Demo/Courtesy Car Discount Question?

[bpreynolds]

My wife is going to be buying a new Honda HR-V and is looking at new 2016 models.  There are various trim levels, of course, but they also have a 2016 courtesy demo car that has about 5k miles on it and they have it listed for about 2000-2500 than it would be new.  How much more could/should I expect a dealer to come down for a demo car?  I understand there are a lot of factors to this but just in general how much will dealers typically come down on a demo car? 

[rocker59]

Dealers are usually given incentives from the OEM/importer for demos.

I have no idea what that might be on a Honda car, but it's probably less than you might imagine.

The incentive on Triumphs when I worked at a dealer fifteen years ago was a few hundred dollars.  Hardly worth the headaches.

[Triple Jim]

That discount seems low, since a new car will lose that much market value as soon as you leave the dealer's driveway.  It would be interesting to ask the dealer how much less than the price of a new one he'd pay if a customer turned around and asked to sell it back immediately.

[rocker59]

That discount seems low, since a new car will lose that much market value as soon as you leave the dealer's driveway.  It would be interesting to ask the dealer how much less than the price of a new one he'd pay if a customer turned around and asked to sell it back immediately.

Dealer would buy back at wholesale, which is obviously less than the retail number paid by the customer.

You want big discounts?  Buy American!  Ford and GM will make you feel like you got a deal at the end of the year by heavily discounting their too-high MSRPs. 

Sorta like Guzzi.

LOL...

[atavar]

IMHO I would stay far away from a demo/courtesy car. As a rule they are beaten to death by drivers that don't care.  On the plus side maintenance is usually spot on.  The issue as I see it is that the discount never comes close to what it should be for a car driven by people that don't care.
A fleet car can be another story.  If you can find an executive lease those can be a great deal. 
Just my personal opinion.

[LeRoy]

This is one of those cases where generalities won't be of much help. The Honda HR-V is a hot property right now and discounts of any kind are  uncommon and very modest. You might not have much negotiating room beyond the numbers currently offered. That being said, discounts and incentives tend to vary by region. If you are considering the courtesy car there are a couple of things to consider:

1) When did it's warranty begin? It is likely that when the car was put into dealer service its warranty began. Therefore if it has been in service for, let's say, 4 months, then you are getting a car with 32 months and 31,000 miles of remaining warranty. If the car's warranty has already begun, it can't hurt to ask for some form of extended warranty or free services (See point 3 below).

2) If you are looking at the EX-L model the same thing applies to its Sirius Satellite radio subscription. If the service was initiated when the car was put in service, you may not have much time left on the Sirius subscription. Note: Sirius Satellite Radio isn't available on the HR-V lower trim levels.

3) What is the status of the vehicles Maintenance Minder? IS service nearly due? The HR-V uses an algorithm based on a variety of sensors to determine its maintenance intervals. If, at around 5,000 miles, it indicates that the oil is XX% used, it will give you an idea of the kind of service the car has seen. For example, low remaining oil life at this modest mileage would suggest that the car has seen relatively hard usage conditions.

4) In addition to the final price you may agree to pay, see if the dealer is willing to include some degree of no-cost maintenance. A dealer is often wiling to make concessions in this area even after you have squeezed them on the transaction price. This can be especially useful if you are close on price but want to squeeze out the best value for yourself.

5) If you are financing the car through the dealer's choices of lenders, ask for a share of the incentives that lenders give to dealers to acquire the loan business. This can be as much as $500 extra. Ordinarily the customer never sees this money as it's part of the business between lending source and dealer. However, since it's a result of your transaction, it can't hurt to ask -- and be quite firm on this -- for a couple hundred dollars extra discount above and beyond whatever you've negotiated on the vehicle price.

6) Whenever possible, try to close your deal in the last days of a month. DEalership and salesperson incentives are often based on monthly targets. If your dealer is close to his brand's vehicle target, or if your salesperson is close to his/hers, then you can very often strike a better deal to get the sale completed by month-end.

EDIT 7) One final thought: If you are a CostCo member I'd recommend at least giving their cay-buying service a try. You can always decline to buy at the price offered. What I've found very helpful, especially for novice buyers and those who don't like the negotiation process, is that you get a simple no-dickering price. The CostCo site may route you to a different Honda dealer (not all participate) but the prices tend to be very fair, especially considering that many people simply hate the car-buying process.

By the way, points 4, 5 and 6 (and 7) apply to any transaction, whether it's for the courtesy vehicle or a brand new one. Good luck.

[rodekyll]

IMHO I would stay far away from a demo/courtesy car. As a rule they are beaten to death by drivers that don't care.  On the plus side maintenance is usually spot on.  The issue as I see it is that the discount never comes close to what it should be for a car driven by people that don't care.
A fleet car can be another story.  If you can find an executive lease those can be a great deal. 
Just my personal opinion.

+1
I've worked at dealerships.  The salesmen are the worser offenders, and the more bling the wear the less they care,  especially if they don't have the 'driver' they wanted.  Like the worst, the top salesman who got unhorsed to a Monte Carlo from a Corvette.  You just don't want that Monte Carlo.  Customers are looking to find the limits of accel, braking, and cornering when they test drive.  As a salesman I sometimes had to end the test and take over the driving (we went along) before something bad happened.  One dealership I worked at disconnected speedometers on 'dealer trades' where someone had to drive a car from Seattle to Spokane and drive the swap car back.  They didn't want that extra 500 miles on the clocks.  There is little 'real' discount given for the demo miles and abuse.  Overall a bad way to buy unless there's something about that particular unit you really like.

My X buys rental fleet auction.  Generally a Toyota Corolla.  She's the one who thinks the red light next to the oil can on the dash is for decoration, on account of it's a pretty red, just like those funny shaped lollipops at all the intersections.  She generally wrecks them before they need anything, so she's convinced they are solid buys.

I had a room mate that would test drive a used car to another dealership and see what they'd give him for it.  That would be his offer.

[charlie b]

I'd look up the KBB retail value of the car, since it is a used car.

[slopokes]

i'm also in the market for a hr-v--something just learned from Leroy--thanks

[Adk.IBO]

We've had our HRV for over a year and still like it as much as we did on day one! We took one of the first at our local dealership. 30 some thousand miles, zero problems. Traded a Civic that I never warmed up to. Good luck!

Stay safe, John

[LaMojo]

Note that a demo/courtesy car may actually be a car that the dealer bought from a rental fleet such as National, Hertz, etc.

[sib]

I bought my 2004 Prius in 2004 for full MSRP even thought it had 7000 miles on it.  It was the only one available in the area and it had been used as a personal car by the dealership's owner.  It came with a new car warranty.  There was nothing wrong with it when I bought it and nothing wrong with it now.  It's the most reliable car I've ever owned (in 60 years), and, over the years, even with today's cheap gas prices, I've saved enough on gas and repairs (none) to keep me smiling.  YMMV.

[rocker59]

even with today's cheap gas prices, I've saved enough on gas and repairs (none) to keep me smiling.  YMMV.

Funny.  I'm just the opposite.  Something about burning gasoline that puts a big smile on my face.