"TEST DRIVING" new cars at a dealership

[1937hd45]

I started a thread on renting a MINI COOPER for a weekend a while back. I found out last week the local Enterprise agent has them, my long awaited drive will take place sometime this spring. I told a friend, he looked at me like I was crazy and went on and on about going to the local MINI dealer and driving one. I don't have the funds to buy one, I just want one to drive for a weekend. He continued with his life story of walking into dealerships since he first got a drivers license in the mid 1950's and driving whatever was of interest and NEVER bought anything. How in the world does one do this? There must be a few stories out there. I for one have never taken a ride in a new dealership vehicle. Bob

Edited April 2, 2015 by 1937hd45 (see edit history)

[Peter J.Heizmann]

How in the world does one do this?

Bob,

That's easy. First one has to have absolutely no courtesy, respect, or consideration towards the Sales Person trying to make a living to support themselves or family. To waste the Sales Person's time and efforts when they could possibly be making a sale to someone else would not make me feel too good at the end of the day.

I think your original plan to lease one from Enterprise would be more rewarding in that you could relax and have fun checking it out on your own instead of having a Sales Person ride along with you.

Peter J.

[John_S_in_Penna]

In small towns, dealerships are often happy to let you

take a car out by yourself. In other areas, salesmen feel they

have to come along with you and talk, talk, talk, making it hard

to concentrate on your prospective purchase.

I wouldn't test-drive one with no intent to purchase, but I

certainly would look at one at the dealership, talk to the salesman,

and obtain literature, letting him know I was there that day just to look.

It's a good way to assess a salesman's honesty and forthrightness,

for the time you may come back and actually buy from him.

[misterc9]

I wouldn't test drive a car I had no interest in buying but after buying a number of new and used cars over the years I can say I don't have much regard for most of the salesmen I've dealt with. A recent visit to a Toyota dealer reaffirmed this. Fortunately there is another Toyota dealer in town who treated us fairly and we bought the car.

[john2dameron]

I have actually been denied the opportunity to testd rive a vehicle that I was absolutely serious about wanting to buy. I went to look at a LUV pickup one afternoon at a Chevy dealer and the salesman took me for a ride but would not let me drive it; he did all the driving. I didn't know what he was trying to hide but I decided to let him keep it.

[61polara]

In the '60's when my dad was shopping for a new car, the salesman would always send him home with the car overnight or deliver cars to the house for him to consider. One time, when he returned the car the next day, the salesman said he had already sold the "trade-in". I'm sure it was not a nice discussion that I missed!

[60FlatTop]

There is a small town used car lot near me. The main salesman likes cars a lot and I bought my wife's Infinity from him. I'll stop in if I see something special and say "Gee, I noticed some rust building up in the rotors of the XLR. Would you like me to clean them up?" It got me into the XLR, an A8, a couple of BMW's, even a Crown Vic P71. He knows he'll get another bag of groceries out of me; probably when the clean Lincoln MKS comes in.

You gotta look like a customer.This guy doesn't get offered a test drive.

Well, maybe a test drive reality show.

Bernie

[1937hd45]

I really thought there would be salesmen or ex salesmen with stories. Bob

[bhambulldog]

Some years ago, an employee of mine (when I had employees); was looking at a used Chevrolet to buy. The salesman told him to take the car for the weekend and bring the car back Monday. When my employee showed at work Monday, he was crestfallen and his first words were "I fell asleep driving their car. I totaled the Chevy and a Dodge truck."

The Chevy had been hauled to the local Police impound yard. And the employee didn't hear a word from the dealership, nor the totaled Dodge truck's owner.

[Harold]

When I sold Fords back in the eighties, someone came in at 8:55 PM one night and said "I want to drive one of each model now". He was politely shown the door......

[Steve Moskowitz]

Bob, over a 30 year spam at my dealership I have seen it all. Mostly nothing special as people test drove cars responsibly but there were a few occasions that I had to get the police involved as the car did not return despite us holding on to the license etc. The number of people in the last decade that wished to test drive a car late Saturday afternoon (we were not open on Sunday) escalated and we had to be especially cautious.

Some people left us surprises in a car, unwanted ones, like diapers. One customer of mine thought the car was underpowered...I took him for a spin on a road seldom traveled. I changed his mind (I think he changed his pants)!

[1937hd45]

Steve, Having never taken a "Test Drive" in a new vehicle just how is it done, or is it a dealer to dealer thing. Who makes the first move seller or the guy the seller has to size up and deside if it is a risk worth taking? Bob

[wmsue]

I am not a dealer but have had the full range of experiences test driving cars. From not being allowed to drive the car unless I put a deposit down to being given the car for the weekend to see if my family is comfortable in it on a trip. Most good, but a few not so good.

I drive a MINI convertible everyday to work and back. Just turned 45K on the odometer and it's a 2013 Cooper. It is fun to drive and even more fun when I put the top down and go. Just like a big go cart. Mine is an automatic with optional paddle shifting. There is a sport drive button that beefs up the steering and shifting points to make it more fun. The big round speedometer in the center of the dash goes up to 160MPH and really gives a scare to the passengers. My son is 6'4" and is comfortable in either front seat. Like I said, there really isn't a back seat, just a place to put a few packages.

When I test drove the Mini the salesperson sat in the back (I don't know how he ever fit) while my wife and I sat in the front. I drove it all around Cleveland before we sat down and crunched the numbers.

Price wise my Mini was not expensive in terms of what cars go for now a days. Parts are another story! I do all the repairs and maintenance on it so that isn't really much of an issue for me.

I'd be willing to let you drive mine for a test drive but I couldn't part with it for a weekend. I like it that much.

My first car I ever bought was my 65 Electra convertible and now I drive one of the smallest convertibles I've ever seen. I think I need to change my avatar photo to show both cars side by side.

Bill

[JACK M]

Well, I owned a boat dealership, the river was about a mile away.

I had no problems taking a guy and maybe a buddy or a wife for a short boat ride.

I did have a guy show up with the wife and kids and bathing suits water skis, etc. I took him for a ride and told him if he wanted to play he could write the check.

However, most boat buyers already know everything and don't want to be taught. Even the ones that have never been in a boat.

Had some pretty fun times on the river though.

One guy brought his boat to me and said it wont act up until you drink a couple of beers and are pulling the third skier. He had the boat (cooler) all stalked up and told me to take the crew out after work. And lo and behold, the cheap oil he was using would let the lifters rattle on about the third pull. Changed the oil and all was good.

Its difficult to charge the poor sap the going rate for me and two other mechanics but he was so happy he came back and tipped us. (I think that was his wife's idea).

[Steve Moskowitz]

Bob, any salesman worth his salt wants you to take a test drive as that is the best way to seal the deal. In a lot of the dealerships the salesman goes along, however, in certain areas or dealerships they may let you go alone. In my store we would really, really have to know someone to allow an overnight test drive. Also, there have been cases of salespeople murdered on test drives so a dealership may not want the salesperson to go along.

Asking for a test drive is certainly ok but the salesperson should offer you one well before you have to ask. Certain cars a dealer may not wish to let out on a test drive as in very expensive, hard to get or specialty cars. I know a Chevy dealer who will not let NEW Corvettes out on a test drive as his customers object to buying a Vette with miles.

Bob, there are many different scenarios depending on the car, dealer, location etc. I came from a large town 35,000 but our store had been there since 1923. We did ask the test driver to leave their license with us "in case" if we did not know him or her. If it was somebody we knew from the community or past customer we would handle the test drive per their wishes normally.

[60FlatTop]

B

[1937hd45]

Thanks Steve, I'm too old to ever buy a new vehicle but your advice may be of help to others. Best wishes, Bob

[mtnchev]

Ah yes, test drives.

Once many years ago I bought a new BMW and liked it a lot, so much so that I talked to my father-in-law about him buying one. He liked my car, so we drove to the local BMW dealer, the owner of which (Dave Heinz) was a well known sports car driver, competing at Sebring, Daytona and even Le Mans. We took out one of the sedans he had at the dealership and he went along for the ride. My father-in-law drove around at moderate speed for a few minutes, commenting on the ride quality and asking about reliability and the other things an older owner would be interested in. Dave answered the questions and pointed out some of the interesting features of the car. When we started back toward the dealership Dave asked if he could drive so that he could demonstrate the cars capabilities. I had a bad feeling about it, but it was his car, so he got behind the wheel and demonstrated the car's more sporting abilities such as cornering, accelerating and stopping. After a short 130 mph run down the interstate, a few maximum G turns and a 100 to 0 mph panic stop, my father-in-law couldn't wait to get out of the car and actually ran back to his car. Needless to say, he never bought a BMW.

Larry

[john2dameron]

I have another story to tell. There's a Chevy dealer about 30 miles away that I have bought several cars from. I went there looking for a car and the salesman talked me into driving a Buick crossover about 3 years old (can't recall the model name). He went to get a tag to put on the car and the boss said I couldn't drive it because they had filled it up with gas to take some guys to another town to bring back a car. I don't know if that was the only car they had in shape to make a 2-hour trip or if they didn't have money enough to fill another gas tank but I left and haven't been back.

[Marty Roth]

Back in 1962 I bought my 1956 Bel-air convertible with Power-Pak off the Used Car Lot at Reedman Chevrolet in Langhorne, PA.

There was a race track (Langhorne Speedway?) directly behind the dealership and customers were encouraged to take potential purchases out to the track.

In 1969 I went into Import Auto Sales in New Orleans to buy a set of Driving Lights and Fog Lights to install on my wife's 1967 Toyota Crown Station Wagon. We drove the wagon to Grand Isle, Louisiana from New Orleans every Friday night, and had to deal with heavy fog. Jack didn't have any lights in stock but tossed me a set of keys to a 1967 Citroen DS-21 which had all of the lights mounted on the front bumper. He told me to take the car for the weekend to check out the intensity and pattern, and if I liked them he would order me a set. That next Monday I bought the DS-21, and have owned many more Citroens since.

A good sales person knows when to stop talking and let the product do the talking, and when to dangle - and when to set the "hook".

[Dave@Moon]

Bob,

That's easy. First one has to have absolutely no courtesy, respect, or consideration towards the Sales Person trying to make a living to support themselves or family. To waste the Sales Person's time and efforts when they could possibly be making a sale to someone else would not make me feel too good at the end of the day.

I think your original plan to lease one from Enterprise would be more rewarding in that you could relax and have fun checking it out on your own instead of having a Sales Person ride along with you.

Peter J.

Recently I sold Toyotas for about 6 months until I got a better job as the parts buyer for a restoration business. It's a lot tougher job than it looks, especially if you value spending time with your family. There are the occasional a-holes that are there to drive cars for free. You know they're not serious as soon as the test drive lasts more than 15 minutes, and when they ask for 3 different cars. They become well known very quickly, and are treated accordingly.

We once had a young man test drive an FRS, and had his friend follow with the intent to beat up the salesman and steal the car. The geniuses made 2 mistakes. The first guy gave his real name and driver's license prior to the test drive. Then the second guy accidentally (for real) rear-ended the FRS in a very public place and was "helped" by a good Samaritan. The cops had a great time laughing at these two explaining what happed to the bemused salesman (not me).

[bhambulldog]

Back in 1962 I bought my 1956 Bel-air convertible with Power-Pak off the Used Car Lot at Reedman Chevrolet in Langhorne, PA.

There was a race track (Langhorne Speedway?) directly behind the dealership and customers were encouraged to take potential purchases out to the track.

In 1969 I went into Import Auto Sales in New Orleans to buy a set of Driving Lights and Fog Lights to install on my wife's 1967 Toyota Crown Station Wagon. We drove the wagon to Grand Isle, Louisiana from New Orleans every Friday night, and had to deal with heavy fog. Jack didn't have any lights in stock but tossed me a set of keys to a 1967 Citroen DS-21 which had all of the lights mounted on the front bumper. He told me to take the car for the weekend to check out the intensity and pattern, and if I liked them he would order me a set. That next Monday I bought the DS-21, and have owned many more Citroens since.

A good sales person knows when to stop talking and let the product do the talking, and when to dangle - and when to set the "hook".

those Citroen DS are cool cars !