New Car purchase - reasonable KM limit?

[Axe]

HI All,

I thought I saw a post on this a while back but cannot find it anymore - my apologies and if someone has the link, please send it to me.

Issue:
Looking at purchasing a new car and the one i''m looking at has 714 km on it. What is reasonable to expect on a new car? - my thought was to use the mileage in negotiation as I think it was used as a demo vehicle....

What do you all think is reasonable to expect on a new car for mileage?

[Twin_Cam_Turbo]

Reasonable for new would be less than 100km imo. That being said my dad bought a car with 700km labelled as new, that had been a show car for the Calgary and Edmonton Auto Show and managed to negotiate ~$20000 off.

[ercchry]

yeah mine had under 100... and that includes the drive from picking it up at the cochrane dealership and driving to the south of calgary

[slinkie]

Originally posted by Twin_Cam_Turbo
Reasonable for new would be less than 100km imo. That being said my dad bought a car with 700km labelled as new, that had been a show car for the Calgary and Edmonton Auto Show and managed to negotiate ~$20000 off.

twenty????

[Chandler_Racing]

I would want less than 50km's on a new car.


Mine came with 7km's on it.

[Twin_Cam_Turbo]

Originally posted by slinkie


twenty????

Yes about $20k total off on the road price.

[Axe]

so that begs the question of how much I can reasonably expect to negotiate from the original price (% wise)...

THanks for the quick turnaround so far - appreciated.

[Twin_Cam_Turbo]

What make and model is it?

[Awd-Tsi]

I worked at a couple dealership and sometimes we would go to Calgary or
vancoover even and pick up a vehicle... So the Edmonton one had 17km
when I picked it up and came out with like 350

[Axe]

It's a 2010 Subaru Legacy GT

[ercchry]

Originally posted by Axe
so that begs the question of how much I can reasonably expect to negotiate from the original price (% wise)...

THanks for the quick turnaround so far - appreciated.

i would say it depends on the car... it took my dealer almost two weeks to locate the truck i wanted and i ended up with no charge nav and tow package on top of the discounts i already negotiated

[LEGiiT]

Not to intrude, but what is the car? It is reasonable to expect a good amount of money taken off a Mercedes or BMW with that many KM brand new. The only thing I would be skeptical about is HOW it was driven in those KM. It's barely broken in, and if test drivers and salesmen floored it etc.

I wouldn't buy it unless I got a huge chunk of cash off. I went to test drive a 335i and the salesman drove it away from the dealership to show me some stuff before I drove and he floored it without the engine even warmed up. It had only 150km at the time.

[Twin_Cam_Turbo]

So it looks like Subaru Canada's MSRP is $38.6k before options for a 2011 Legacy 2.5GT. For a 2010 that will give you more leeway for negotiations. I would say shoot for $4-6k off?

[Skrilla]

Originally posted by Awd-Tsi
I worked at a couple dealership and sometimes we would go to Calgary or
vancoover even and pick up a vehicle... So the Edmonton one had 17km
when I picked it up and came out with like 350

This!

It has probably been dealer transferred at one point. Might be a demo but I doubt it, cant always assume that now. We transfer vehicles in and out daily, however I do agree a form of discount should be given with anything over 200 or so. But don't expect $5-10K off selling price, unless they really want to move that particular vehicle.

[leftwing]

never buy a brand new car, as soon as you sign the paper the car will drop 5+ grand isntantly in value

[RY213]

Originally posted by leftwing
never buy a brand new car, as soon as you sign the paper the car will drop 5+ grand isntantly in value

Thanks tips!!!

[Redlyne_mr2]

It's still considered new, they may throw in an iPod cable or take a couple hundred dollars off.

[Axe]

So, some varying opions expressed - thanks all. Buying new = eating depreciation, but also in our case has to do with getting the financing rate, warranty, etc. Just came off my first really bad experience with a used car and want to avoid that for the next couple of years..


So, from what I read, it may not be a demo model but I should be able to negotiate something further off , but not multiple thousands...and it needs to be a "new"car to qualify for the financing rate...I have asked the dealer to come back with something better given the mileage and will see what happens. I'll update this thread as I learn more over the next couple of days...

Thanks for all who have weighed in, much appreciated.

[bignerd]

I looked at buying a new Honda that had 700 km's on it, they offered me about 1 dollar per km off the car(said it was normally about 70 cents off per km), it had been used as a loaner and had too much wear and tear so I said no and took a real brand new car, new car had 9 kms on it. (I found the loaner car agreement in the glove box and it had been on loan for about a week while someone's Honda was in the shop at the dealership.) I believe this vehicle was also the main demo model of that particular trim level vehicle.

[zieg]

When I worked at a dealership, most of the cars had 5-20 on them.

[Axe]

So, just had a conversation with a Calgary based Subaru dealer and they mentioned having a 2010 Legacy GT demo model with 8000km on it. I'm inclined to go this route as I expect the pricing to account for some of the depreciation as long as the warranty starts when I pick up the car or something to that effect.

So, any thoughts on what I should reasonably expect to see in terms of a discount?

Thanks!

[Awd-Tsi]

Originally posted by Redlyne_mr2
It's still considered new, they may throw in an iPod cable or take a couple hundred dollars off. As long as it's the black cable and not the white on, this cable is worth getting a new car

[Axe]

I must be a little slow because I'm not sure how to interpret that exactly...:)

[heavyD]

Originally posted by Redlyne_mr2
It's still considered new, they may throw in an iPod cable or take a couple hundred dollars off.

If that's the case I would walk away. 714 km's is a couple of weeks or more worth of commuting on the car. Not brand new IMO.

[bignerd]

Originally posted by Axe
So, just had a conversation with a Calgary based Subaru dealer and they mentioned having a 2010 Legacy GT demo model with 8000km on it. I'm inclined to go this route as I expect the pricing to account for some of the depreciation as long as the warranty starts when I pick up the car or something to that effect.

So, any thoughts on what I should reasonably expect to see in terms of a discount?

Thanks!

No idea what to expect, except like someone else said, I don't think they are going to give you as much off as you think/hope they will. How many test drives did they send that thing on??

[Tomaz]

I would expect about 0.5 - 2% from the purchase price when the vehicle has between 300 - 1000kms on it.




Anything over 1000kms, I would want half the depreciation paid.

EG: Buying a Caddy for $50,000, you know that it will only be worth $40,000 once you drive off the lot. I would expect $5000 off if it had >1000kms.

[Axe]

Thanks for all the advice - i'm sure it has been on quite a few test drives and the manager apparently drove it for a bit as well.

I like the depreciation approach, but as "bignerd" suggested, I will probably be underwhelmed by the offer they put out - we'll see.

I'll see what they come back with and look at what other items I would like (winterwheels/tires, 3M, maybe an extended warranty), and see what they can put together and will post as I get more info.

[911fever]

that sounds high to me

[Pollywog]

When bought my 06 civic new at t&t it had 12 km's on it, and boy would I be pissed if I ever bought anything with more than 50kms on it. It's supposed to be new, not sampled. Would anyone put up with buying a brand new phone that had a lifetimer any greater than 00:00:00? I think not. I understand that the car market is a little unique (I've worked in it for years), but I would be fucking livid if my "new car" had been driven down all the way from Edmonton - use a car transport trailer for fucks sake.

On a side note, I as well will never again buy a new car - it's like pissing your money out the window as you drive away.

[Axe]

I'm ok with some KM on the car (it's going to have some just from being driven around the dealer lot) and based on the comments there seems to be a range of what people consider acceptable - each to their own :).

i'm ok with a new car that has under 1000km on it provided the dealer moves on price - if not it's my option to opt out and I'm not married to any of the offers at this point.

Thanks all who provided feedback and I'll update once I know more.

[911fever]

Originally posted by Pollywog
When bought my 06 civic new at t&t it had 12 km's on it, and boy would I be pissed if I ever bought anything with more than 50kms on it. It's supposed to be new, not sampled. Would anyone put up with buying a brand new phone that had a lifetimer any greater than 00:00:00? I think not. I understand that the car market is a little unique (I've worked in it for years), but I would be fucking livid if my "new car" had been driven down all the way from Edmonton - use a car transport trailer for fucks sake.

On a side note, I as well will never again buy a new car - it's like pissing your money out the window as you drive away.

yeah buying new is stupid, such a waste

[Tomaz]

Originally posted by 911fever


yeah buying new is stupid, such a waste


Unless i have been living under a rock, I think it is difficult to finance a car at 0% for 60 months when its used.

Just saying...

[heavyD]

Originally posted by Tomaz



Unless i have been living under a rock, I think it is difficult to finance a car at 0% for 60 months when its used.

Just saying...

Yep. Buying used is only better if you are paying full in cash.

[Mamma_Mia]

I bought a used car once with four thousand km on it and saved between 7 and 8 grand!! If I were to pay it off in the six years, and not sooner, I would have paid $1200 in interest.

Plus it still had four and a half years of warranty left.

[Axe]

So, received a decent offer from the subaru dealer here in calgary - $5k difference between what I'm being offered for a new car vs one with 8000km on it for the exact same equipment level. Going to take a look at it tomorrow to see what condition it's in, but leaning towards the demo model at this point...

[bignerd]

If it has been lightly used then it sounds like a good deal!

Like I said the demo they offered me had a hard 700 km's put on it!

[Pollywog]

Demo cars are always a bonus in my mind, especially since the majority of the time they have been driven lightly in comparison to a rental vehicle of which people usually drive the piss out of.

To expand a bit on my theory on how buying new is moronic, I have the same opinion on buying or leasing (sans renting a place of residence which is more beneficial for someone like myself). My most basic example is that often you can resell a used vehicle for exactly (or slightly more) than what you bought it for. If you were to start vehicleless, a 2k car will get you around just fine until you save another few thousand, sell, and repurchase something improved. Keep this flow going until you obtain a vehicle that you both desire, enjoy and see longevity from while at the same time enjoying your payment free lifestyle. I may sound a bit like Ken Rockwell saying that, but that outlook has far improved my financial approach to everything in life. Payments, financing and leasing is for suckers who are to desperate to "live the life" prior to being logically able to do so. Work your way up people, and quit being concerned about "status". Life is far more enjoyable when you have nice things and don't have to worry about paying it off for the next half-decade.

Just my $0.02, and I'm not inferring that those who choose to have payments for everything are actuAlly morons, but rather that I don't enjoy that lifestyle.

[Axe]

Thanks for the expanding on your point of view pollywog and I can appreciate that perspective.

Going to take a look this afternoon and will look for the items below; feel free to add to the list as I'm sure I missed something and not having driven a subaru before there may be things that are unique to that vehicle/drivetrain that I should be looking for...

Driving:
- pulsing in brakes (indicating warped rotors)
- steering pulling to one side
- able to maintain straight line with hands off the wheel
- clutch slippage
- hesitation when accelerating

Exterior:
- Frayed edges on tires
- scratches/dents on wheels indicating impact with curb
- hail damage
- panel alignment

feel free to suggest other key items I may have missed....

[CapnCrunch]

My truck had 8km on it when I bought it. I don't think having a few hundred on it is anything to worry about, but I wouldn't pay full price for it.

[Axe]

So, ended up buying a Legacy GT, but not the original demo model. had 8000km and it was just too cosmetically damaged for a novice to repair (dents, mispainted touch up paint, etc). Ended up getting another demo with just 2000km on it that was in much better condition and for $2,500 less than the one with 714km on it and there were some small extras thrown in (undercoating, trunk tray, etc). Overall satisfied with decision. Thanks again for all those who contributed - much appreciated!

[Mamma_Mia]

Congrats, thanks for the update!! :thumbsup: