Ex-proving ground car

charltonfan1

charltonfan1

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interested in a car that’s done 24k since new (Oct 2016) and dealer advised was a Proving ground vehicle for Ford.

It is pretty well priced and has remainder of warranty left.

Should I be concerned about this history for long term usage?
 

Lunawolfy

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Can't speak for Ford and their torture tests but I imagine it'd be like buying a BMW that's been used on the M/X experience days.

The owners forums have many post around cars at great prices which 12-18 months later the diff is wrecked, the gearbox need replaced and have had major component work needed, the source of the issue being that when owned by BMW those vehicles were thrashed non stop, all day every day. Even with regular servicing the component lifespan has shortened dramatically.

Look at it this way, 24k miles in ~18 months is 1300 miles a month, not bad. But what if it's spent those 24k miles as the torture vehicle to prove their tow rating. 24k miles at maximum rated tow. The odo will say 24k miles but the engine probably feels like its done a LOT more!
 

Scania

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Most people look for one careful owner when buying a nearly new car.

This has been treated nothing like that.

Don’t walk away, run!

That would be my advice, if it’s DIRT cheap, maybe, If your feeling brave....

It’s effectively been treated mercilessly and you have to ask will this most likely end up in a satisfactory ownership experience for the next owner, if you think it will end well then go for it.

Otherwise, as I say, run.
 

charltonfan1

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Ok thanks all.

The main dealer advised it has been tested on a rolling setup but I have asked him to clarify this.

It’s a 66 plate S-Max registered 1 Nov 2016 so 17 months old.

It is probably price about £1500 under what I would expect for the age and spec so not a massive saving
 

rodenal

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The main problem I can see is that you absolutely cannot rely on what a dealer tells you to be accurate. If it truly was a car run on rollers for a while I'm not sure it would bother me so long as the engine had the correct mileage stated.

However, if it really was a proving ground ( not press) car it could quite easily have been used for sustained high speed runs, cobble tests, other handling tests, emergency braking etc etc. None of which are going to be good for making it feel like a tight, new car.

Must admit I thought these cars were used to destruction and never sold
 

Scania

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charltonfan1 said:
Ok thanks all.

The main dealer advised it has been tested on a rolling setup but I have asked him to clarify this.

It’s a 66 plate S-Max registered 1 Nov 2016 so 17 months old.

It is probably price about £1500 under what I would expect for the age and spec so not a massive saving
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I really wouldn’t bother, you’ll probably get near that “saving” by buying privately or from a car supermarket.

Put it this way, it’s highly unlikely they are going to let on it’s been ragged mercilessly and will paint a favourable picture of its past.

If it had undergone “destruction testing” then indeed it wouldn’t get sold - certainly not through Fords main dealer network - it would be scrapped or given to something like a technical college, I recall Burslem Technical College in Stoke had a Sierra Cosworth back in the late 80’s that was donated by ford after it had done a few months of around the clock flat out running, ironically its engine was in remarkably good condition, the body was full of holes where test equipment had perhaps been fitted and it’s “Whale tail” spoiler mysteriously disappeared and soon after a Red 2.0is Sierra in the car park gained a white spoiler with drill holes in it by some odd coincidence! :D
 

Entai

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We used sell off a few cars from our Proving ground when it was owned by GM.

The cars that got sold had never been tested harshly or even been on to the tracks much.

Most had just been used as comparison vehicles and maybe had some interior trim taken out and replaced with new.

All were sold on at around 20% of original price at 18 months old or so, with anywhere between 5 to 10k on the clock.

Used to be a queue a mile long for each car when they came up to being sold from staff at the PG as we all knew they had done nothing and were massively cheap.

The only condition on sale,was that you could not pass it on and sell it yourself, for a minimum of 5 years, so no instant profits available .
 

mjt

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rodenal said:
The main problem I can see is that you absolutely cannot rely on what a dealer tells you to be accurate. If it truly was a car run on rollers for a while I'm not sure it would bother me so long as the engine had the correct mileage stated.

However, if it really was a proving ground ( not press) car it could quite easily have been used for sustained high speed runs, cobble tests, other handling tests, emergency braking etc etc. None of which are going to be good for making it feel like a tight, new car.

Must admit I thought these cars were used to destruction and never sold
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This. Surely the ones used for the extreme tests are never put up for sale?
 
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