2010 Prius: buying dealer demo vehicle

[bps]

Originally Posted by ramdulari

Actually this car is being sold as CPO. I haven't had a chance to look at the carfax yet because we haven't agreed on the price.
Btw, the dealer started out asking ~1000 over the msrp couple weeks ago. Now he's at the msrp (roughly), but I have asked for a 1000 below (I have a similar car on preference order with another dealer, for ~400 below msrp, so...)

A Certified Pre-Owned with almost a thousand miles on it? No way in heck would I settle for a thousand dollars below MSRP for a Package V. I say at least $3,000 off or NO deal...

It's almost guaranteed that some not-so-nice things happened to that car during the break-in period and you need to be compensated for that up-front.

Bryan

[cairo94507]

So it is a pre-owned, used car they are trying to get you to pay MSRP for? I am with others on this board, I would say $3K off MSRP or walk away. Contrary to what the dealership hopes you will believe, people are not just standing around with $30K to drop on a used Prius.

[spinkao]

Originally Posted by ramdulari

Hi,

I may get a good deal on a Prius V which used to be a demo car with the dealer. I'd think it is a good deal if it is a $1000 below the MSRP (the car had ~ 900 miles last time I checked). What do the members think regarding 1) the price and 2) buying a dealer demo car?

Thanks in advance!

Mihir

Well, my gen II used to be a demo/rental car at my Toyota dealership when I bought it. It had nearly 40 000 miles and was 15 months old when I got it, so it was much more used then the one you are considering. Still, it is in a great shape and runs like a clockwork. Many of my friends even thought it was new when they saw it for the first time. So I wouldn't be worried too much about technical state of a demo vehicle. My uncle also got a year-old demo vehicle several years back, and never had a problem with it.

On the other hand, $1000 off the MSRP doesn't sound that appealing to me. I would ask for at least $2000 discount. I payed almost *half* the MSRP for my car (about 56% to be precise) when I got it, although it was an off-going model and much more used then yours, for the fair comparison. Still, I won't settle for a $1000 discount if I were you.

[V8Cobrakid]

uh... my parents purchased a hybrid rx demo.. it always got about 20mpg without a lot of work. i blame this on a poor break-in session... demo drivers like to punch it to see how the vehicle responds. doing this in the 1st several thousand miles tends to wear the cams... making things tick more.. making the engine "that" much less efficient or prone to fail in it's long long life as a toyota engine....

i would ask for more of a discount.. my parents got more like 5k off for buying the demo (40+k car though...)

[timo27]

Originally Posted by ramdulari

Actually this car is being sold as CPO. I haven't had a chance to look at the carfax yet because we haven't agreed on the price.
Btw, the dealer started out asking ~1000 over the msrp couple weeks ago. Now he's at the msrp (roughly), but I have asked for a 1000 below (I have a similar car on preference order with another dealer, for ~400 below msrp, so...)

If I were in your situation, I'd go with the second option ($400 off MSRP and new). In five years, you'll have forgotten all about the $600 difference, whereas the thoughts of what might have happened during that first 1000 mi may still be dogging you. Just my way of thinking.

Otherwise, I agree with others here in suggesting you ask for more off if you go for the demo/CPO/whatever you call it. At the worst, they'll say 'no' and you won't be in any different situation than you are now. Never hurts to ask...

Good luck
Tim