Brand new or reasonable demo

[GIB-8]

Now i've only heard how demos are being treated in showrooms, but have not seen it myself. I'm interested to know, now i'm opened to two of these options. It couldn't be that bad could it?

[maca]

I bought a 10 month old Demo from GC Volkswagen and while there were 1 or 2 things wrong with the car, they offered to repair them and get the car back to new standard. Buying a demo is a great alternative as not only do you get the car significantly reduced, you don't have to worry about running it in. No doubt it would've got hammered as the service loan car but meh... I couldn't tell the difference between the demo TDI I bought and the new TDI I drove at Highway..

[GIB-8]

Thanks macca, but when run-in.. does it matter even if the first 2000 Ks it'd been trashed most of the time? i'm guessing it would be.. hehe

[maca]

I've thought of that too, but would they really let a brand new car get hammered that much? I always thought that perhaps the dealers or something would take it home for the first 1000km and care for it (HA!). It still drives great and no mechanical problems that could've resulted from it being a demo yet..

PS. My car had about 9,000km on it when I bought it so the worst could've been over if there was something wrong with it..

[GIB-8]

I see, that's true.. thanks

[Golf Loon]

There is a school of thought that if you thrash em from new, they end up faster and run in nicely.

[Treza360]

There is a school of thought that if you thrash em from new, they end up faster and run in nicely.

I'd subscribe to that. My car was sold to it's first owner with around 5000kms on it as an ex dealer demo and I would stake a hefty wager on the fact that it would not have been babied in the kilometers that it did as a demo.

Car hasn't missed a beat since I've had it and it is still on the original clutch and the only non consumable that has broken is a reverse light switch which is a known issue with the MkIVs.

By giving it plenty during the run in period the piston rings etc will bed in very well and won't glaze the cylinder walls by running constantly at the same rpm. This means the seal between them will be as good as it can be. Of course some mechanical sympathy is always nice such as waiting for oil and fluids to get up to temperature etc.

So long as you still get the full warranty period and you give the car a full inspection (especially for squeaks, rattles and interior wear) I don't see a reason not to buy a demo especially if you're going to get yourself a nice little discount.

Cheers,
Trent