus]

Service depts have female service advisers these days but they still try dodgy tricks. Like the old chestnut “ one female owner driver” refrain one sees in car ads. Just cos they are females does not mean you won’t be ripped off.

 

[Ric]

Way back in the day after buying my first new car,a Datsun 1600,I suspected that the service wasn't being done as described so I marked the spark plugs which it said would be replaced and also numbered the tyres on the inside which were going to be rotated.Neither was done,refused to pay which they reluctantly agreed to after I threatened to report them.Never went back getting it serviced by a guy called Nat Zanardo who used to race a 1600 at Bathurst-it was a totally different car.

My first car was also a Datsun 1600! What a great car!! Truly missed it!