When I went to purchase my S the dealership would not allow me to test drive it, this made me angry and I left. I waited 2 years and at various time went in to buy the car and no test drive. This pisses me off. Now that I am an owner , not only do I give rides, If the person is interested in driving it I let them. Now mind you not complete strangers but certainly co-workers, family, friends,etc. Maybe consider it a blessing, if the dealership would have let me take a test drive I would have purchased one 2 years ago, I surely would have killed myself by now. At least I got the the glass rear window and Suzuka Blue out of the wait.

 

how do the dealers expect us(buyers) to buy the car without test drive? I just don't get it.. It's like buying a house from a magazine without going and checking it out with your own eyes.. Yeah, it seems very nice reading and looking at it but it could be different story when you actually drive it.. "sigh" I guess I'll be asking around dealers for a test drive.... the sales person was very sorry that we couldn't drive it... he said he'll call us when they get a s2k that we can actually test drive..

 

The first dealer I went to, wouldn't let me test drive theirs. Went to another dealer. They let me test drive it, I bought the car from them. First dealer missed out. I understand not letting someone test drive the car if it's obvious that they are not going to buy it. But if they have a serious customer it's the dealer's loss not to let you drive it. If you're serious and you drive it, YOU WILL BUY IT!

 

B/c people do and will continue to do so on blind faith as long as demand is high relative to the supply. Test drives will be easier to get when you start seeing several of them gathering dust on your dealer's lot.

 

I think its a good policy on NEW cars. used who cares. I never buy used and I will refuse a NEW car/truck with anymore than 20 miles on it.

I'm putting down a chunk of change so I want it perfect.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by lucid
[B]I think its a good policy on NEW cars.

 

flytojungho, I know it ain't fair but it's just another one of those "facts of life". If you look young, you are perceived as having no purchasing power. You can get around this by showing them you do, in fact, have the ability to buy this car. (Do you?) If so, write a cheque payable to yourself for a good chunk of the cars value (maybe 25%) and go get it certified. Go back to the dealer and show it (don't give it to them) to the salescreep and now demand a test drive. If they still don't go for it or you get the test drive and decide not to buy it, you take the cheque back to your bank, sign the back of it and put the money back into your account. All you've lost is the cost of certifying the cheque. If you do the deal on the car, you do up the paperwork, sign the back of the cheque and give it to the dealership as your deposit. (Once this cheque is signed, it is as good as cash to whoever you give it to.)
As for the insurance, you already know this is BS. A dealership's insurance is attached to their dealer plates. Any car in their inventory they put these plates on is automatically and immediately insured.

 

There are a whole bunch of things that could be going on here, but since the showroom S2K they had was used anyway, in summary your dealer is being a snot.

Seriously, I could see the reasons being:

1) It may be used, but how many miles are on it? If it's very low mileage (say less than 1000 miles) they may not want to rack up any more as it would reduce the value of the vehicle.

2) It's a major hassle to pull most vehicles out of a showroom - you've got to open the doors, usually move displays out of the way, etc. They may have just not felt it worth the trouble.

Either way, I'd be sure to let them know that it cost them a sale. The best way to do this is remember who it was who wouldn't let you test drive; then if you buy a new S2K be sure to get it from another dealer and swing by and visit that salesman and ask him if he wants to go for a ride in your new car...

(I don't have an S2000, but I have done this in the past with a different vehicle...)

 

getting a test drive for me was easy....i live in california and upon purchasing my car, all the dealers i had visited insisted that i test drive it... even if i wasnt gonna purchase that particular car....

 

lucky bastard