I'm currently waiting for my local dealer to get an allocation for a 4runner that I can customize to my liking. While I've been waiting (about a month now [and I'm getting impatient]), I've been scouring dealer inventories to see if anyone has something close to what I want, that I could purchase sooner. I found a 2012 4wd limited to my liking, and the price is right. After talking to a sales rep at the dealer, I was told that he could not get the exact miles because the car is a "demo" being driven by the sales manager. He said the miles would be anywhere from 100-400, but not more. Are demo vehicles a red flag, or should i pursue this deal?

Oh, about the car - almost fully loaded (no jbl, but I didn't care for it anyway, I'm not an audiophile), black on black, dealer msrp is 41,900, I was going to start at 38,500 (invoice is 37,900 according to kbb) and see if I could stay under 40k. Now that I've found that the car has miles on it, I was thinking I could possibly get it for less. Your thoughts?

Meh, nm, I'm going for it.

I really have nothing useful to add to this post other than I really dig your username......Bourbon!
Well done man.

EDIT: My 2011 had 560 miles on her when I bought it. I don't have a problem with "demo" or "miles" as that's why we have warranties.

I have had my 12 LE for a little over a month now and love the Sh#t out of it, if you can get it at a good price then I think you should go for it, as for the miles, think of it as already being broken in.

I had several opportunities to get demos and low mileage trade-ins while waiting for my ordered truck to arrive. They could have been kept in 1st gear and rev'ed to 5K all day long for all I know. You just never know how they were treated. Since I had already decided to pay the piper, I was definitely going to call the tune.

It all boils down to you pay or money and take your chances.

Good for you.

To answer your question: no, demos are not "red flags". Select senior management in the dealership get to drive demos, and they are very careful as the vehicles are inventory of the store. Rules vary by state, but generally demos can be driven to 1500-2000 miles before they can no longer be sold as new. If the demo had more mileage, then you should be able to get a discount, but for a few hundred miles don't worry about it.

The dealership I used to work at (Pontiac/Mazda) years ago would not allow anyone to test drive a vehicle by themselves. The senior sales staff and management had demo vehicles, but the stealership would not let them get over 400 miles on them before sale. IMO, demo vehicles are a great buy. I never saw anyone mistreat their demo ride, as this would result in their termination.

Never under any circumstances even consider or even think about....wait?....... what?.......

Oh, never mind....I'm sure you will be fine.

Wow. $41,900 MSRP on a limited ? The MSRP on our SR5 was $41,549.
The SR5 is fully loaded though. We bought it for about 38K. I think. Don't really know because we had a trade in.

as long as the vehicle wasn't titled (i'm assuming it wasn't) and you can get a decent discount, i'd say go for it. 4Runners don't lose value like german or british imports. I bought a "dealer" car with about 2k miles on it, and I never had any trouble. Did notice some dog hair in the back seats when I was vacuuming, but aside from that, the car was in perfect shape and the savings was huge! I admit, you do run a bit of a risk, and I guess I got lucky, but the vehicle will still be under warranty, and if you don't hear any funny engine noises or one out of three tires isn't shaved, it was probably driven well enough.

I would NEVER buy a used rental car though

I had a demo once never had a problem and got a good deal

Dealer wanted to sell me a 2010 Limited Demo model when I went shopping. They offered it for "around the same price" as the 2011 sr5 I wanted. If memory serves me right tho, it had around 10,000 miles on it. Yes, 10k. Never gave me a definitive price tho. Even offered to install a remote start for free if I took it. Interior showed ss wear and tear tho.

BTW I got my 12 LE with toyota mats throughout, etched security windows, color coded door edge guards, nav, blah blah blah all the other stuff that comes with the LE for $40,750 OTD including all the taxes, doc fees and I got a 90 day temp tag.

Thats a Sick deal you got. Is thats a 4x4 LTD? I thought I got a pretty good deal but comparing to yours, mine was a ok price. I paid $39,980 NOT OTD for brand new 2011 LTD 4x4 running board, remote start, floor mats, cargo cover, BP White($250 option last year) this time last year

Yup 4x4 LTD plus floor mats and door guards and a cargo net.