Mark99

I've been offered a really good trade in price for my MY 99 with PPP against an Ex-Demo STI Prodrive, do I go for this? wait for a new one?, or keep my MY 99.

Will the STI still put a grin on my face in the morning when I get in and drive it ?, I've test driven the STI but had to keep it under 4000rpm, so I couldn't really get a true feel of it's capabilities.

Will the car being an Ex-Demo have a knock on effect when I come to sell it, as it will have had two owners?

Any views / opinions welcome

dhorwich

ex demo = ?

What is the first thing someone will do when they are taking a demo in a new scoob... thrash it... so you think if 20 peolpe have test drove that car it is likly its been caned every time..!!

Just my 2p worth..

Dan

Yorkie

I would not hesitate as far as swapping your MY99 for a STIV. The new model is more refined and it sticks to corners like its on rails more so than the MY94-00, STIV even better. Its also a lot better inside than the old model. I find my MY02 standard WRX much nicer to drive, though at the moment it doesn't feel as FAST as my MY99, but from what I have read, the first 5000 miles are tight and slow anyway.
As far as trading in is concerned if you are getting a good deal at the front end, what you loose when you come to sell should be balanced. Dealers have always asked me how many owners my cars have had when trading in (always me only), so I can't really be a judge on that. It must count to some extent though.

Yorkie

orbv

Its a safe bet to say a ex-demo car has been pushed hard but normaly this would have an effect in the later years of a cars life.

IMHO any failures before 60K/3year would be a warrenty claim so how long you going to keep it?

cico

NO !

msp1

My first scoob was an ex demo and I wouldn't hesitate in buying another one if the price was right. Never had any problems and when you consider these things come with a 3 year warranty the risk is small. If the owner of P*** UMW is on the bbs maybe you can confirm this.

Mike

Iain Young

I wouldn't, especially after seeing the recent threads in drivetrain about engines blowing when not run in properly. Sure it'll probably be covered by warranty, but do you really need the aggro?

Iain

russell hayward

What is the deal ?

Mark99

The deal is 27 for the STI and just over 13 for my MY 99, the book price is just under 11 and as usual they say that the PPP add's nothing to the trade in price. I asked them if they made sure that the STI had its revs kept under 4000rpm, they said yes, but unless they they've been out on every test drive, can I trust them.

AndyC_772

iTrader: (2)

Rest assured, the STI won't have been kept below 4000 rpm! What salesman is going to risk losing a sale by telling a customer that they've got to be really gentle on a high performance car? Bear in mind, the commission on a single sale probably pays for an engine rebuild at cost price. The loss of value because the engine may experience problems in later life is next to nothing, and if they can get someone to pay almost full price for the car anyway then so much the better.

Can you get a mate to bag a test drive and find out what he can get away with?

Personally I think you'd be better off trying to sell your MY99 privately; the deal you've been offered doesn't sound good enough to take the risk IMHO. Have you considered an import instead?

A.

russell hayward

Haven't double checked the value of your car, but would suggest you could do an equally good deal on a new one.

Discounts are not uncommon, bringing the price of the Prodrive version close to that of the list price for standard.

Your PPP is not worth anything, so remove it and sell it on the board. That will fetch a few hundred no doubt.

I was offered an ex-demo for around £25k from memory. So, based on this they are offering you trade for your car, against retail on the demo.

My advice : buy a new one

[Edited by russell hayward - 4/23/2002 9:49:59 PM]

Scott J Davies

had an STI 7 for a few hours at the weekend, not impressed. Not as special feeling as the old car. Certainly slower and it felt particulary wooley coming off load. Not nice personally I would buy my car for sale in Top marques as from tm

Seriously not the car I have fallin in love with twice shalln't be having one again unless I can afford to keep a second quick car in the future.

AndyC_772

iTrader: (2)

I'm just looking at STIs on Auto Trader - there's a silver one with delivery mileage available for £25k, and several slightly used Prodrive style cars for £26k. There's also Japanese and European imports for £23k tops.

I'd guess that cars privately owned from new are less likely to have been thrashed, if the owners didn't know that they were going to sell the car in a few months.

Looks like there are at least a few nearly-new cars around.

Andy.

SimonH

Import an STi Type UK from Europe for just over £21K.
I've been offered £15k for my standard MY00 (Sept 01, 23000m) against a Prodrive STi as well as about £700 discount.

That said I don't particularly like the STi, having had an hour long test drive of a Prodrive one. I'm sure I'll be slated by our resident gurus but I didn't think it was a patch on the P1 (sorry, old-shape-stick-in-the-mud etc etc).

Take your PPP off and sell it to me

t888-sti7

My STI7 had 3.5K miles on the clock when I traded it in for the old WRX, full decat. No problemos. Paid 18k for the old one (ex demo too) and got 19k (after spending 6k on mods). Got the STi7 for 27K and it has a down pipe plus ITG panel filter and full Samco unda da lid. Techies at the garage reckon 300BHP is close.

Go for the ex demo. Dis-re what the others say - at least the engine has been run in. So long as it has been looked after by a Certified UK dealer - no probs.

Soon to get mine PPP'd too.

Mark99

Thanks for the replies, guys!

Maybe first, I should phone some more dealers and see if I can get a similar deal on a new one.

mutant_matt

Absolutely not - I would NEVER buy an ex-demo performance car!!!!! I remember a case last year where a P1 ex-demo car's turbo died @ 12,000 miles

And even if it's a newly run in 2nd hand STi, can you trust the person you're buying it from to have run it in properly????

Matt

Jza

Dont do it!!

My dealer left me to my own devices with his STI car - so i did a few practise starts and gave it a good thrash.......

I wouldnt have done that to my car!!!

Jza

Hanslow

My MY00 is ex-demo and I've had less problems (apart from crashing it ) than a lot of people who bought new. Either way, it'll be under warranty for three years so why not save yourself some pennies.

One point to note, when I took mine out for a test drive before buying it, the dealer told me to wait until it warmed up before thrashing it, and also asked me to leave the engine running when I had finished to let it cool down. See whether they do the same with you.

MARK MORRIS

i bought a p1 exdemo 1 yr ago, no probs whatsoever, the dealer i bought from does 1k , services the car, then it becomes a demo, as long as its under warranty i think youd be fine
mark

LitchfieldImports

You can buy mine for much less if you like

Iain

Alpine

If I get a good enough deal and a cast iron warranty I'd go for it... make sure you give it a good thrashing early doors to break and have repaired anything that's going to go west...

Jerry*

Might be worth asking them if they have had it on track (i.e hammered the b0ll0x off it !!)

Most will have been thrashed but if you feel you can trust the dealer and that they will repair any niggles under warranty then go for it.

Recently heard of a case where a dealer wrote off an STI on track that a customer had agreed to buy. I assume it was a demonstrator but I thought it was pretty sh1te of the dealer to take it out on track after someone had put a deposit down !!

Just my 2p's worth too..

John

mutant_matt

I think the "you've got a warranty so what are you worrying about" people are missing the point slightly.

Yes you *should* be able to claim any problems on the warranty (assuming IM are in a good mood that day ), but do you really want to put yourself through that agro??? Can you afford to be without your car for 6 weeks if the gearbox explodes? Do you *really* want a new set of pistons/head/valves/turbo etc. or your new(ish) pride and joy? I know I'd rather have a car that was still in factory build condition.

Just trying to illustrate my point.

Matt

wilf

Whos to say the privately owned one you buy from a dealer has been treated any better than a low miler thrashed round the track by a private owner.

Makalu

My car (MY01 WRX) is an ex-demo and is FAB!
Subaru warranty is your insurance.
Do It!
J.

Diesel

Only buy it if is always kept in cotton wool overnight, and no person over 12 stone has sat in it, weakening the seat springs, which may give you problems in later years.

These cars get rallied and so a 10 min test drive with a salesman present it should be able to withstand - even if it did hit 7K RPM a few times.

Mind you it's not my money

Litchfield's imported (arent they all imported?) & tuned STi sounds like a good deal - and the standard new shapes are SO so laggy, it might make good sense?

Hanslow

Matt,

Not having a go, but as I said previously. A number of people have had far more problems on their brand spankers than my ex-demo.

I think it's the same as PCs. You get good ones and bad ones. If it's gonna go wrong, it'll probably be early on so you should be covered anyway. The only warranty things I've claimed on are new front brake pads (as they were crumbling), and a new rear near side shock absorber, which was working at about 75% efficiency, and I've heard of a couple of other people with new cars that have had the shock issue. Has no one with a brand new car had issues with gearboxes, engines, turbos, etc.?

Yes it's a risk in some respects, and your resale value will be lower, but then you aren't shelling out as much in the first place.

Who's to say if you buy one privately and ask the owner if they've ever taken it on a track and they say no, that they aren't lying?

Whatever decision is made, you have to live with at the end of the day, and a year and a quarter on from mine, I ain't regretting it

I'll get off my soapbox now and run down the street with a big flag saying buy an ex-demo, they're great


[Edited by Hanslow - 4/24/2002 4:56:07 PM]

mutant_matt

Hanslow,

LOL - not saying that ex-demo is crap, just saying you're increasing the odds quite considerably of having a "problem" car. Sounds like you got lucky

Diesel,The car you buy from the dealer probably wouldn't last to the end of the 1st stage if you put it in a rally, they're not as similar as the marketing men would have you believe. Also, the engine in the rally car only has to last one rally, i.e. 3-5 days or several hundred miles, they re-build them after that. And an ex-demo car isn't going to have a single 10 minute thrash is it, it's going to have lots of them, at the hands of mechanically un-sympathetic people who want to see what it'll do - hardly the best way to treat a brand new engine (that's supposed to be kept to 4000rpm for the first 1000 miles of it's life)???

And on the point of running the same risk when buying privately, you're right, you do which is why I would only buy a performance car from someone I trusted had run it in properly, which is why I prefer to buy new wherever possible. Having said that, the point about if it's going to go wrong, it's probably going to do it in the 1st 20,000 miles so after that, you're probably in the clear.

Once again, all just IMHO!!!

Matt