The thought of 200+ people having planted their seat in the car is unnerving. May be able to overlook it at the right price though. With TrueCar at -17% vs MSRP for a 2015, what % discount on a demo purchase would you be looking for?

 

I personally would never buy a demo no matter the price.

 

the thought of how i drive the demo ALONE is enough reason to not buy a demo

 

I think it matters on who drove the demo. If it was solely the dealership GM, eh maybe. But a dealership demo for everyone and their mom to drive, I'd steer clear

 

Honestly with the reliability of the drivetrain nowadays you shouldn't see any issues if you're planning on keeping the car for less than 150k but the thing that would worry me is the wear and tear on the interior components. The seat leather, scratches on the trim or doors panels, scuffs here and there etc. If you go to car shows or look at the interiors of cars on the dealership showroom floor you'll see what I'm talking about; having people constantly in and out of a vehicle is rough.

I do practice what i preach, my GS had 75 miles on it, not quite a "demo" but it received some drives and previously i did buy a car off the showroom floor and did have the dealership replace some interior panels off the bat.

So long as the interior looks good i wouldn't worry too much.

 

This . If the car was in GM's hands for all the 5,000 miles, then there is absolutely nothing wrong with buying that demo. Everything else should be avoided.

 

Demo was for customers not the GM 👎

 

Don't care who drove it, still would not buy one. I've seen some GM's that take them out on the weekends and have some "fun" with them at car meets. I contacted a dealer in TN when I purchased mine. I was looking for white on red and they said they had the car. However it was a demo, I said no thanks. The sales man was like buy it's being driven by University of Tennessee Football Coach, Butch Jones. I wasn't sure if that was suppose to change my mind or what!

 

I wouldn't buy a demo or service loaner.

 

Jeff Foxworthy said it best..."like looking for a bride at a brothel,
don't want anything ridden that hard by that many people"

 

How is a Demo treated that causes it to have hidden damage?

 

If there is a good discount, it may be worth getting it.

I often drive my car fairly aggressively. Unless one of the persons that used it during the demo took it offroading, or drove thru' large potholes at high speed, or had an accident, what is the worst they could do?
It is not a manual transmission where somebody may have worn the clutch out.
Make sure the brake pads are not all worn out, and that there is no physical damage - should be good. Besides, it still has factory warranty on it.

My first car was a Ford Taurus - 1 year old, used, and was a rental car for that year (Hertz). I drove it to 150k miles - with only the 3k mile oil changes (and factory recommended maintenance at 30k/60k etc), and normal wear/tear parts replacement like brake pads. I'd like to think that the GS is a better built car than that

 

Many years ago, a friend asked me if he should buy a second hand demo top of the line Saab 900 SE, or a brand new base model Saab 900 S.

I advised him to purchase the brand new base model 900 S.
He purchased the second hand demo top of the line 900 SE, which had been flogged by the test drives, and it had also been flogged by the top sales rep who got to take the 900 SE home every night.

His used demo 900 SE fell apart in a few years.
Meanwhile his cousin purchased a brand new 900 S base model with little problems...

 

My dad's work car right now was a 9 month old Jeep Grand Cherokee that was a rental. It had 18k miles on it when he bought it. He needed a cheap work car and this one fit the bill for him. All he's done since he bought it is full syn oil changes very 7k miles, filter changes. Just last month he finally changed the original brake pads, spark plugs, and did a mini tune up at 207k miles. Still running strong and he plans to drive it into the ground. He's okay with buying rentals and demos but I personally would never buy one.

 

99 out of 100 demo vehicles are not mechanically mistreated. If there is any damage it will be visible damage (e.g. body, interior), not anything mechanical (e.g. engine, transmission, brakes, etc.).

There is more hidden damage done to the internals of an engine that is cold-started in sub-freezing ambient temperatures three dozen times than any possible damage a demo vehicle would sustain from three dozen vigorous test drives taking place in a warm climate.

If you do not want anyone else driving your vehicle or passing gas in your seat, then I can understand not wanting a demo or pre-owned vehicle. But, if you think that multiple robust test driving is going to cause hidden mechanical damage, then you are extremely misinformed.