"You can test drive if you put a deposit down afterwards"

[beeblebrox]

Ari said:

He'd sussed that you weren't going to buy it and didn't fancy a joy ride.

I got there at 4:30 PM on Saturday in the pissing rain - too late for a test drive, so I returned the next day. If that doesn't say "I'm serious" what does?

[beeblebrox]

crispyshark said:

It wasn't a certain Honda 2 seater sportscast "specialist" in four marks, Hampshire was it??

Nope. It was a garage somewhere in the Avon valley.

[siovey]

Among the many dogs i test drove before finding my m3, was one in Manchester that the dealer clearly didnt want me to test drive before buying! He let me take it round the block in the end but wouldnt allow me to put the roof down on a sunny day. He then started moaning when i said i wasnt going to buy it after the test drive(as it was a total shed). "i wouldnt have let you drive it if i thought you werent going to buy it!" Lol

[Welshbeef]

End of the day these cars are owned by the garages they don't have to give you a test drive if they don't want to and they can offer any terms they like.


Also if as you have described the aesthetic condition plus not starting and ten a misfire come on chap its time to move on. Likewise when asking for pics its a two min job even if its surrounded by cars take a few to show it else why bother to view?


When I buy - say at a dealer sub 3 years old I will visit the three brands I'm interested in test them and when happy I make a decision.


When its older cars I call round and have a list of questions I need to have covered before even getting my arse out of the house. As it turns out over the last 5 cars bought privately all but one has been the first I've seen following the questioning - the one I didn't turned out the answers to the questions were utter fabrications 1. Milage was 100k higher than told,2. Expansion tank was totally dry with visible dust inside it..., discs were rusted so badly to the pads it took huge revs to break them off,4. One door handle missing 5. All the engine mgt lights stated on Thanked him very much for the wasted 40 mile round trip he'd given me. Car in daily use .... Nope low milage only 60k.. Nope. Just past its MOT nope MOT expired many months ago. Frankly to get the car road worthy he would have to pay me to take it off his hands. Lol.

[Wills2]

I've never been refused a test drive and it's not an issue to get cars delivered for the weekend, but I tend to use dealers that know me and I don't test drive cars that I don't want to buy.

Salesman can tell if you are serious (I'm not saying there aren't arsey guys out there)

I remember once asking for a test drive in a Z4C coupe, the salesman was an arse and said so you're going to buy it then? I replied that perhaps I would but if he didn't want to sell it then he was going to the right way about it.

I did buy it and it's still on the drive.

Weirdly the easiest test drives ever were given at my local OPC they were driving them out of the showroom one after the other, tested 4 cars that day they were very helpful. (and no I'm not a powerfully built PH director type) but I did buy one.

I really think it comes down to attitude, I've just bought a new car and while I was deciding what to get I thought of testing loads of cars but I knew I wouldn't have bought them as in my heart of hearts I knew what I wanted so didn't waste the salesmans time.

[VinceFox]

had an even worse pisstake at a suzuki dealership. was looking at buying a gsxr1000 and could have. all i asked the salesman (when he could be arsed to talk to me) was how fast it was. "too fast for the road" was the answer and walked off.

i believe theyve gone under since.

[dowahdiddyman]

Once made the mistake of going to a car supermarket, just to see if anything caught my eye, a 330d certainly did, looked excellent inside and out, asked about a test drive, `sorry we don`t do test drives`,`sorry but you expect me to part with 18k without even driving it` `well yes, why not it comes with 3 months warranty`
No wonder the place isn`t there anymore.

[AMST09]

Went car shopping in London for someone elses first car, seemed pretty much standard practice to take a deposit before you test drove, drives ok and you buy the car, doesn't and we refund you (probably impossible to get back)

[HTP99]

VinceFox said:

had an even worse pisstake at a suzuki dealership. was looking at buying a gsxr1000 and could have. all i asked the salesman (when he could be arsed to talk to me) was how fast it was. "too fast for the road" was the answer and walked off.

i believe theyve gone under since.

Bit of an odd thing to ask, "how fast is it" Not really surprised he didn't take you seriously, it's the sort of thing a newly qualified teenage driver would ask of a Clio 200 or Corsa VXR, for example.

[VinceFox]

HTP99 said:

VinceFox said:

had an even worse pisstake at a suzuki dealership. was looking at buying a gsxr1000 and could have. all i asked the salesman (when he could be arsed to talk to me) was how fast it was. "too fast for the road" was the answer and walked off.

i believe theyve gone under since.

Bit of an odd thing to ask, "how fast is it" Not really surprised he didn't take you seriously, it's the sort of thing a newly qualified teenage driver would ask of a Clio 200 or Corsa VXR, for example.

i was 35 and wearing full leathers, having just ridden a fairly new bike into them that they had supplied, for servicing. the tone with which i asked and the tone he answered with were very, very uneven.

[HTP99]

VinceFox said:

HTP99 said:

VinceFox said:

had an even worse pisstake at a suzuki dealership. was looking at buying a gsxr1000 and could have. all i asked the salesman (when he could be arsed to talk to me) was how fast it was. "too fast for the road" was the answer and walked off.

i believe theyve gone under since.

Bit of an odd thing to ask, "how fast is it" Not really surprised he didn't take you seriously, it's the sort of thing a newly qualified teenage driver would ask of a Clio 200 or Corsa VXR, for example.

i was 35 and wearing full leathers, having just ridden a fairly new bike into them that they had supplied, for servicing. the tone with which i asked and the tone he answered with were very, very uneven.

Ok, fair point, I had an image of some spotty youth with a cap on back to front.

[VinceFox]

HTP99 said:

VinceFox said:

HTP99 said:

VinceFox said:

had an even worse pisstake at a suzuki dealership. was looking at buying a gsxr1000 and could have. all i asked the salesman (when he could be arsed to talk to me) was how fast it was. "too fast for the road" was the answer and walked off.

i believe theyve gone under since.

Bit of an odd thing to ask, "how fast is it" Not really surprised he didn't take you seriously, it's the sort of thing a newly qualified teenage driver would ask of a Clio 200 or Corsa VXR, for example.

i was 35 and wearing full leathers, having just ridden a fairly new bike into them that they had supplied, for servicing. the tone with which i asked and the tone he answered with were very, very uneven.

Ok, fair point, I had an image of some spotty youth with a cap on back to front.

i was a spotty youth when i was a spotty youth, i'll give you that. nowadays i'm a bit creaky and grizzly and held together with tape.

[BadBanshee]

HTP99 said:

Ok, fair point, I had an image of some spotty youth with a cap on back to front.

Nobody can help having spots. Dealer shouldn't have been so rude, end of.

[Otispunkmeyer]

Had this when I went to see an ST. Basically after a test drive I was expected to buy the car. I mean what the fk kinda thinking is that? How do I know I'll like it if I don't test it? The minute I got back the high pressure sell started. Eventually I just walked. Dumb thinking.

[VinceFox]

I DID NAAAHT HAVE SPOTS. I DID NAAAHT.

oh hi Mark.

[Terminator X]

Looking for a 330d a few years ago, refused a test drive as dealer wanted to agree a trade in price first. Sold my car privately and bought a 330d elsewhere after a few weeks. Amazing that some dealers manage to sell any fookin cars tbh.

TX.

[Wills2]

VinceFox said:

HTP99 said:

VinceFox said:

had an even worse pisstake at a suzuki dealership. was looking at buying a gsxr1000 and could have. all i asked the salesman (when he could be arsed to talk to me) was how fast it was. "too fast for the road" was the answer and walked off.

i believe theyve gone under since.

Bit of an odd thing to ask, "how fast is it" Not really surprised he didn't take you seriously, it's the sort of thing a newly qualified teenage driver would ask of a Clio 200 or Corsa VXR, for example.

i was 35 and wearing full leathers, having just ridden a fairly new bike into them that they had supplied, for servicing. the tone with which i asked and the tone he answered with were very, very uneven.

Well he sounds a cock, it's better not to give money to cocks.

I'd have said what do you ride? And then started to sell the benefits of the GSXR, whilst telling service to slow down whilst I worked out your part ex.

[Janesy B]

Went to a small trader in Herts and wouldn't let me take out a Puma unless I struck out a deal before hand, I had cash ready but as soon as I get any pressure I'm off. If he can't decide who is a time waster and who is a genuine buying without locking them down before a test drive then it's his problem.

[andy-xr]

Probably a thought the salesperson had in his head of how the sale might go and forgot those are things you're meant to think but not say

[BadBanshee]

That's 3 people on this thread that report being asked to agree a price before a test drive. Must be a common tactic. A tactic that was meant to be clever but always ends up being incredibly stupid and off-putting nonetheless.