Just wondering if anyone else here has had the same experience I did...

I drove into the local dealership and asked to test drive the Evo. The salesman said no, and I could talk to the store manager if I wanted to get an explanation of the policy. After ~15 minutes of somewhat heated discussion, I walked out. No test drive.

I think it's complete BS.

Has anyone else run into this?

Cheers,
- Ken

FYI: I'm about to buy a new car, and I'm debating between an MR and a BMW 330 ZHP. From my perspective, the choice boils down to comfort/fit/finish (BMW) vs. performance (Evo). It's basically an individual choice as everyone values these things differently. Does the Evo provide enough comfort to satisfy daily driver status? Does the 330 give enough performance to satisfy track day urges?

If anyone wants to chime in on the pros/cons/opinions in this comparison, go for it (and yes, I've searched and read all the other threads).

 

What did you drive there? Are you in your lower 20's if so they probably saw joy ride. If you started talking price first before juast asking for a ride you might get one. Taking a female with you also helps believe it or not.

 

yes I had the same issue...until I showed him the title to my car and a check for a down payment. Damn F&F generation got us screwed by wanting to joyride brand new cars.

 

Yea.... if you parked your bicycle in front, that will affect their decision. j/k. I bet the majority of dealerships do not allow test drives for a good reason. Most buyers do not want a new car with 140 miles of "test" driving on it. Plus younger customers tend to present a higher risk concerning wrecking the car on a test drive. My hunch is they did not believe you were a serious buyer, right or wrong.

Speedlimit...

 

I test drove an evo with no problem before purchasing. They didn't even ask for my drivers license. Well, the car i test drove had about 2000 miles on it though, so that could be a big reason why they didn't care much.

 

Evo can be pretty unforgiven on bumpy roads. I dont mind it. Other than that, i think if you are under 5'10, the seats wont bother you either. I find the ride very comfortable. The car is one of my commuter cars. Best thing about the evo is, any ride, whether 5 or 5000 miles, i cant wait to get in. That 5 or 5000 mile trip feels like 2 minutes. If i take my Pontiac, its a Tiredsome and boring drive, 5 or 5000 miles.

330 is a decent car. I cant really comment on it, i dont own one, nor have i driven in one.

 

I think if you go in there and talk to someone who knows what there doing and tell them that you are serious about this car and there is no way in hell that you are going to buy a car without driving it, they will accomodate.

I had a young new (hired within the month) salesman tell me they are going to have to check my credit and come to some sort of understanding about purchasing the car before i could drive it.

I asked for the sales manager, told him that if i wanted to joy ride a car it would not be an evo but an exotic sports car (even though they have the same process mostly) i was bull****tin'. I told him that there would be no way in hell i was going to buy this car without driving it, any car for that matter.

He said, no problem, let me get the keys and make sure it has gas in it.

it is mostly about how they percieve you when you walk in the door.

my 2 1/2 cents!!

 

I actually had the opposite. I bought my evo in Davis and they kept asking if I wanted to drive it. I bought the car and did all of the financing first. Then I was like, lets see what its got. I knew I wanted it and I knew I would love it. Some dealerships have an evo aside just for people who want to test drive.

 

As speedlimit said, a lot of dealers won't let you drive their evo's if they have extremely low mileage -- for good reason. As a specialty car, a lot of buyers want them completely unmolested. We're talking <5 miles here.

What I did was call around to different dealers in the area to find out which had evo's you could test drive and MAKE APPOINTMENTS. I had to drive about 60 miles away, but I found a low mileage evo that the sales staff let me take out, redline, corner hard, and return. Same thing for the STi.

d

 

I think it just depends on the dealership and how you sell yourself. I'm in my young twenties and I test drove 2 of 'em before I got mine.

 

First time I drove mine was when I took it home.

 

i drove up in my 03 accord, told the sales ***** ( no not a female) i needed the keys to a white evo.... 2 mins later he came back outside with the keys and didn't even take my licence.... and i didn't even buy the car from them

 

The dealership i go to wont let me drive an MR or an 05 Evo.. and i have bought 3 cars from them... they know i probably will not buy so they said no.... They will not let anyone test drive an evo before they have a way of showing that they can afoord the car. Just like others have stated people do not want any miles an an evo when they buy them.....

hell i wished that my car had less than the 39 it had on it. Luckally it was not beaten on and I have had Zero Problems.

 

You stole it?!

...hmmm, then that's how they 'lost' my car when it was being serviced...



d

 

i was on three test drive in a 2003 evo (Not the one i got). The salesman was nuts the evo had 15miles on it and he had me beat the hell out of it. Got it up to 120mph and the salesman wanted me to go faster. The salesman had all the windows down stereo cranked up he said " all we need now is some blunds and some *****s" He had me stand on the brakes at 65mph. He say me and my friend looking at the evo and he just came out with the keys and asked if wanted to drive it.