[risham]

Hi,
This advert was placed in Times of India, Chandigarh today.
Wanted to share in news section but did not know how to do so.
Maybe it can be of use to some member.
regards.

PS: I am in no way linked to the agency/manufacturer.

[Aviationshark]

Originally Posted by GTO

Frankly, I couldn't ever get myself to buy a demo / test-drive car. Would rather pick a car driven by one person for 10,000 km than a 5,000 km TD car driven by hundreds. There is a big difference in the way that Indians treat their own property vs that of others.

Of course, it really depends on the odometer reading & discount too. If it's 1,000 km or in the whereabouts at a steal of a price, it would be hard to walk away from the deal. But anything more than that and it's a no show.

You must also avoid media cars. Trust me, they are terribly abused pieces.

I have to agree with GTO here. Before I bought my pre worshipped Star, I was offered a car which was first packaged as a demo vehicle and then was later told it had been used for media and promotion purposes. The car didn't handle like the low mileage shown on the ODO. Wouldn't touch it with a barge pole, and I wouldn't recommend anyone else to, not when the people "test - driving" it are using it so very "enthusiastically"

[TorqueyTechie]

Below ad for sale of demo cars from Volvo in TOI bangalore.

[Tarmac.terrorist]

I received multiple calls and texts regarding these unregistered display/TD cars while shopping in this segment. I always stayed away from these vehicles but was wondering that how much can they be abused in 1-2k KMs and as they're company cars so I assume that maintenance is on point, so do they make any sense?

[Mission_PGPX]

Originally Posted by Turbanator

As far as BMW is concerned, anything that you see less than 500 Km can be considered as New, these will be cars which BMW billed to the dealer as Demo but due to varying reasons, these were not put in actual use.
The ones with higher mileage are Demo cars, which should be avoided due to multiple reasons, single hand owner car even if expensive will be far better than any Demo.

Some serious thoughts on buying a demo vehicle:
A lot has been discussed and debated in favour of and against buying a demo/test drive car on this lovely forum. The case in point in this post is an f10 530d, April 2016 manufactured, with 21000 kms on ODO at the moment. The first owner bought this in December 2017 with 15500 kms on ODO as a test drive car. He is one of those who buys only demo cars to get cost benefit in December month only. Even now, he has inquired for G30 530d demo. The standard warranty expired on 16 august 2018. I could through my sources in BMW locate the service history of this car. First oil service at 8030 kms and second at 14600 kms by dealer. Break-pads were also changed at 9000 kms. The owner has driven only 5000 kms after purchasing in 1 year. The car is now offered at mouth-watering price of early 30 lacs.

I am fortunate that I could find out that it was a demo vehicle. Of-course I would have, I am a BHPian. Car must have been abused, however during my test-drive the car felt really tight. No looseness, no rattles. I took some real hard acceleration and braking, no drama there too. Following points are not only for above case but also for considering the demo car as a first owner directly from bmw. few questions in my mind:

1) What exactly are the components that can create an issue in late life of the car, considering it is abused in early years?

a) Gearbox: It has one of the world’s best gearbox in business meant to be abused. So we can safely assume that it will be ok.

b) Wear and tear parts : Break-pads, break-discs, tyres, alloys. Both front and rear pads show 16000 kms life at the moment in idrive. Tyres need to be changed, for sure. Alloys seem ok, no wobbling even at 150 kmph. Besides, I can consider another 1 lac for pads & disk and 1 lac for tyres. That should not be a show stopper for used car. It’s a plus if we get a car with everything new condition.

c) Suspension: now this is a big-ticket item but there is a catch. BMW says they have this machine which can test the individual suspension and generate a detailed report on health of suspension. This is done in 360 deg check.

d) Engine : Now here I have no idea how things could go wrong later in life. But this is the risk I have to take anyway. Even a single owner car could have been abused and we will never know. Experts can throw in some points here.

e) Turbo : Turbo cooling practice, now how many percentage of 530d owners (sahebs and seths) have any idea on whats turbo and how to take care of it. What is experts take on this one? Nothing happened to my own Jetta Turbo till now (99000 kms on ODO). I remember stretching her at 180 kmph on NE1 at just 700 kms with no idea about Run-in period. I cursed myself later on but the run-in period was over by that time.

f) Any other part failure???

g) The car is very neat inside out. And 360 deg check will tell me if anything is wrong. Should I stay away from demo even after getting a clean chit from 360 report? Even 360 check is not enough confidence inspiring ? If yes, then why exactly.

The car is abused, for sure but what exactly can go wrong with such abuse. My point is even if I buy a new vehicle, I will abuse it some day after that run-in period. What does abuse exactly mean, driven hard and braked hard, driven on potholes without any worry in mind?

I am kind of attracted to this one since it fits all my requirements, less than 3 yrs old, less than 25000 kms and at a price which I can afford easily. I am also attaching my calculation sheet for all different scenarios, stating how much money I will have to invest and how much I will loose. And some pictures of the car in mind.

[the_skyliner]

Originally Posted by Mission_PGPX

Some serious thoughts on buying a demo vehicle:
A lot has been discussed and debated in favour of and against buying a demo/test drive car on this lovely forum. The case in point in this post is an f10 530d, April 2016 manufactured, with 21000 kms on ODO at the moment. The first owner bought this in December 2017 with 15500 kms on ODO as a test drive car. He is one of those who buys only demo cars to get cost benefit in December month only. Even now, he has inquired for G30 530d demo. The standard warranty expired on 16 august 2018. The car is now offered at mouth-watering price of early 30 lacs.

Demo car with 15k kms used as TD vehicle with no warranty is a No-Go. I would suggest to stay away.

You are guessing the number of things that could go wrong and making a budget for it but even one out of syllabus thing going wrong can land you in big trouble.

For example, a steering rack on my F30 went kaput which costed approx. 3L to replace. I can't imagine the amount for F10 for such failures and with more electronics comes more risk.

Look for a car with valid warranty and get it extended to 6 years and buy it in peace.

Cheers!

[Mission_PGPX]

Originally Posted by the_skyliner

Demo car with 15k kms used as TD vehicle with no warranty is a No-Go. I would suggest to stay away.

You are guessing the number of things that could go wrong and making a budget for it but even one out of syllabus thing going wrong can land you in big trouble. For example, a steering rack on my F30 went kaput which costed approx. 3L to replace. I can't imagine the amount for F10 for such failures and with more electronics comes more risk.

This is exactly i want to understand and convince myself. What else could go wrong especially with an abused test drive car? Can this be steering rack? I believe if it happened with you, it could happen with anyone right? by the way, can someoone share a copy of their 360 check to help look at what exactly it includes?

Originally Posted by the_skyliner

Look for a car with valid warranty and get it extended to 6 years and buy it in peace.
Cheers!

Finding an F10 within valid standard warranty is now almost impossible since it is almost 19 months of G30 launch. I am not sure if I am that lucky to find one with extended warranty, because all examples that i have seen till date were on sale without any extended warranty or BSI. This doesnt seem to be a trend in Gujarat, even BMW dealer second this. Leave aside BSI, people here hardly opt for extended warranty, since they are sure to change the car after standard warranty period and claim the depreciation benefit. I must say, GTO is one lucky man.

thanks for your inputs, by the way!!

[Mission_PGPX]

Originally Posted by the_skyliner

Demo car with 15k kms used as TD vehicle with no warranty is a No-Go. I would suggest to stay away.

Cheers!

Forgot to attach the excel sheet.

[Rshrey22]

1) What exactly are the components that can create an issue in late life of the car, considering it is abused in early years?

If you really want to own an out of warranty demo 530d then I would say you refer this thread first.
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/modif...e-egr-off.html (My BMW 530d (F10) - Downpipe, EGR off)

[YashD]

The Jaguar dealer in Bangalore quoted me 34 Lakhs for a XE Prestige. It felt like a great deal but upon going for booking, the guy tells me I've to bear the registration costs along with the other aspects. Also, it already had 15k on the odo. The final price for the vehicle was 42 Lakhs! I don't know what the guys at JLR Bangalore are smoking. Who in one's right mind would pay such a high amount for a Demo vehicle?