Test Drives
 

I talked to a some of the guys at my family's club and they told me how they were treated by various dealerships when they were in the market for full sized luxury sedans. I asked them about their test-drive experiences and they said that every BMW dealership they went to the salesmen went on the test drive with them, but when they test drove the MBs and Audis the salesmen let them take the cars out on their own. At the places where the salesmen didn't go on the test drive they had to sign all these waivers saying they'd be responsible for any damage, scary. By the way, if you test drive a car and damage it, are you really held responsible?

The test drive experience really varied from some guys being allowed to take the cars for an hour to others having the car for a weekend.

When I test drove the C230, I didn't drive the actual car, but a "demo" model they kept so that they didn't accumulate mileage on new cars. The salesperson didn't come with us on the test drive, which was nice.

At the BMW shop, I was on the phone with the salesperson, and he brought a demo unit down to my office for me to see and drive. Since I didn't want to leave him sitting there, I invited him along. Also, I didn't have my wife with me, so I didn't require some privacy to talk anyway.

When I was at the MB Canada shop on Dundas in Toronto, the salesperson just tossed me the keys to an S600 and left me alone. When returning, I gave the keys back and he didn't say two words.

Normally, salepeople come with you to attempt to deal with any objections you have, control the roads you drive on, and ensure you don't abuse the car. They might give you some excuse about insurance requirements, but having had a business with dealer plates, I know that is often not the case.

Today, I won't buy a car that I can't drive for an extended period of time. I want to drive it over familiar roads. One thing that I hate is that they keep 5 litres of gas in the demo units to make sure the salesperson can give you some bunk about "getting back quick not to run out of gas." Put gas in it or I'm gone.

Then they'll give you some BS about being able to put only so many kilometers per test drive on it. See ya.

This thread reminds me of how much I dislike buying a car regardless of price. We've been treated poorly no matter the MSRP...

Im 20 yrs old and a responsible driver. What do you think the dealer would think if I ask to test drive a vehicle?:rolleyes:

Most folks think that's an oxymoron...;)

When I was 18 I wanted a test drive in a make that will remain nameless, so I took my mom's Range Rover into the local dealership(without telling her) and told them I wanted to trade it in and asked for a test drive in the car I was thinking of buying. They asked if the Range Rover was titled in my name, I said, "yes". They gave me the keys to the car and I went on my test drive alone.

I pull back into the dealership and go back inside to see my salesman who is on the phone, he says someone on the phone wants to talk to me. It was my mom. The dealership found the title of the car under the front seat when they were apprasiing the car and because my mom has a different last name than I do they got suspicious and called my mom. The only thing that saved me from the dealership calling the police was that the salesman asked my mom to describe the person who was trading in the car and when she described me they knew it was ok. She told me to get my..... home right away.

At the end of all this, the salesman said with a straight face, "so you're not interested in buying the car anymore?"

E500 test drive
 

I had a new E500 for a whole 24 hour test drive following an invitation from a Sydney dealer. The odometer was showing about 800km when I picked it up and about 1200km when I returned it. The choice was anything (in stock) from the new model range. Very nice!

After I won my car, I went to the dealer to choose a colour and tell them they'd be delivering it to me, straight from SEAT UK. I wasn't going to keep it, so I told them I was interested in a Leon Cupra (a 180bhp 1.8 turbo VW Golf based hatchback, with a more sporting edge) and trading in the car I won.

They were offering I think £8,500 - £9,000 for it (That's a £2000 loss with zero miles).

A steal, and they would be selling me a used car too.

Yet still, even though I had won 'Young Driver of the year' a few days beforehand and arrived in the Mercedes, I was allowed a 10 minute accompanied test drive. The car ahd a problem too unbelieavably.. it would hesitate at certin points throughout the rev range.

The dealer closed a month or so later, I picked up the new car at another dealer, with a dent in the door. Couldn't be bothered to do anything about it.