About the Test Drive
 

I test drove with the dealer first and they sort of had a predetermined route they like to take and most do. You can take that and if you feel you still haven't experienced everything necessary just let your salesperson know and they shouldn't have a problem letting you hit a few more spots.

I went back to my dealer the next week with my wife and my salesperson had no problem letting the two of us take the car for two hours and enjoy ourselves.

My test drive was pretty much just wandering the city streets. Sales guy was pretty cool I must say. He was just happy to be out of the office for awhile. i kept asking which way to go and he was like "uh I guess you could turn here". I wish there was an interstate around for me to open it up a little but the closest one was 60 miles away. I had a hard time adjusting to the clutch, especially since I was wearing flipflops but I got the hang of it once I took them off.

There was a very good write-up on how to get away with a LOT on a test drive. Basically, it comes down to how professional you act with the salesman, and the respect you give each other. There are several other suggestions, such as not showing up and expecting to test drive with your buddy (and not the salesman).

Basically, if you want to test the cars limits (somewhat within reason) on the road, its best to ask the salesman who comes with you. A simple question such as, "I would like to test the cars panic braking ability, is this ok with you?", or "I would like to test the cars acceleration", etc etc etc. Just make them comfortable.

The salesman just handed me and the hubby the keys and said take it for a ride!! We were gone about 20 minutes. Then they let us take the car home overnight.

Yeah, going in as a married couple tends to work in your favor, but it sometimes behooves you to decide who will test drive, and who will negotiate. Either way, they gave you the puppy dog deal - take it home and you'll just want to keep it.

Thats what we thought. But regardless we took the car back the next day and told them we loved the car, but we were going to past. I just couldn't decide about the blind spots. At the end of the next week, they asked if we would like to keep the car all weekend for me to drive and get comfortable with. When we picked it up it had the same amount of miles as it did when we dropped it off. So nobody else must have shown any interest.

Mmm, not always the case - its not always easy to get a test drive. Depends on the dealership. Im sure being a married couple, they assumed you are more mature than the average 18 year old, though :).

Come to think of it, I think the mileage on my 370 barely changed if at ALL, in the 1-2 months that passed since I test drove it.

Tell me, When I was younger I wanted a RX7 and when to see it alone, the salesman told me when my husband came back with me we could test drive it!
By the end of the day I had my new car from a different dealer, had to drop back by and let the salesman know not to wait on my husband to come by! Ha that was fun!

Nice. I hate dealerships who aren't flexible. Although I remember when I was 19 or so, I was interested in the RX-8. I walked in and they practically threw the keys at me and sent me off to test drive it by myself. Go figure...

Maybe in the years between my Rx7 and your RX8. Dealers realized women actually can make their own decisions.

well, the woman of the house is always the boss and has the final decision.

Which is a very true statement - many times (assuming she knows what she is doing...) its best to leave the woman back to negotiate finances and the man test drives, because they assume the woman has the final call.

Back in 1994, when we were all 28-30 years old, my BFF was car shopping, so my husband and I went with her. The first sales guy initially told us he wouldn't let us test drive the car... it was a Nissan Sentra - hello! The next dealer told my BFF to bring her dad next time! She probably made at least twice as much as her dad! Yeah, we didn't buy from them.

Thanks to everyone who already posted. Seems like it depends on what type of salesperson I get. I think my plan will be to tell him upfront that I'll be spending a few minutes just sitting in the car, checking for ergonomics stuff, then telling him what I want to get out of the test drive. Wow, the 2 hours, overnight stuff would be great. In reality, you do need more than a 15 minute test drive! It's a $30K+ commitment!

but they do have the final call................i remember Shumby telling me he was negotiating for the G and the wife was in the showroom staring at him.....the salesman is "what do i have to do to get you in that car"....Shum says "whatever makes her agree to this deal"......lol