Well put.

First test drive I hated the transmission and thought the car was woefully underpowered. I did enjoy the ride, though.

First dealership I went to wouldn't let me drive their only z on the lot.
"Will you be looking at purchasing the car?"
"Yes, I'm going to buy one for sure this weekend."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, I've waited for quite awhile."
"We're going to have to check your credit."
"I'm fine with that."
"Are you sure?"
"Are you going to let me test drive the car?"
"We don't want to put a lot of miles on the car, but if you're going to buy it, then yes."
"Um... can I at least look at the car before I commit to buy? I don't want to drive it anymore"

I e-mailed a few dealers online, and when I walked into the dealer, the salesman asked me if I wanted to try out the auto gearbox or convertible to see the difference. I didn't even drive it. I did the paper work and drove it home :)

Scheduled a test drive for my wife and myself. Showed up at the dealership, did the required drivers license / proof of insurance, they gave us the keys, and they let us go.
First impressions - visibility - omg!!
Limited the top speed to 70 or 80 just to see how it handled (tight - nice!!)
And that did it.
Had them start looking for the Z with the options that I wanted.

They did the same with me asked some dude for they keys then some hot 25 y/o chick shows up for the test drive. I thrash the gearbox for 5 minutes then realize we are running out of gas. She grabs their corporate gas card and I Tell her I'll heading gonna grab a coke until she gets back. She looks at me and sheapishly and says she'll wait because :icon17::icon17: she can't drive stick.

I would also like to add that the first dealership I visited denied me a test drive.
Needless to say, they lost the sale.

sucks to be them huh. When i was in the market for a new car/truck when i was selling my 370z, i went and looked at a SRT-10. Dealership wouldnt let me test drive it. I told the guy that its bs but oh well. 3 months later i went back to that dealership with another SRT-10 that i bought. Needed to speak to a Viper Tech and that dealership was the nearest. Talked to the sales guy that denied me the test drive and i said to him "well i really did like the yellow fever one you guys have....and still have. If you had let me test drive it, you would have sold it...but you didnt so i bought this one...."

His co-workers laughed at him as he was getting pissed off...lol.

:rofl2:


Why would they deny a test drive?
I like to call ahead first before I come and make sure I can drive one.

My dealership is connected to ~20 banks. Is it a good idea to ask them to find the APR % from those banks? Do you think it's rigged?

First I couldn't figure out how to adjust the touring seats.

Then I stalled it.

They must have had a good laugh about that at the dealership. But then our new puppy peed in their lobby. So everything turned out fine.

I drove from Cincy to Indy just to get to the dealership

My research was done and a deal was very likely

I remember how loud the Z was (coming from an Si)

The salesman, Nate, said at one point

"turn up here...go ahead and get on it a little bit"

The drive back home after I bought it was amazing....

I do love this car

My guess is that punk-a** twenty-something didn't like what he saw when I rolled up and decided to flex his power like some kind of mall cop and deny me.

the excuse they gave me is "we dont let anyone test drive our pride and joy" i laughed at him and i said "really? a 05 SRT-10 Ram with 60,000km on it is your pride and joy of the dealership? the truck is a fine truck, but not that fine"

But i know for a fact its all how you dress and what you drive. He didnt see the Z i was driving and i was dressed in casual clothes.

Same thing happend to my boss at my old work. The owner of the company owned a 94 Viper. The Co-Owner owned a KIA and wanted to go test drive a porche, he got some info about the car he wanted to drive but the dealership said no you cant test drive it. So he called the owner up and got the Viper for the day, went back to the dealership and said "heres my other car that i dont normally drive" dealership then said "ok lets go for a rip in the car you want" my boss said "nah, i changed my mind, im going to go by a 09 Viper ACR"

A lot of dealers have a no-test-drive policy on cars like the Z now. They're often able to sell them without offering rides, and it's not worth the risk.

When I bought my Z in 2009, they saw my hospital ID and let me test drive the car once with the salesman and then again with just my wife. The sales guy was freaking out saying "whoa whoa whoa" when I got on the throttle a bit. No balls. My wife was just rolling her eyes. Likes to bust balls.

I had on a smart grey sport jacket and Gucci shoes... and I rolled up in a Mercedes.

I have a no-spending-$40,000-with-businesses-that-don't-treat-me-the-way-I-want-to-be-treated policy.
With my specific wants, I was willing to order a car and pay a premium if necessary. Their loss.
Better yet, I ran into the sales manager from that dealership at the local Sons of Italy Lodge. He was wearing a Nissan logo sweater and I asked what he did for Nissan. After finding out his position, I shared my story with him. He told me that sales person was no longer there and asked me if I'd like to come in and take that test drive. I told him he was way too late and another dealership got the sale.
He bought me a drink and offered me a test drive in the GT-R they have in the showroom.
I thanked him for the offer, but had to decline on principle. I don't go to dealerships and test drive cars just for joy rides. That kind of thing ruins it for those who are serious and actually want to buy a car.