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Smart Shopper Test Drives & Dealership Promotions
144 messages, Last post on Mar 10, 2006 at 9:02 AM
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Just got one of those last week, for my wifes 95 Plymouth Neon. Yep, I'm sure there's a HUGE demand for them. I got it from the dealer that works on her car, but we didn't buy from them. They're offering special consideration on trade-in pricing. Now, I suppose there are folks who fall for this stuff, but it just seems extremely insulting. All it does is reinforce that I will NOT buy a car from them. Too bad, because the service department has been great to work with. It's like the dealer is "cutting off his nose to spite his face", as the saying goes. -Dan- |
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That Chevy deal was, pardon my French, *stupid*. Pay customers to go drive other cars? A clever Ford dealer actually advertised an extra $250 cash back from Chevrolet! My wife told me Hyundai currently has a test drive offer, if I get details about it I'll share them here. The C&D and R&T event was sponsored by Subaru. Several friends of mine went and had a blast. The closest to me was in Dover, DE, about 2+ hours away, so I passed. -juice |
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I get this out of my system by going to auto shows. My old man does too, but looking and sitting in cars isn't enough for him. He actually got a local Dodge dealer to let him test drive a Viper, which horrifies me (he's pushing 60 and routinely does questionable things in traffic). They made his month, though. This is the same guy who took my brand new Maxima and, with me in the car, got it up to 130 mph before I could even open my mouth to protest. It is generally accepted by the family that the old man will buy it in a spectacular wreck, it's only a matter of when and hopefully another living object is not involved. Maybe we need an Inconsiderate Test Drives forum? My wife and I only test drive when we're seriously considering the vehicle for relatively immediate purchase (a month or less). My local auto show is enough for me to determine whether or not a vehicle is even worth test driving (you guys may like those Kia minivans, but is there anything in there that's NOT held together with hot glue??). For me, the drive is secondary. An auto show gives you all the time you need to pull and prod the interior, sit in the seats for as long as you want, play with the stereo, lock your old man in the trunk, etc... |
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problem with the auto show is it only comes once a year. Plus, some of the new or upcoming models don't make the show, so you have to go to the dealer. Anyway, visiting the dealer and sitting in cars i nthe showroom accomplishes the same thing. No need to take a test drive, and it won't really take up any of a salesman's time, unless they just don't want to leave you alone, in shich case it's their problem. |
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I hope you stopped accompanying him on test drives. On any drive, actually. We're opposites. To me the drive is key, everything inside is basically just ballast. -juice |
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I typed that tongue-twister name before I realized I could have just put in j-u-i-c-e.. haha Anyway, yes, the old man has driven the Maxima only once since then and my mother was with him. I had no choice, since it was at my sister's wedding and I was riding with the wedding party. I bet it killed him, since she will actually scream in his face when he does what she considers unsafe (which is about 5 mph over the speed limit). He wanted to drive my wife's new Explorer, and I let him, but nobody went with. When he was gone we were doing the various stages of "monkey see". |
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About the auto shows, I go over the "time consuming stuff" like seat comfort, playing with the sound system, looking under the hood, etc... on the test drive I can ascertain the following in about 15 minutes: wind noise, body integrity, handling, and amount of GO. I'll never forget the Maxima's test drive, my wife swapped with me on the way back and she turned into a wild woman in that car. She thinks Mazda should be sued for false advertising, because "surely no car they make has the 'zoom' this one does!". The wind noise thing I had to learn the hard way. My last car was an Olds Intrigue, and it was really quiet around town. Got it on the highway for the first time, though, and my heart sank. None of the seals (windshield, doors) were all that great, and one of them even caused a continual whistling noise that drove me nuts. Dealer never did get that car right. |
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