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That's a bit different than $500 off I'd say. I got $5k off MSRP on my brand new 2016 Focus ST a couple of months ago though, so the above is still not much of a deal.
That doesn't fit the OP's scenario though, but if I lived in an area like Detroit I'm sure I would have seen those.
The vehicle we bought was a SUV not a small commuter. Either way this was in 2004. Rebates were different, and for what we got (fully loaded for that year 4x4 leather, power, SUV) it was a deal. We paid 22k on a car that stickered at 28 something. (Total was 24,700 out the door, and the nearest comparable was about more) And still had a full warranty. Oh and we still have the car today. Runs great looks great 12 years later. If you look around get the rebates you can get a pretty cheap car regardless the brand. As long as you aren't hung up about the brand.
I do agree 500/500 off a demo isn't that much. I would try for a more discounted price
You see them in Detroit all the time. Usually on pre-production vehicles being tested on public roads by automobile manufacturers.
The fun ones are the 'zebras'- they've got a stripey paint job to make it hard for the public to see or photograph the details of the car in order to preserve a little mystery for the big auto show reveal.
At least during the 90s, the Big Three let auto exec's kids participate in the program if the exec was high enough in the food chain. (I went to college with students who had their cars under that program.) So the Mustang or Camaro in that program later resold to the general public might not have come from the careful 50 something mid-career professional but their 19 year old kid who did not exactly treat it gently.
My wife's current 2007 BMW 328xi was an "executive" car. We got a good deal on it and they included a CPO warranty. The car is totally loaded. She still has it and it now has over 110K miles. It had 7K miles when she took delivery.
What are manufacturer plates? I've never seen such a thing, and I don't believe they exist in the USA. A car can not be sold as new with 5k miles. That's ridiculous. No, $500 off the original MSRP on a car with 5k miles is not a good deal. A new car depreciates much more than that the moment it's sold and driven off the lot.
They exist. Not unlike a dealer plate. The Zone rep had them on his car when I worked in a dealership. He had something like four states that he covered. He was based out of Illinois and had orange state issued plates with dark blue lettering (Illini coloring.)
You won't see them in great numbers unless you're in Michigan, but they are out there.
As to the deal, I wouldn't buy a car with 5000 miles for $500 off, but for a $1,000? I might be tempted.
$500 off on a car with 5k miles is not a great deal. There is something called Residual which is the depreciation for a car from day 1 of it's sale. So a good deal on a slightly used car depends upon the brand and model. eg: German cars depreciate more than Japanese cars, so they have less residual value. Regardless $500 is not much of a discount IMHO..
There is a big Ford dealer here who give a new car to the pastors of large churches. My pastor gets one, he turns it in every 6,000 miles and gets another new car. I never paid any attention to the plates. He gets Ford Expiditions
That's a bit different than $500 off I'd say. I got $5k off MSRP on my brand new 2016 Focus ST a couple of months ago though, so the above is still not much of a deal.
That doesn't fit the OP's scenario though, but if I lived in an area like Detroit I'm sure I would have seen those.
In Virginia where you are, the manufacturer plates begin with HQ meaning Head Quarters. You'll see those mostly on VW and Audis as VW NA is now based in Reston, VA.
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