Hello everyone. First time poster, although I've been lurking for some time now. I was test driving a 2004 TL the other day and it had about 125 miles on it. The VIN number was in the 18000s. I suggested to the salesman that this is a bit high, but he thought that it wasn't high, saying that they put about 50 miles in the factory. What do you think? Should I get this car if it's the only one available with my desired color combo? Does this provide me with any leverage in my negotiation process? My apologies if these questions have been asked before.

 

I dunno, sounds high to me. My TL had 15kms(approx 09 mi) on it when I took her.

 

I picked up mine w/3 miles on the odo.

 

Mine had 10 miles when I picked it up.

 

Got mine today with 15 miles on her

 

i just drove a new 6mt dealer had it on lo
for two weeks, with my test drive it only had 29 miles, t

 

9 miles on it when I picked it up.

 

4 miles at pick up.

 

mine had 1 mile on

 

I got mine with 10 on the clock. Any car with more than 100 miles on it must be sold as a used car.... atleaset in Maryland. You got some room to negotiate.

 

Mine had 4 miles.

 

8mi. on ours...

 

5 on mine.

 

Personally I would not touch that car. I just test drove a new TL with 24 miles and the car was cold. Made no difference to me as I revved it to 6500 and really hit the gas and brakes. 3 miles later the ride was over. So I would guess that your car had about 20 or so test drives. So much for the break in period and you are stuck with the results of hard driving in the first all important miles on the car. Get a car with 10 or less miles and break it in properly.

 

That car has been abused / test driven. Try to not buy anything with more than 10 miles if you're paying to get a new one. My 2002 TLS had 7 or 8 miles at pickup.

 

My 2004 TL had about 4 miles on it when I first saw it, and another 7 after the PDI test drive. 125 miles is way high.

Dunno about Acura, but Ford sometimes does test cars at the factory and puts about 100 miles on them. However, if they do this, they also put a special sticker on the car's window stating that they have done this. Without any such factory documentation, I'd have to agree with vandy: that car has been around the block more than a few times.

 

5 on mine.

 

i think 6 on ours

 

I had 4 on delivery. Whoever told you the factory put that many on it is taking you for a ride. There should be a few miles upon delivery as when they prep the car and do a quick test run. Otherwise 125 if way to high, sounds like a test model. I doubt that many people did really abuse it.

As for leverage it depend, some dealers will negotiate even if the cars are factory order or not.

I purchased mine, factory order for 1500 under MSRP with protection package when another dealer wouldnt move of off sticker for the same.

 

Your vehicle might have been a dealer trade. Dealer trades are often driven from one lot to another by staff who do just that, so that's where those miles may have come from.

 

One way or another, the car has too many miles to be truly considered "unused". There are a lot of reasons why the car has the higher mileage, as mentioned previously. Some of the reasons could be benign (driven between dealerships), and some could be more harmful (test driving the TL like I did).

You should check with your local laws to see if it can't be sold as "new" anymore. Some news stations and newspapers offer a free legal advice hotline. Knowing the laws may help with your negotiations.

Regardless of the laws, you probably still have an uphill battle with the dealer - they can turn down your offer, hoping that a less informed buyer comes in the door 10 minutes after you leave. Unfortunately for all of us, this car is still so hot that it's a seller's market.

Let us know what you decide!

¿GotJazz?

 

Oh, I should add that at Los Gatos Acura, they had a car with 3 miles on the lot.

I guess their staff never took it around for a spin to make sure it was okay. I know of two dealerships in this area that do that before they sell the car. One dealership (Stevens Creek) does not allow any customer to test drive the ordered ones until the person has signed the paperwork.

 

175miles on my car

 

Don't get that car. Try other dealers. Any demo or test-driving cars should get huge discount, especially Non-Navi.

The brand new car from the plant should only have a couple of miles. Yes, Acura does run your car, only for a few miles. Acura probably revs your engine for dozens of minutes, without mileages.

 

my car wasn't no demo or test driving... it was trade with another dealer that was about 120 miles from where i live... so they drove mine to my local dealership....... oh btw, plus i only waited 2 weeks.... too much waiting time hehe.

 

I had an opportunity to purchase a dealer trade with 100+ miles on it but I opted not to because I would much rather have one that is fresh off the truck (and thus pretty new from the factory).

 

Mine had 14.

Someone else said that 100 miles made it 'used'. That is not the case here in Texas. It is considered 'new' as long as it has never been titled with an owner. If a car dealership lets people drive it 5,000 miles it is still 'new'. However, most say it is a dealer demo and discount it a bit.

I test drove two 6 speeds and one still had the plastic on it from the factory. Put on 5 miles and it was up to 9. I am sure they sold it as if it had not been driven.

 

4 miles

 

I bought a demo with 3057mi, had to get inspection for insurance collision coverage.
Sold as new car because it was never titled. Was offered $34K in Nov for brand new car with NAVI in dealer lot or trade with other dealer. No other dealer had the combo I want, so either I wait 2 months or take this demo with body kit, wing spoiler, trunk tray & wheel locks (exactly what I wanted) for $35,400. Since I need car right away (prev car totalled, 2 month old 03 TL-S), I took this one.

I have to say I'm kind of lucky as far as problems are concerned, I don't have any of the problems reported by the members in this forum. Both the 04 TL & 03 TL-S are demo's, with 5700+ miles on the TL-S when I got it. It was a good deal & no problems either.

I have to agree with most people who said the demo's were hard driven, both by potential customers & especially by sales staff, who use demo cars for their personal errands; but on the other hand, the dealer must maintain the demo in a condition with no problems for potential customer to notice during test drives.

 

mine had 2 miles on the odo.

 

I picked mine up on 12-27, it had 2 miles on it.

 

I'd say it's new, too. If I know my dealer is gonna get my combo from somewhere else and they also tell me clearly in advance how many mileage they may put on, this is the new car...

If I can drive it back by myself, it will be great.

desijatt, I think U are the guy busy in works and had no time to drive it back personally from another dealer, right?

 

I don't know about that -- sometimes the dealer doesn't know about the problems that the customer may notice because they don't drive it as much - they just sit in it. For example, the check engine light on the early-VIN (513 I believe) car I test drove today went on when I revved past 5k RPM. I believe there's a fix for this already, yet they hadn't applied it.

 

True but....after 2 test drives (1AT;1M) I was still on the fence. My dealer threw me the keys to his demo TL and said be back at 5pm. This gave me 2hrs of test driving and the inside wasn't very clean (kinda looked like he was living in it)- I wasn't going to complain since I had 2hrs to put the new TL through it's paces.
His plan worked...came back and closed the deal for one with 12 miles on it. Being the last day of the month (11/30) may have had something to do with it

 

As far as being driven hard on test drives - the effects may not be noticable immediately. You might not have problems until about 40,000 miles (or more) if it wasn't "broken in" properly.

 

Wow, that's a lot of replies so far. Thanks to all. You guys are great. I'll let you know what I decide.

 

8 miles on mine

 

I agree with some of the other comments: avoid this car. This has way too many miles for the "new" car price!

-X-

 

5 miles on mine.

 

4 Miles when I first sat in the seat - fresh off the truck the night before. Had 12 when I took it home - had to perform my pre-signature test drive :-)

Not to reiterate what others have said but, I worked at a dealer for over 8 years and any car having more than 500 miles, sold as "new", should have a significant discount. $.75 (75 cents) per mile was our rule of thumb.

Smitty