i test drove my 03 , they even had me do a 60 to 0 to show off the breaks and take some turns. MURRIETA VALLY MITSUBISHI, those guys are great.

 

The first time I went in there for 20 minutes and I was driving the EVO with my dad at age 16. We bought the car like a few months later.

 

The dilemma for the dealer is always this: If I let this customer drive the (limited availability) sports car, will they

(1) buy it?
(2) waste the sales person's time by joyriding with no intention of buying?
(3) put hard miles on the car before the break-in period is over?
(4) do something foolish and wreck the car?

There are arguments on both sides. Most people want to drive a car before they buy it. It's a reasonable request to make before you plunk down your hard-earned cash. Most people, when they do buy a car, want to get a brand new one that hasn't been abused by previous test-drivers. Smaller dealerships only get a handful of Evos in a year, so they can't afford the luxury of having a demo car sitting around. If you only have one Evo on your lot, do you let people drive it, knowing that each mile reduces the chance of it being sold?

If you were the dealer, what would you do?

Lee K

 

Unless you basically say "I'll buy it as soon as I test drive it" there is pretty much no way you can. It's stupid but true.


Since you are 17 they can't even talk price/anything with you.

 

its your age. tahts BS, it all depends on dealership but its NOT a Mitsu statement or anything, my local dealership lets me and my friends test drive the HELL outta the car, he basically TELLS u to test teh Advans, he promised me a test drive and he knows i have an evo. He's seen my car and know i have no intention of buying

 

I considered buying an STI until the Subaru dealer refused a test drive. I even offered to fill out a credit app to show that I was serious, no dice. The guy was a total ********.

I went to Mitsubishi the next day, did the same thing. They approved my application, I got a test drive and the same night I was driving off with my new EVO.

I swung by the Subaru dealer on my way home to show the Subaru salesman he lost a sale.

 

I agree here...I was 27 when I bought my evo and they still didn't let me test drive until I was pretty much settled on the price and the trade in. I didn't sign papers or anything but they wanted to make sure I was serious before buying. The dealers reason is that they don't stock enough Evos to have dedicated test drive vehicles and this is at Schaumburg Mitsu(claims to have sold the most Evos in the midwest regeon). Plus side is that any evo that is purchased has minimal milage on it when you take delivery and you know that nobody drove it that doesn't know how to handle it. Just my $.02

 

This is absolutely correct. If you are under 18 and the dealer DID allow you to test drive a vehicle and you wrecked it, good news for you because you won't be liable for the damages.

Basically, it's contract law. Don't tell under-age people this, but if an under-age individual enters into a contract with a company and he/she broke the contract for any reason, the company cannot do anything about it. That is why companies will not deal with people under 18. Don't believe me, look up contract law, although they can be slightly different in each state.

 

Well actually mitsubishi said not to allow test drives unless the customer was extremely intent on buying the vehicle. there is a "brand new" mitsubishi evo 8 at my local dealer ant it has 360 test drive miles on it... hmmm lol, see why there are no test drives...

 

ok but still i've walked into dealerships and talked to them about buying a car and basically all they did was copy my license without even looking at it and then go outside to test a car. granted it wasn't an evo but still. i bet if i had my father go to the dealership alone and talk about buying an evo and sounded serious they would let him test drive it

 

Ding ding ding! We have a winner!
If you're under 18 and you sign a contract, it's not legally binding. There was a case about this, wish I could remember.

 

I won't stand for that crap. If that's the way they want to handle it I would simply say I will give my business to another dealer. I was 42 when I walked into my Mits dealer. I also drove into the dealer with a paid for 99' pristine M3. I asked for a test drive in an Evo that was in the lot not the showroom. I offered my keys and license and insurance card. No test. I had to go out with the salesman (which was embarassed and later quit selling Mits and apologized) They even stood within earshot of me and said "we don't let kids drive them". Remember I was 42. That profile for age deal is a joke. Mits can't market this car to save their lives. Been out for 3 years not one single TV ad for their flagship car.....

They have plenty of liability insurance
They should have a tester or demo car
The salesman could have gone with you

 

When I first started poking around for an EVO I didnt even ask for a test drive, I, like 90% of all EVO owners, know what the car is and what it does. When I was at the dealer getting my 5k service done the other one of the sales people came up and started BSing with me about the EVO. They said its the easiest car in the world to sell because those who are truly interested know everything about the car top to bottom. There's no reason for dealers to know anything about EVO's, cause most of the time the people who ask lots of questions arent serious about buying it.

 

See i guess its all up to the dealer.. the one i went to had 5 evos and always have around that many... i just went in my budy TD it first and said he was going to wait .. and i was like well what do you want to give me for my srt4 and they took it and i drove off 3 hours later..

 

that all i needed to read.....
i think test drive is allowed to people that are actually buying the vehicle.