When Should You Refuse to Accept a "USED" New Prius

Some dealerships (maybe this is corporate wide) have a mileage cutoff--I think it is 1,000. Mine was sold 'new' to me at one dealership with 227 mi on it, and the bulk of that was mileage accounted for in a dealer 'trade' to get me the trim level/option package I wanted. When I saw it, I wasn't exactly thrilled, but upon thinking a little it didn't seem to indicate that 50 different people pushed a new/cold engine to its limits. In the end, I'm not worried. (Should I be?)

 

Not sure what the delivery rules are in the US, but my Prius arrived with 1 mile on the clock. Guess it had spent its life getting to me either on trucks or boats.

I personally would think anything over 5 miles is used. Even if you lived in a remote area they could still transport it on the back of a flatbed truck or on a single trailer. It might be easier for them to drive it from a central point to their dealers but that puts miles on the car.

 

I think the key is that you are the buyer. The dealer is going to try to sell you the car whether it has 8 miles on it, or 167...and as long as they can represent it as new, they will. I don't know what the laws are concerning minimum/maximum mileage before a dealer can no longer represent a vehicle as new.

But ultimately it's up to the buyer. You should be aware of the mileage on the vehicle before signing the contract and if you aren't happy with the amount on the odometer then don't buy it, or ask for a discount.

Dealers are always going to try to get the most they can for a vehicle. If they can get you to not care about having a 100, 200, 300+ miles on a vehicle you are purchasing...then they certainly aren't going to care.

I would be curious to know if there are laws concerning this. At some point you would think the dealer would have to at least redefine the vehicle from the classification of "new" to at least a "dealer demonstrator" and there should be a discount involved at that point.

 

As a child, when we got cars with, say 40 miles on them, my father used to tell me they were test driven to see if they worked right. There's a thread elsewhere with how many miles people got on their car, which shows that's not the practice now--lots of folks have one or two miles on their new Prii.

If you ordered the car before it got to the US, then it shouldn't have been driven much at all--it should have been identified to you.

On the other hand, if you test drive it on the lot, it can be "new" for the most important purpose--the new car warranty--for quite a while. You also get to test drive it and to know how many miles it has on it by looking at the odometer. So you can use miles on the Odo to negotiate the price.

The one common situation that resulted in me getting a "new" Prius at 220 miles last November is this--I wanted a car that was not on a local dealership lot, and it was driven from a good distance away. Plus, I was buying a pre-MSRP increase Prius about a month after the increase. Plus, I had the opportunity to drive the car and see the odometer before accepting. So, all in all, I was OK with the car.

So, for me, the real question is whether you were unfairly surpised by the amount of mileage on the car. If so, then you have a right to complain. If not, I say it's OK.


Now for your ultimate question in post number 6:

If the car has never been owned by anyone other than the MFR or dealer, AND I GET THE NEW CAR WARRANTY, I'm OK with it being sold as "new".
If it was used regularly as a demonstrator, or has over, say 500 miles on it, I would expect to be compensated with a lower purchase price.

 

I test drove about ten cars before I purchased. So, in fairness, there's probably nothing wrong with 100 miles. Will 100-200 cause some kind of irrepairable harm? Absolutely not.

As a buyer, you can refuse the car for any reason. At one point, the dealer offered me a demo with 1,500 miles, and he offered to discount 25 cents per mile. I didn't go for that.

 

The problem is I think most people assume or consider all "new" cars sitting on a new car dealerships lot, as being "new".

It is a personal decision of the potential buyer what they wish to accept or not accept. I think an advantage of a higher mileage "new" car is that if you complain or show that you aren't happy it gives you some leverage to get a discount or perks thrown in.

My personal opinion? Less than 150 miles...I'm not concerned at all. Above 150 miles? I still might not be concerned but I think I deserve a discount of some sort, or perks thrown in. Above 200 miles? Then I want to know the story, and might be very concerned, is it a dealer trade? Demonstrator? Why? If I'm not happy with the answer, then I just wouldn't purchase.

 

This is interesting to see how other countries sell cars. Over here a new car is one that hasn't been previously used or registered and you can't use it on the road until it is registered. I believe there is a central storage area when the cars come off the ships and these are then loaded on transporters and delivered to the relevant dealers. As such it doesn't matter if you order special requirements/interiors or go for a standard spec, either way there should be minimal mileage.

All dealers will have a demonstrator vehicle or two and these will previously have had to be registered to the dealer. They are usually sold off after a few thousand miles at a low cost. Also, to meet certain sales targets some dealers will pre-register new cars on block and then sell them as second hand at much lower costs. These cars will still only have 1-5 miles on the clock but because you are not the first registered owner they go for knock down prices. The dealer wins as they meet their sales target and the customer wins as they get a 'new' car for a few grand off the price.

Because of the above I find it really hard to accept that cars with hundreds of miles can be passed off as new in the US and passed off at new prices.

 

No..once again..that's not what I said.

Listen, every vehicle a NEW car dealer gets off the truck, or in a dealer trade, and adds to their inventory THEY are going to consider "new", whether it has 8 "dock" miles on it, or 170 "dealer trade exchange drive" miles on it. My opinion is that it's up to the BUYER to personally decide what they are willing to accept.

Below 150 miles? Not even on my radar as really a problem.

150-200...STILL NEW...but I'd leverage for a discount or perks.

200+ STILL NEW....but I probably wouldn't purchase unless I got a good discount and I personally felt very confident about the fit and finish of the vehicle.

But no...you evidently decided to accept your Prius as New and they were sold to you as new. So no, The Dealer shouldn't of sold it to you as used...

Besides once you've purchased and it's sitting in your driveway, it's a little late to start worrying about the mileage it had on the lot.