About to "Purchase"

[cgaydos]

On the other hand, when buying a dealer loaner/demo ask explicitly if the car has a date for being put into service. Often it has .. And that is the date the warranty clock starts even if it has not been titled yet.

Apparently, the warranty clock doesn't start until once you purchase a demo from Tesla Motors. I guess this is one of the practices Governor Christie feels compelled to protect consumers from.

Could be. This apparently varies by manufacturer and dealer. I was pleased when I found that my 2011 Nissan, which started service as a demo in October of 2011, has a "put in service" date of 2/28/13, when I bought it, so I get the full warranty (and got an email reminder when I was 4 days overdue for my annual battery check). But I know many examples of people who bought demos only to find that the warranty already had 6, 12, and even 18 months used up.

So, buyer beware. Be sure to ask before buying a new car that the dealer has been using.

 

[muncan]

On the other hand, when buying a dealer loaner/demo ask explicitly if the car has a date for being put into service. Often it has .. And that is the date the warranty clock starts even if it has not been titled yet.

Apparently, the warranty clock doesn't start until once you purchase a demo from Tesla Motors. I guess this is one of the practices Governor Christie feels compelled to protect consumers from.

Could be. This apparently varies by manufacturer and dealer. I was pleased when I found that my 2011 Nissan, which started service as a demo in October of 2011, has a "put in service" date of 2/28/13, when I bought it, so I get the full warranty (and got an email reminder when I was 4 days overdue for my annual battery check). But I know many examples of people who bought demos only to find that the warranty already had 6, 12, and even 18 months used up.

So, buyer beware. Be sure to ask before buying a new car that the dealer has been using.

cgaydos: Did you have any problems claiming the federal tax credit on the dealer demo? I am considering buying a car that only has one entry on the car report and that is the dealer purchasing it as a "Manufacturer Vehicle" from NISSAN. It has not been registered to anyone, so I would be the first owner. But I am skeptical - would love to hear if you've run into any issues.

 

[cgaydos]

cgaydos: Did you have any problems claiming the federal tax credit on the dealer demo? I am considering buying a car that only has one entry on the car report and that is the dealer purchasing it as a "Manufacturer Vehicle" from NISSAN. It has not been registered to anyone, so I would be the first owner. But I am skeptical - would love to hear if you've run into any issues.

Coincidentally I received my Tax Year 2013 IRS refund in my checking account this morning. With the filing I included a copy of the title and a letter explaining that this was the initial registration of the car and apparently they had no trouble with that.

There was one issue. I use Turbo Tax. Because the car was the 2011 model year I was not allowed to file electronically, I had to mail in the return, which of course delayed the refund by 2-3 weeks from what I would have been. This applies only to cars with a model year 2 or more before the tax year. Thus, if I'd bought a 2012 LEAF in 2013 I could still have filed electronically.

For your situation I would ask the dealer to show me the vehicle history via a Car Fax. The only situation where I've heard of a dealer purchasing a car as a "manufacturer vehicle" was as a result of a resale of a lemon buy-back (this example was a Focus Electric) - but the Car Fax gave all the information needed to figure that out. It's possible that this may have been used as a test car or similar for Nissan in which case I'd just make sure that I had the full warranty starting from the purchase date.

 

[braineo]

Make sure the dealer resets the date of 1st put on service with Nissan for you to get the 3 year 36,000 mile warranty as the first owner. I too bought a 2011 demo on December 2012 and had so far no problems.

 

[muncan]

Thank you for that advice. I asked the dealer about when the warranty would start and he let me know that it was whenever the car had been first put into use by the factory (it looks like this was a demo car). I asked for the date and based on what he gave me I would only have about 7 months left and 35K miles. Doesn't appear like such a hot deal. From what I have been reading it looks like I should also be concerned with how long the car sat and where it sat unused.

I guess it's back to the drawing board.

 

[braineo]

Don't trust the dealer. Call Nissan with the VIN and they will check for you.

The dealer can reset the date with NISSAN.

they did that on mine. No issues with warranty so far.