Owners of demo cars, was the discount worth it?

[john5520]

You guys got some hefty discounts with low mile cars. I offered to buy the demo at the local dealer and the best they wanted to give was about $200-300 or somewhere in that ball park. I didn't think it was worth it so didn't bother to look it over. I'm sure with some patience and perseverance I could have found a better deal, but Covid was getting worse and I already had a car built and close to delivery.

 

[EV-CPO]

I said exactly what I intended to and it was 100% accurate: websites like yours no longer aggregate demo inventory. T

And that's exactly what's 100% inaccurate. You are clearly implying that for some unknown reason, sites like EV-CPO and the other sites are intentionally no longer aggregating demo cars. But that is not at all the case, as EV-CPO and the other sites aggregate exactly what Tesla publishes, including all their demo inventory.

To refresh your memory, you said:

Sites like EV-CPO.com used to scrape demo inventory but not any more.

That's not true. Sites like EV-CPO absolutely still aggregate demo inventory. The issue is that currently, Tesla is not currently not listing their demo inventory. But that does NOT change the activity or behavior of EV-CPO or the other sites.

Leaving people with the impression that they can no longer rely on EV-CPO to list demo cars would be a great disservice those buyers, to EV-CPO and to every other aggregator website, which is what your comment does.

But leaving people with the take-away that currently Tesla is not listing their demo cars would be accurate.

 

[vickh]

And that's exactly what's 100% inaccurate. You are clearly implying that for some unknown reason, sites like EV-CPO and the other sites are intentionally no longer aggregating demo cars. But that is not at all the case, as EV-CPO and the other sites aggregate exactly what Tesla publishes, including all their demo inventory.

To refresh your memory, you said:



That's not true. Sites like EV-CPO absolutely still aggregate demo inventory. The issue is that currently, Tesla is not currently not listing their demo inventory. But that does NOT change the activity or behavior of EV-CPO or the other sites.

Leaving people with the impression that they can no longer rely on EV-CPO to list demo cars would be a great disservice those buyers, to EV-CPO and to every other aggregator website, which is what your comment does.

But leaving people with the take-away that currently Tesla is not listing their demo cars would be accurate.

I agree EV CPO is a great resource for any Tesla buyer. Can't wait for Ys to show up on EV CPO (but to @EV-CPO CPO's point Tesla.com 1st)

 

[GWord]

Leaving people with the impression that they can no longer rely on EV-CPO to list demo cars would be a great disservice those buyers, to EV-CPO and to every other aggregator website, which is what your comment does.

Uh, demo inventory data isn’t available at all, therefore people cannot rely on ev-cpo.com to list demo inventory currently. I understand that you are trying to market for your website and want me to spin it in a favorable way. I submit that your mission and usefulness is not diminished by this loss of this source material. I hope that the situation changes for you in the future. If I’m missing something and you have demo inventory on your site I think it would benefit the thread here to post a link or instruction.

 

[vickh]

You guys got some hefty discounts with low mile cars. I offered to buy the demo at the local dealer and the best they wanted to give was about $200-300 or somewhere in that ball park. I didn't think it was worth it so didn't bother to look it over. I'm sure with some patience and perseverance I could have found a better deal, but Covid was getting worse and I already had a car built and close to delivery.

I agree it was like like $1/ mile discount or something ridiculous like that+ I wanted a SR too. I'm surprised to see the high discount in the thread. Perhaps they have more lee way on option prices like traditional dealers?

 

[EV-CPO]

I understand that you are trying to market for your website and want me to spin it in a favorable way.

Not favorable, accurate.

. If I’m missing something and you have demo inventory on your site I think it would benefit the thread here to post a link or instruction.

Right now in the US there are 10 Inventory Model Ss and 34 Inventory Model Xs with more than 1,000 miles on the odometer. I suspect these are, in fact, demo vehicles but are not classified as such (at least not publically). Why else would these new/inventory cars have such high mileage?

There are several Inventory cars right now in New Zealand currently listed as demo cars.

 

[Imolared]

While the discount is great, it also means a much higher likelihood of dings, scratches, dents, and general wear thanks to thousands of people touching the car (assuming showroom car, which is one of my options). It could also be a test drive vehicle, which equally means it could be beat up, but likely in generally better condition. Either way, there's a reason these cars are discounted.

My demo car was delivered to my house end of March (Dec 2019 build). The thing with demo cars is that ANY issue you note down during during delivery will be covered exactly like you are taking delivery of stock/custom ordered cars with less mileage. My car was offered to me with 75 miles on the odometer for $2560 off which was too good to pass up IMO plus I got 2k free supercharging miles as an added bonus (it's actually 800 kWh of supercharging according to the history on My Account on Tesla website).

I'm considered essential worker so I still get to drive the car when I need to pop in the office and have done the weekend leisure drive around, have racked up almost 2000 miles in the past 6 weeks.

Also, I looked at it this way - with my car as a demo/showroom car, I'm guessing that this was "handpicked" so that it's virtually flawless as I can't find anything that sticks out as far as panel gaps, fit and finish issue that I've seen people discover during their delivery inspection. It would have been in Tesla's best interest to have their showroom/demo car looking at it's best OR any glaring issues was already addressed before it was even put out for demo or have been fixed before it got delivered to me.

 

[emcsssdv]

100% worth it to me, but only YOU can judge what is right for you.

I am a massive stickler about interior and exterior "cleanliness" when it comes to my cars. For me, $3000+ is a reasonable discount to start considering a demo car, but it better be basically brand new at that point (e.g. <300 miles). In my case, I found one that fit that criteria and was simply rolling the dice on whether or not it would arrive with any wear/tear. Keep in mind you can return the car within 7 days/100 miles if you are unhappy for any reason. But, i didn't move forward with the transaction because I found something different.

In the end, I found a car that has 1600 miles on it but the discount was so good I couldn't pass it up. I came to learn more about the car (it was an engineering car, not a showroom or test drive vehicle) through a connection at Tesla. I moved forward but was nervous at delivery. In the end, the interior/exterior were in fabulous shape...basically brand new. The tires had reasonable wear, but nowhere near enough to turn me off. I would 100% do it all over again. I feel bad now for the folks that pay full price (including myself since I did it on my 2020 Model X).

So, my recommendation is to figure out what it is worth to you and stick to that. What is the minimum discount you would consider and what is the max mileage you would consider.

I had a similar experience: Just took delivery of a 4/2019 Build LR AWD, FSD (HW 3) with just under 1700 miles last week. It’s white with 19” wheels which wasn’t my first choice but with the $8k discount I had to jump on it. The car showed up on tesla.com under existing new inventory. I ordered as soon as I saw it on Thursday morning and picked up that Saturday, it was already at a local delivery center. I was nervous about the condition when picking it up and expecting less than perfect, but honestly I couldn’t find a single chip or defect anywhere. Only issue was the drivers side B pillar trim on the inside had popped loose, the delivery advisor took it around to the service center and they fixed it right away.

 

[ScoGold]

I had a similar experience: Just took delivery of a 4/2019 Build LR AWD, FSD (HW 3) with just under 1700 miles last week. It’s white with 19” wheels which wasn’t my first choice but with the $8k discount I had to jump on it. The car showed up on tesla.com under existing new inventory. I ordered as soon as I saw it on Thursday morning and picked up that Saturday, it was already at a local delivery center. I was nervous about the condition when picking it up and expecting less than perfect, but honestly I couldn’t find a single chip or defect anywhere. Only issue was the drivers side B pillar trim on the inside had popped loose, the delivery advisor took it around to the service center and they fixed it right away.

With that many miles do you still qualify for local rebates/credits? I’m assuming yes since you said it was listed as new.

 

[TypeRx]

With that many miles do you still qualify for local rebates/credits? I’m assuming yes since you said it was listed as new.

You need to research the rules for your state and utilities, etc. that offer rebates. But in California, yeah, absolutely I qualified for a $2000 state rebate as well as a $1000 utility one. The car (when sold by Tesla as 'new') is considered new regardless of how many miles are on it. It just cannot have been titled previously, which makes the demo/fleet/showroom/etc. cars 'new'.

 

[emcsssdv]

With that many miles do you still qualify for local rebates/credits? I’m assuming yes since you said it was listed as new.

No EV rebates here in GA right now except for $250 rebate for charging equipment install.

 

[holmgang]

If you are a normal person, a demo car is fine. If you are into spic and span, you probably wont tolerate it. Mechanically, there should be zero difference between a demo and a new one.

Keep in mind there is no need for warming up, theres no overreving, no misshifting, no slipping of clutches, no riding the handbrakes, etc. Its harder to mechanically mistreat a Tesla outside of driving the battery down to empty.

Cosmetically I dont think the tens/hundreds of testers do anything untoward to the vehicle. Getting in and out of the vehicle does not accelerate wear. Running ones finger along the paint does not accelerate wear compared to ownership usage. You might have a few extra scuffs on the door sills or whatever, but it'll look like how my car looks today and I bought mine new (and I am not a showroom/spic and span owner)

What you do have to take into account: demo cars aren't cycled around. the ones in the showrooms here are earlier builds so you'll have a much earlier VIN, earlier official build date, and earlier quality (if you believe in that stuff)

 

[Imolared]

What you do have to take into account: demo cars aren't cycled around. the ones in the showrooms here are earlier builds so you'll have a much earlier VIN, earlier official build date, and earlier quality (if you believe in that stuff)

This worked in my favor as my car was build on Dec 2019 which still had the dimming side mirrors which is great here in the Bay Area driving at night/early morning.

 

[ElectricIAC]

I'm working with my dealer on the best options on M3 inventories and one of the avenues I've asked to explore is demo vehicles given that they're still technically brand new and come with a discount.

While the discount is great, it also means a much higher likelihood of dings, scratches, dents, and general wear thanks to thousands of people touching the car (assuming showroom car, which is one of my options). It could also be a test drive vehicle, which equally means it could be beat up, but likely in generally better condition. Either way, there's a reason these cars are discounted.

This brings me back to my main question, is the discount worth it at the end of the day? Should I just pay the $3-4k extra for brand new, not have to worry about warranty issues (I was warned they may be more hesitant to repair pain issues and scratches for demo cars), etc? Curious how others felt about their decision to buy (or not buy) in this situation and if they'd make the same decision now.

Considering I saved enough to pay for FSD and sales tax on my P3D+ demo, I'm firmly in the "Hell Yes" camp. They even took care of a few cosmetic issues just like they would have on a *new* car.

 

[Covidius]

Can someone explain what I'm doing wrong? I am trying to get some help locating a demo performance 3. I've tried my local salesperson, emailed other tesla salespeople around the country, used their chat, searched their sites (which as above apparently isn't going to show demos anyway), requested contact...I cannot get anyone to get off their ass and look for one for me. They have an 800 number I should try? Or I welcome any other ideas I have bought a lot of cars and am used to sales people DROOLING to sell you a car I must admit this new approach is pitched as preferrable except when you in fact want some sales attention.

 

[GWord]

Can someone explain what I'm doing wrong? I am trying to get some help locating a demo performance 3. I've tried my local salesperson, emailed other tesla salespeople around the country, used their chat, searched their sites (which as above apparently isn't going to show demos anyway), requested contact...I cannot get anyone to get off their ass and look for one for me. They have an 800 number I should try? Or I welcome any other ideas I have bought a lot of cars and am used to sales people DROOLING to sell you a car I must admit this new approach is pitched as preferrable except when you in fact want some sales attention.

In my experience not all Sales Associates are particularly adept at navigating the Demo / Inventory process. I had a long time SA that was just awesome at it but she is apparently no longer with the company. I'll send you a private message with the SA that just recently helped me on my latest buy.

 

[EV-CPO]

Can someone explain what I'm doing wrong? I am trying to get some help locating a demo performance 3. I've tried my local salesperson, emailed other tesla salespeople around the country, used their chat, searched their sites (which as above apparently isn't going to show demos anyway), requested contact...I cannot get anyone to get off their ass and look for one for me. They have an 800 number I should try? Or I welcome any other ideas I have bought a lot of cars and am used to sales people DROOLING to sell you a car I must admit this new approach is pitched as preferrable except when you in fact want some sales attention.

Looks like there are potentially three Performance M3 currently for sale right now. but Tesla hasn't published any discounts for any demo cars for a few months now. So unless a local SA can give you an unpublished discount on these cars (it's worth asking), you're probably better off buying a new car with no demo mileage.

 

[Circci]

Looks like there are potentially three Performance M3 currently for sale right now. but Tesla hasn't published any discounts for any demo cars for a few months now. So unless a local SA can give you an unpublished discount on these cars (it's worth asking), you're probably better off buying a new car with no demo mileage.

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When I originally took delivery of my M3 (Last month), there were 3 Performance M3's that were demo with discounts.One blue with white interior with 6k miles on with 4k discount. One red with black interior with 20 miles with a 4k discount, and one red with black interior with 100 miles and a 4k discount. I really wanted one of those, but I was set on blue with white interior and 6k miles was too much for that little of a discount. They were all 2020 builds as well. Location: The Carolinas. Not sure if they are still available but I found them by just calling the charlotte service center and asking.

 

[hellocar]

Not favorable, accurate.



Right now in the US there are 10 Inventory Model Ss and 34 Inventory Model Xs with more than 1,000 miles on the odometer. I suspect these are, in fact, demo vehicles but are not classified as such (at least not publically). Why else would these new/inventory cars have such high mileage?

There are several Inventory cars right now in New Zealand currently listed as demo cars.

This discussion feels like it’s sidetracking this thread.

 

[EV-CPO]

This discussion feels like it’s sidetracking this thread.

That discussion ended four days ago.