After telling the dealer another dealership was willing to give us a test drive, they immediately pulled the MR out of the showroom without flinching. Wife got to drive it and loved it. She was less than impressed with the Ralliart so I'm thinking that is why they gave in. Though she only got to take it out for 5 or 6 miles, she's that much closer to the purchase! Now to decide if she can settle for the things this car has differently than that her current TSX does - nav, 27mpg, low maintenance costs et cet. This will be her daily driver and she's very easy on her cars. We know she won't get the mileage she does now but she does mostly highway driving on her 15 mile commute to work so it shouldn't be that bad.

 

with a good tuner she can get 26 or 27 mpg on the highway... that's what I get with a 5 speed and the MR runs a little less RPM's so the gas mileage shouldn't be a problem with a short commute like that. Keep in mind i'm not suggesting that you all get a bunch of mods, just a tune from a GOOD tuner (I used Mellon and will return when I get more money after a few other mods I have added). I do wish I had the MR wheels and seats personally.

 

Umm, maybe if its down hill and down wind to work, both ways! There is no way you are going to get that kind of mileage. I have a MR Touring, and had a GSR before that. The most I ever got (my gsr was tuned) was about 23, and that was cruisin on the highway at 55. My MR touring averages about 17 Mph.

 

If the dealership wants to sell a car, they will let you test drive the Evo. Don't buy until you drive. You have the leverage in this deal, use it.

 

all this about not getting test drives is totally weird.

i called south coast mitsubishi and told them i'm coming to check out the evos. didn't even say i'm that serious. when i arrived, the rep met me outside, said hi, and he just threw me the keys right then and there. no credit check--didn't even look at my license. test drove an sti, evo gsr, and evo mr.

of course, i didn't show up looking like a kid either. dressed nicely--black button-up shirt, jeans. talked eloquently.

had a friend that looks much younger, and like a kid. met same rep. didn't get nearly the same treatment--he was only allowed to test drive a gsr, and since he couldn't drive stick, didn't even get to drive anything.

i think it all has to do with your appearance.

anyway...................................... back on subject. everyone here always complains about the plastics rattling and stuff. i have about 8k mi on my mr, and though there is some rattling once in a while, it's not constant, and not annoying at all. most of the time, the car is perfectly silent inside. of course, i'm used to really loud and obnoxious cars, so i dunno if my perceptions are a little different than average... but for me the mr is pretty much a damn luxury car.

as for bmw 3 vs mr, bmw is nice... but i think if you don't care about having a status symbol, the mr is by far so much more fun. not to mention, the mr is much easier and cheaper to mod.

 

In today's economic climate, it's hard to believe dealers can act so high and mighty

 

kinda ****ty how the dealership wont allow a test drive before u purchase. I bet that gets them some loss in customers

 

A 335i is cheap to mod power wise. A tune costs $350 and it will put the car at a good 350 rwhp throw some catless DPs FMIC DCI and some meth it will be pushing 460 no problem

 

It's understandable why they won't allow test drives on an Evo cuz buyers for these kinds of cars are PICKY. Given the choice, I'd buy a fresh Evo from a delivery truck vs. one that has been test-driven couple of times. That's just the way things are... you can't blame the dealership for that.

If you can't test drive one, go to the community/local forum, maybe you can find one of the more friendly/accomodating members to let you test drive their car. When I bought mine, I didn't need to test drive it (I already wanted the X badly but hid it well), but the salesman insisted that I do. He even let my wife try it out (she's not good with a stick). BTW, I'm 35 and he knew I was a serious buyer.

 

Wicked white FTW

 

It's funny, at first my wife hated my decision with the GSR (I came from an 08 R32 which has really nice interior). Then I let her drive it. . . nuff said

 

I got to test drive one on my second visit without a problem. Hell I was barely 21 years old. But was nice, polite and knew how to talk to them. I got kinda coc*blocked on the testdrive tho. Had to stay below 4k and couldnt brake hard and all that. The test drive car drove like hell, flat spots in the rubber where itd been sitting, alignment off, sounded weird. Wasn't a really good impression of the X, but I still took a chance and got mine. No problems at all. So a test drive doesnt always necessarily give you the exact idea of what you'll be getting.

OP - Hope all goes your way man!

 

I'm in NW ohio (toledo), when I pulled up in the 911 they rolled out the red carpet and offered numerous test drives. They pulled her right off the showroom floor.

 

Thanks for the replies guys.. we're still hashing out the final deal. After the test drive we have no doubts this is the right car; it's swallowing the 40k price tag that we're having a hard time with. Hard to give up a nice car that we OWN for one (that does nearly everything better) with a payment!

 

Halarious.... I know exactly where you test drove yours, Dave Sarmadi. They're going out of business, did you hear? I never cared for that place much myself. I went through the same exact experience test driving one several years back and it caused me to not buy a X (although I ended up with one a couple years later!).