Test drive experiences today

Z_ealot · 07-01-2012, 02:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dP3NGU1N

I believe the exact quote would be something along the lines of "If I let you test drive the car then I have to let every other 18 year old test drive it". This is also after I showed them my credit score and got handed off between 3 different sales people. Just completely unreasonable response to someone who was interested in the car. (For reference: I'm 24, have steady full-time employment, and a credit score of 800)

This single act of the dealership has turned me off to Mitsubishi as a company completely. And to think I was a big fan of the 5th series evo since primary school.

i dont know about you, but my response would have been to laugh in that guys face and then calm down and quietly say "you just lost a sale buddy", then go down the street pick up whatever car you so choose and show back up at said salesmans dealership and flaunt your new ride in his and his sale managers face while you quietly look on as his sale manager fires his douchebag of a salesman

dP3NGU1N · 07-01-2012, 06:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Z_ealot

i dont know about you, but my response would have been to laugh in that guys face and then calm down and quietly say "you just lost a sale buddy", then go down the street pick up whatever car you so choose and show back up at said salesmans dealership and flaunt your new ride in his and his sale managers face while you quietly look on as his sale manager fires his douchebag of a salesman

That's almost exactly what I did. I stopped laughing once I realized he was serious and told him, "look, if your sales are so strong that you don't need my business then that's alright with me." and I left.

fusionchicken · 07-02-2012, 04:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dP3NGU1N

That's almost exactly what I did. I stopped laughing once I realized he was serious and told him, "look, if your sales are so strong that you don't need my business then that's alright with me." and I left.

if you do end up with an Evo make sure to drive it back there and make him regret his stupid decision

Edit: just read that you are turned off to Mitsu as a company completely, can't really blame you considering their product offerings and honestly horrible customer service in the past 2 Evo's I've owned.

Snakes709 · 07-01-2012, 03:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dP3NGU1N

I believe the exact quote would be something along the lines of "If I let you test drive the car then I have to let every other 18 year old test drive it". This is also after I showed them my credit score and got handed off between 3 different sales people. Just completely unreasonable response to someone who was interested in the car. (For reference: I'm 24, have steady full-time employment, and a credit score of 800)

This single act of the dealership has turned me off to Mitsubishi as a company completely. And to think I was a big fan of the 5th series evo since primary school.

Some dealerships are like that. The one where i bought my EvoX didnt have any GSR's but they let me take a MR out for a drive, no questions asked. Told them i defently wanted a Evo but not a MR. Did the deal and found out they were getting my GSR from another dealership in the city. So i got the VIN and went to look at the car at the other dealership. Asked to test drive it before i sign off on the dotted line (seeing as how i never driven a GSR at this point and i wanna make sure its what i want) They said no, unless i put down a $1000 non-refundable deposit. I laughed in their face and said "you expect me to give you $1000 to test drive a car that will be mine in 3 days?"

Then he tried to tell me "oh you will love this car, we have Rota rims on there a boost controller and turned the boost up to 45psi" I laughed and asked for the paperwork for the work done to it and he asked why. I said "because when a rod goes flying through the block, i want a brand new engine and you guys will be paying for it" He claims it was safe, blah blah blah. I asked to look under the hood and he said no! Like WTF? seriously? I left and found a different sales guy and asked for the keys to the car and he gave them to me...nothing done to the car.

All that being said. I went from a Cobalt SS/SC - 370z - SRT-10 Ram - EvoX....if i could have done it all over i would have went from the Cobalt to the EvoX.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Z_ealot

i dont know about you, but my response would have been to laugh in that guys face and then calm down and quietly say "you just lost a sale buddy", then go down the street pick up whatever car you so choose and show back up at said salesmans dealership and flaunt your new ride in his and his sale managers face while you quietly look on as his sale manager fires his douchebag of a salesman

Thats exactly what i did with a Dodge dealership. When i was looking at trading my 370z in for the SRT-10 i went to a dealership and test drove one. There was a issue with the brakes and a few other minor little things. I asked the dealer to knock off $5000. They said no. So i said ill think about it and left. A day later the dealership calls me and said they will lower it $2000. I told them no, i want 5000 lower. They replied "well we have a guy interested in it and he isnt asking for a lower price, only reason im trying to get you in it, is because you are in the military and we support our troops." I said "well thanks for that, but let the other guy have it." 2 weeks later i found another SRT-10 at another dealership, bought it and went back to the first dealership to grab something (cant remember what) talked to the sales guy and said "yea i got a different srt-10, lower km's, lower price and nothing wrong with it" He just walked away right pissed off. Funny thing is that SRT-10 on their lot was there for 6 more months.

Ackrite · 07-01-2012, 08:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Snakes709

Thats exactly what i did with a Dodge dealership. When i was looking at trading my 370z in for the SRT-10 i went to a dealership and test drove one. There was a issue with the brakes and a few other minor little things. I asked the dealer to knock off $5000. They said no. So i said ill think about it and left. A day later the dealership calls me and said they will lower it $2000. I told them no, i want 5000 lower. They replied "well we have a guy interested in it and he isnt asking for a lower price, only reason im trying to get you in it, is because you are in the military and we support our troops." I said "well thanks for that, but let the other guy have it." 2 weeks later i found another SRT-10 at another dealership, bought it and went back to the first dealership to grab something (cant remember what) talked to the sales guy and said "yea i got a different srt-10, lower km's, lower price and nothing wrong with it" He just walked away right pissed off. Funny thing is that SRT-10 on their lot was there for 6 more months.

I thought about doing that with mine. My local dealership (look at my location and you can probably figure out which one it was) wouldn't work with me so I ended up getting the same car from a dealer about an hour away and in total I ended up saving almost $16k. I don't want to be an ******* and rub it in though because I go there for parts and will probably be going there for service if I don't end up doing it myself.

cossie1600 · 07-01-2012, 10:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ackrite

I thought about doing that with mine. My local dealership (look at my location and you can probably figure out which one it was) wouldn't work with me so I ended up getting the same car from a dealer about an hour away and in total I ended up saving almost $16k. I don't want to be an ******* and rub it in though because I go there for parts and will probably be going there for service if I don't end up doing it myself.

The Z I bought sat at dealer #A for 5 months. They were being dicks about it with the price and everything. I ended up buying that very same car through dealer #B, who transferred their loaded 370Z to swap it. I have a windows sticker that says who they shipped the car to.....

Fabio88 · 07-01-2012, 02:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dP3NGU1N

Spent the whole day test driving cars. Here are the verdicts.

Evo X: Dealer didn't let me drive so.... screw them.

Mustang 5.0: I was SOO surprised by how much I liked this car. Everything felt well put together. Of all the muscle cars I tested today this one beat them all from its smooth transmission to the power output through a 5.0L v8. Also one of the best and friendliest sales person I met today at Cerritos Auto. If I was ever going to buy a Ford, I would go with him first. Still not as grounded as I would have liked but it was much better than I thought it would be.

Camaro: Stuck with an automatic because they didn't have a v8 manual around. Interior felt huge, not exactly what I was looking for with a sports coupe. That being said all the American cars were rather huge for my tastes. Final thoughts on the Camaro was that it felt a bit like a boat. Suspension wasn't exactly soft but there was definitely disconnect with the road.

Challenger: Interesting shifter on this one. That's about it, everything else was pretty standard. What I couldn't get over was how terrible the ergonomics of this car was. This is the first manual car I've driven without a hand brake (It has the kick brake with the handle release on the bottom left from the steering wheel). The door handle position is also awkward (next to your left knee in the driving position). There were a couple of other small things that bothered me like why a 5.7L v8 was pushing out 300+ horsepower and change (This was according to the sales person and I haven't done any research on this car prior - I might look it up in a bit and find that I was completely wrong). I really wanted to like this car more than I did but just walked away with a bad taste in my mouth.

370Z: Still planning on getting this car. After spending the day with huge muscle cars I found the nimble Z to be incredibly refreshing. What I couldn't get over since my first test drive was that I've driven manual cars before and my test drive all day up to this point had been incredibly smooth, however, getting into the Z made me feel like a complete first timer again. The transmission in the 370 apparently doesn't work like a standard transmission. To transition smoothly from 1st to 2nd requires you to NOT gas in on clutch out (N to 1st is traditional clutch - gas in - feather clutch out) so essentially both feet are off the pedals. After this revelation from the salesrep I took the car out a second time and shifts were butter smooth. Maybe I just didn't know how to properly drive a standard transmission until now!

Still don't have any dealers with an FR-S and I don't know if it was just that Mitsu dealer that was stuck up or if they're all like that but I don't think I'll ever consider a Mitsu again.

Its a good thing you didn't drive frs because it would have scared you for life driving cars. The frs is overpriced, slow and very cheaply made for the same price you can get a brand new 2012 genesis coupe with 306 hp which is great quality for the price.

NYBladeZ · 07-01-2012, 02:23 PM

Um FR-S > Genesis all day everyday. Don't fall for the magazine numbers when you get her home you'll discover it wasn't worth it. OP if the FR-S is a choice AND you plan on modifying the car that would be my way to go. The aftermarket for the FR-S is blowing up and the car just came out. That will lead to way more parts available, a large amount of choice and cheaper parts because of more competition amongst vendors.

boomee · 07-01-2012, 06:49 PM

Still a toss up for me right now STI hatch, Z, 5.0( or 04 cobra) and challanger for various reasons

bigsix · 07-01-2012, 09:30 PM

The Mustang is a car I'd really like to test-drive in the near future> It has gotten so many good reviews in magazines in the past few years.
Do you think you gotta have Rear wheel drive ? If so, you can leave out the Mitsubishi Evo. I drove an early 90's Mitsubishi Lancer that my Dad's girlfriend owned for awhile. The interior build was SO bad, pieces of trim would fall off nearly every week ! lol . . . The new Lancer is a bit better, but that's something that sticks in my mind about Lancers.
I think Nissan has very good reliability, if not the best, out of the group of cars you test drove.

I'd say wait and test drive the Scion FR-S/Subaru BR-Z and a Mazda MX-5. That could give you some contrast to the large muscle-car feel===

07-01-2012, 02:23 PM	#8 (permalink)
NYBladeZ A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: New York Posts: 2,158 Drives: Lotus Exige S Rep Power: 21	Um FR-S > Genesis all day everyday. Don't fall for the magazine numbers when you get her home you'll discover it wasn't worth it. OP if the FR-S is a choice AND you plan on modifying the car that would be my way to go. The aftermarket for the FR-S is blowing up and the car just came out. That will lead to way more parts available, a large amount of choice and cheaper parts because of more competition amongst vendors. __________________ 2009 Carbon Fiber/Red 370z aka Trish: Sports Package, Meisterschaft full catback, Fast Intentions Longtube Headers, Injen Long Tube Intakes, UpRev Tune: Sold 2008 Lotus Exige S Club Racer aka Bella, always leaves me smiling

07-01-2012, 06:49 PM	#9 (permalink)
boomee Base Member Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Northern VA Posts: 29 Drives: sleepy forester Xt Rep Power: 14	Still a toss up for me right now STI hatch, Z, 5.0( or 04 cobra) and challanger for various reasons __________________

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07-01-2012, 09:30 PM	#10 (permalink)
bigsix A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Thailand Posts: 2,227 Drives: Honda City/Mazda 2 Rep Power: 19	The Mustang is a car I'd really like to test-drive in the near future> It has gotten so many good reviews in magazines in the past few years. Do you think you gotta have Rear wheel drive ? If so, you can leave out the Mitsubishi Evo. I drove an early 90's Mitsubishi Lancer that my Dad's girlfriend owned for awhile. The interior build was SO bad, pieces of trim would fall off nearly every week ! lol . . . The new Lancer is a bit better, but that's something that sticks in my mind about Lancers. I think Nissan has very good reliability, if not the best, out of the group of cars you test drove. I'd say wait and test drive the Scion FR-S/Subaru BR-Z and a Mazda MX-5. That could give you some contrast to the large muscle-car feel===