pdw

If a car has been titled OR has more than a certain amount of mileage it has to be sold as used. In MA, I believe the mileage figure is around 500 but it's less than 1000 in any event.

Peter Brennan

As mentioned above, my car was in the shop for 45+ days awaiting a new tranny. When I was at the dealer for review of work to be done they noticed I was in "the" loaner that had to be sold as it was approaching 7,000 miles whilst still untitled. Service told me that loaners must be sold prior to reaching 7,000 miles due to regulations regarding sale of non-titled car as "new".


HTH,


Peter

lunare

I never used the word fraud, nor did I imply the car was used-the mileage when I first saw the car in the showroom was 81, which I assumed just meant a lot of people had test driven it, and 100 when I actually bought it(I had added 5 with my test drive-and was admittedly too dumb to ask where the other 14 miles were from). But given that on the sales slip there were three little boxes to chose from-'new, demo or used' and 'new' was the one checked off, I still think the dealership deliberately misrepresented the car as new, when it was a demo.As for asking questions, I did not, as far as I can remember, ask specifically if it was a demo, but I did ask if there was anything I should know about the car, any reason for it being offered as lower than full price, and I was told a definite no, that the head office just wanted them to move it out.The word demo was never mentioned by the salesperson.

RickM

Many dealers, including the one I've dealt with for my Audis, don't have "demo cars" that sit around on the lot for a season waiting for people to test drive them. Customers test drive the inventory instead. You like THAT car, you drive THAT car, and you buy THAT car -- unless you want to order one and wait. Maybe some other people have test driven it, maybe not, depending on how long it's been there. It sounds like your car, with 100 miles on it, fits this description. Somebody tell me if I'm wrong here, but I don't consider a car like that...driven a few times, but not playing a steady role as a "demo" model...to be a demo. I suppose at some point a combination of age and mileage would turn it into what I call a "demo" car, but a new car with 100 miles on it isn't a "demo car" in my mind at all. Just my $0.02.

Rick

A. Udi

Well, I couldn't test drive the car I liked because it had stickers and stuff on the windows. All the seats were wrapped, etc. It had 12 miles when I first saw it and 24 miles after the dealer prepped it and presumably did the mandatory test drive.

I didn't test drive it, but if I wanted to test drive an A4, I would have probably used the dealer's demo parked outside. If it had any more than 25 miles on it and had been "unwrapped", I would not have considered it to be a new car.

RickM

I imagine it's up to the individual dealership to decide whether to use demo cars.

When you drove the demo, did you drive the configuration (transmission/suspension) you were planning to buy? Was a demo available in every configuration? When I tested the A4, I drove a manual with the sport package, and one without. I also drove a tip. The only thing I didn't drive was a tip w/ sport (no interest on my part). These weren't "demo cars", they were inventory. They weren't "unwrapped" either. Still had the protective film on the exterior, etc. This is simply how my dealer does it. There are no "demo cars" there. If you want a car with 12 miles on it at delivery, you order one. Buy off the lot, as I did, and you buy what others may have already test-driven (my car had 74 miles on it at delivery). The difference between what you bought and what I bought is 50 miles. Other than that there is no difference that I can see.

Rick

JSC

You did, however, say there was misrepresentation and that is a key element of fraud.

I empathize but how did you think those 81 or 100 miles got on the car? Someone had to be driving it.

Mine came with 43, including the 10 I test drove it. I don't think you really need to worry about this, nor do I think there was any material misrepresentation ("is there anything I should know about this car?" is awfully vague and certainly is not as direct a question as "was this car used as a demonstrator, and how many times/for how long?").

BTW, if it's any consolation, the '89 Saab 900 demo I bought is now 11 yrs. old, has 135,000 miles on it and still runs great. May you have the same luck w/ your A4.