If you’re busy shopping around in search of a car for yourself or a loved one, you’d be missing out on great savings and opportunities by overlooking the demo car market. While not as highlighted an option as buying brand new or pre-owned, there is a substantial sector that features demo vehicles at great prices in South Africa. While you may have your heart set on a brand new vehicle that’s just arrived on the market, there are significant downsides to bear in mind before making this choice. For one, new cars rapidly depreciate in value and can lose up to 30% of their resale value within the first year alone – that’s a lot of money for one year’s ownership.

If you want to enjoy all the joy and benefits of a new car without suffering an unnecessarily large financial blow, demo cars for sale make for an excellent alternative. Here are just a few benefits of buying a demo car.

Low Mileage

Demo cars are typically sold off by the time they’ve reached the 5000-kilometer mark, if not sooner. Depending on when it was manufactured and released, that means you could quite likely still gain the benefit of getting the remainder of the service plan and warranty.

They Are Still Very New To The Market

Because demo cars are used to promote and sell the latest models by a manufacturer on the market, they’re always very current in terms of trends. Most manufacturers release updated or facelift versions of their cars every four to five years, and many demo cars are sold by the time they are three years old. This can either be due to the dealerships making room for a new edition that’s on the way or because the initial interest and demand for test drive models decline after the first two years and they have extra demo models that aren’t needed to keep promoting the model. Whatever the case, buying a demo car means you will still be able to own the latest model and could quite easily convince anyone that it’s bought brand new.

It Is Better Looked After Than Any Pre-Owned Car

Although a demo car may have been on the roads and in use for a few years, you’d be very hard-pressed to find any other used car of similar age and mileage that would be in such pristine condition. Since they are the mobile billboards and ambassadors for the entire fleet and because sales depend heavily on making the best impression with prospective buyers, dealerships go through every effort to keep demo models looking and operating like brand new at all times. These cars are routinely cleaned, inspected, serviced, and maintained on every level, which means they are kept in a condition that is as close as possible to a brand new vehicle.

You Completely Avoid That Initial Value Depreciation Phase

Because demo models have already passed their initial depreciation period, you will immediately cut thousands off the cost when buying one. After that sharp drop in value within the first year or two, most cars maintain a fairly steady and slow decline in their market value ‒ if they’re well looked after. This means that if you do decide to sell or trade-in your car at a later stage, you’ll get back more of your initial investment money than if you had to sell one that you bought brand new.

Insurance Costs Will Be Reduced

Brand new cars tend to come with much higher insurance rates that only start to go down after the first few years. If you buy a demo car, you’ll be able to secure a more affordable insurance premium that will save you even more money in the long run.

It May Come Fitted With Extra Features

Since dealerships want to showcase the full array of features and extra add-ons available for a model, many demo cars have been equipped with upgrades that are not included as a stock standard. These can include upgraded paintwork, a better sound system, or the premium-specification upholstery option. Buying a demo car not only costs less than a new model, but even with these extras, it’s likely to cost less than a brand new one.

If you’re now convinced that they are worth a look, we have several demo cars for sale at all times, and our inventory is constantly being updated with new stock. Motus Select has dealerships all around the country and will happily arrange to transport and deliver the car you purchase to your location from anywhere in South Africa.