To buy a Demo Model or not to buy?

[PlumCrazyPurple]

Ok, so here is the dilemna.
My wife wants a mini, but she wants the purple haze color, they stopped
that color this year.

We managed to find a 2006 early model Cooper S in Purple haze, it is a
demo car with 753 miles on it.

The dealer says that this demo has been driven by the same salesman for
all the miles it has on it. I'm told Customers test drive other cars
that eventually get sent back to the factory and are not sold to the
customers.

The Salesman I that drove it I talked to, he says he broke it in very
well, he seems to be a mini enthusiast.

My question is has anybody bought a mini demo before and what are your
thoughts on buying one?

[ALD0]

How long are you planning on keeping it?
I really wouldn't worry too much-The MINI engine is pretty hard knock with all the punishment some enthuisists put these cars through!

Is it well specced up if it's a demo car, I would say go for it

[PlumCrazyPurple]

It's going to be my wifes car and she hardly drives it hard, i would be the only one driving it hard if she even lets me drive it that is.

She will probably keep it forever.

[naruto16]

Why don't you try finding one on the second hand market? DEMOs are usually not properly broken in, and abused in test drives! It doesn't matter what the dealership/salesman say! They are always lying. I would say that the chances for someone breaking-in their own car is a lot higher than someone (the salesman) breaking-in the dealership's car. If I am the salesman, I wouldn't care. Just lie to the customer who asks if I broke it in.

[PlumCrazyPurple]

According to Mini, the Demo's are not test driven by customer's, they have specific cars for test drives and they are not the Demo's.

Demo's are only driven by salesman, this Demo was driven by the same guy.

[vwminispeedster]

753 is hardly any miles on it and unlikely a long enough time for anything catastrophic to have been done to it by over zealous test drivers. I autocross my MINI hard and haven't seen a hickup with it. If this really is the car your wife wants go for it. She will be very happy with it. And you have the benefit of buying it from a dealer and have a warranty that you can fall back on in case anything happens. It is unlikely you will find a better deal with fewer miles from a private party. Good luck and happy motoring.

[Mike Clarke]

I'm on my second demo MINI, first a Cooper then a Cooper S. Both had been driven hard by customers on test drives, especially the S and after 65,000 kilometres it is still as good as new.

[PlumCrazyPurple]

Thanks for all your information everybody, we're going to pull the trigger and make the purchase.

[Jim Ray]

Quote: Originally Posted by PlumCrazyPurple

According to Mini, the Demo's are not test driven by customer's, they have specific cars for test drives and they are not the Demo's.

Demo's are only driven by salesman, this Demo was driven by the same guy.

According to MINI, and according to a salesman are two different things. Your salesman is blowing smoke. I bought a demo for my last MINI. Of course demo cars are driven by customers, that is where they get the name. For your salesman to tell you that "They go back to MINI" is a giant tale.

If the dealer will lie about the demo, what else are they going to fudge on?

Yes, I was very happy with my demo, but I trust my dealership, and they told me the truth about the car.

[Joogle]

Jim Rays correct.

Customer Demonstrators are test drive cars, they are used by dealership staff as company cars and can be used as loan cars when the service departments run out of regular loan vehicles. Yes you may get a nutter driving it but so what. Remember that they are sold with the full remaining warranty & service pack so you should have peace of mind mechanically.

As the new Mini is only a few months away if the car has a good enough discount between it and a new car it could be a good buy. BUT:-

As for returning the test drive cars to the factory, come on do you really think Mini are going to ship a car from the UK to the states for it to be driven around on a few test drives and then ship it back? What happens to it then?

Thats a blatant lie. They are just after a sale. You havent told them you are after the discontinued colour have you? Do not trust them. If they think that you beleive what they have said they will take you for everything they can get.

Steer clear of this dealer and take your business elswhere.

[minicore]

To echo Jim Ray and Joogle - demonstrators and company cars are the same thing (9-5 they're a demo, out of hours they're staff cars), and demonstrators don't go back to the manufacturer - they get sold! Why do you think you see so many cars on forecourts with "ex-demo" on the spec?

I know lots of people in the motor industry and on the whole, they're very responsible when running-in their demos. Same goes for test drives; they won't allow a customer to thrash a demo if it hasn't been run in.

It's not often that a demonstrator is given to a customer as a loaner though - can't think of a time when I've ever heard of anyone ending up as a staff demo as a courtesy car? So most won't have been driven irresponsibly or unsupervised...

I wouldn't worry at all about actually buying an ex-demo, but as others have said, I would worry about buying a car from a dealer who is talking absolute rubbish!

[dakini]

I bought a loan car that was on my dealer's lot.

I had to buy in a hurry and knew the interior/exterior I wanted, knew it had to be an MCS, and I contacted half a dozen dealers.

The dealer I bought from had a demo model they were happy to sell. Came with 68 miles on it. Had gone out once for a loan. My dealer also had cars that were just used by staff. My dealer (at least) adds extra warranty whenever you buy one of these -- my car came with a 55,000 4 year 3 month warranty, and they took some price off and stuff.

I think somewhere in the dealership feedback forum someone from VA got one as well and the deal was $1 off for each mile.

I'm glad your wife was able to find a PH car still and hope she enjoys it. I wouldn't worry about taking a loaner or staff car. Do check the car closely for scratches/nicks and tears when you go to pick it up. Since it's been used, it's always possible something happened. Just have them note it, especially if it's something that you might want them to repair at a later date. I had one small thing I had my MA note.

[blaze1235]

Just an add on don't know if it's too late or not my Mini dealer told me never to buy an ex demo car off them becuse of the way they were driven.

think of the way you test drive a car with performance???? then add the miles up and the abuse for those miles.

My fried bought an ex demo 330 ci conv went to pay the final payment in time to see the salesman drive it full tilt over one of those little speed ramps. it has been back 5 times in 6 mnths.

everyone has bad experiences with these things but remember this it will have a warranty get them to put the TLC pack on it if it hasn't got try and get as much as you can out of them

[vinnie the mini]

i bought a MINI One brand new then 18 months later traded it in for an Ex Demo Cooper. it is great, no problems at all. i knew what spec i wanted on the car and this had what i wanted and alot more. that is an advantage of buying an ex demo they usually have a very high spec. this one has alot of things that i wouldn't have had put on myself, but glad i have all the extra toys and wouldn't want to be without them now. go for it, i would buy another ex demo again.

[AprilWhine]

Quote: Originally Posted by blaze1235

everyone has bad experiences with these things but remember this it will have a warranty get them to put the TLC pack on it if it hasn't got try and get as much as you can out of them

All US cars come with TLC pack.