As much as I try to be consciously aware of sale tactics (being a former retail sales guy myself), I couldn't help but be drawn in to the awesomeness of the car. At the very least I was sane enough to drive the price down to a respectable (at the time) level before caving in.

They also mentioned that they don't let people test drive Evos because someone did something stupid to one sometime back. Could just be a lie, of course.

 

depends on where you're located i guess

sorry to hear that. go to california, in the OC there's South Coast Mitsu...they WILL let you test drive it. i've done it TWICE just for the hell of it. lol

 

im trying to find a dealership in the northern nj/nyc area that will allow me to test drive an Evo... anyone have a suggestion? Maywood/Ramsey said no go... thanks.

 

When someone makes query into your credit history, it only shows up as a query. Being denied for credit does not show up in your credit history. The only thing that shows up are account histories, payment history, defaults on loans, etc. At least that is how it works here in the US.

 

Queries DO show up on your credit history and DO adversely affect your credit score. In the US it is held for 5 years before they start disappearing from the record. You are correct that being denied credit does not show up.

With Equifax I have 5 credit checks in the last 5 years, with TransUnion and Experian I have 2 credit checks on both. I know I have a very high FICO score according to the Equifax report and can only imagine it would be higher with the other two since I'm missing 3 credit checks on both of those.

 

They show up, but it takes a lot of them to start dragging your score down. One weekend of car shopping and getting pulled 4 of 5 times isn't going to keep you from getting what you want at the best rate if you are already good. If you've already got great credit, its not going to do anything to you.

 

Great job, I hope you're proud of yourself. What a "mature" adult...

 

It doesnt matter how old you look, or what you show up in. you need to just act knowledgable (like you just researched the car online last nite) and like you really might by this car within a week. i look like im 15 (no joke even in my air force uniform people think i am 16), and i have driven to dealerships in a beat up 240sx and a yaris. i use the same story (which was true at one point), and dont lie, because lying about anything is just stupid at a dealership. i drove many saturn sky redlines, stis and evo x/8s before settling on my last car. i even test drove a saturn redline to the mitsu dealer up the road one time and said "i am either buying this or an X, and i can get this for $26k." they pulled the only evoX they had out of the showroom right there and let me drive it. I was dressed very casually with some crazy big and dark shades on (because i had just gotten into a motorcycle accident at 140mph, destroying my old toy and i was then shopping for a new one). no gimmicks, just tell the dealer you are dead set on buying a new performance vehicle within the next week, and you want to see which you like best.

 

thats kinda what i did. i acted like i was going to purchase THAT day. it was too bad GRAND mitsubishi in BENSENVILLE, IL was full of total jerks. i test drove THERE and then took my business elsewhere.

i drove it very respectfully, i shoulda burn the clutch up.

 

Interesting, I bought my IX there and they were the only dealership (of 3 I went to in NJ) who said lets take it for a drive before wanting to talk $$$. I wouldn't go back though the service dept. has been ****** to me recently.

 

Dealership here in Gainesville, FL, an "absolutely not" for a test drive.

 

You know, when I bought my car brand new I didnt like the idea of anyone driving the car but me, and Im sure many other evo owners would agree with me on that. Because at that point, you might not like that specific one simply for the fact it may be a color you dont want, or it doesnt have the aero kit you want, etc etc, so you have just put 5-10 miles on someone elses new car.
I only got to test drive a X when I found a used evo X at a dealership.

 

That's a tad of a blanket statement. Inquiries do not, by default, "adversely" affect your credit rating. What adversely affects your credit rating is multiple inquiries within a specific time period. 5 inquiries in a day is not that big a deal, because shopping around for financing is not bad or illegal. However, if you go out today, and try to get financing, then go out in a week and try again, then in a month and try again, THAT will adversely affect your credit rating. Also, you didn't mention the difference between a soft and hard inquiry, but that's a whole other subject.

 

It's safe to say that I will never buy the Evo X that you test drove.

Maybe that's why they don't allow test drives?

 

guiffre mitsubishi in brooklyn, ny will let you test drive any car on their lot.

I was actually encouraged to rip a demo X GSR down the belt parkway for about 15 minutes with the sales manager.

do a quick google search for the dealership and give them a call. really nice people over there.