[sanjeevskartha]

Originally Posted by A M

Sorry for going OT guys. But whats with the H thing?

AFAIK, when you buy a new Fiat car, the 'H' symbol will show up till 200km beyond which it will vanish. After 200km it will show the actual km reading. It will also vanish if somebody tries to disconnect the odo.

Hence , if you get a vehicle with H25km on its display it means that the car has been driven for only 25km. If you get a car with only 25km(without the 'H') in the odo, then the you know that the odo has been disconnected in between.

[akshay4587]

Originally Posted by A M

Sorry for going OT guys. But whats with the H thing?

In Linea and Punto,H is displayed in the odo of new cars and it goes on till 250 kms I think before it resets the odo to zero.
It can also be reset to zero manually,usually done at the time of delivery.

[sgiitk]

Check the dates of manufacture. Avoid the demonstrator since this car will have suffered some abuse at the hand of those driving it. I think we all will do things which we may not do with our own cars, just to check the car out under adverse conditions.

[mayankjha1806]

Although i don't have specific date to prove my point, but many a times i have seen things broken, or missing from the display car as there are many who get in a try everything. Hence i would suggest to stay away from the display car.

I have seen this specifically in Tata Showrooms, but have seen few instances of it at Hyundai and Maruti as well.

[sumannandy]

In Tata they may not have dedicated display cars. When we went to inquire about Vista, we were offered a car that was yellow, and it looked like badly maintained and a regular car.

In contrast, all other manufacturers have a great looking and well maintained demo car, which actually attracts buyers.

[sanjeevskartha]

Did a PDI on the card in the yard couple of days back. It had some small scratches on the ORVM and near the indicator. Did not accept that car.

I skipped the demo car completely.

Did a PDI on the car from the fresh lot yesterday. Did not find any concerns. The car was manufactured in May 2012 as from the VIN . All lights,indicators,AC, music system,power windows and electric mirror adjust was fine. ODO showed H14 but the SA said it might go up as they do their PDI. Boot and Bonnet release was also working fine. Did not find any oil leaks in the bonnet. Happy , made the rest of the payment and am taking delivery of the car tomorrow.

[thoma]

Originally Posted by akshay4587

Since its a punto,make sure it has a H on the odo,that will make sure that odo has not been tampered with.

Originally Posted by sanjeevskartha

Yes, will check that. But I have heard that even the H can be tampered to make it static.

Just to document my experience with this H thing. I had to test drive a Punto, which was bought from their showroom 150 kms away. It had H 19 on the odo! The speedo was disconnected. So I guess, the dealers have ample ways to tamper with their cars. I just hate these cheating dealers.

[KarthikK]

Originally Posted by thoma

Just to document my experience with this H thing. I had to test drive a Punto, which was bought from their showroom 150 kms away. It had H 19 on the odo! The speedo was disconnected. So I guess, the dealers have ample ways to tamper with their cars. I just hate these cheating dealers.

Slightly OT here, but whenever they reconnect the speedo next, the H will disappear - this is how it has been designed. The next 'knowledgeable' customer who knows about this 'H' absence has a reason to suspect malpractice and request for a replacement car.

[longhorn]

Originally Posted by Lukeskywalker

Just because a vehicle has temp registration does not mean it will be sold off using fraudulent means, it is wrong on our part to be so biased against dealers, no reputed dealer worth his salt will palm off a Demo car as a regular new car, they have a lot more to lose in terms of reputation, for the amount they make on each car sold, it certainly is not viable for them to risk loss of reputation for a few thousand bucks.

Don't be so sure. 8 out of 10 dealers are scums. They will try to palm you off one place or the other(accesories/handling charges?/registration charges/insurance premium). Maruti is one manufacturer who is strict with their dealers when it comes to consumer complaints. This does not mean that Maruti dealers don't cheat. Dealers may maintain demo cars which are clearly marked as demo vehicles (at least in case of Maruti). This hardly means that this is the only vehicle sent for demo. They may use the demo vehicle for showroom demo while taking another vehicle from the yard with disconnected odo to a customer premise for TD. I have personally seen an SE taking off a TC sticker from one car and pasting it onto another.

[Archish]

A Skoda Showroom in Chennai is selling, what they claim to be, a showroom display car. A 2011 Skoda Rapid Petrol AT @ Rs.7.5L. This includes registration and insurance. And they say that who ever buys this car will be the first owner. Had the car inspected, has run around 10k Kms. How intelligent or stupid is this buy? I am looking to a buy a AT car for my wife.

[phamilyman]

I wouldn't touch that - for the wife especially!

How does a "display" car run ten thousand kilometers - in Chennai traffic, over two years while being on display?

The Ambition plus AT could be had under deals for around 8.6 in Delhi few months back with some minor freebies. Put all of that together and a two year old car which has a high likelihood of being abused, should go for lesser than the stated price.

Its a used petrol car and should depreciate as such!!

What is the going rate for a similar used car?

[Kaumad]

A showroom display that that has run 10k kms? Looks like it did not spend much time in the showroom, being on display.
10k kms in 2 years is normally what is classified as a 'sparingly used' car. This car must have been driven almost every other day at least for a few kms. Looks more like a test drive car than a showroom display car.

[Swanand Inamdar]

Sometimes a TD car may be termed as a display car.
More often than not, the TD cars are abused, to check the performance of the car.

If I were you, I would avoid this deal. There are plenty of used cars available in the market. Buying a non abused one may not be that difficult to buy.

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by Archish

A Skoda Showroom in Chennai is selling, what they claim to be, a showroom display car. A 2011 Skoda Rapid Petrol AT @ Rs.7.5L. This includes registration and insurance. And they say that who ever buys this car will be the first owner. Had the car inspected, has run around 10k Kms. How intelligent or stupid is this buy? I am looking to a buy a AT car for my wife.

Looks a nice price but the important thing here is that will they give you a Dealer Warranty with it and for how long?

Can you get the Skoda Shield for 2+2 years?
Can you get Zero Dep cover?
Can you buy the Skoda 5 years Maintenance Package with it?

If yes to the above queries, then it might be worth considering.
Anyway, you can use the above points in negotiation if you are keen!

All the best!

[iliketurtles]

I'm sorry, but you're being taken for a ride. This car has clearly had the wheels driven off it as a demo car for TD's. Please steer clear of this deal, 7.5L for it is too much as it is, that's before one even considers that it's run 10k KMs.