Purchasing a demo car, any concerns?

[sean7512]

So my in-laws have fallen in love with our MachEs and are about to buy one of their own next week. It is a 2023.0 Rapid Red GT that was a dealer demo car and has 2,900 miles on it. They are getting an insane price, $11,000 off sticker total ($3k rebate and the dealer is taking $8k off) and it will still qualify for the $3,750 tax rebate (right??). The price seems almost too good to be true; but they have already sent over all of the paperwork to look over before they go pick it up and the price is as advertised.

Are there any concerns with taking a demo car? My immediate thought was it may not have been taken care of and may have been pushed to its limits and I wonder if the HVBJB code may have been thrown. It is my understanding the dealer could simply clear the code so it looks fine at delivery only for it to pop back up soon after delivery. Is that an insane thought? Is it possible to look up if someone has a FDRS account?

Has anyone else bought a demo?

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[brownsl]

You still have the warranty in place, so I would not be concerned about buying a demo.

 

[4sallypat]

@brownsl said the full factory warranty is in effect.
Maybe, ask for a discount on an extended warranty ?

My '23 Job 1 after 6 months has been perfect.
I'd say it's safe to get a '23....

 

[4sallypat]

I don't think the deal is that great, to be honest.

My deal on a new 2023.5 2WD SR Premium in October.

MSRP: $50,090

Rebate: $4,250

MSRP cut: $4,000

Military rebate: $500

The GTs had a $6,250 rebate in October.

What is the KBB used value on that car?

Apples vs Oranges ?

You are quoting a Job 2 (2023.5) price without 3 year BC and without charger + LFP batteries.

The OP is looking at a Job 1 '23 with the 3 year BC and mobile charger included + NMC batteries.

 

[Shaggyrn]

I bought one and now have 70000 miles on it. (Purchased in Sept 21) The biggest draw back was the 3 year or 36,000 mile warranty starts when it becomes a demo car. I knew I would have over 36,000 miles before the 3 year mark so that was not a concern for me.

 

[RickMachE]

So my in-laws have fallen in love with our MachEs and are about to buy one of their own next week. It is a 2023.0 Rapid Red GT that was a dealer demo car and has 2,900 miles on it. They are getting an insane price, $11,000 off sticker total ($3k rebate and the dealer is taking $8k off) and it will still qualify for the $3,750 tax rebate (right??). The price seems almost too good to be true; but they have already sent over all of the paperwork to look over before they go pick it up and the price is as advertised.

Are there any concerns with taking a demo car? My immediate thought was it may not have been taken care of and may have been pushed to its limits and I wonder if the HVBJB code may have been thrown. It is my understanding the dealer could simply clear the code so it looks fine at delivery only for it to pop back up soon after delivery. Is that an insane thought? Is it possible to look up if someone has a FDRS account?

Has anyone else bought a demo?

If the dealer titled it, they get no tax credit, it's a used vehicle.

 

[Deleted member 19354]

So my in-laws have fallen in love with our MachEs and are about to buy one of their own next week. It is a 2023.0 Rapid Red GT that was a dealer demo car and has 2,900 miles on it. They are getting an insane price, $11,000 off sticker total ($3k rebate and the dealer is taking $8k off) and it will still qualify for the $3,750 tax rebate (right??). The price seems almost too good to be true; but they have already sent over all of the paperwork to look over before they go pick it up and the price is as advertised.

Are there any concerns with taking a demo car? My immediate thought was it may not have been taken care of and may have been pushed to its limits and I wonder if the HVBJB code may have been thrown. It is my understanding the dealer could simply clear the code so it looks fine at delivery only for it to pop back up soon after delivery. Is that an insane thought? Is it possible to look up if someone has a FDRS account?

Has anyone else bought a demo?

I’ve done it several with Cadillac. In Washington State it’s considered a brand new car since it’s has not been registered and get the full warranty etc. yes I’d do it

 

[sean7512]

Thanks everyone. I believe it was not titled, so he should get the tax credit. The rebate in Oct was $6,250 but not anymore. The current rebate on the GT is only $3k. They are also getting 48 months at 0% interest.

For those curious, the sticker is $66,530 and getting it for $55,530 before their trade-in. Is the consensus that is a good or bad deal? Seems to be mixed. I thought it was pretty good, but maybe not...

 

[Mach1E]

I'll answer the question...

Trade in value is irrelevant unless they plan on selling it next week.

A better question would be- “what can you buy a low mile used 2023 GT for right now?”

The demo would be worth a couple grand more than that maybe because of full warranty, 3 full years of BC, etc.

The answer of course depends on the options, but a quick search around me shows the $11k off seems about right.

It’s also a BETTER deal if they get the $3750 credit.

 

[TRP]

They need to decide if they are happy with the deal, folks here will be all over the place on that.

I purchased mine as a dealer demo with about the same mileage on it and a discount below MSRP just before the bubble where everyone was charging $5k above MSRP. I now have 75xxx miles on it and going. I've had the HVBJB as well as the BCM replaced and all is well, at this point.

As someone else stated make sure the dealer did not title the vehicle, if so then no tax credit............each state is different here about demo vehicles and titles.

 

[sean7512]

I just confirmed that the car was NOT titled, so it should absolutely get the tax credit.

 

[AKgrampy]

Thanks everyone. I believe it was not titled, so he should get the tax credit. The rebate in Oct was $6,250 but not anymore. The current rebate on the GT is only $3k. They are also getting 48 months at 0% interest.

For those curious, the sticker is $66,530 and getting it for $55,530 before their trade-in. Is the consensus that is a good or bad deal? Seems to be mixed. I thought it was pretty good, but maybe not...

It seems like a fairly good deal. The bottom line though is will your parents be happy with the deal and not what a lot of others think about it!

 

[GW Shark]

Mine (2021 model) was a dealer demo with 1,300 miles (purchased 4 months after the dealer received it). It was in excellent shape and fully updated at the time. I'm an early adopter so I paid MSRP (this was back when they were selling for 10K over list). I was concerned about the missing warranty time and contacted Ford asking for an extra 3 months. Within a few days I received a call from headquarters in Michigan giving me an additional 6 months/6K miles at no charge. I imagine in todays' market YMMV.

 

[DadzBoyz]

Great to hear that you’re happy with your cars and your in-laws love it as well.
These things come to mind:

• Alignment - Demo cars may have hit potholes, etc. in test drives or when used by dealer employees. I’d ask them to do a full alignment and provide the read-out.
• Balance - For the same reason, you may want them to check, and possibly rebalance, the wheels/tires.
• Software/firmware Updates - I’m not sure that cars that have not been setup and logged into Ford’s servers through an owner account receive Power-Ups and non-Power-up updates. Either way, I’d ask them to send the car to the Service department to have all updates done to bring it current. If you don’t they may have to go through a series of updates that may take weeks or months to get upto-date.

Otherwise, I hope they love their new Mach-E.

 

[sean7512]

Great to hear that you’re happy with your cars and your in-laws love it as well.
These things come to mind:

• Alignment - Demo cars may have hit potholes, etc. in test drives or when used by dealer employees. I’d ask them to do a full alignment and provide the read-out.
• Balance - For the same reason, you may want them to check, and possibly rebalance, the wheels/tires.
• Software/firmware Updates - I’m not sure that cars that have not been setup and logged into Ford’s servers through an owner account receive Power-Ups and non-Power-up updates. Either way, I’d ask them to send the car to the Service department to have all updates done to bring it current. If you don’t they may have to go through a series of updates that may take weeks or months to get upto-date.

Otherwise, I hope they love their new Mach-E.

I never thought about asking them to update all of the software, that is a great idea and may save them a lot of "You're rolling with the latest software" messages that would otherwise be headed their way.

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