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Hello everyone
I am planning to buy a good upright piano. At the kawai store in my area, there is one k3 ATII. That piano has been in the showroom for about 2 years. Also, the coating on the bass strings, which I suppose is copper, is almost completely worn out. Even the sound isn't as "big" as a K3. And what's even more surprising is that the k3 ATII is being sold at a lower price than K3, which I suppose shouldn't be the case. The seller is trying to convince me that the model is in perfect condition, but I'd like to get some advice from the people who know how the copper coating affects the piano. The action is a bit lousy too, but I guess that'll be fine after the piano gets regulated.
Honest replies are very much appreciated.

The K3 is no longer a current model - it has been replaced by the K-300. Piano bass strings are a steel core with copper wire wound around it, but I'm not sure if the copper is typically coated to prevent oxidisation. A dealer did once tell me that they'd had to replace the strings in a new piano (I believe it could have been a K3 upright actually) because they'd started to tarnish in the showroom and it was putting buyers off.
This is probably why that K3 ATII is cheaper - the dealer might lose less by selling it this way than by changing the strings on what is a discontinued consumer/intermediate-level upright.

I also don't know whether the condition of the strings is anything more than a cosmetic problem, or if it indicates that the showroom environment could have been hard on the piano in other ways. If you're considering buying that piano, you could see if there's an independent technician whom you could pay to inspect and play the piano and advise.

Actually, in my country, only the indonesian K300's are currently available. And given the tone and the touch sensitivity, I'd say they don't even get close to K3. Anyways, seeing the condition of ATII, I guess then I shouldn't really be taking any risk with it as it's still quite pricey. Thank you for the reply though.