Pre-Purchase Inspection Officer — Ex-Demo Cars

Looking for an RACV-accredited workshop in Officer?

Worth knowing how this actually works: RACV does not carry out inspections itself. It accredits workshops against its standards and publishes them as RACV-Accredited Auto Care Centres, and the inspection is performed by the workshop you choose. StarTech Prestige is an RACV-accredited workshop, and we carry out pre-purchase inspections for buyers in Officer ourselves.

Two practical differences that follow from that. First, we publish our price and you can book a day online — $460 incl. GST for us to come to the car anywhere in the south-east, $395 in our Cranbourne West workshop. Second, we come to Officer; you do not have to get a car you do not own yet to a workshop. If you are an RACV member, ask RACV directly what member benefits apply to an inspection — those are theirs to confirm, not ours to promise.

Demonstrators and ex-demo buys

Officer is new enough that a lot of the cars changing hands are barely used — including dealer demonstrators, which sit in an odd category. They are sold as near-new, they usually are, and they have also been driven by a great many people who did not own them.

On an ex-demo we check what that use actually did: brake and tyre wear against a very low odometer, clutch condition on a manual, cold-start behaviour on a car that did a lot of short trips, kerb damage to wheels and underbody, and whether the warranty start date runs from first registration or from your purchase — a question worth asking the seller directly. Officer is about 25 minutes from us via the Princes Freeway.

Is a demonstrator as good as a new car?

Often close, at a better price. The difference is that its early life was short trips and many drivers, which shows in brakes, tyres and clutch more than in the odometer.

When does the warranty start on an ex-demo?

That is set by the manufacturer and the seller, not by us — ask them for it in writing before you buy. We inspect the car’s condition.