Test Drive Dilemma. I Want to Test Drive but....

360F F1 coupe or my 360 6-speed spyder. For that matter, I did not test drive any of my AMG cars either. I guess some cars I just know how they will drive.

 

Sammy? Man-du from Benzworld? Hey welcome to Fchat!

If you want to join us on our Sunday breakfast drive, feel free to come(next one is on the 21st).

BTW, everyone is welcome to drive along!

 

You may want to re check your info on the 612. Haven't heard that yet.

 

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bananaboat(Wayne): I'm always up for a trip to La Jolla, I may take your offer. where in La Jolla are you? I have family there.
Thanks Gentlemen....[/QUOTE]


I'm not in La Jolla but that's where I bought my Gallardo.
PM if you are coming down I'll pre introduce you to Symbolic
Since I bought from them ,and have a deposit on the Bently Continental GT
they know I'm real . Plus Bill Noon sold my previous GT-40 ,MK2 #1012.

 

Please don't take offense to this, but in my humble opinion- you should not be looking for an F-car until your savings balance is ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE higher than what it is right now. A porsche, BMW or anything else over $25K is unreasonable too.

Save first, then buy the F-car. Don't forget those maintenance bills!

Respectfully,

Nick

 

Maybe he's selling or trading in the 911.

 

Shouldn't matter. The sales tax alone will murder him. If he's financing the sales tax too... he shouldn't be buying a $100K car.

Whatever. To each their own.

Nick

 

But it's a G500 we are talking about, I doubt it will happen if it is a SL55.
What I meant is, if a car is "hot", like high demand, then it's tough to get test drive, not because they don't think you are serious buyer, but because there is NO available car for you to testdrive. They can't give you a car taht someone has spoken for to drive.

 

Several years ago in my residency I was shopping for my first Porsche. I was ready to buy and found a couple at a local Porsche specialty shop. I was scraping together the funds for a 928 feeling like I deserved it and had several years to go before I would buy a new exotic.

Went to the store with my best friend. Wall Street guy who likes jeans and no socks. I called ahead and spoke with the salesperson, arranged an appointment and went. I took a 928 for an extended drive but found it ( auto, light blue) not to my liking. When we returned, my firend took a shine to a 911 turbo on the floor. He asked can we drive that? Salesguy says Well if that is something you can afford I would be happy to let you drive it.

Friend replies handing the salesguy his Amex Platinum- Call Amex and get an authorization for the price of the car, If I like it I take it with me after the drive.


Best test drive of a car not purchased ever.


Real world advice- ask what kind of down payment would suffice and bring it with you. Most salespeople are sensitive to the fact that you cannot tell much from the outside.


Good Luck


ScottS

 

OMG! $2k in savings? Listen to No355!! This is super important. You need have your life dialled in first, nice cars second. The rule of thumb that I use is an annual income no less than 3 times the amount of the car you are buying (regardless of finance vs. purchase) and minimum of one year of income in a savings account. And this doesn't even not take into account other assets.

Don't live beyond your means!!!

 

Noel is right: come to one of our drives.

ANd I have to disagree with John Fleissbach regarding Evan. He's a chump at best, and frankly, can't do anything. Brad Shone is the Sales Manager and a *very* nice guy. Very unassuming and very down to earth. Evan, on the other hand, is a prick.

Go talk to Brad. Very nice guy, and a straight shooter.

--Dan

 

I have test driven various brand new F-cars at Miller Motors (Greenwich, Conn.) and Shelton Ferrari (Ft. Lauderdale). This was before I ever did any business with these people. No problems at all. Just walked in, asked for a drive and away we went. Tried the 360, 550, 456 and a 355.

Of course I am 46 and look wealthy. At 28 you'd have to lose the baggy jeans and baseball cap, show up in suit and tie, and look like you know what you are doing. All a matter of total self confidence. And no, you don't have to wave cash around. That is crass.

 

Whenever I want to test drive a car I call ahead and make an appointment and bring a financial statement with me with a balance of more than the car I am looking at. Nine times out of ten I haven't had to pull the fin. statement out. If a salesperson is worth his or her salt IMO they will be able to either A. qualify you or B. not judge you at all.
I have two examples to share the first was I went to a high end dealer, that is actually one of the biggest in the country to take a look at a 95 993 they had advertised. I didn't call ahead I just took the drive to see it. When I got there it was sitting there with a sold sign on it but there was another one next to it for sale but it was really more than I wanted to spend. I was looking at it when the sales manager came out and I told him I was just looking and then for the hell of it I said how about a test drive? His reply was sure. Keep in mind I had pulled up in a semi-rusty 94 toyota4X4 with out of state plates and I was wearing jeans and a t-shirt and looking every much like a red-neck! This salesman never tried to judge me and during the test drive he spent the entire time explaining the best way to drive the car (he had just come back from a weekend at Road Atlanta going thru driver training with Hurley Haywood). Would I buy a car from this dealer yes in a heartbeat.
The second example happened this fall. I repeatedly e-mailed a high end used dealer in Mass. regarding a 348 he had. I told him I was coming from three hours away and that I wanted to test-drive the car. He said sure we would be glad to show you the car. We went back and forth like this by e-mail him telling me he would be glad to show me the car and me asking to test drive it which he never gave me a straight answer on. I decided to just take the drive I told him when I would be arriving I got there met him and he said unless I was willing to put a deposit down I couldn't drive the car. I asked him why I couldn't drive the car and his reply was that if I got into an accident and damaged the car then I wouldn't want it and he would be stuck with a damaged car! At this dealership I had pulled up in a 30k+ car that I hold title too and I had a statement proving I could afford the car but after talking to this guy I wouldn't do business with him.

 

9 One 1,

I know what you are going through. I was 25 when I bought my 355 - I was not insured (apparently) at any dealer to do a test drive here in the UK, so I had to purchase the car with NO test drive. I basically had to rely on what I read about it and how the car sounded!!

Thats was rubbish, but now I'm 26 and actually quite enjoy going into dealerships, asking for a test drive, getting knocked back, then say.... "I'd like to part exchange my ferrari 355".... and see how quickly they jump really funny!!

My advice, have fun with it!
Ade