test driving a ferrari....
Discussion
never erver come accross this before!
litterally just put the phone down after ringing up about a ferrari 360 up for sale at a well known supercar dealer in the north west.
this particular car is an f1, someting that i didn't want as i had an m3 csl & just couldn't get on with the paddle box. now, back then the csl was a daily driver so i figured maybe as the fezza will be a weekend toy i might be able to get on with the f1 shift, so i'll go take a look at one that's in budget & have a go.
explained the craic to the salesman only to be told, you can testdrive after you've put a deposite down.
???!!!! WTF?
now, i'm not in the habit of ragging other people's cars just for the hell of it but surely you can take a car out for a go to see if you fancy buying it?
is this the norm? i'm comming from 911's, lotus', bmw's etc so maybe this is standard supercar practice?? i mean i guess if i rocked up in the van wanting a shot in the latest veyron or zonda they might raise an eyebrow but a £40k 360? seems a bit off putting to be honest. i'm sure they do get time wasters but what should i do? take a bank statement down??
litterally just put the phone down after ringing up about a ferrari 360 up for sale at a well known supercar dealer in the north west.
this particular car is an f1, someting that i didn't want as i had an m3 csl & just couldn't get on with the paddle box. now, back then the csl was a daily driver so i figured maybe as the fezza will be a weekend toy i might be able to get on with the f1 shift, so i'll go take a look at one that's in budget & have a go.
explained the craic to the salesman only to be told, you can testdrive after you've put a deposite down.
???!!!! WTF?
now, i'm not in the habit of ragging other people's cars just for the hell of it but surely you can take a car out for a go to see if you fancy buying it?
is this the norm? i'm comming from 911's, lotus', bmw's etc so maybe this is standard supercar practice?? i mean i guess if i rocked up in the van wanting a shot in the latest veyron or zonda they might raise an eyebrow but a £40k 360? seems a bit off putting to be honest. i'm sure they do get time wasters but what should i do? take a bank statement down??
you can always count on soovy to tell you it straight!thing is i've always bought into the "buy the car, not the salesman" thing but i've never encountered this before. even at a lotus dealership when they didn't get the car i was interested out of the showroom for me to test they at least got me an equivelent to go out in to get a feel for the car.
in fact with some of the smaller independants they were even better, pure lotus for instance chucked me the keys & told me to take the misses out in the exige "she'll hate it by the way" (they were right!).
On the otherhand …
He may have just finished his weekend with a few test-pilot knobs who do rag his valuable bit of kit about, just missing the curb a few times, revealing they’ve got lap records at numerous tracks, and yeah, that s
t TVR which he put through the hedge, gave him a sub 7 minute lap at the ‘Ring the lap before, but no haven't sorted their finance out either …
The wry fact here is that you can’t see that and you come on here belly-aching about it …
What to do? Well appreciate his position a little … but yep, then maybe he is a knob or has something to hide. All to do with attitude.
He may have just finished his weekend with a few test-pilot knobs who do rag his valuable bit of kit about, just missing the curb a few times, revealing they’ve got lap records at numerous tracks, and yeah, that s
t TVR which he put through the hedge, gave him a sub 7 minute lap at the ‘Ring the lap before, but no haven't sorted their finance out either …The wry fact here is that you can’t see that and you come on here belly-aching about it …
What to do? Well appreciate his position a little … but yep, then maybe he is a knob or has something to hide. All to do with attitude.
I went to a well know F dealer in Surrey, just to "have a look" at a 430 spider. I rang up in advance to explain i just wanted to come and have my first serious look over one. It was drizzling a little, but by the time i had got to them, they had taken it under cover, dried it off and allowed me to ask all of the numpty questions with no hassling. As i was thanking him for his time and trouble, he absolutely insisted that i took it for a test drive, which i hadn't planned for that day. I explained my circumstances, but he was still delighted to let me have a drive. I must say that i'm rather pleased that i did 
ph123 said:
The wry fact here is that you can’t see that and you come on here belly-aching about it …
err well i did state in my post i appreciated he may have to deal with time wasters & i hardly think i'm belly aching about it, this is a ferrari forum & i thought it would make an interesting post as i suspect there are others on here that may be looking at buying there first ferrari.i havent named or shamed so i don't think i've done anything too wrong. however....
the salesman did ring me back as i asked him to speak to the manager & asked him to explain my situation & said yes he had had a word with the boss & they'd like me to go down for a chat & a look at the car. no promise of a test drive but i suspect they may just want to size me up? it's worth an hour & a halfs drive anyway so i'll go down & make my own judgements.
re what others have said we also called in to a well respected ferrari specialist in surrey on our way down to the ring last month & i must say they were very good, even though we turned up at half 4 on a saturday afternoon. in fact were they not at the other end of the country they would be my first port of call bt they are so it's just not that likely i'll be using them i guess.
bigricho said:
Could it be that the particular Car you are looking at is on Sale or Return? Dealers seem to be cautious about these and only let 'Serious' buyers test them. This is what i have found at most Ferrari dealerships.
+1Almost certainly I would think. If so its probably a condition of the dealer/owners deal that only a commited buyer gets a test drive.
if it was your car on SOR ( And believe me, thats a distinct possibility when you come to resell )you'd probably feel the same.
Yep that does sound plausible doesn't it? However this dealer did state it was their policy not to allow test drives until they had received a deposit on sale subject to the car performing as expected on the test drive.
"otherwise I'd spend my entire day taking people out for a blast" I think was his reply.
"otherwise I'd spend my entire day taking people out for a blast" I think was his reply.
Evening Craig, off topic slightly,
are you definitely going down the Fezza route then? Or are you still keeping one eye on the 911 classifieds.
This one looks a beaut. It's a bit of a Wish-it-was mind but, looks good.
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3208758.htm
I'm totally 50/50 at the mo, as to whether to keep the 964 and get a 968 Clubbie for regular use and the odd trackday, or get rid of the 964 and get a Civic TypeR for everyday use and the odd trackday and get into a 360 for the summer.
I'm just worried that once the novelty of the noise and looks wear off, I'll miss my old 964T.
Luckily I don't have to make a decision until spring. Hopefully I'll know by then.
are you definitely going down the Fezza route then? Or are you still keeping one eye on the 911 classifieds.
This one looks a beaut. It's a bit of a Wish-it-was mind but, looks good.
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3208758.htm
I'm totally 50/50 at the mo, as to whether to keep the 964 and get a 968 Clubbie for regular use and the odd trackday, or get rid of the 964 and get a Civic TypeR for everyday use and the odd trackday and get into a 360 for the summer.
I'm just worried that once the novelty of the noise and looks wear off, I'll miss my old 964T.
Luckily I don't have to make a decision until spring. Hopefully I'll know by then.
Pigstar said:
Walk away. I have had this happen to me. Plenty of very nice 360's around at places that will be happy to take your money and treat you as you expect. Just remember to pop back to the garage in your new toy to say hello ;-)
Good luck with your purchase
P
I agree. Interesting the different approach dealers take. I turned up once on spec at a Feerari dealer in Swindon in the Skoda diesel and they couldn't have been more helpful even offereing me a test drive in a 599. Alternatively I booked a test drive in a 430 Scuderia in advance at Egham, turned up in the Gallardo and had the same tratment as the OP but only when I got there. I walked out and have never been back since.Good luck with your purchase
P
Not at all mark, still looking at all kinds but it's generally going to be a gt3 or a fezza. I'll do more track days in the gt3 but if I buy the 360 I'll continue to drive my mates gtr at the ring .
In fact I went to view a gt3 last week but it didn't work out. Basically I'm after a bargain, I've got the cash so I'm willing to wait for the right price.
The car you linked is a nice one but why pay the premium for someone else to have had the fun of building it?!
There's a guy on club scud with my perfect spec but it's a low mileage example & out of my budget.
Something will turn up, whether it's a gt3 or a 360 just depends on who wants to sell at the best price
In fact I went to view a gt3 last week but it didn't work out. Basically I'm after a bargain, I've got the cash so I'm willing to wait for the right price.
The car you linked is a nice one but why pay the premium for someone else to have had the fun of building it?!
There's a guy on club scud with my perfect spec but it's a low mileage example & out of my budget.
Something will turn up, whether it's a gt3 or a 360 just depends on who wants to sell at the best price
Not at all mark, still looking at all kinds but it's generally going to be a gt3 or a fezza. I'll do more track days in the gt3 but if I buy the 360 I'll continue to drive my mates gtr at the ring .
In fact I went to view a gt3 last week but it didn't work out. Basically I'm after a bargain, I've got the cash so I'm willing to wait for the right price.
The car you linked is a nice one but why pay the premium for someone else to have had the fun of building it?!
There's a guy on club scud with my perfect spec but it's a low mileage example & out of my budget.
Something will turn up, whether it's a gt3 or a 360 just depends on who wants to sell at the best price
In fact I went to view a gt3 last week but it didn't work out. Basically I'm after a bargain, I've got the cash so I'm willing to wait for the right price.
The car you linked is a nice one but why pay the premium for someone else to have had the fun of building it?!
There's a guy on club scud with my perfect spec but it's a low mileage example & out of my budget.
Something will turn up, whether it's a gt3 or a 360 just depends on who wants to sell at the best price
cragswinter said:
Yep that does sound plausible doesn't it? However this dealer did state it was their policy not to allow test drives until they had received a deposit on sale subject to the car performing as expected on the test drive.
"otherwise I'd spend my entire day taking people out for a blast" I think was his reply.
Its down to the indevidual company, our test drive policy specifies that either myself or a qualified member of staff must be in the vehicle on test drive. "otherwise I'd spend my entire day taking people out for a blast" I think was his reply.
T.
cragswinter said:
Basically I'm after a bargain,
Perhaps asking you for a deposit is a shrewd move to testthat your not wasting everyone's time by then offering a stupidly low price for the car you've just put miles on, made dirty, put at risk of damage on a drive
Edited by Drclarke on Monday 12th September 22:48
Edited by Drclarke on Monday 12th September 22:48
marky911 said:
Evening Craig, off topic slightly,
are you definitely going down the Fezza route then? Or are you still keeping one eye on the 911 classifieds.
This one looks a beaut. It's a bit of a Wish-it-was mind but, looks good.
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3208758.htm
I'm totally 50/50 at the mo, as to whether to keep the 964 and get a 968 Clubbie for regular use and the odd trackday, or get rid of the 964 and get a Civic TypeR for everyday use and the odd trackday and get into a 360 for the summer.
I'm just worried that once the novelty of the noise and looks wear off, I'll miss my old 964T.
Luckily I don't have to make a decision until spring. Hopefully I'll know by then.
Oh gosh, I like that!are you definitely going down the Fezza route then? Or are you still keeping one eye on the 911 classifieds.
This one looks a beaut. It's a bit of a Wish-it-was mind but, looks good.
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3208758.htm
I'm totally 50/50 at the mo, as to whether to keep the 964 and get a 968 Clubbie for regular use and the odd trackday, or get rid of the 964 and get a Civic TypeR for everyday use and the odd trackday and get into a 360 for the summer.
I'm just worried that once the novelty of the noise and looks wear off, I'll miss my old 964T.
Luckily I don't have to make a decision until spring. Hopefully I'll know by then.
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