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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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Just found this topic today, so pardon the late response. I guess you could call me a "looky loo", i.e. someone who test drives a car they're not likely to buy, at least not right then. One of the main reasons I do it is simply to sample the cars and form my own opinion on them, instead of relying on magazines and such, which I often disagree with. Why is that important? Well, I'm a car guy, my friends know that, and when they ask me about a certain new car I like to be able to help out with an opinion. And it happens more often than you might expect. I helped put a friend in a Legacy GT this weekend, even gave the reference to the salesman who took me out on the last "looky loo" test drive. Ka-ching. He made his commission. Not from me, but I doubt he cares... I was e-mailed today from an old friend that found me via these forums, and she's shopping an Odyssey vs. a Sienna. I've driven the Ody but not a Sienna, so apparently I have some more looky-looing to do! And if I feel like the salesman is nice enough and honest, I'll give him or her that reference too. I'll probably go to Fitz Toyota because they treated me nicely last time. I dunno, you generate showroom traffic, send references, share a positive experience about the car or even maybe the dealership (355 Lexus has great Cappuccinos). So why do I do it? Because it's fun, it's free, often there is a freebie or some sort of perk, and because the knowledge I gain from the test drive is often shared with friends and family. Hyundai has some sort of test drive offer going on now, and I've been curious to see the new Tucson... -juice |
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Here's another angle. Do you ever go to a place like, say, Costco, where they have all the free samples at lunch? Don't you try a bite of the [insert favorite appetizer] even though you're not buying any? Who knows? You might like it and then keep it in mind for your next party. Same with cars. My wife ruled out a BMW 325i but says a Mercedes C230 Kompressor is in her (not near) future. -juice
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Back in June, I got the invitation to test drive sever Mercedes Benzes on a timed track. I sat there for a couple of minutes trying to figure out how to shift the automatic gears. It is unlike anything that I had ever driven. Finally, the race driver doing the trials showed me how to do it. Set the record time for the day - the slowest time. Said that I must be an accountant. By the way GM is offering the opportunity to drive a large number of GM models and competition throughout the country much as Edmunds.com did in the summer of 2000. Here is a link if anyone is interested: http://www.autoshowinmotion.com |
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Replying to: ateixeira (Sep 27, 2004 12:50 pm) That's a bit diffeent than wasting a half hour of a straight commissioned salesperson's time.
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Replying to: isellhondas (Sep 27, 2004 1:56 pm) |
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Replying to: kirstie_h (Sep 27, 2004 8:24 am) 
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EXACTLY! Horse is dead, move on.
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Replying to: Sylvia (Sep 27, 2004 3:48 pm) |
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Kick it a few times to see. If it moves, it was just sleeping. If the flys take off, then settle back down, in a cloud of noxious fumes, it's dead.
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Replying to: andyman73 (Sep 27, 2004 5:33 pm) |
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