test driving at the dealers...

Friend of mine wants an unusual, fast toy. He likes cars, but is completely uneducated about most of them, and really has no preconceived notions of what he wants (front engine, mid engine, 12/10/8 cylinder, etc.). He's thinking Ferrari, but maybe AM.
Thankfully, he took my advice several months ago and subscribed to the FML to get a feel for prices. I gave him some books and mags to get a feel for the Ferraris. He can get what he wants (well, not a new SLR, but just about anything).
He wants to go test drive... so here is the question:

Any of you show up to a given dealer and ask to drive multiple cars, new and used? Say, the 575M, a 360, the Vantage, Grand Sport, and maybe the stray Lambo sitting around? Is this well received? Do they do a "wallet biopsy" to make sure you are not pulling their chain? The sales guys at my local F dealer kind of know me from lurking around over the past 5 years (service guys, unfortunately, know me pretty well!)... I told my friend I'd be a good friend and go test driving with him!

thanks

 

Personally I've never seen a Ferrari dealer give a test ride in a new car to anybody other than a very good and well known customer. Or one very well connected.

 

Well I might be off base but I think there shouldnt be a problem provided its explained to the sales people that he is looking at differant options and is unsure what he wants and therefore want to try a few differant options before making a decision..

 

setup an appointment. setup an appointment. setup an appointment. Do NOT just show up there. What could also help is if your friend keeps in contact with a sales person for a week or two before coming in, i.e. asking about cars, getting info about the cars, etc etc. That way they will know he is legit.

 

I bought my 360 from an independent. I arranged to drive the car on a Saturday. I showed up and the owner wasn't there, just a very nice but very young salesperson. I asked him if there was anything I shoudl know before driving, he said no. I said how long to warm it up? He said a minute or so. He didn't seem to care when I brought it back and didn't go with me on the drive. I also drove a 550 at the same dealership. Maybe indies are more flexible?

 

I have bought new Ferraris for over 20 years and I have never had an opportunity to test drive a new car, even a Testarossa that was sitting in the showroom for several months in 1990.
Used cars are very different and unless it's a "flipped" used car, meaning new but marked up, the dealership has a real interest in having youu drive the car.
I'm sure the local Aston Dealer will let you drive something in stock and certainly independents are motivated rather differently than authorized mega dealers like UAG.
The key is to be known to the dealership, even in the form of a phone call seting up an appointment. "Dropping in" really doesn't work with high priced cars and test drives.

 

If you are a valued customer of the Ferrari dealership, you can test drive any used car on lot (the new cars are already sold....with the possible exception of the occasional 612). Every boy and half of the girls in America want a ride in a Ferrari and many, like your friend, have the financial means to buy one. But the dealers know that very few of the ignorant tire-kickers with "no name", "no history", "no referral", "no Ferrari", will turn into buyers.

 

My suggestion would be to arrange one of those auto-club events where the participant can drive maybe 5 exotics back-to-back on a scheduled day. I forget the name of the firm, but they have 1-day drives where drivers swap between a Gallardo, F430, Continental GT, 612, and GT40. There's a famous picture of a burning silver F430 spider that was part of this event (not a great endorsement, but regardless).

Second, I offer this personal experience. I'm 29 and could pass for 23, but I had serious interest in buying a Maserati Cambriocorsa, so I dropped in on Ferrari of Scottsdale one Saturday afternoon. I was intimidated as hell and not expecting much on the way over, but the sales gentleman was awesome, answered all of my questions (he could tell I was somewhat educated on the car), and immediately offered to let me drive whatever was outside. In the end, I still haven't bought a car, but I was impressed with their trust and professionalism.

 

No offense, but maybe your friend could get more focused. The aesthetics, seating position, performance, warranty and servicing costs of these cars are knowable in advance. Open car or coupe? F1 or manual? Then, find a used one and drive that. If he's in Chicago, you have Lake Forest and Continental, for example. I completely understand why dealerships don't want "demo" F430s - there's no way I'd buy a car that had been thrashed around the block by inexperienced Ferrari drivers.

Unless he's going for one of the first 599 GTB's, this all seems doable.

My two lira...

 

I think Nicksta had the right thought. Your friend can participate in one of the Dream Car Tours where you get to drive 5 or 6 different exotics in one day. Gotham Dream Cars here in NY has organized a few of these this year. Look for an exotic rental place by you and see if they are organizing one of these soon. Your buddy could get at least a half hour in each car to thoroughly test drive it to make a decision. In addition, he'll be driving them one right after the other, so he can compare the 'smile factor' for each car. Cars that I've seen available in these events are 360's, 430's, gallardo's, Ford GT's, M5's, Aston's, new Z06's, etc.

 

Like I said, all he knows is that it needs to be unusual... 911 will not do. Vette will not do. Nothing "dime a dozen".
Funny, most of us here (and by virtue of us being "here" on this site) could enumerate about 15 cars we want to have without thinking for more that 0.2 seconds.
High class problems...

 

Yes, if all the world's problems were this serious...

I guess, like you, I have it easy. I could tell you, right now, what exotics I would buy in any given price range, and there's not much overlap.

(I also already own my favorite car, price-independent, so that helps, too.)

 

...My first F-Car drive was in a rare 400i Convertible that was being sold independently. This is your best chance at getting behind the wheel.

...The only dealership drives I have ever been on were at FoW in a Gallardo SE, and in a GranSport at Algar. Both dealership's salespeople (Augi, Francis respectively) knew me quite well though, and I have to say that having them KNOW you is your best bet at driving at a dealership.


BEST of luck!


Regards

 

Which sales person did you deal with on this ??