Car Buying: What is a Demo Car?

A "demo car" is a car that is owned by the dealer and is used either by customers for test drives or is used by an employee of the car dealership for personal use. The purpose of this demo car, or demonstration car, is to advertise both the car dealership and the car itself. Additionally, a demo car allows a potential customer to discover how he or she likes driving a particular type of car. Conversely, an employee can become familiar with a new vehicle so that he or she can better serve the needs of the car dealers' customers. After about a year or so of use, the car dealer often puts this demo car up for sale to the general public.

Car Buying: Helpful Demo Car Information

Legally still a new car, it is essentially a used car that has more than likely been driven quite hard by the drivers. Specifically, if the car is being used for test drives, the customer often drives the car to its maximum limits to test the engine, brakes, stereo and so on. Since the car would be test driven by more than one individual, this "testing" by more than one individual often puts undo strain on the demo vehicle and you may need car repairs sooner than usual.

Additionally, while a discount offered by car dealers may initially sound quite tempting, the price offered on a demo car is not really much less than on a car that is bought brand new from a car dealership. Also, the mileage that is on the demo car will be subtracted from your new car warranty. Thus, your auto warranty on this demo car will not last as long than if you were to buy a car new. (More information on warranties can be found at WarrantyDirect.com).

Additionally, there is no concrete information available that will allow a consumer to accurately price a demonstration vehicle. Therefore, it is difficult to determine whether or not a deal is truly a "good deal." Also, in rare cases, car dealers disconnect the odometers of the cars when the employee is driving the demo vehicle. If, however, you are a skilled negotiator and can get the salespeople at the car dealership to drop the price considerably because of the mileage on the car, a better deal may be had. However, there is always the concern that the vehicle has been driven quite hard, as stated earlier, by the drivers in the past, and thus, many experts do believe that purchasing a demo car is not worth the small discount that is provided by most car dealers.

Thus, it is important to always deal with a reputable car dealership and to remember that these "new cars" are in fact used cars.