ok so the other day i contacted my local mitsubishi dealership about taking a test drive in an evo. i know that since i am 17 i could not buy a car but when i plan to purchase my 9 i will be 18. and i explained this to him. also i would be going with my friend who is almost 19. and he replied to me with this email:
Hi James,

I wanted to follow up with you regarding your interest in the Evo. I want
to be up front with you immediately and let you know that b/c you are 17
years old I am not ALLOWED to test drive or sell you any vehicle by law.
FYI, We are not allowed to test drive the Evo due to insurance regulation
regardless of age.

Thank You,
_________ Mitsubishi (i'm keeping the name hidden)
---------------------------------
i was wondering why they would even sell an evo if they weren't allowed to test drive it due to insurance reasons. so when you look at the car i should expect to see the mileage on the odometer around 3 since they aren't allowed to drive it due to insurance. why even have it in the showroom for people to look at?? cleaning a fingerprint off of the vehicle may require their insurance company to come asses the damadge.


and i have test drove other vehicles before so i think this guy is just BS'ing me.(maybe he is right though. he is the only dealership within about 50 miles from me that still has evo's on the lot. and there's about 10 in this distance)

 

NOpe I couldnt test drive either. Normally u have to be JUST ABOUT 2 buy the car b4 they give you the keys!

 

that is BS, my dealer was the same way. I had to bring my dad up there just to get a test drive. While on a different occasion, my rich friend who pulled up in his dad's brand new AMG was just given the keys to the evo. When I went to Subaru alone I didn't even have to ask, they just went ahead and said "let's go for a drive".

 

when i brought my evo i got to testdrive an 03 with mods such as exhaust, tein s-tecks,intake, bov, and boost controler. i guess because it was used i got to drive it. but when your serious go to stealership and work something out.

 

i wont get a car I cant drive first...thats why i called up our lovely nearby carmax and test drove (ragged on) their used evo. I think driving a used one is better anyway because the car's broken in already. After pushing the evo pretty hard on the test drive, the cheezy salesman says "well that'll get you to class on time!" lol ok dude... then I went to the mitsu dealer and the rest is history

 

I think the main thing for every dealer is they gotta cover themselves. With a car like an EVO you know anybody who is gonna test drive it they are gonna gun it to the ground. And mostly they dont want ppl comin in just to goof off with the car with no intentions to buy it. So for them to not let you test drive it really is not a surprise. As my dealer said, if your gonna buy an EVO you already know what your getting and you dont need a test drive.

 

My dealer required a deposit on it before i could drive. Granted, the deposit was refundable, but they just wanted to know you are serious.
That was 2 years ago

 

You are 17 and complaining they wont let you take it for a test drive? They shouldnt let you drive the car...its a big liability...and they cant sell you the thing anyway so whats in it for them? Dont tell me they'll lose the business on the Evo IX when you decide to buy it, becuase the salesmen dont have that long of memories... Simply put, you cant buy it, they wont let you drive it... When the Evo first came out, they wouldnt let alot of people take it for a test drive, in fact, I even had to provide adaquate indication that I was going to purchase the car and I'm 26 making well into 6 figures.

 

I brought my dad with me in order to get a test drive.

 

well i guess you can maybe understand the dealers choice of not letting you test-drive. Personally if i was a dealer and a 17 yr old kid (no offense) asked to drive a car that was worth more then the kid had ever in his life made in net income i would probley denie it also. I'm not directing this towards you personally, its just unless somebodys parents are buying the evo for them (more then likely in most cases) the dealer isn't going to expect a 17 yr old kid to be able to afford an evo and the insane insurance i'm sure you'll get with it. my .02

 

What about those who are on the verge of buying an evo but don't know quite how it performs in person? or how the ride feels? 30K is a lot to spend just going off of magazine articles...

 

Well I mean 30k is alot for a car based on magazine articles. But the EVO is an enthusiast car. Its a car with heritage and a name. So really I mean like me Im sure you probably knew the ins and outs of the EVO before you even stepped on the lot. I bet you could recite all the numbers better then you can remember your friends birthdays. And in honesty its not exactly a car Mitsubishi is having problems getting rid of. In the end its a simple case of supply and demand. Right now the demand is there for an EVO but sometimes the supply isnt quite enough.

 

Under 18, you shouldnt be allowed to test drive anything. But if you whip out a stack of cash in front of the salesman, it might be a diff. story.

 

the dealer let me test drive the used ones that they had.

 

i know they probably wouldn't let me because i am 17 but i've taken out trucks(cost more than an evo) and plenty of other cars for test drives. i am actually gonna go to suby and see if i can test drive an sti though. i am somewhat friends with a guy who has an evo and he might let me drive his though. i am really just seeing if i would be swaping out the seat/ getting different pedals etc more or less comfortability while driving the car. i already know i am getting one. but just not up here i am waiting untill i move out to cali to go preorder my MR or see if i will settle for the regular IX.