Anyone bought their car without test driving?

'99 355F1 GTB, sight unseen....had a 'car guy' I trust check it out first hand, had a dealer PPI done, got it delivered exactly as I expected.

 

I bought my first Ferrari, a 550 Maranello I still own, from West Africa (me being there) in Holland (car being there), without having driven or seen it.

But I had F-chatters report to me on the car, which was all I needed to know. It was the best purchase of my life!

Having said that - if there is an opportunity to test drive your potential car, then by all means do so. Especially if the cars are older the way it drives tells a lot about the condition it is in. Once you have driven a couple of the same model, you can make proper comparisons. Don't be timid about it being a Ferrari. If you are a real customer, then they should let you drive it. If they don't, it is a reason to walk away. I walked away once from a 330GTC, and the fact that they wouldn't let me test drive was the clincher for me. I'm there to buy a car and expect to be taken serious.


Onno