quikgw

So a few weeks ago i went to Wondries Scion in Alhambra, CA with my friends to look at the Tc. All we found was a BCP Tc manual demo car. We took it for a ride and it was great. But a few days later I took my family to take a look at the car, and it was gone! The dealer told us that someone had bought the demo car! From what i recalled, it racked up some miles, but not enough for the break-in period.

I was wondering, would anyone actually buy the demo car? No offense, it's just that the car has been test driven by customers and agents alike. I drove the car pretty hard through the local streets, but the dealer told me that they even took the car to race on the highway sometimes. That car must've been abused not to mention not properly broken-in. I know that TCs are at high demand in this area, but would you risk buying a demo car? Personally, it sounds like the person was indulging in his/her wants and not looking towards what would be best for them.

I'm definately going to wait the 7 weeks that it will take me to get my TC. But would you?

fearturtle44

I would buy a demo car. One way to save $2-3000. Just have to hope nobody ran the hell out of the car during any of the test drives.

Kevin

woodstock

too risky. other than driving it hard, the brakes could have been abused, the suspension might be messed up, and what if some dude layed a fat wet beer fart into the upholstery?? helll no... i'd gladly pay an additional 2-3k knowing that my car is MY car, know what i mean? i guess the guy musta been pretty desperate... let's hope he's happy with his purchase.

JEDI

I work in car sales and see everyday what people do to demo units. There is no way I would buy one.

zoltiz

One of the dealers I've been going to had a silver 5-speed tC with a bunch of accessories on it as a demo. Everybody testdrove it, but when I asked what's the discount - they said "none" - they are selling it for full price as a new car. Poor guy who gets so desparate as to a) overpay 50% for accessories just because they are already installed, b) buys an abused demo car with 400-500 hard miles, burnt clutch and filthy interior.

No, I won't buy a demo car.

haihengh

my tC was a demo car. you get to face it, when there is a car sitting on the lot and nobody pre-order it, it's a demo car, at least when someone say "i want to test drive this one", the dealer can not say no. tC selling out like crazy, in my area, most car is sole by the time they hit the dealer's lot. when i bought my tC, it just arrived to the dealership less than 24 hours, i know 5 or 6 people test drove it, and i test drive it like 10 miles before i decide if i want to buy it or not. once i bought it, the dealership running no tC on the show room for 2 weeks. this car sell very fast, so if the demo car that you drive is good, and well under 100 miles on it, i think it's ok to buy it. 40 or 50 somthing hard driving isn't going to destroy the car, and in my case, it's an auto, so it's less likely to get trash in the frist 50 miles. also, the reason that i got my car is because it's all stock, no dealer add on option craps, compare to the other dealer that i went to, all has at least 3k worth of dealer add on things.

by the way, any car that you see in the dealership has more than 2 miles on it, it's going to be a demo car for sure, at least someone test drove it already.

fearturtle44

You bring up a good point. When I got by tC, I ordered the base car and had the dealer install MY accessories. I don't know why most dealers are not just ordering the base tC and then letting the CUSTOMER pick their own accessories? Unless it is soley due to the dealer making some money on the marked up accessories.

The plan should be for the customer to go to scion.com, build your car, send it to the dealer, and then in 7-10 days have your tC. I know the wait is long now but hopefully after a few months, the above will be the case or what the customer should be doing. My dealer got in a tC but it had the auto-dimming accessory which in my opinion is a WAY overpriced feature. But he was able to sell the car due to the demand.

Kevin

haihengh

since for pure price, dealer can not mark up the car's price, so the only way they can make sine extra cash is to install accessories, it's kind of price mark up. yes, Say's law, you make it, chances are someone will buy it, tC's demand certainly follows Say's law. some, in fact a lot of suckers bought tC with 3k+ of dealer add up accessories.

UCSDPinoy

Yah the people at wonderies offed the Black Cherry Pearl to me, but nope, i waited, and i didn't want Cherry haha.
I hear some crazy stories about people test driving cars. They want to test the 'limits' i guess before they buy. so who know's what might break down.
Oh yah, do you really save money when buying a demo??

On a side note, there's this Black Sand Pearl at Long Beach Scion, BUT its a demo and its all fixed up (ie. leather seats, 18" rims, and springs) i think the total was around $24G's and its a demo

CaliSciontCGirl

We did buy the demo car and I am very happy with it. It had very very very very very few miles on it. Runs great. I am pretty sure we were the first people to test drive it. I lvoe my tC

Chachunka

From which dealership did you buy your demo? I noticed the BSP A/T demo from Melody Toyota in San Bruno was sold recently.

haihengh

melody, i bought the IIP demo before the BSP demo came in. before my IIP demo, they have a FM demo with about 300 miles on it (i guess that's their first ever tC).

scionracerxb

no way, don't ever buy a demo car....listen to what you're saying. this is what the salesman say. hey want me to DEMO how i can do a burn out. Hey, want me to DEMO how i can hook a turn at 60mph. Hey want me to demo how i can chirp 1st 2nd and 3rd? plus they use the cars to go to lunch and drive all around. def. not worth the risk.

scion_sales

I've bought demos before, and I would from our dealership, because we don't turn our cars loose with customers.... because of insurance regulations, we have to ride along with the customers on a short test-drive (3 to 5 miles).

I've only ridden with one tC customer that knew how to "drive" a car, if you know what I mean. And with the roads we have here in West Virginia, you can't do much of a real hard "drive" like you can elsewhere.

I wound up selling our xB demo to a customer who is happy as can be. I was surprised that our management actually gave him some money above actual cash value for his trade, but that was because it was a demo with 350 miles on it.

scion_jC

the tC i bought had 6 miles on it .. i added 4 more when i test drove n im waitin for insurance to go through so i can finally drive it off the lot. u think someone test drove my tC ?

lildreamah

I was one of the test drivers. I'll be honest, the salesman let me beat up the car quite a bit. I punched through the side streets and then proceeded to test the brakes. Not bad at all but I wouldn't want to buy that demo car, I test drove it with 200 miles on it. That was about 3-4 weeks ago. It was nice but the XM or the spoiler was things I really did not need. Hope the new owner enjoys, I know I did.

jrussell

Having sold Toyota's before, MY definition of a demo are cars that were driven for personal use by dealership managers or sales folks that qualified for a demo. In many cases the cars used as demo's were more top of the line models rather than the core product such as Camrys and Corollas. They drove the car for a 1000 miles or so and then they were sold as NEW cars since they haven't been titled before.

Would I buy a demo, no..... most demo's that I have seen typically were sold for the same price as you could negotiate a new, non-demo one for with the only difference being that the customer THOUGHT they were getting a great deal on the demo.

The new cars on the lot with 10, 25, 50 perhaps 100 miles on them were typically just driven by customers on demonstration rides to get a feel for the car before they buy.

Something else to consider, as Scions become more available and dealers start doing more "dealer trades" (swap a car at dealer "a" for another car at dealer "b") you will start seeing new cars on the lot with upwards of 200 - 300 miles on 'em. The only person that may have driven the car is the dude that the dealer hired to go swap the cars. How do you know for sure if a car on the lot came from a dealer trade? Look at the MSRP sticker and it says the dealer name that Scion shipped the car to the first time.

Again, all of these cars are NEW since they haven't been titled before.

RussianTC

My car had 5 miles when I bought it. I put on 5 more doing the test drive. So, no I doubt anyone drove your car. Don't forget they have to test drive it at the factory, to put it on the truck, off the truck and to do a final inspection. So I think anything under 10 miles was probably never test-driven.

Haihengh: I test drove a demo black color auto at Melody toyota back in June, and after that...I would never buy a demo car. I think that was the first tC they ever had...and it was sold already.

haihengh

i would not buy that one too since by the time i test drive it, it's like 300 miles already and the clutch is not engage in time, i stay away from that one. and what you see the mile on the meter is not the avtual mile for the engine since toyota break in engine in factory. whenever a car ship to dealer, the dealer tech will do somthing on the car, one of those thing may be to clear the meter so the shipping(drive off boat, drive on the truck/train) mileage does not count. i am only guessing, since i see plenty of car in dealer's lot have 0 mile on it. my only explaination for it is the meter was clear off before put on the lot.

anyway, my point is, it's ok to buy a demo car, but sure you get to test drive it and see if there any problem on it. and in the tC case, since dealer only get one or two at a time, they need to put somthing in the show room, it's hard for them to say no to a customer who wants to test drive it.

TheScionicMan

Typical guys, you all want to have a little pre-marital, but gotta marry a virgin...

No, they do not reset the odometers at the dealer. Every mile counts once that car is assembled.

I would wager that few engine problems are caused by incorrect breakin procedures. It's warranteed. What are the odds that some strange thing is going to be damaged by abuse in the first couple hundred miles but won't actually develop into a problem for 60,000 miles more?

How many people don't want to drive the demo, but MUST try driving the car they want to buy. What if they decide they don't want to buy it? The factory doesn't just send cars out to the dealer and say see how much you can get for these. the dealers are buying these and selling them. They are invested in each one...

Now a rental car, fuggetaboutit...