New car delivered with over 500 miles on it?

[Glitter Brunello Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Glitter Brunello]

It's too late for me to do anything about this, but our new leased car got delivered today, with 540 miles on it... It's a 36,000 mile lease, so the contract runs to 36,540 miles, as does the warranty, so I'm not losing that way. Still, it's annoying.. .regular service is included in the lease price, but the tires and brakes have an extra 500 miles on them...

Do you think this could have been a dealer/test drive car?

Lease Guy said it happens, that the car probably traveled a long distance. But doesn't that usually happen on the back of a big truck?

[somerville Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close somerville]

Obviously someone was driving it. This doesn't just happen. Even if it were a dealer trade, where one dealer trades with another, they usually trailer them. I wonder if the car was sold to someone else and the car was returned during a rescission period.

[billymach4 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close billymach4]

Obviously someone was driving it. This doesn't just happen. Even if it were a dealer trade, where one dealer trades with another, they usually trailer them. I wonder if the car was sold to someone else and the car was returned during a rescission period.

Not always trailered. Sometimes they do drive them across from dealer to dealer. It is alot of mileage, and annoying to say the least.

[PHILL12 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close PHILL12]

Couple things could have happened and are not bad. First a dealer or his wife might have used the car as many dealers get the use of new cars . We went to see a car we liked and set up the time and had to wait a hour because the dealers wife was driving it which sucks,we didn't even test it out and just told him to keep the car.

The Ford Truck we bought in N.Ca had to be picked up in Fresno Ca. They stated that they needed to make a exchange and had someone drive to Fresno and make exchange. This truck now had about 300 miles on it but we were warned so no problem!


PHILL12

[joycapecod Silver Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close joycapecod]

Having spent 35+ years working in a dealership it is RARE that cars are placed on a trailer and driven from one dealer to the next. This would be cost prohibitive since the dealer would be paying for a trailer truck or rollback and a driver. It is usual that a retired gentleman drives the vehicle from dealer to dealer. In the case of 500 miles it is likely that the car was picked up in Virginia and brought to your New York dealer.

Most likely this vehicle was a demo used by the dealer or his wife, or one of the company upper management. It isn't often, but I have had my car sold after only having it a day or two.

In most States there is no three day rescission period since the product (car) is purchased by going in to the dealership and a finance contract signed.

Joy

[Glitter Brunello Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Glitter Brunello]

Thanks all. This is helpful. I guess if I'd have been told, I might not be as annoyed. But truthfully, if I were buying it outright I would expect some sort of discount. Although I did get an option I didn't want to pay for, for a lot less than it would've worked out at retail, so maybe that's where the give was. But still, I'd like to have been told something like, "it's got 500 miles on it, but if you take it you get the panoramic sunroof for only $8 a month extra."

Anyway, thanks for the insights. I am going to mention it to Lease Guy again when he calls to see how everything is with the car.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

DW and I used to own and operate a Driveaway service and can vouch for the fact that new cars sometimes have mileage like that. The new is to first titled, or, now, leased.

You should be able to check the car's history, to see if it has been leased or titled before you. I did that on our Yukon, which we bought with a salvage title, and traced it's history back to build date.

Go to another dealer and have them run the VIN if it bothers you enough.

[jackio Gold Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close jackio]

Jim, what's a driveaway service?

[Glitter Brunello Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Glitter Brunello]

JLB, thanks for the VIN number check idea - A preliminary search (as in "free") shows no records, and the lease document definitely indicates the car is new. I don't think it'd be worth anyone's reputation to lie about that in this case.

So I guess this is a case of "live and learn," and next time I will be sure to find out about the mileage before I agree to take delivery.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

driveaway services - Google Search

As the name and this thread topic implies, a service that delivers vehicles from one location to another by having a person drive them.

I have been familiar with these services since 1971, when I affiliated with a company that purchased vehicles for individuals through fleet dealers, at fleet discounts, and then drove them to the customer's location.

Another common variety of a driveaway service is to employ a person desiring to get from one location to another, to match them with cars that need to go the same route. When people move, and have cars to move, that is a common way to get it done.

In our case, mostly we delivered conversions from Kansas City to destinations around the country. Then we would typically pick up something that needed to go to Kansas City to get back . . . insurance cars, recovered thefts, repos, dealer trades, etc.

The furthest I went personally was Miami (got a car Saturday morning for a pickup that needed to be in Miami 7 AM Monday morning), San Diego (kinda hard to go further that way), Sacramento, upstate New York (the first Chevy Astro delivered to NY).

Then there were odds and ends . . . like when dealers would fly us to the factory to pick stuff up they wanted yesterday. We did some RVs and truck chasis from Michigan.

During one stretch, we delivered 6 Cowboy pickups from KC to Houston (or further south) three times a week. On a slow day do the math on that.

Those were the days.

Jim, what's a driveaway service?

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

One thing I found out when I had a GM dealer search our Yukon VIN is when the factory warranty was deactivated (when it was reported stolen).

JLB, thanks for the VIN number check idea - A preliminary search (as in "free") shows no records, and the lease document definitely indicates the car is new. I don't think it'd be worth anyone's reputation to lie about that in this case.

So I guess this is a case of "live and learn," and next time I will be sure to find out about the mileage before I agree to take delivery.

[wackymother Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close wackymother]

So...normally when you buy a new car or get a new leased car, the car is absolutely brand-spankin' new? Like, what, 10 miles on it?

We rented a car from a Hertz Local Edition near here and the guy insisted on walking out and introducing it to us because it only had 16 miles on it. We were in awe. I'm not sure I had ever been in such a new car in my life!

[Glitter Brunello Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Glitter Brunello]

So...normally when you buy a new car or get a new leased car, the car is absolutely brand-spankin' new? Like, what, 10 miles on it?

We rented a car from a Hertz Local Edition near here and the guy insisted on walking out and introducing it to us because it only had 16 miles on it. We were in awe. I'm not sure I had ever been in such a new car in my life!

Our new cars have generally had under 20 miles on them. New should mean new, no?

[wackymother Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close wackymother]

Our new cars have generally had under 20 miles on them. New should mean new, no?

Well, yeah. It should. I just wasn't sure how many miles "new" involves. Where does it get even the 20 miles? They don't use every car at the dealer for test drives, do they?

[joycapecod Silver Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close joycapecod]

Well, yeah. It should. I just wasn't sure how many miles "new" involves. Where does it get even the 20 miles? They don't use every car at the dealer for test drives, do they?

If a customer comes in and wants to drive a specific car, of course they are allowed to. Usually not every car on the lot has more than a few miles on it. Usually my company demo would have between 3-7 miles when I got it.

Every car gets driven on to the car carrier and driven off. The cars get driven to the service department to get prepped and then they get driven to the get ready area to be cleaned. From there they get driven to the spot where they will sit on the lot until a buyer is found. The cars will be driven when moving the lot around. It is very easy to get 20 miles on a car and it has never left the lot.

What constitutes "new" is not having been titled. Once a vehicle is titled, even if it turned back in for some reason it is then considered used. It could have 10 miles on it; if it were titled it is "used."

Joy