Test Drives Today

[hemi_fan]

Me and my dad went out to the Nissan and Subaru dealerships today. Hes looking for a small sporty car that gets good gas mileage. (around the $22,000 range). We didnt have that much time, so we looked at the Base sentra, and then took out a Sentra SER V-spec. The V-spec was actually a pretty nice car, good handling, nice power, and my dad said the clutch and gear shifter felt really good compared to the base. Then we went over to the scuby dealership, and heres where I was dissapointed. We test drove an Impreza RS, the 165hp version, it handled awesome, but felt kinda cheap inside... then on the way back, my dad asked if he could test the WRX Sti there... They wouldnt let him! they said they only allow tests on a "Promise to buy" basis. I was so pissed! They also said u have to be over 25 y/o to drive it (but my dads 44). Then we didnt have enuff time to test the regular WRX. The guys at that dealership are such pricks... my dad hates em. Is it the same for dealerships around u guys?

[Silvia_Drift]

Me and my dad went out to the Nissan and Subaru dealerships today. Hes looking for a small sporty car that gets good gas mileage. (around the $22,000 range). We didnt have that much time, so we looked at the Base sentra, and then took out a Sentra SER V-spec. The V-spec was actually a pretty nice car, good handling, nice power, and my dad said the clutch and gear shifter felt really good compared to the base. Then we went over to the scuby dealership, and heres where I was dissapointed. We test drove an Impreza RS, the 165hp version, it handled awesome, but felt kinda cheap inside... then on the way back, my dad asked if he could test the WRX Sti there... They wouldnt let him! they said they only allow tests on a "Promise to buy" basis. I was so pissed! They also said u have to be over 25 y/o to drive it (but my dads 44). Then we didnt have enuff time to test the regular WRX. The guys at that dealership are such pricks... my dad hates em. Is it the same for dealerships around u guys?

Yeah man. The guys working at Subaru that I have dealt with are such assholes. My mom just bought a new Legacy yesterday; its like those guys don't care about selling their cars. Then, try getting the car serviced. It costs so much money plus they act even worse since they have already sold you their car.

[hemi_fan]

My neighbours also said these guys were assholes, although they have subarus (on both sided of my house), but they bought from a different dealership cuz they r such jerks at the one I went to.

[hemi_fan]

O yeah, I forgot to ask... anyone got any suggestions on what my dad should look at? he wanted to test drive the civic siR, but doesnt know what else.

[coloradosilver]

Same out here. I my friend and I went to test an STI and they said "NO" unless you were going to buy it. Doesn't that defeat the point though? Anyway...he did end up buying one somewhere else. But for that amount (about $22K) I'd go for the regular WRX. They are great cars, highly modifiable (if you wish), and really hard to beat for reliability! A great car that will run forever. The standard WRX would be a great choice in my opinion. :mrgreen:

[oscargarza88]

it sux that subaru dealerships r so gay when it comes to test drive their cars.

[Kangaroo Boy]

I got a story for you about dealership pricks..Many Years ago,back in 1995 my parents went looking for something newer then the old Austin 1800 mk2..We went down to one dealership that sold "quality" second hand cars.My parents were keen on a Saab 900 Turbo back from the mid 80s asking price 13 grand.It had over 150 000 on the Clock and only had one owner..So my parents took it for test drive for a whole day,The Interior was nice same as the exterior,But it was gutless,and was blowing a bit of oil(I think the turbo was gone)..Anyway,My parents took it to another dealership while test driving because they saw a nice Mazda 323 at another dealership while test driving the saab..They ask the guy how much of trade in for the Saab and the Guy said only 3 grand trade in.That after a mechanic had look at the Saab,and talk to the sales rep at the time..My old man knew he was getting ripped off.He went back to the dealership where he got the Saab.Some reason the Sales person knew about my old man efforts of getting a trade in,dunno how,the Guy blew up big time,my old man told him Go fuck yourself,You were trying to ripp me off,and I'm going to tell people not to go to this delearship..And walked away.18 months later the dealership went down the drain...So yeah,there are heaps of arseholes out.

[cho_888]

i think its all on apperences, my friend when into a ferrari dealership with a suit on and he got asked if he wanted a test drive. People judge people by how they look. Its a sad fact of life

[SPEEDKILLAR]

i think its all on apperences, my friend when into a ferrari dealership with a suit on and he got asked if he wanted a test drive. People judge people by how they look. Its a sad fact of life


Well guys lets get the suit out of the closet and test drive those hot cars. :wink:

Its kinda of sad they don't have a demo model to be tested, maybe they are afraid

that ppl will dislike the car :?

[Cornutu]

It is exactly the same at our subaru dealership. However, our chevrolet and bmw dealership let my dad test drive a vette and an m3 no problem. No intent to buy or anything.

[hemi_fan]

yeah, my dad was telling me that in the 80s, he and his friend would go out to dealerships on weekends and take cars out for an hour at a time. He said he liked taking out the Turbo Daytonas, and they didnt require a sales rep to ride with you. that woulda been cool.

[zr2man99]

Same thing with the subaru dealership around here. For 22K I would go with a regular WRX or a used 98 or older M3.

People were a lot more trusting back in the day. Too bad the world has gone down the shitter.

[®™▪▪Å�чÑ�ίÂ]

Yeh even the dealerships are like that in the uk, well were i live anyway, but get this it wasnt the subaru dealer it was the Mitsu dealer, i went with ma uncle to buy the new Evo 8 couple of months ago, But they said you cant test it unless you buy it, so me and me uncle had to drive 116 miles to the next mitsu dealership and they only let us test it for 5 minutes, bloody hell that pissed us off, so we went to the main 1 in london and we were relieved that they atleast gave us it for half an hour

[Caplax40]

yeah, my dad was telling me that in the 80s, he and his friend would go out to dealerships on weekends and take cars out for an hour at a time.

Man that's kinda funny. Me and a friend have been doing that off and on since last summer! Guess we're not all that original. :lol:

[callen]

A few yrs ago we went to a gm dealer locally. my dad was buying a gmc safari (he was in the office signing the papers) this was about ten yrs ago.....he looks at the final purchase price and notices its a thousand fuckin dollars more than it was yesterday. He asks the sales guy whats goin on and he tries to tell him its administrative costs. My dad (who works at gm AKA 5% off all gm cars and truck) is pissed now im sittin outside in this brand new safari(hurtin iknow but hey )van he comes out after like an hour. "get outta the truck we are outta here" ends up he talks to the owner and even he keeps beatin around the bush. so my dad tells him to fuck it, (hes a well known union rep at gm in the niagara region) and he better not hope to sell ne cars to some of the hundreds of guys he knows who work for general motors. (was the editior of the union paper as well) so he writes an article BURNING the dealership sooooooo bad! (went around the corner to another gm dealer and bought the truck that day...the salesman we dealt with was in heaven...we walk in and my dad is like yah i want to buy that safari right there i already tested it over at the other dealer and they fucked me.neways some dealers are pure trash and some are gold. we have bought our cars from central motors(the dealer in our town not welland, welland FUCKIn sucks) since then.

[Silvia_Drift]

I would say go for the WRX. The Civic SIR is supposedly one of the worst cars in that class and IMO, no FWD car will be as fun to drive as a RWD or some AWD. I would say the E36 M3 but the WRX is much more practical. Just get it used from another dealership.

[hemi_fan]

that is a very good suggestion Silvia... I do not think my dad was going to buy new because we just got a brand new SUV which put him in the hole a bit. The Impreza is the most expensive vehicle he was looking at, but it is also one of the few that has been around for a few years. The Lancer Ralliart, Sentra S-ER V-Spec, Civic siR, Toyota Matrix, and Acura RSX/Integra Type-R either were only made for 1 year (type-R), or are new vehicles in the past 2 years. The Impreza however has been around for a while and is therefore easiest to find used. I also like the handling of the Impreza, and it would be cool to get one. My mom told me earlier that my dad wants to buy a new car soon, and let me drive it! He loves his old Accord so much that he wants to see just how long it will last before it finally dies. It currently had 465,oookm on it, and he wants at least 1/2 million. This would be pretty cool, as I would be pretty much the only kid in school with a new semi-performance vehicle. My one worry about Imprezas is that they seem to be favourites for beating up in muddy fields and therefore might not be the best used cars to buy. Any thoughts on this?

[Tomerville]

They really are pricks, but I guess its because of insurance policies why they are so strict. I remeber in 1997 our family was allowed to test drive an Audi A8 for 2 days! Now, you are barely even permited to take di yute pon di block

[Garretts_turbo]

the subaru dealership is also stingy about the STi. all you can do is look at it, because they wont let you sit in it...
the same is true of the Mitsubishi dealership in our town, too. they have 3 evos, and you gotta be approved and ready to buy for them to even look at you, regardless of what you look like.

[hemi_fan]

Went for another drive today, this time in the rain. We test drove the 2004 Mitsubishi Lancer RalliArt. Its a 2.4L 4cyl, with 162hp/160tq. The car seemed very good, nice build quality, pretty peppy little car, the tranny is the same as in the EVO VII, and the power was pretty good also. When I got there, I was surprised to see that they had an EVO VII on display. Its not "Canadianized" yet, so its not for sale, but the salesman said his boss let him take it up and down the road, and he says its amazing! My dad really liked the RalliArt also, and hes not leaning towards that instead of the Nissan or Subaru. Only problem is that its first year for the 2.4L in the lancer, and my dad will probably have to wait for the 2005 lancers to come out before he can afford it. I got to sit in the EVO today, and I was quite pleased, the EVO seemed a lot like the RalliArt, interior was pretty much identical, but im sure they drive much differently. Just thought I'd give my 2c on this car, it was surpisingly pleasing, and as my dad put it,... "I never thought id find anything this quick from Mitsubishi". Now since he cant afford that yet, im hoping on a car for me soon :D

[novass]

Both of my roomates work at a Subaru dealership as mechanics and one used to sell cars. I understand what you guys are saying about them not letting people test drive the STi but you have to look at it from their standpoint. Weeks before it came out they had already recieved several offers from potential clients. By the time the car actually arrived, each dealership only got a couple of them. There was no way possible to even sell to every person that wanted one let alone let them drive it. Plus, as with the WRX's, too many irresponsible teens get them and destroy them. I cant tell you how many stories theyve told me of WRXs coming in wrecked with less then a few hundred miles on it.

But I agree that its hard to buy a car they wont let you drive.

Anyway, back on topic. Hemi-fan, IMO I wouldnt go for the Sentra, its pretty slow from what ive seen and FWD sucks. That Evo VII sounds nice though or a WRX. But I wouldnt buy a second-hand WRX either, those cars get beat to shit. I remember one kid that went into their shop had already fixed up his WRX with performance parts but the idiot revved it up to 7 grand and dumped the clutch completely destroying the tranny. All the teeth were ground off and it was a complete mess.

[hemi_fan]

O, im deffinitely not gettina an STI or EvoVIII, cant afford it. My dad currently would have financial problems if he got the $20,000 RalliArt or Base Impreza... My mom wants him to get a used impreza, but I warned him against it as they seem to be prime vehicles to beat the shit out of. I can understand them not allowing test-drives in STIs to younger people, but my dad is almost 44 years old, and hes been driving manual tranny cars since he was 11, I think he could handle it for 20-30 mins. They had 2 STIs there anyway, and one looked like a demo cuz it was parked in the sales lot and had a few k km's on it already. The guys at DSM were at least nice enough to allow me to go into the EVO, pop the hood etc, and tell me a bit about it. Surbaru guy just acted like I would never be able to get the car in my wildest dreams, all I could think was "Its only a $45,ooo car, its not really 'unattainable' come on... they act as if it costs over $150,ooo."

[enigmatic]

from what i've seen, we dont seem to have that sort of problem in australia. well atleast not in perth. when we took to STi for a drive, the salesman even asked me if i'd like to take it for a spin; not that i did.. and look at my age.
we've been to almost every car dealership in perth, and have never really had a problem with salespeople, they seem to offer a testdrive before we even ask.
and theres generally no stereotype to fit us in either, we dont go out of our way to impress the salespeople at all..

maybe its just different over/down here.