Motoring Discussion > Dealer ex demo cars - What is the truth? Buying / Selling
Thread Author: RattleandSmoke Replies: 11

 Dealer ex demo cars - What is the truth? - RattleandSmoke
Having worked on my dads car today I don't want to keep it that long, I had to remove the carpet and found some quite bad rust, its not that bad and certainly isn't hole in the floor yet but I think the safety of the car would be compromised in an accident.

I have seen some 59 plate Pandas at a local dealer for £6k in the blue colour I wanted, the list price of this car is £8100 and the cheapest I can get the car for via broker is £6900 with the problem of finance.

The advantage of this is that I can test drive the car and check it has been built properly at the factory, its just basicaly new and they have 30 months warranty remaining. The engines may have been run it too where is I bought a brand new one I have the danger of never running the engine in properly.

What are these cars likely to have been used for? I am a little bit wary they could be ex hire cars but then is that always a problem?

I have decided for certainly that the Panda is the right car because it ticks all the right boxes and has a fantastically simple engine. Cam belt snaps £200 for a new belt please sir, none of this £2000 repair bill for a new cylinder head.
 Dealer ex demo cars - What is the truth? - R.P.
What's the mileage on them Rattle ?
 Dealer ex demo cars - What is the truth? - RattleandSmoke
There is a lot of them which is why I am a little bit suspcius but its a very large chain. THey are between 150 and 5000 miles. Most of them seem to have 2500 on them.

The dealer is owned by Cambria Automobiles Holdings Limited if that means anything.

I am not bothered about a nearly new car, I would rather have something 6 months old and save over £1k but if they have had a lot of drivers I would be a bit worried about the clutch, but then my driving instructor had done over 50k in his Clio on the original clutch and that took a lot of hammering.

Just been doing the maths again and I can afford it despite of my insurance rises and it would look better for business rather than turning up in a 1997 Fiesta.
Last edited by: RattleandSmoke on Sun 28 Feb 10 at 22:48
 Dealer ex demo cars - What is the truth? - rtj70
Just get one with a Fire engine before they are no more.

I had a Fiesta on a H plate.... it needed welding where you seem to imply.... carpets taken out to weld. I sold soon after due to company car. With hind sight I should have wangled a company car earlier. It cost me a grand at least that car in 1996/97!

The Fiesta I had was a previous model I know but underneath it will have been very similar.
 Dealer ex demo cars - What is the truth? - RattleandSmoke
Rust is always the killer which is why they have so little value now used.

The FIRE engine is one of the biggest reasons I want the Panda, cheap parts and very reliable and after 1997 they sorted out the head gasket issues too. Everytime I go in my mates I am always very impressed with the quality its far far better than the 96 Punto my dad had many years ago.
 Dealer ex demo cars - What is the truth? - Falkirk Bairn
Look at the logbook and see the registered owner.

If it is Cambria Motor then possibly demo/ex-rental
If it is a finance company possibly ex-rental.......

Even a large dealership will not have 10 or so demo cars all of the one model - it would have 1 or 2 of each model may be with different engine sizes/specifications

If all cars are the same model/spec it is probably fleet or ex-rental.

 Dealer ex demo cars - What is the truth? - Zero
or courtesy car
 Dealer ex demo cars - What is the truth? - Netsur
No problems with newish rental cars I would have thought. Driven by a wide variety of people with different driving styles who all have no mechanical sympathy for rental or courtesy cars. Hence well run in and should give no mechanical trouble at all.

At least that was the general opinion in the BR and as I drive several rental cars each year, it seems to be correct. I have never suffered a mechanical breakdown in a rental car, although I have suffered minor electrical problems with older cars that were clearly not look after at all.
 Dealer ex demo cars - What is the truth? - Badwolf
Well, Mrs B-to-be bought an '08' plate Grande Punto from our local 'many makes' dealer last July. When the V5 came, the last (and first) owner was Hertz Rental. The car has been faultless and displays no evidence of its former life. Even if you think that it's been a hire car, Rattle, then I wouldn't worry unduly.
 Dealer ex demo cars - What is the truth? - oilburner
Why worry about who owned it first Rattle? If you like the car and it's condition is good enough, then buy it.

You'll have 2.5 years warranty on it, so why worry?

Once of the best cars I ever had was off an ex-hire fleet. Long term hire, so probably only 1 driver or so for a year, but still.

It ran beautifully, was economical and smooth and the only trouble I had with it was with one well known fault that affected all cars fitted with that engine - sorted under warranty.

Just cast your eye on any potential purchase carefully. The same as you would any other car.
 Dealer ex demo cars - What is the truth? - Zero
Nicolles clio mk2 was an ex rental. bought at 6 months old, with 6k miles under the belt.

It went on to do another 46k miles in 6 years faultlessly, was sold on, where it is still doing good service two years later.
 Dealer ex demo cars - What is the truth? - Mapmaker
My father had a long series of ex-hire cars from Fords of Winsford. Purchased at 10k and 6 months old, they inevitably needed new front tyres at 20k, but other than that no problems.
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