How many test-drive miles on a new manual car is your limit?

[Elp_jc]

Hey gang, I'm a little disappointed now. All the search work I did turned to $hit, for one reason or another. The last car in the list (100 miles away, in a different state), has scuff damage, AND they want too much money, because dealer said Ford requires a minimum of $5K to finance (is that correct?). Problem is my trade is worth almost as much as the Bullitt, so dealer wants to basically give me $5K less to meet their damn minimum. Not going to happen, but I'm probably f***ed with a 2019 if that's the case, since it's a $1,500 rebate. I always pay cash for everything, but don't mind financing the car and paying it off in a month. The issue is if I can't trade my truck, I'd lose the trade-in tax differential, automatically making the deal almost 3 grand more expensive. Can't do that either.

At any rate, now to the biggest issue for me, and the title of the thread: That car has 66 freaking miles. I've always bought my manual cars right off the truck, with hardly any miles (less than 5). It the car had 1 test drive, hmmm, okay. Two? That's pushing it. But there were a lot more than that with 66 miles. That also means probably redlining the engine on cold oil, and my worst fear is crunching the tranny, since this one doesn't like to be rushed, especially with cold/warm oil (instead of hot). Just curious where you'd draw the line on test miles. I know I'm close to being extreme on this issue, but a cousin who is less than me, also told me he'd pass on 66 miles. Just want to hear where you'd draw the line. Thank you.
JC

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[Rock&Roll]

Mine had a 102 miles on it when I bought her. It bothered me a little when I bought the car but looking back, who cares. I''m sure I beat on it more that they did. 15 of the miles where me test riding it. They have a route they go on. I guess 5 other people drove the car. It's really not a issue and the car has 21k on her now so whatever.

 

[Devil5oh]

My 2017 had 80 miles on it when the dealer i bought the car from dealer traded. I think the 80 miles was because someone from the other dealer drove it to the dealership i bought the car from and not transported it. I was super pissed it had 80 miles on it, along with the right side of the rear bumper completeley popped out of place, to the point there i could fit a whole tennis ball inside. But they fixed it and ive been happy ever since.

 

[AceS550]

My 2017 GT (Manual) had 1100 miles when I bought it as a “new car” from a ford dealership. It was produced late in 2016 and had never been sold. I bought it in late 2017 right when the 2018’s were rolling in. They claimed it was used for road trips by the finance manager. I didn’t believe them but they were very transparent and let me have the car for a few days to inspect anything I wanted. I put the car on a lift and inspected everything but couldn’t find any evidence of bodywork or mechanical work being done. They ended up selling it to me for an amazing price that I couldn’t refuse. It shifted great and I never had any problems with it. I’d still have it if it didn’t get totaled.

 

[Hillsndale]

Doesn't sound like an upstanding dealer to work with in the first place. Is the scuff damage much? They should give you an appropriate discount for that. Couldn't you just get bank financing instead, since you plan to pay off soon and it is a tiny loan the interest difference should be inconsequential?

I would be leary of the test drive miles mostly because of the Covid stuff the salesman doesn't ride along to keep people in line. That said, it would be hard to really damage anything that fast uless there was some pretty extreme abuse.

My opinion would be to walk away if it is going to bother you the whole time you own the car.

There is a good number of 2019 Bullitts in this area, only problem is the dealers have become car collectors and don't want to sell them.

 

[Elp_jc]

There is a good number of 2019 Bullitts in this area, only problem is the dealers have become car collectors and don't want to sell them.

Ha ha. You can say that again. If those were transport miles, I still wouldn't like it, but it'd be MUCH less of a deal. Problem is the guy even admitted they were test-drive miles. I remember vividly when I went to test-drive a new BMW M3 V8 (I bought one a few weeks later). Stupid salesman didn't even warm up the car, and proceeded to redline the crap out of it when the temp gauge hadn't even moved. Missed several shifts, and just drove like crap. Next guy was even worse. I'm so respectful of machinery that I drove it like if it was mine, even when it was abused to hell right before me, and I could have shown those 2 how to drive that car. Anyway, you see my point.

As I mentioned, I don't need to finance anything (never did). But dealer was forcing me to do it for the $1,500 rebate (read a Ford rebate page from Ford and it says this, and I quote: 'Effective immediately, all dealers are required to use the BUILD TO LEND A HAND BONUS CASH FORM on all sales utilizing program numbers xxxxx and xxxxx'. Oh, and the minimum to finance is 5 grand, and deal would be less than that, hence the problem.

As far as the scuff damage, the stupid salesman told me that he wasn't going to send the pictures unless I accepted the deal. I told him there's no freaking deal unless I know what's the damage, which I'm assuming is going to be more than I want, or he wouldn't be saying that. The 3 local cars are even worse, but I refuse to buy a new car that looks a lot worse than my trade-in (which is absolutely immaculate. Ha ha). I can tolerate a little bit, but Ford's plastic is so crappy, that you scuff the texture on the plastic just by looking at it the wrong way. It looked really bad, but told the salesman to clean it up, and send me new pictures to see the actual damage (no dirt).

Finally, I set the bar higher than most on these leftovers, meaning no way I'd consider a car that has been baking in the (100+) desert heat for half a year with windows closed, bird poo, sand storms (very prevalent here), hail, etc. I only considered the ones sitting inside showroom floors. The 3 local ones were outside, and I should have taken pictures of their condition. You'd cry to see them. I couldn't even see inside from any window. They looked like barn finds buried for 20 years. Ha ha. Bird poo everywhere. Layers and layers of mud, because it's so dusty here than when it rains (meaning 0.01" most of the time), it becomes mud. No way you can even move those cars like that; can't see anything. The interior just filthy. And what was unbelievable to me is to see that kind of scuff damage on a car with only 16 miles on the clock. The other had 31, and same thing. The 3rd had almost 300, and was much less dirty outside and inside, but on that car the seat leather was scratched to the core at several places (from riveted jeans, I guess). So those 3 were immediately removed from consideration, and had to search out of town. That one from Alamogordo was my last option. I'm tired of searching, so will rest a few days, and see what happens. Thank you for all the answers gang.

 

[IronG]

Mine had ~4, but I ordered it. For this type of car I would never buy used, but if you have to, 66 is not bad for a car sitting on the lot for a while.

 

[ice445]

My car was a lot find (sat for 4 months through the winter) and it had 40 miles at the time of purchase. I don't think that's egregious. Sure, someone probably redlined it at some point, and maybe fucked up a shift or two. But who cares? Damage with a clutch and engine is cumulative, it's not like running it ragged a few times is going to break it. The OEM's design things assuming that stuff will happen sometimes, which is why they leave so much headroom on the table. Most dealers also have a policy with the Mustang or other performance cars that the salesman needs to be there with you to ensure you're not melting the clutch to the flywheel from idiocy. I honestly worry more about handing my car of to be serviced or have aftermarket stuff installed (like tint) because a lot of people just don't know how to drive stick anymore. Usually the people that are even looking at a manual sports car know what they're doing as far as driving it goes. They might stall a few times because the clutch bite point is funky but that doesn't hurt the car at all.

 

[Elp_jc]

Those miles alone are not going to be a deal-breaker, assuming I don't detect anything funky on the test-drive. But what I can't just pass is all the apparent scuff damage; I'd see that every freaking day I use it. It looked bad, but will wait for the pictures tomorrow. They also need to lower the price, since I'm not going to pay almost 2020 money for an old 2019 with several joy rides. We'll see in a few days. Not going to look anymore, at least for a while. Will install a few mods I just received on the truck, to relax. And yes, even when I might trade it in a day or two later. Ha ha.

 

[ice445]

Those miles alone are not going to be a deal-breaker, assuming I don't detect anything funky on the test-drive. But what I can't just pass is all the apparent scuff damage; I'd see that every freaking day I use it. It looked bad, but will wait for the pictures tomorrow. They also need to lower the price, since I'm not going to pay almost 2020 money for an old 2019 with several joy rides. We'll see in a few days. Not going to look anymore, at least for a while. Will install a few mods I just received on the truck, to relax. And yes, even when I might trade it in a day or two later. Ha ha.

That's fair, I wouldn't buy a car with preexisting damage either. My car had some dirt in the footwells but otherwise was immaculate when I came around, even though it sat outside. But, given it was delivered mid November and only sat until early March, that's not super surprising. Winter isn't particularly hard on a car like summer is if it's just sitting.

 

[Jimmy5.0]

When I was looking for a Mustang GT PP2 last summer I found one that had similar mileage, also had scuffs on the interior plastic and would have had to have a full paint correction as it looked like it had been washed with a dirty brush multiple times. That particular dealer really wanted to sell me that car but I ended up going to another dealer to factory order a 2020 and was glad I did. When your buying New it should be new with next to no mileage and a few minor flaws, although my 2020 came with a scuffed Drivers door panel most likely from transport which the dealer took care of.

 

[oneheadlite]

Any miles over say 4 on any trans is too much for me.

My '17 had 2 miles on it when I got it.
I told the dealer that they had two cars and I wanted the one
with the least miles on it.
I was 140 miles away and I could go to Charlotte, NC and get
one with 2 miles on it.

I don't want and won't have a car with a couple hundred miles on it.
Too many cars out there...........

 

[Mustang5ohMan]

My car had about 23 miles. I’ve brought a couple new cars and they all been around the same mileage wise. I’d say my limit might be 100-200 miles. remember sometime they have to dealer trade and may ending driving your car back...

 

[Wolfen1176]

My 19 had 64 miles on it when I bought it 2 months ago. Doesnt bother me at all. Now have 700 on it and still loving it. Its the first new car I have ever had. All my other cars had at least 90k and 8+ years old when I got them.

 

[WildHorse]

Mine had .6 miles. Dealership - gas station - back. They don't let anyone test drive manual Mustang GT / GT350 / GT350R.

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