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When is a new car no longer a new car at the dealership?

Dancing Fire

Super_Ideal_Rock
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My daughter negotiated ($22K out the door) via Email for an 2015 Honda LX Accord, so we drove to the dealership for her to test drive the car, but as soon as she started the car she notice that it had 135 miles on the OD.. :o after she returned from her test drive I said to the SA "that is a used car", so can you throw in some accessories? (approx $700 worth) which he refused to do, then I asked the SA ...do you have an identical can coming in soon ? he said yes within the next few days, but not for $22K out the door.

We then drove 10 miles up the freeway to another Honda dealership, and we told the SA if you can throw in the body side molding (approx $300) for $22k out the door just write us up. Anyway,my daughter ended up buying an identical car including the side molding with only 5 miles on the OD... :appl: . The SA did asked to see my daughter's text messages b/t her and this other dealership to confirm on the price of $22k.

At what mileage will you no longer accept delivery as a new car? IMO, a new car should have < 10 miles on the OD.
 

kenny

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Congratulations!

I have a saying.
All is fair in love, war, and negotiations on new cars.
Another thing I heard, if they seller didn't become extremely angry then you paid too much.

I LOVE car and real estate negotiations. :Up_to_something:
It's a time when most buyers are victims of their own 'niceness'.
Car salespeople are masters at exploiting people's 'niceness'.

I'd not accept a new car with over 50 miles on it.
 

telephone89

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Considering that the 2015s came out in 2014, it could have gone for a few test drives. It compares to 217 km. Which, is probably a 1/4 - 1/3 tank of gas. I know when I was doing test drives, they were about 25-40km, so that would be 5-8 test drives. That is not including driving it to get washed, etc.

I dunno, to me that's acceptable. Especially for the price! But if you got an even better deal, then thats great. If it has more than 1 tank of gas worth of kms on it, I would not consider it 'new'.
 

chemgirl

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When I bought my last car the contract stated that it had to be under a specific mileage (200km I think). They did go over because they had to bring it in from another dealership and send it for tinting. I pointed it out and they agreed to throw in an overpriced stone shield so I suppose that makes up for it.

I would still consider the car new, but doesn't hurt to try and get free stuff!
 

packrat

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Here in the land of nothing, if you want a new off the show room vehicle, you'll need to go to a big dealership, between 2-4 or more hours away. Or you don't get one. End of story. I've bought 4 brand new vehicles, and they all were driven down here from Minneapolis, and they all had between 300-350 miles on them. Minneapolis is about 300 miles from here, and they'd been on the lot and test driven by others. It's par for the course.
 

ame

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Dancing Fire|1432663337|3881339 said:
My daughter negotiated ($22K out the door) via Email for an 2015 Honda LX Accord, so we drove to the dealership for her to test drive the car, but as soon as she started the car she notice that it had 135 miles on the OD.. :o after she returned from her test drive I said to the SA "that is a used car", so can you throw in some accessories? (approx $700 worth) which he refused to do, then I asked the SA ...do you have an identical can coming in soon ? he said yes within the next few days, but not for $22K out the door.

We then drove 10 miles up the freeway to another Honda dealership, and we told the SA if you can throw in the body side molding (approx $300) for $22k out the door just write us up. Anyway,my daughter ended up buying an identical car including the side molding with only 5 miles on the OD... :appl: . The SA did asked to see my daughter's text messages b/t her and this other dealership to confirm on the price of $22k.

At what mileage will you no longer accept delivery as a new car? IMO, a new car should have < 10 miles on the OD.
Anything over 3 on the OD is not new as far as I am concerned. And this is coming from someone with 15 years in the industry. No way will I tolerate anything more than that unless *I* put the miles on it doing a test drive. No dealer needs more than a half mile to get it from the truck to the position on the lot. Ever. And no manufacturer needs more than a mile and a half to get it from the line to the truck.
 

dk168

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I do not have a clue, and did not realise the significant of the milage on the clock when I took delivery of my last two cars from the dealerships as brand new cars.

I do now, and shall bear that in mind when I take delivery of my next car.

Thanks for the reminder!

DK :))
 

azstonie

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Ame, I'm getting ready to buy a new car, could you give me some advice on how to handle the dealership? I do not want a credit check run on me (they can do it using my license plate info from the DMV) while I'm test driving. They did this 4 years ago on my DH, he test drove and when he got back to talk price they'd put his credit in front of 8 lenders WITHOUT his permission. My naive DH didn't realize this made him unlendable to any other lender (too many inquiries) even though his credit score is well over 800.

I was out of town that day but got back on day 2 and took the car back and told them to stuff it.
 

ElleK

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I bought my car with 501 miles on it. I had to sign "As Is" waivers because it was over 500 miles. It was late in the season, and it was a sports car in an unusual color, so it was my only choice in SW region if I wanted the specifications it had (manual transmission, the color, that make and model). Almost 14 years later, and it has only 63k miles on it. All but 501 of those are from me.
 

Dancing Fire

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ame|1432666254|3881367 said:
Dancing Fire|1432663337|3881339 said:
My daughter negotiated ($22K out the door) via Email for an 2015 Honda LX Accord, so we drove to the dealership for her to test drive the car, but as soon as she started the car she notice that it had 135 miles on the OD.. :o after she returned from her test drive I said to the SA "that is a used car", so can you throw in some accessories? (approx $700 worth) which he refused to do, then I asked the SA ...do you have an identical can coming in soon ? he said yes within the next few days, but not for $22K out the door.

We then drove 10 miles up the freeway to another Honda dealership, and we told the SA if you can throw in the body side molding (approx $300) for $22k out the door just write us up. Anyway,my daughter ended up buying an identical car including the side molding with only 5 miles on the OD... :appl: . The SA did asked to see my daughter's text messages b/t her and this other dealership to confirm on the price of $22k.

At what mileage will you no longer accept delivery as a new car? IMO, a new car should have < 10 miles on the OD.
Anything over 3 on the OD is not new as far as I am concerned. And this is coming from someone with 15 years in the industry. No way will I tolerate anything more than that unless *I* put the miles on it doing a test drive. No dealer needs more than a half mile to get it from the truck to the position on the lot. Ever. And no manufacturer needs more than a mile and a half to get it from the line to the truck.
Ame, you're a tough customer! :lol: .. I'm OK with < 10 miles :bigsmile:
 

Gypsy

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If I get a good enough discount? Anything goes.

It all depends on what the total package is that I am being offered.
I'm not going to shoot myself in the foot and reject a perfectly good car because it has a few miles. Especially if the dealership is offering me a great deal and willing to negotiate. "New" cars usually have the best financing.

I've gotten thousands on cars for tiny flaws like that.

Right as I was graduating school we had a VERY tight budget for a car and I wanted a Nissan Sentra. A new one was out of budget but new car financing would have saved us a ton of money. So I found one dealership 30 miles away that had one with 400 miles on it. But it was "new" and I got the new car financing. And other than that it had one small mark on the upholstery. Got the car UNDER budget. Was a fantastic car for us.

It really depends on what the total package is.

For me a car is transportation. A few thousand dollars off? That's something I pay attention to. That far outweighs a few miles.

Particularly if I can use that mileage to get even more out of the dealership.

But if they don't negotiate? Forgetaboutit. I'm gone.
 

lambskin

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I hate buying new cars so we do so when the car breaks down. We negotiate pretty hard but I am tougher than hubby. He negotiates the big price and I haggle for free extras. When I bought my first car I cried so they would put on free pin stripes(1981 when pin stripes were cool).
 

distracts

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135 miles seems extreme for a new car... I've only ever gotten used cars but I would expect a new car to be much closer to zero. Why would it need to be driven to the dealership - don't they come on big trucks?

Related to cars, the local mall got a Tesla store (dealership? showroom? I don't know what you call it if it's in a mall and just has one car in it?) and I have so much car lust. Every time I'm at the mall I want to go in and put my grubby hands all over the shiny car.
 

Dancing Fire

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distracts|1432701675|3881630 said:
135 miles seems extreme for a new car... I've only ever gotten used cars but I would expect a new car to be much closer to zero. Why would it need to be driven to the dealership - don't they come on big trucks?
Yes, but the SA said that this particular car was an exchange car with another dealership about 120 miles away.
 

packrat

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distracts|1432701675|3881630 said:
135 miles seems extreme for a new car... I've only ever gotten used cars but I would expect a new car to be much closer to zero. Why would it need to be driven to the dealership - don't they come on big trucks?

Related to cars, the local mall got a Tesla store (dealership? showroom? I don't know what you call it if it's in a mall and just has one car in it?) and I have so much car lust. Every time I'm at the mall I want to go in and put my grubby hands all over the shiny car.

In small areas, like ours, there isn't enough demand for new cars so they don't come on trucks-they'd be driving a big huge truck and trailer for one car. There are two dealerships in town-basically one is Ford the other is Chevy. Then there are two "small town" dealerships w/maybe 10 cars. Beggars can't be choosers and things are different in small towns.
 

Arcadian

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"new" may depend on your states laws. I just bought a car 2 days ago, on the anniversary of buying my last car in 2009. I always buy a car on the same day, it just seems to be the right time to do it. And I never commit the same day. If the car goes to someone else, then obviously it wasn't meant to be mine anyway! The car dealership has dealt with me before and so they're used to how I do business.

Anyway current car had 17 miles on it DoD, which to me qualifies as a new car. A car with 50+ miles is not new to me..too many butts in the seat at that point...lol.
 

Dancing Fire

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Arcadian|1432736851|3881784 said:
"new" may depend on your states laws. I just bought a car 2 days ago, on the anniversary of buying my last car in 2009. I always buy a car on the same day, it just seems to be the right time to do it. And I never commit the same day. If the car goes to someone else, then obviously it wasn't meant to be mine anyway! The car dealership has dealt with me before and so they're used to how I do business.

Anyway current car had 17 miles on it DoD, which to me qualifies as a new car. A car with 50+ miles is not new to me..too many butts in the seat at that point...lol.
One BUTT = approx 3 miles... :bigsmile:
 

Arcadian

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Dancing Fire|1432743578|3881836 said:
Arcadian|1432736851|3881784 said:
"new" may depend on your states laws. I just bought a car 2 days ago, on the anniversary of buying my last car in 2009. I always buy a car on the same day, it just seems to be the right time to do it. And I never commit the same day. If the car goes to someone else, then obviously it wasn't meant to be mine anyway! The car dealership has dealt with me before and so they're used to how I do business.

Anyway current car had 17 miles on it DoD, which to me qualifies as a new car. A car with 50+ miles is not new to me..too many butts in the seat at that point...lol.
One BUTT = approx 3 miles... :bigsmile:

which means if 50 miles, then thats like 16.6 people. wonder where that other .6 comes in ;))
 

ame

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azstonie said:
Ame, I'm getting ready to buy a new car, could you give me some advice on how to handle the dealership? I do not want a credit check run on me (they can do it using my license plate info from the DMV) while I'm test driving. They did this 4 years ago on my DH, he test drove and when he got back to talk price they'd put his credit in front of 8 lenders WITHOUT his permission. My naive DH didn't realize this made him unlendable to any other lender (too many inquiries) even though his credit score is well over 800.

I was out of town that day but got back on day 2 and took the car back and told them to stuff it.
Yikes! Well by law at least in most states you have to sign something to give them that permission. I know here that's the law. So I'd make that clear up front that no credit checks will be run until you sign over permission to do so without your written consent. And record it on your phone. Tell them you're recording the discussion and if this is a problem that you can take the business elsewhere.

You can also come in with your financing in place from your bank and tell them that is handled. They tend to offer better deals when they can get you to finance with them. They get "kick backs" for that. We have been good at avoiding financing so we never usually grant them permission.

Another tack you can take is to put a big freeze on your credit with all four bureaus, the main three plus Innovis. That way you have to grant permission for a credit pull to occur. You would get a call on the number you give the bureau and say yes or no. Or unfreeze prior to going. A lot of dealers use Innovis. There are others we can't access as consumers but that helps circumvent some of their games.
 

ame

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vtigger86 said:
ame said:
At what mileage will you no longer accept delivery as a new car? IMO, a new car should have < 10 miles on the OD.
Anything over 3 on the OD is not new as far as I am concerned. And this is coming from someone with 15 years in the industry. No way will I tolerate anything more than that unless *I* put the miles on it doing a test drive. No dealer needs more than a half mile to get it from the truck to the position on the lot. Ever. And no manufacturer needs more than a mile and a half to get it from the line to the truck.
Ame, you're a tough customer! :lol: .. I'm OK with < 10 miles :bigsmile:[/quote]too many years dealing with those in the industry. I tolerate nothing.
 

azstonie

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ame|1432756314|3881917 said:
azstonie said:
Ame, I'm getting ready to buy a new car, could you give me some advice on how to handle the dealership? I do not want a credit check run on me (they can do it using my license plate info from the DMV) while I'm test driving. They did this 4 years ago on my DH, he test drove and when he got back to talk price they'd put his credit in front of 8 lenders WITHOUT his permission. My naive DH didn't realize this made him unlendable to any other lender (too many inquiries) even though his credit score is well over 800.

I was out of town that day but got back on day 2 and took the car back and told them to stuff it.
Yikes! Well by law at least in most states you have to sign something to give them that permission. I know here that's the law. So I'd make that clear up front that no credit checks will be run until you sign over permission to do so without your written consent. And record it on your phone. Tell them you're recording the discussion and if this is a problem that you can take the business elsewhere.

You can also come in with your financing in place from your bank and tell them that is handled. They tend to offer better deals when they can get you to finance with them. They get "kick backs" for that. We have been good at avoiding financing so we never usually grant them permission.

Another tack you can take is to put a big freeze on your credit with all four bureaus, the main three plus Innovis. That way you have to grant permission for a credit pull to occur. You would get a call on the number you give the bureau and say yes or no. Or unfreeze prior to going. A lot of dealers use Innovis. There are others we can't access as consumers but that helps circumvent some of their games.

Hi ame, thank you! We already had our financing in place. The finance dept got my DH's license plate specifics from his parked car while he was on the test drive. They ran his credit and the shopped it to lenders. then the finance dept came into the price negotiation with "HEY you have amazing credit, everyone we asked wants to loan to you!"

Argh.

Never again. Most people don't know the stealerships can get enough info on you from your existing license plate/DMV interface to get your credit rating.

I'm planning to call the dealer manager to discuss our test drive and potential buy and this will be one of the talking points. the others are going to be that we won't stay there longer after test drive than 90 minutes, so if they want to sell us the car they have to be ready for that and take no longer than 90 minutes.
 

zoebartlett

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azstonie|1432684750|3881489 said:
Ame, I'm getting ready to buy a new car, could you give me some advice on how to handle the dealership? I do not want a credit check run on me (they can do it using my license plate info from the DMV) while I'm test driving. They did this 4 years ago on my DH, he test drove and when he got back to talk price they'd put his credit in front of 8 lenders WITHOUT his permission. My naive DH didn't realize this made him unlendable to any other lender (too many inquiries) even though his credit score is well over 800.

I was out of town that day but got back on day 2 and took the car back and told them to stuff it.

Ah, I did not know that. Good to know!
 

Asscherhalo_lover

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A car is "new" if it has never been titled to anyone. The mileage was probably from transport and whatnot.
 

ame

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One thing you can do is rent a car for the day and take that around for test drives but you'll still have to provide ID and that's all they need if they're going to break the law and shop your credit without you signing approvals
 

Dancing Fire

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Asscherhalo_lover|1432760766|3881954 said:
A car is "new" if it has never been titled to anyone. The mileage was probably from transport and whatnot.
True, but I wouldn't take delivery of a new car with 150 miles on the OD unless they offer me some incentives.
 

lknvrb4

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I consider it new if nobody else has ever owned it yet. I realize new cars are test driven and expect some miles on it.
 

Calliecake

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Dealers in the area I live consider a car new unless it has been sold and titled. I believe the demo cars have less than 5,000 miles and are sold at a discount. I test drove a few cars over the weekend that had over 50 miles.
 
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