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Smart Shopper Test Drives & Dealership Promotions
144 messages, Last post on Mar 10, 2006 at 9:02 AM
You are in the Smart Shopper Forum. Your Hosts are kirstie_h & tidester
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from the other board... bowke, sorry to hear about your dealership's loss. i guess it depends on the dealer's insurer just exactly who gets to drive/ride in the car. i can understand a shop that doesn't want to get stung again. i don't expect to be let out the door without a salesman, but it is certainly a pleasant surprise to be trusted. drift, i haven't had any bad experiences actually, but yes, some bad cologne. i don't mind a salesman riding along at all, most are nice, especially the ones that are car nuts like me. in fact, i helped set up a good friend on a date with the Acura sales guy when we were TL shopping for her. I never asked if they "closed the deal" though...  I respect you guys and enjoy your posts. thanks for responding. |
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I don't see anything that bad about the salesperson driving first. The sales person should be more qualified to show the car's capabilities since he should already be familiar with it. It's not wrong either for the prospective buyer to experience the car from the passenger's viewpoint before he gets to drive it. I think it can be a pretty scary thing for a salesperson to ride in a car with someone who he doesn't know and has never driven the car he is testing. When I test drove the Accord I wound up buying I'm pretty sure the dealer ran a check on my license with the DMV to see what my record was. I don't see in this day and age how any dealer could let a prospective buyer drive a car without a dealership employee present. |
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What bugs me is salespeople that don't respect the merhandise. I've been with some that insist on taking a green, (LT4 mile) cold car, and redlining it in first and second gear coming out of th eparking lot. Not sure if they are dopes, or just trying to imress me with the power/speed of the car, but I actually felt sorry for the car (and the schmo that ended up buying it). First time this happened was in th emid-80s when I was with a friend looking at GOlfs. The salesdude pegged this thing so hard, he was doing about 70 by the time he left the lot, squealing tires, etc. My friend bought one, but thankfully a different unit. |
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I don't mind if the dealer is sleazy and treats me badly, but I would not want to buy a car from a dealer that does not respect the merchandise they are selling. When we were looking for a new car last October, I saw one exactly like I wanted at one dealer. However, the car was filthy inside. I knew right away that I did not want to buy a car from a dealer who treats a new car like that. I would not mind having the salesman initially drive the car on a test drive, but if he mistreated the car than the test drive would be over. I would not buy a car from that dealer.
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Replying to: bobst (Sep 17, 2004 7:40 am) if im driving a base taurus or a base sentra, im not likely to gun it...but an altima 3.5 or a sentra spec V will get a little kick in the rear. |
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yeah, I don't understand why people want to go and look at houses before they "know" that they are gonna buy one - what a waste of time! To defend - a good test drive goes a long way for me. I like cars, lots of different cars and find it interesting to drive different ones and see what is different, what is the same. I haven't done many test drives in AZ, but I used to drive 6-10 cars a year, just to stay on top of what's in the market. But I always had some reason to drive them, aka - I was actually interested and possibly thinking about buying one. How would you feel if someone just walked into a Suzuki dealership and bought a Verona without wasting your time to come and drive a Honda Accord before they pulled the trigger? How unhappy might they be if three or four weeks later they find out that they could have bought a better car for around the same money? I am a test driver. I don't abuse the product, I try to establish relationships that I will use over and over again for myself and friends who want to buy. BTW - I advise everyone I know to test drive at least four other cars before they go and test drive the car they "think" they want to buy. If done right, they will either be left with no doubts...or they will go back and buy a different car - maybe yours. I did that for several friends...they love their cars. Meanwhile, I made several new contacts for future potential shopping trips. I get asked to play third base alot...and it helps to have some knowledge of the salesman before walking in the door. Of course, I am normally 100% honest about intent and don't walk in on Saturday morning with a list of six cars I want to drive when the lot is full of fish shopping for cars. If they are busy, I come back later. If they are rude, I never come back...and I never bring any of my friends there either. |
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...dealers forget which side of the transaction holds the power in a negotiation. I have the cash...you have the product. If I don't like you or your product, I can carry my cash to a different dealer...right? Once I walk out the door for those reasons, you lost the sale - I still have the money and can still buy from another dealer. And I have never been rude to a salesperson that wasn't insulting to me first. Like the Caddie/Saab salesman who told me that the new 9-2x would be coming in September because the plants in Europe don't build cars in August...of course, sadly for him, I already knew that the 9-2X is an Impreza reskinned and built/shipped from Japan...so his answer was a cover for him not being able to admit he didn't know anything... I didn't even bother correcting him, just a nod, a "yeah, ok thanks" and back out the door I went. Too bad, I wanted to possibly test drive the new 9-3 Sedan and have long considered a late-model used Saab as one of my top considerable cars for the next ride... |
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Years ago, a newspaper writer suggested to readers that they don their best duds on slow Sunday afternoons and attend open houses in the ritzier neighborhoods to "sight-see." She likened it to "free" entertainment, not to mention possible snacks (tea sandwiches and cookies, anyone?). There was a swift reaction from the local Realtors organization. There are those without the means or intent to buy what they are "previewing." After all, they might just hit the lottery, Megabucks, or get a visit from "Michael Anthony." So, they see nothing wrong in wasting other people's time. |
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When my wife sold real estate, "lookie loos" were a pain. They show up at open houses, drag their kids through houses they would/could never buy. I don't understand people like harlequin who test drives cars for amusement. To each his own, I suppose...
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...because i love them. always have, always will. i can't buy every one, but i love to look around and see what's new. i visit edmunds every time i'm on the computer to learn silly little things about cars when i can, and i blatantly waste my time posting these messages because it's fun. i help my friends buy cars if they ask (and sometimes if they don't), and i am always a willing "third-baseman." when i visit a dealer, i don't usually ask to drive the car. most of the time i'm offered the opportunity by the salesperson. i don't visit on busy days, and i don't keep the salesperson out on the road for more than a few minutes. the salespeople i have experienced don't seem to mind showing their product as opposed to sitting in the showroom waiting for the ideal buyer to show up. i tested a lexus last week, and the salesperson mailed me a handwritten thank-you card for coming in. maybe it's lexus policy but let me feel important for a minute. bet your behind she'll get first crack at the sale in any event. i'm also that guy who has tried on the rolex at the mall about a hundred times. the lady there who helps me hasn't sold me a thing, but she knows, and I know, that when (not if) i have that $3800 saved up, I'll find her. people who love cars test drive cars for fun. and they buy them from nice salespeople every now and then, so smile and hand me the keys. you can even ride along...
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