[f50xj13]

One tip to ensure your car is not a TD one is to arrange to be present at the dealer's godown when the car is picked up for octroi/registration and other formalities or at the octroi naka.
This is one of the advantages of staying in a city that charges octroi on cars....dealer godown is outside city limits and will only get it in the city when he gets the booking and octroi money reaches him..hehehe somehow justifies the pain of paying octroi.
This method is not foolproof but has worked for me for all my car purchases till now.

[muni]

I have read many posts and test drive experiences where the test drive vehicles have their odomters disconnected or the car is not a proper test drive vehicle.

The dealer will push these vehicles to some unsuspecting customer for sure.


As a well informed Auto enthusiasts, should we show some ethics and refuse to drive such cars in th efirst place.

I know few factors might affect it. Should there be something done about this.

Am just adding a poll to see how many of you have driven such vehicles and how many of you have refused to drive such a vehicle.

[Gansan]

The few Maruti/Hyundai/GM show rooms I visited had demo cars. If demo car was not available for a particular model, they politely declined a test drive, promising to call back when the demo car became available.

[ACM]

I have driven test drive vehicles of multiple brands which would finally be sold to other customers - ODO disconnected. This has happened in 50% of the cases roughtly with almost all dealers, so it is not dealer specific nor vendor specific and not done for all cars either. It is a calculated call they take.

Though not ethical it is not too much a worry if a car has been driven around by say 5-10 persons for a total of about 100kms. Yep there is an effect as these would be new drivers (for that car) and they may do wrong gear driving and emergency braking tests, but cars can still take this.

The major problem is when a dealer keeps on using a car for testing for 2-3-6 months and tries to pass it on as new - This can be checked by insisting on a new car and being prepared to wait for this new car and asking for the month of manufacturing (to be later than the date of order) and finally to insist on checking out the car at the warehouse before accepting the car for registation under your name.

[beejay]

All the cars I have Td are proper demo cars.

Decals and all.

[potlaravi]

Votes for “No, I have not come across such a vehicle”
I never TD a non demo car at show rooms and I even don’t go for TD if it’s not a demo car.

[rr_zen]

When I bought my Esteem in 2003, I was offered a brand new Esteem which was to be delivered to a customer that evening, as a test drive car. The dealer even explicitly mentioned it as no other demo car was available. I felt bad for the customer and ensured I was very careful with the car and did not push it hard.

However, when I went to the same dealer for a test drive of the Alto last year, I was promptly offered a demo car(which was in shambles though!).

The best way to avoid one's own car to be used as a demo car is to inspect it at the stockyard as soon as it arrives from the factory and make a note of the VIN, Engine & Chassis numbers. Secondly, take delivery of the car ASAP once it has arrived at the dealer and not leave it for long which may increase chances of the car being used for a test drive. My two cents though.

[p'arth]

I experienced this at a Maruti dealer when I test drove the Ritz Petrol. I had visited the showroom which is slightly outside the city on the highway. Sales rep did not had a TD car there and he told me to come up till their stockyard (2 kms ahead).

I went their and saw almost 200 cars (all models, mostly Ritz variants) parked in a big open plot. All new cars - dusty, open in the sun. He got out a white Ritz. I asked whether this is a TD car or to-be delivered car? The wily smile on his face told all.

I questioned why this is being used as TD car? His response was that its only a matter of 4-5 kms. The odo read 17kms. I drove but under the mental baggage that I shud not do a rough drive - for this is going to be someone's dream car.

Came back in less than 2kms. Asked him to get a real TD car so tht I can be a bit rough.

[SPARKled]

I got a brand new car to test drive that had less than 50 kms when I was buying my Spark and the regular demo car was unavailable. This was my seond test drive where I just wanted to check the humming sound that I got from the wheels of the demo car I had driven before. I guess just because I wanted to ensure that no such humming came from a new car I was offered a new car to TD.

[deky]

Forget New cars being offered for TDrives. While I was on the look out for a new car I was offered a Ford Fiesta that had come there for its first service. I was flabbergasted and totally refused.

[vijaythacker]

i have came across once, from hyundai with their crdi i20, which was not a TD official car but might be sold to someone, when i refused to do a TD, the SE said sir, td vehicle has not came yet for crdi, so got this car for you, but yes i ensured not to TD it, went to another dealer and took a Td of crdi i20 test vehicle.Other dealers have so far now always given a proper test driven vehicles with decals and stickers all around.From Maruti to Honda.

[driving_smartly]

In my case my Santro test drive was taken in buzzing hot sun they had a white Xl model santro without demo sticker on it all i knew was the vehicle belonged to the General Manager, Sales of that showroom since we knew him that was not a major concern the vehicle had clocked 32 k on odo. When we asked for TD after inital discussion with sales representative he had asked to wait for 15 mins may be they started the car with full blower Ac under shade and it was damm chilled inside when we started our ride managed to touch 110 with ease with 4 people inside and Ac on, found it good and then booked a black one still did not fine the same chilling experience apart from rainy days may be black colour which absorbs maximum heat under sun has some part to play in it.

[joseph5600]

Originally Posted by mansidea

But is it really happening? i thought they will sell off their TD vehicle at a discounted price later or it will be branded as a demo vehicle or use it as an onroad service vehicle.

Even this is what I thought a long time ago, but now I know what is happening.

Originally Posted by GTO

Technically : Until the car is sold, it is the property of the dealership. They can do whatever they want with it.

The police complaint comes into the picture if you have been sold a car that has logged more kms than the odo indicates (forgery).

So that means we cannot do anything regarding this, we just have to be cautious.

As many other members already discussed, if we are going to refuse to take a TD of vehicles without a proper sticker, many of the test drives that most of us have already taken wouldn't have happened at all, as many dealers don't have a proper TD vehicle. So one thing which I felt wasTeam BHP can launch an initiative for this. Might sound very weird and funny - we can launch a seperate thread for this. So when ever we come across such a car, we can probably note down the Engine/Chasis number of that car and post it in the forum with the dealer details, color and other necessary information, so before buying a car our members can search the forum for this Engine/Chasis number and ensure that atleast the members don't get cheated. (Sorry if this doesn't make any sense )

[srikanths1]

Maybe we should make a database of such scrupulous dealers - dealers who offer new cars for TD. This should forewarn prospective buyers and possibly to stay away from such dealers. A database with Dealer / Brand / TBHP User name who personally experienced it or personally knows of such a case should help.

IMO, this would cover almost all dealers end of the day ...atleast a count will help decide on the least scrupulous dealer. This is not completely fool proof but will help leaps and bounds. @Mods, is it possible to entertain such request and if so, how ?

[McLaren Rulez]

Well as others have mentioned, if your dealer offers you a non demo car for a TD, don't take it. Simply because he'll probably do the same with your car before he delivers it to you.