Hyundai i30 Fastback - Low Mileage Ex-Demonstrator

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Mon 20 Jan 2020 23:10
Hyundai i30 Fastback - Low Mileage Ex-Demonstrator - Tunder

My wife is going to take my manual Focus.

Seen a DCT Hyundai i30 fastback for half price.

Main dealer says it is an ex-demonstrator. Its done under 200 miles and is 14 months old and has had its first service at 12 months.

If its not sold I will be seeing it this Saturday.

Is there any thing I need to consider?

Edited by Tunder on 20/01/2020 at 23:11

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Tue 21 Jan 2020 09:17
Hyundai i30 Fastback - Low Mileage Ex-Demonstrator - SLO76
Perfectly decent car and although I still have my doubts over the longevity of any of these automated manual gearboxes (The Japs gave up on them as even they couldn’t do it) this one at least has 4yrs worth of manufacturer warranty left (if you service it with the main dealer) as peace of mind.

The only reservation is depreciation. They tend to take a kicking from the trade especially once the warranty is up. As you can see it’s already halved in value in the first 14mths and that’s the retail price and not what you’d have received in part exchange. A painful loss and one that will continue.

If it’s cheap enough and you intend on getting shot before the warranty is up then why not? Just remember it’ll be worthless when you come to sell on, especially if you buy anything other than another Hyundai. Personally I’d rather have a Mazda 3 2.0 Skyactiv auto or maybe a Honda Civic 1.5T CVT.

Edited by SLO76 on 21/01/2020 at 09:19

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Tue 21 Jan 2020 09:21
Hyundai i30 Fastback - Low Mileage Ex-Demonstrator - Will deBeast

Coast2coast will get you about 20% off a new one. So a further 30% off for a pre-reg sounds a good deal.

I'd want to get paperwork confirming the first service, as you'll want to keep the 5-year warranty.

Maybe ask the explicit question about any bodywork damage repairs, in case it's spent some of its 14 months in the body shop.

It's not great for cars to sit around, so maybe check the tyres and brakes over.

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Tue 21 Jan 2020 09:50
Hyundai i30 Fastback - Low Mileage Ex-Demonstrator - Andrew-T

There can't be much interest in them if demonstrations have only clocked up 200 miles in over a year. Seems even the sales staff don't take them home ....

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Tue 21 Jan 2020 11:09
Hyundai i30 Fastback - Low Mileage Ex-Demonstrator - gordonbennet

I'm a little more suspicious than to accept a demo could only cover 200 miles in that time, is the registration document available to see when and to whom the car was regd.

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Tue 21 Jan 2020 11:45
Hyundai i30 Fastback - Low Mileage Ex-Demonstrator - 72 dudes

I'm a little more suspicious than to accept a demo could only cover 200 miles in that time, is the registration document available to see when and to whom the car was regd.

Me too GB.

Is the OP sure it's not 2000.

Sounds a great deal though but I'd want a bit more detail about where it's been for over a year.

I also have to disagree with SLO that it will be "worthless" in 4 years time

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Tue 21 Jan 2020 12:39
Hyundai i30 Fastback - Low Mileage Ex-Demonstrator - Tunder

I'm a little more suspicious than to accept a demo could only cover 200 miles in that time, is the registration document available to see when and to whom the car was regd.

Me too GB.

Is the OP sure it's not 2000.

Sounds a great deal though but I'd want a bit more detail about where it's been for over a year.

I also have to disagree with SLO that it will be "worthless" in 4 years time

The photo of the odometer shows under 200 miles!!

New list price is £22k and broker is £18k. Dealer want £11k!

I have it in writing that it's their demonstrator.

Edited by Tunder on 21/01/2020 at 12:40

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Tue 21 Jan 2020 14:18
Hyundai i30 Fastback - Low Mileage Ex-Demonstrator - Engineer Andy

One of two things could be happening:

They are desperate to flog a car that's mainly been sitting around for well over a year that they's paid Hyundai for but is just sitting around collecting dust. I should also point out that it's ONLY had a general service - as it has been sitting around (not sure if outside or not), then the brakes could be in poor shape, as could the battery.

The model more generally may be about to be withdrawn from sale in the UK. Smaller non-executive saloons do not sell well in the UK and thus Hyundai may be considering doing what Mazda just did with their CX-3 and not sell it here any more because it's just not worth the bother when sales of them were so low. It may be unlikely, especially as the i30N Fastback only came to market about a year ago, but I was surprised why that car was sold in the UK anyway, given its barely different to the hatch.

On the other hand, the i30 Fastback (non-N version) is more stiffly sprung than its equivalent hatchback version, and combined with the lower profile tyres has rather a firm and unsettled ride in comparison - see the HJ review at: www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/hyundai/i30-fastback.../

If you can live with that (get a thorough test drive for at least an hour on a good mix of roads, including poorly surfaced ones and those with speed humps), then if the car checks out all ok, then it seems like a great bargain, if you intend to keep it a while and you like its drive/other aspects. Don't just buy a car because it's cheap.

Whilst the current Mazda3 in fastback is a much better car in many respects (I'm biased as I own one, admittedly a much old one at 14yo), you'll be lucky to find one for less than £20k even with a discount.

I agree as well that a discount of this magnitude means it won't depreciate for probably 2 years.

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Tue 21 Jan 2020 14:41
Hyundai i30 Fastback - Low Mileage Ex-Demonstrator - Brit_in_Germany

If the car is 14 months old, it sounds like it was registered to beat the changes in the emission requirements and since then has been decreasing in value.

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Tue 21 Jan 2020 17:14
Hyundai i30 Fastback - Low Mileage Ex-Demonstrator - Engineer Andy

If the car is 14 months old, it sounds like it was registered to beat the changes in the emission requirements and since then has been decreasing in value.

Once the car was registered, I seriously doubt if anyone cared that it may have been done for that reason, given the VED is essentially the same in either case. I doubt if it would be worth 50% in that time though.

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Tue 21 Jan 2020 14:48
Hyundai i30 Fastback - Low Mileage Ex-Demonstrator - Andrew-T

<< New list price is £22k and broker is £18k. Dealer want £11k! >>

If it wasn't an (almost) brand-new car, one might apply the maxim - If the price looks too good to be true, it probably is. You have to dig out the complete story.

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Tue 21 Jan 2020 15:41
Hyundai i30 Fastback - Low Mileage Ex-Demonstrator - thunderbird

<< New list price is £22k and broker is £18k. Dealer want £11k! >>

If it wasn't an (almost) brand-new car, one might apply the maxim - If the price looks too good to be true, it probably is. You have to dig out the complete story.

I have very nearly been caught out by this type of "bargain" in the past. Not going to go into details but after some investigation and a lucky post on the owners "club" forum a member was able to confirm that it was their car that had been rejected and a replacement had been supplied.

Seems it had been stood at the dealers for about 9 months whilst the dealer and manufacturer decided what should be done with it. I bought a brand new identical car for about £500 more after some leg work (on the internet).

If the car the OP had found is similar it will probably have square tyres plus since it will be a "used car" little in the way of manufacturer support compared to that the original owner got.

There are without doubt many of these cars on the market at any one time, if anyone believes a rejected car gets crushed they need their brain cells counting.

Don't believe what the dealer tells you, that is a;most certainly a lie.

As Andrew-T said above "If the price looks too good to be true, it probably is"

Run away fast, do not be tempted.

Or

Post on the Hyundai Forum and you may be lucky like I was regarding its original owner.

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Tue 21 Jan 2020 15:53
Hyundai i30 Fastback - Low Mileage Ex-Demonstrator - Brit_in_Germany

The WLTP cutoff date was the end of August 2018 so being 14 months old, that would make the registration date after this cutoff and that cannot then be the reason.

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Tue 21 Jan 2020 16:49
Hyundai i30 Fastback - Low Mileage Ex-Demonstrator - Tunder

Just looked at the DVLA site and it was registered 31/12/2018 and is currently SORN'd

If its a demonstrator it wouldn't be SORN'd would it?

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Tue 21 Jan 2020 16:57
Hyundai i30 Fastback - Low Mileage Ex-Demonstrator - thunderbird

Just looked at the DVLA site and it was registered 31/12/2018 and is currently SORN'd

If its a demonstrator it wouldn't be SORN'd would it?

Demonstrators are only kept for about 3 months and then sold. The dealers get some kind of benefit from the manufacturers for doing this plus it ensures the cars people drive are bang up to date.

Would you want to drive a year old car that had possibly been subject to several spec changes since it was manufactured.

Back in the 70's I remember a colleague buying an ex demonstrator and when he closely inspected it (after he got it home!!!!!, bit late then) there were still parts of the dual control mechanism attached to the pedals.

Demonstrator my a***.

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Tue 21 Jan 2020 16:59
Hyundai i30 Fastback - Low Mileage Ex-Demonstrator - Terry W

A demonstrator 14 months old with 200 miles on the clock is implausible.

I would guess it must have been either rejected by the original purchaser, or possibly damaged by the garage if they were the original owner. Possible scenario is bodywork damage waiting for space in the workshop for a fix, and possibly trim damage specific to the model and on special order only.

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Tue 21 Jan 2020 17:19
Hyundai i30 Fastback - Low Mileage Ex-Demonstrator - SLO76
It’s not a demo, most likely it’s overage stock or possibly a cancelled order. We often had unpopular or overpriced stock that sat for this amount of time or longer though some dealers have a policy of offloading to auction of its there too long, much depended on finances and space. I’d check for paint damage but other than that it’s unlikely to be a worry.
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Tue 21 Jan 2020 17:23
Hyundai i30 Fastback - Low Mileage Ex-Demonstrator - Engineer Andy

A demonstrator 14 months old with 200 miles on the clock is implausible.

I would guess it must have been either rejected by the original purchaser, or possibly damaged by the garage if they were the original owner. Possible scenario is bodywork damage waiting for space in the workshop for a fix, and possibly trim damage specific to the model and on special order only.

Possibly, but it should be easy to confirm whether it has. I saw an ex-demo/showroom VW Scirocco GT 2.0TSI for sale on Motorpoint in early 2017 for $17k, with only ~900 miles on the clock.

As I said, smaller non-exec saloons are hard to shift (I know as the owner of a Mazda3 saloon that they sell about 8-10x as many hatchbacks as saloons/fastbacks), and at my local dealer at the same time, they were flogging an ex-demo Mazda3 Sport Fastback 2.0 with 500 on the clock for about £16k.

I didn't care when I bought mine back in early 2006, because I too got a big discount (25-30%) buying an unsued ex-hire car from Cyprus that had found its way to the UK, and I intended to keep mine for more than 10 years. For this level of discount, if it checks out as undamaged/kosher, then if the OP can live with the ride quality, then great.

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Tue 21 Jan 2020 17:43
Hyundai i30 Fastback - Low Mileage Ex-Demonstrator - Andrew-T

Just looked at the DVLA site and it was registered 31/12/2018 and is currently SORN'd

If its a demonstrator it wouldn't be SORN'd would it?

In the 'old days' a dealer would demo an untaxed car by putting trade-plates on it during a test drive. I don't know whether this still happens (SLO will tell us ? ) but I should think the same thing would happen with a SORNed car.

As it is only three weeks past its first renewal date though, I wonder how long it has been SORNed, and why?

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Tue 21 Jan 2020 18:16
Hyundai i30 Fastback - Low Mileage Ex-Demonstrator - Theophilus

Excuse my ignorance but ... what distinguishes a "fastback" from a coupe - or a hatchback?

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Tue 21 Jan 2020 18:43
Hyundai i30 Fastback - Low Mileage Ex-Demonstrator - Engineer Andy

Excuse my ignorance but ... what distinguishes a "fastback" from a coupe - or a hatchback?

About 80 pages in the dictionary? :-)

In the grand scheme of things, there's not much different between a fastback, a saloon and a coupe, as they all can have 4/5 seats and a boot. In this case, though, as with a few other cars in recent years such as the Skoda Rapid/SEAT Toledo and the occasional other, these cars are actually hatchbacks with a saloon/fastback shape. they do have far more sloping rear windows than traditional hatchbacks, and so are slightly more aerodynamic.

The current gen-4 and previous gen-3 Mazda3 Fastbacks ARE actually saloons with old-style boot openings, not hatchback., just like my gen-1 and the gen-2 cars.

It's a marketing ploy to make them sound 'sporty; in my view. Admitedly the hatch opening of the i30 Fastback is very handy because you can get larger things through that aperture, unlike the Mazda3 (and my old one) which is far smaller (not the boot size though). The slightly better aero package normally helps saloons etc to all of 0.1sec quicker to 60 and/or a similarly piddling amount better mpg/CO2 emissions, if any.

The most major differnce is that their stiffer bodyshell over actual hatchbacks (or ones that are just called Fastbacks but are in really hatchbacks, like this i30) and thus can handle a bit better, but I doubt if the difference is that noticable thesedays as it might've been when my gen-1 Mazda3 first appeared on the scene in 2004.

It's like car (and home) radiators, which are actually convectors.

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Tue 21 Jan 2020 21:59
Hyundai i30 Fastback - Low Mileage Ex-Demonstrator - SLO76
“ In the 'old days' a dealer would demo an untaxed car by putting trade-plates on it during a test drive. I don't know whether this still happens (SLO will tell us ? ) but I should think the same thing would happen with a SORNed car.”


Still the norm to demo a car with trade plates up but the old days of registering demonstrators that the sales staff then ran as company cars are dying off thanks to company tax rules. Most staff just run their own cars (which they get good discounts on) and I’m sure dealers will still have a few demos registered but likely they’ll sit on the lot at night instead of a salesman's driveway. Everyone I still know in the trade has their own car these days, while in my day we either took a demo home or picked something off the lot that had plenty of miles left before it flipped over another 10k. You weren’t allowed to take it too close to say 40, 50k for example as this devalued it.

Edited by SLO76 on 21/01/2020 at 22:01

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