Purchasing an A6 demonstrator

[Dutchie]

Afternoon everyone....looking for a little advice.

I'm considering buying a 2014 A6 Ultra Black Edition that was a demonstrator in its previous life. I've not purchased a car for a while as I've been a company car driver for years. Am I likely to be able to negotiate on price with the main dealers? If so what sort of percentage discount should I be looking to obtain? I'm a cash buyer with no part ex. and the cars I'm looking at are between £26k and £30K. I know dealers will vary from location to location but it would be good to get some advice as like I say, I've been out the purchasing game for a while now!

Thanks.

[johnsimcox]

Check what the cost of a new one is, especially if you take Audi finance that can be paid off immediately (as you say you are a cash buyer) but you keep the £4500 incentive, you may find it is cheaper although you will probably have to wait to get the car. As to your original question there is always some element of discount built into the price of a used car and for ex-demonstrators the dealer will have got the car at a very good price from Audi so there is room for maneuver.

[robes401]

I'd recommend having a look at drivethedeal.com and carwow.co.uk and see how much a new car to your preferred specification is before you go for an ex demo from a dealer. You will get at least £8k off the RRP for a black edition ultra. E.g. A brand new base spec BE (saloon, manual) is £28.4k.

If you decide not to buy new at least you will have a good idea as to how reasonable an ex demo price is. You could also spec up an A6 on DtD to the exact ex demo spec and see the new price and compare that with the dealer ex demo price, and then decide whether you can wait 3 months for delivery...

[ukgroucho]

also try orangewheels...

If you plan to keep the car for a while then I'd personally always be more comfortable with either new or one "careful" owner (i.e. an ex company car where you know how the driver treated it) than a ex demo that has had 50 enthusiastic drivers from new. Maybe I'm overly cautious but I just have this thing about engines being treated with some respect during their first 1000 miles and always when starting from cold until the oil warms up a bit - I really do not think any of that fits into the life of a demonstrator.

[Chesterfield313]

I've bought a few cars for family and myself lately and it's hard to beat DTD prices. Orangewheels are usually £500 more expensive. Carwow is good because you get the dealer e-mailing you direct. I usually ring one of the cheaper dealers on carwow and give them one chance to match the DTD price. Worked for me 3 times last year.

If you need a car quicker than the 3 months lead time, ask the dealer to look at all available UK stock, not just their dealership or group. Even with the waiting list there will always be cancelled orders that you can have. Last July when waiting lists were nearly 6 months I got what I wanted in a week. Audi Milton Keynes sourced the car from a dealer in Preston, had it transferred down for PDI and still matched the £10.5k discount on DTD.

I've had 2 ex demonstrators before, but wouldn't bother again as they're more expensive than new. It's stupid, but the dealer won't advertise or sell nearly new second hand cars too low because it devalues the brand and gives away the huge discounts available on new. They'd rather not everyone knew! A8's are a great example. A 6 month old A8 will cost you £8k more than a new one!

[L3nnox]

I used to work in new car sales for Ford then Volkswagen, personally I would never touch a "demonstrator". They will have been driven hard, badly and without care by a cross section of society. Plus demonstrators (from my experience) are usually unsellable specifications or mass bulk common specs with no or little options. If you can wait for the car deals in DTD offer the cheapest way to 'own' a car, but if like me you change every 2 years or less, leasing is often cheaper.


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[Dutchie]

Thanks for the advice everyone, much appreciated. Some great food for thought.

[pitch3110]

Right my turn and a complete contrast.

I had a new BE on order at the time Audi decided to suspend orders at the end of last summer.

I searched the dealer network for used as well as 1/2 year old private.

I finally dropped on a ex demo which has nearly every option box ticked, 6 months old with 12k on the clock and saved a tad under 20k off list through negotiation. I also managed to get 3 year full service pack and two new front tyres.

The toys are great and I would never spec'd half of them, I just would not have been able to afford it.

So new car with low spec or fully loaded demo??? It would be the latter for me every time.

Paul

[Chesterfield313]

Right my turn and a complete contrast.

I had a new BE on order at the time Audi decided to suspend orders at the end of last summer.

I searched the dealer network for used as well as 1/2 year old private.

I finally dropped on a ex demo which has nearly every option box ticked, 6 months old with 12k on the clock and saved a tad under 20k off list through negotiation. I also managed to get 3 year full service pack and two new front tyres.

The toys are great and I would never spec'd half of them, I just would not have been able to afford it.

So new car with low spec or fully loaded demo??? It would be the latter for me every time.

Paul

It sounds great and £20k off sounds like a deal you couldn't say no to. But, if the list price you're referring to includes the £10k for extras you wouldn't need to spec, then the real discount is £10k, broadly the same as the discount for a new car.

[A6S]

I've had 2 new A6's in the last 2 years and I have to say a new one is normally cheaper as explained above.
First time I went to see a 6 month old A6 with 4-5ks on the clock and got talking to the dealer and eventually got a new one for less. I wasnt after any toys, to be honest the A6 is pretty well specced in standard form. The one i got was less than the price at orange wheels/dtd. they told me that they can give me the biggest discounts for cars in stock or cars that are already on the boat coming here so I got a choice of colours and spec. Most dealers want to just get a car out the door and not have you nag at them for 3 months going when is my car getting delivered etc, personally i wouldnt wait that long for a car, i'm an impulse buyer.... First one i got was a base A6 sline with heated seats and it worked out £1k cheaper than orangewheels and less than the 6 month old one they had, as you can get audi finance contribution on a new but not an old car.
on my new fl i figured out it was around £2k cheaper than orangewheels, partly because it was a launch car with lots of toys and some you cant spec together and the other thing was their ex-demo was going to go for about the same price(and i had to wait till it was 6 month old) as the new one but at least the new has been sitting inside in the warm/dry showroom so chose the new. dirty paw prints i can handle but some weirdo ragging the car to an inch of its life i couldnt bear to think about especially when you are spending so much money.
if i was you i would walk into the dealer and see if they got one in the showroom and if its right tell them you want it, be armed with at least a quick quote from orange wheels of the same spec so that gives you the starting point for negotiations. take the audi finance and pay it off within 14 days if you have the cash ready so you dont get charged interest. you still get to keep the audi contribution, its basically free money doing it like that.

[Dutchie]

If I did go for a ex-demonstrator do you think its more likely I'll get a better deal before or after the new reg is released on March 1st? Dealers are going to want to shift 'old' stock but when do you think they'll most desperate for sales?

Thanks.

[L3nnox]

If I did go for a ex-demonstrator do you think its more likely I'll get a better deal before or after the new reg is released on March 1st? Dealers are going to want to shift 'old' stock but when do you think they'll most desperate for sales?

Thanks.

The longer they have it of course the more they will want rid of it, but if it's such a great deal someone else may buy it before then.


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[johnsimcox]

If I did go for a ex-demonstrator do you think its more likely I'll get a better deal before or after the new reg is released on March 1st? Dealers are going to want to shift 'old' stock but when do you think they'll most desperate for sales?

Thanks.
I doubt it will make much difference as the availability of demonstrator stock is tightly controlled. The dealer has to use the car a demonstrator for a specific period before they can sell it, hence why you will see many cars on the Audi Used Car pages with an availability date, so they know well in advance what will be available for sale when. The bigger trigger point for demonstrators is the model year switch in May with demonstrators being changed for new model year versions in the June/July period. Also most of the cars being traded in march will be c3 years old so they will not impact the price of nearly new cars

[MikeyV]

I used to work in new car sales for Ford then Volkswagen, personally I would never touch a "demonstrator". They will have been driven hard, badly and without care by a cross section of society. Plus demonstrators (from my experience) are usually unsellable specifications or mass bulk common specs with no or little options. If you can wait for the car deals in DTD offer the cheapest way to 'own' a car, but if like me you change every 2 years or less, leasing is often cheaper.


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I bought a demonstrator, it was too good a deal to pass up. Last year I bought a new A1 from our local dealer, a couple of weeks back I was in the dealers and ended up buying there A6 Avant demo car, pre facelift but fully loaded. I live in Norway to have bought the same spec new it would have cost 200,000 nok more than the demo car, and I still have 4 years warranty.