ex demonstrator advice needed

[robg]

hi
still relatively new to porsche. Very tempted by a cayman S, dealers ex demonstrator, 9 months old, 10k miles.

Question is how do it tell if it has been abused - lots of sprint starts or rough gear changes etc during demonstrations.
How long should i expect the Clutch to last? Can i tell easily if it is on its way out?
Anything else i should look for?
Do you think its wise to buy ex demo?

Many thanks in advance.
rob

 

[Alan Woods]

Although I dont have any insider dealer info so dont know if staff go tearing around the area at lunchtime, having had a test drive myself they certainly dont allow you to go crazy (not that I did [8|]) so would assume that a ex-demo could possibly better looked after than a privately owned car, I wouldn't have any concerns buying one myself.

 

[Peter_Bull]

Hi Rob It may be worth mentioning that these so called demo cars are also loan cars for thoese who have left their own car for service / repair etc. Not everyone is a careful driver and I do know that some people really do abuse these cars to the extreme. In the end - you pay you money and take a chance. The choice is yours.

 

[Dylan1]

hi rob-i bought one 3 months old 3k miles done and saved 6 k on new price-been brilliant and no different from a brand new one.i understand tho that they may not always be the case,especially where older demo`s are concerned.i have certainly never trashed a demo and very much doubt many would......if this car is close to your spec,then it may be worth a punt,but only if its waht you want,otherwise you may regret not going for new build

 

[Black80XSA]

Most OPCs operate a fleet of demo cars (taken home by the sales guys) and a fleet of loans service cars (taken home by service and sales staff).. In my experience i'd say most demo cars are driven fairly sympathetically , nomally warmed up before test drives and whilst sometimes driven fairly enthusiastically they are pushed no harder thana normal owner would. What you have to watch for is any cars that are used for the test drive plus programme - when i bought my demo from Reading their older demo (with PCCB) was still for sale and it was obviious from the outer edges of the nearside tyres that it had seen track work. My demo was under 3k miles when i bought it, it was and still is like new.

 

[cayman]

I tend to agree that buying a second car now can be an expensive investment as you tend to hold it through the recession and then try and sell it when things get better. (They will get better as Gordon has told us all it will). What I found last time was that I bought an ex demo Merc for £26,000 in late 1991 as a great deal down from £45,000 with 6,000 miles on the clock. Three or so years later with low mileage it was worth £3,000 as a trade in against a new list price car. At that point I did not sell it and its still going, its 17 years old and costs little to keep on the road and is a great workhorse. The problem is that in 3 years everyone is trying to sell an older car and theres no demand. A new Gen 2 should be in short supply at that point and should be more likely to hold its resale value. Well that's the theory.

 

[robg]

hmm,thanks for the advice all. I took a gamble and went for it,managed to negiotiate a bit more off. If it turns out good value then its a bonus,even if i loose 10-15k in 2 years i suppose its less than from new would be. Still not bad for sports car i suppose. It drove well and was in immaculate condition. Pick it up next week.Marvelous! Just looking at any possible security upgradesfor my house, thinking dummy cctv or something, any comments? thanbks rob

 

[Dylan1]

even if i loose 10-15k in 2 years

i wish!!think more like 25-30k in 2yrs-thats what the last 2 yrs have done to cayman s prices-my exdemo was 49k down from 54k-just been offered 20k after 2yrs and 3 months however,my feeling is that its lost so much already it cant lose so much now so i'm just keeping it for yrs and hand on to a son.provided you are not thinking of selling it in 2-3 yrs you will suffer the nasty shock!!

 

[mex99]

May be too late now - but there is a report for how often if ever the rev limiter has been hit - falls in to type I, II and III I think! It will be fine anyway! Happy driving!