My dealer told me they have a ton of people showing up, with no intention to buy, who just want to drive an Evo. So now they ask for credit just to enure people are serious. Honestly, I am happy knowing that the dealer didnt just let anyone take my car out for a beating before I bought it.

 

Im sure it is just the dealer or salesperson. I pulled in with my 05 STI and was asked imediately if I wanted to test drive the Evo.

 

Sadly it's the world we live in. Stereotyping/profiling is all around us. Just sad.

 

You can hardly blame a dealer for only wanting to let serious customers test drive their cars. Otherwise everyone and their moms would be there test driving the Evo. How do I know; one of the dealers in my area has an Evo with more than 1k miles because of test drives! Good luck selling that one (at MSRP to, which is what they think they can get lmao).

Seriously though, I got credit checked when I test drove an Evo. Because of my age (24) I don't think they were going to let me even after they checked my credit. Then I slapped my paycheck down on the table and 15 minutes later I'm driving. If you don't want your time wasted and you make good money bring a pay stub with you. That should speed up the process!

 

This is typical of most dealerships. They want serious buyers devaluing the cars with each test driven evo.

You must think that most of you would not buy the model with more than 5-10 miles on the odometer when you bought it.

Preserving the mileage of the cars and limiting to prequaled buyers prevents joyrides and devaluing what the car can be sold for.

 

This is the risk a dealership takes in running a business. Any salesperson worth his salt (I used to sell cars myself) knows within 5 minutes if you're dealing with a joyrider or a serious buyer.

I am now trying to decide whether or not I am going to write a letter to Subaru/Mitsu corporate.

Guys...these are MITSUBISHIS, not Ferraris. I have never, ONCE, been asked to pre-qualify before test driving my Audi A4 or at the BMW dealership. And those cars are clearly more pricey.

 

If a Mitsubishi dealership cannot afford a demo Evo then they should not be in the business of selling cars.

 

Look them straight in the eye and ask them if they want to stop wasting your time and sell you a car (which comes with a test drive), or if you should walk and buy it at another dealer.

Very few dealers will let you get out of the parking lot, and you already have the upper hand in negotiation. You're their customer, and they will do a lot more than you think to keep your business. They always want to toss things like "dealer doc fees" and "test drive regulations" around as a way to hold power over your head during the negotiation. Just remember 2 points:

1. Everything is negotiable.
2. The power you have to leave the lot trumps anything a dealer can throw at you.

I've had dealers call me 5 times AFTER i've walked in order to sweeten the deal. If they're worth dealing with, they aren't going to let a credit check refusal get in the way of letting you drive a car they could sell you.

That's just my 2 cents, but I've bought 15 cars in the last 8 years and never paid more than trade in value.

 

Interesting. It's bad business practice on that particular Mitsu dealership and any dealership that does the same. Funny that I can go into any (or most) dealerships around here and get a test drive. I went into the Lexus dealership about 5 months ago and test drove their first LX570 which is around $80K+ simliarly equipped. And the sales guy knew for a fact I wasn't the one buying the car.

The Evo X that I purchased came about because of the test drive. I had no intentions on buying the X when it first came out. I was actually half-heartedly shopping for a Evo 9. Don Jr. over at Mitsubishi insisted my buddy and I take a test drive in their demo X. I was sold as soon as soon as I drove the damn thing.

If a dealership wanted to run my credit just for a test drive, they would lose my business right there. I couldn't possibly deal with them after that considering the bad taste in my mouth. Go elsewhere.

 

it is done all over even though it is technically illegal. kind of like if your credit sucks and they try to raise the price of the car. (it does happen don't laugh.)

tell them your approved with your local bank and if they still give you a hard time go to the next dealership. there are 3 mitsubishi dealer with in a 45 minute distance from my house. 1 is 5 minutes away and i will probably never buy from them, prices are 2-3k higher than everyone else and customer service sucks!!!

i will not let ANYONE run my credit until have desided if i am buying something or not.



STevo

 

Pulling someones credit with thier permission and signed app is not illegal (or an approval over the phone).
As for "raising" the price of the car-there are a lot of factors in that statement-one is, what is the final amt financed? Up until recently, neg equity could not be shown on RIC's and as a result, prices and trade values were raised accordingly.
Off topic...but coming from the lender side, there is nothing wrong with asking for a credit app to pre qual a cust-legally.

 

true that..my parents went and picked up mine because i had to work i have no clue what they went through to get it.. but being african american im sure they already assume ur not a serious buyer/have bad credit

 

As a credit junkie (I've spent the last 18 months repairing my credit and learning everything there is to know about it) I can tell you right now that you absolutely, positively do *not* want people pulling hard inquiries on your credit file unless you KNOW you're going to be buying a car in the next few weeks.

FICO scoring tends to ignore multiple inquiries in a 14 day period for people who are shopping for cars or houses.

But...let's say I agree to let them run my app. Let's say I drive the Evo and hate it. Let's say it takes me a month or so before I figure out what other car I might want to buy. THIS makes lenders think you're going all over the place trying to get loans. This WILL damage your credit.

So...word to the wise...don't agree to let a dealer pull your credit unless you're ready to pull the trigger on a car within a 2 week period. And it's that stopclock that I don't want to be stuck to in the event I don't like the Evo X.

 

Heres my true story.

Rolled in with a Lexus GS300, MB E class, and Acura TL, they all flocked to us like flies. Said I can test drive it no question asked. I bought one the same day, but had no intention of letting them know i was.

Rolled into the same dealer a week later in a Toyota Tacoma, friend wants one too, no one came over to help. we had to go to the service desk and ask for a saleman, also had to wait 30 min just to get one. Then the salesman didnt even help us. gave us a key and went back to his desk cause was to hot. Later gave us a insane quote, needless to say, we didnt buy one that day.

 

You rolled up in three cars all at once? Interesting.