i was wondering what they will do with the slew of cars that were pictured for the Arizona press release. Certainly they wont end up on lots for sale will they? if so, is that typical? it seems that the cars were really put through a lot and i doubt that they pre-drove them nicely for the engine break-in.

 

I'll make a pure guess: I bet they'll be given to dealers as demos then sold as used.

 

I was interested in a "demo" that had 1500 miles on it. The story was that the dealer gives its employees cars to drive as their own. It was being sold as New, never titled. It apparently came with an extra 3 months or some extra miles on the warranty.
After hearing the podcast on motoringfile, i'll never buy a newer used vehicle again.
it seems irresponsible for anyone to sell these with the buyer knowing that this is what they went through.

 

According to the person from MINI we met at the AZ press release - the Press cars are used for all the press days and for any press requests ( magazines, tv shows, etc.... ) so the cars are "used" all year for that purpose. What happens to them after that???? they didn't say. I would guess they are sold thru MINI dealers as demos or exec. cars?? After seeing how they run some of them I am not sure I would want to own one ( drag strip runs, roadcoarse runs, etc....by people from the car magazines and tv shows ). They are used fairly hard and not always broken in before the press get them.

The next event here in AZ is the Dealer Day (?) when all the MINI dealers send thier people to learn about the new MINI's - the location is supposed to be the same but they are bringing in a whole NEW SET of MINI's for the dealers to use ( according to the MINI person we talked to ) What will happen to these cars??? Maybe on to the next dealer event?? or off to the local dealer to be his "demo" cars??

We plan to have pics of the dealer day when it happens also

 

Most press cars, after they're done being used by the press, are either picked up by a museum, or crushed. They're not sold to the public. At least that's how it works in Detroit.

 

would you buy one that has had the *** kicked out of it by a load of lead foot reporters not me

 

From my understanding, not MINI related but across the board, all of the demo cars that magazines drive and that are used by the manufacturer for photos and testing... well, sadly, they are all destroyed as soon as they are done with their rounds. So every time you see a car on the cover of a magazine or looking oh-so-pretty in the brochure... it has since been crushed and sent off to the junk yard. :(

Drew

 

Unless, of course, it's a very exclusive automobile (a la Enzo, Bugatti Veyron, etc.), and then it's not uncommon to see magazines finding a local owner for the photoshoot and drive. The typical new car "flogging" is probably less of an occurance in that group, though.