AK350Z Posted April 26, 2012 Share Posted April 26, 2012 Just dropped off the trusty Grande Punto work-mobile at the Fiat garage for a service this morning, I enquired as to the possibility of getting a Twinair engined vehicle for the courtesy car. The initial phonecall had been fairly positive, but today I was informed that I could only take the (500) twinair for a normal test drive, and an accompanied one at that! The coursesy car was just a boggo 1.2 Panda. Now then, when I was looking to buy the zed, the Nissan dealer basically gave me the keys to to a nigh-on 300hp sports car and asked how many hours I wanted it for! It just seems ridiculous to me that it doesn't work that way for a wee fiat with 85hp... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ebized Posted April 26, 2012 Share Posted April 26, 2012 They know what else you drive and are worried you try to see if the twinair will go as fast Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EH 370z Posted April 26, 2012 Share Posted April 26, 2012 Just dropped off the trusty Grande Punto work-mobile at the Fiat garage for a service this morning, I enquired as to the possibility of getting a Twinair engined vehicle for the courtesy car. The initial phonecall had been fairly positive, but today I was informed that I could only take the (500) twinair for a normal test drive, and an accompanied one at that! The coursesy car was just a boggo 1.2 Panda. Now then, when I was looking to buy the zed, the Nissan dealer basically gave me the keys to to a nigh-on 300hp sports car and asked how many hours I wanted it for! It just seems ridiculous to me that it doesn't work that way for a wee fiat with 85hp... Depends on the company policy and the insurance: ie When I was at Audi, we used to chuck the keys a clients and ask when would they be back with it! At Merc I would only be allowed to do this for an existing customer At Nissan very rarely would this happen at all 99% were accompanied... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK350Z Posted April 26, 2012 Author Share Posted April 26, 2012 They know what else you drive and are worried you try to see if the twinair will go as fast As if Colin! The actual purpose of the enquiry is to try the engine out, as there are rumours the new Panda 4x4 will be offered with it this winter, which would make it veeeery interesting to us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparky370z Posted April 26, 2012 Share Posted April 26, 2012 when i test drove my ST the dealer was a total arse. he wanted to take me for literally a 5 min drive of which he drove for 2 mins. when i said do one. i want a proper test drive and i'll go where i want, he got proper arsey. just despite him i took it out for almost 45 mins. and went on all of the little back roads. took her down the "mad mile" and opened her up. to his total dismay!! was quite funny really. he was pretty pi**ed when we go back. i could see he was talking to his colleges about me. but i had the last laugh. i walked out to test drove another couple but went back the next day when he was off and bought it from another salesman!!!! with the Zed the geezer (although he was a total prat) said take it out for as long as you like, there was half a tank of fuel. took it out for about an hour and a half. my dad loved being a passenger.......NOT!!!! LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neilp Posted April 26, 2012 Share Posted April 26, 2012 I was 22 and chucked the keys of the 370z when mines was in for a service. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK350Z Posted April 26, 2012 Author Share Posted April 26, 2012 I was 22 and chucked the keys of the 370z when mines was in for a service. What did the owner think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris`I Posted April 26, 2012 Share Posted April 26, 2012 As Toby says its all down to the policy of the dealership you are at. When I test drove a 370z we had to go on a specific route so that the sales manager knew how long we'd be and where we'd be if we went missing. Needless to say, we took a wee detour but still made it back in the alotted time. The girl from sales what accompanied me said it was nice to see what the car could really do down those roads When we test drove the Alfa, we signed a chitty of paper and took it away for the weekend, just asked to replace the fuel we'd used if we used more than half a tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spursmaddave Posted April 26, 2012 Share Posted April 26, 2012 As Toby says its all down to the policy of the dealership you are at. When I test drove a 370z we had to go on a specific route so that the sales manager knew how long we'd be and where we'd be if we went missing. Needless to say, we took a wee detour but still made it back in the alotted time. The girl from sales what accompanied me said it was nice to see what the car could really do down those roads When we test drove the Alfa, we signed a chitty of paper and took it away for the weekend, just asked to replace the fuel we'd used if we used more than half a tank. 2 reasons why ex demo cars are usually quite cheap Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rabbitstew Posted April 26, 2012 Share Posted April 26, 2012 All depends on the garage. I test drove 2 zeds when I bought mine and in both occasions the salesman would not let me out on my own. Earlier in the year we bought a new Nissan Juke and that was the same, last year we bought a crappy old £2500 shed from a garage and that was the same. However a couple of years before that when we were looking at new cars, Seat, VW and Renault all let us out in their demo cars on our own. In the end we bought a brand new Renault Clio Dynamique S. I also remember back in 2001 i think, i test drove a Lotus Elise and the guy gave me the keys and said come back in an hour. I was back within about 20minutes I think as I was so disappointed in it. It was so slow and sluggish I wondered if it was broken. Around the same year I looked at a M3 Evolution which was up for 26grand at a BMW dealer and they joined me on the test drive and even then only let me drive it for about 10 minutes. Audi were the same. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarnie Posted April 26, 2012 Share Posted April 26, 2012 Just dropped off the trusty Grande Punto work-mobile at the Fiat garage for a service this morning, I enquired as to the possibility of getting a Twinair engined vehicle for the courtesy car. The initial phonecall had been fairly positive, but today I was informed that I could only take the (500) twinair for a normal test drive, and an accompanied one at that! The coursesy car was just a boggo 1.2 Panda. Now then, when I was looking to buy the zed, the Nissan dealer basically gave me the keys to to a nigh-on 300hp sports car and asked how many hours I wanted it for! It just seems ridiculous to me that it doesn't work that way for a wee fiat with 85hp... Depends on the company policy and the insurance: ie When I was at Audi, we used to chuck the keys a clients and ask when would they be back with it! At Merc I would only be allowed to do this for an existing customer At Nissan very rarely would this happen at all 99% were accompanied... I find this quite odd too. Nissan sent me a flyer for a roadster so i phoned them and said I was potentially interested and would like to have one for a weekend as I'd never had a roadster and wanted to see if I could live with one. The line went quiet until he said "I'm sorry but it will be an accompany'd test drive and only up and down the dual carriageway that surrounds the dealership". I told them to forget it, I wasn't going to fork out thousands of pounds based on a 5 minute test drive on a dual carriageway. Conversely, Lambo Brum offered me a Gallardo Spyder for the weekend as long as I covered the petrol and put it on my insurance.......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ebized Posted April 26, 2012 Share Posted April 26, 2012 Lambo Brum couldn't have heard about your test dive history Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris`I Posted April 26, 2012 Share Posted April 26, 2012 Lambo Brum couldn't have heard about your test dive history I think it was after that test drive that they black listed him Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MFM Posted April 26, 2012 Share Posted April 26, 2012 What do people do when they are selling their car private as I am? The penny dropped with me a few days ago after someone had come to view and drive the car that their insurance would have only been 3rd party so if they bent the car I would be f..........d. Someone is coming tomorrow and I have asked them to get temporary comprehensive cover and bring the certificate which they have confirmed they have got and will bring. I will go with him and he can drive as long he likes. So what do other people do allowing test drives? Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rabbitstew Posted April 26, 2012 Share Posted April 26, 2012 What do people do when they are selling their car private as I am? The penny dropped with me a few days ago after someone had come to view and drive the car that their insurance would have only been 3rd party so if they bent the car I would be f..........d. Someone is coming tomorrow and I have asked them to get temporary comprehensive cover and bring the certificate which they have confirmed they have got and will bring. I will go with him and he can drive as long he likes. So what do other people do allowing test drives? Mike I dont allow people to testdrive unless they can prove they have fully comp insurance. Even then I would go with them. Normally however, with most cars ive sold recently ive just taken the person for a spin in it myself and thats been enough for them to decide to buy the car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JetSet Posted April 26, 2012 Share Posted April 26, 2012 I'm going back a few years now, but a mate of mine had an Alfasud that was written off by a guy taking it for an accompanied test drive, went straight through a fence and into a field up on Flint mountain. As for my own experiences I don't think I've had that many test drives, when I drove The Zed I have now the salesman came with me...the first one I drove back in January 2006 was a Chilli Red demo Pete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MFM Posted April 26, 2012 Share Posted April 26, 2012 I'm going back a few years now, but a mate of mine had an Alfasud that was written off by a guy taking it for an accompanied test drive, went straight through a fence and into a field up on Flint mountain. As for my own experiences I don't think I've had that many test drives, when I drove The Zed I have now the salesman came with me...the first one I drove back in January 2006 was a Chilli Red demo Pete Hmm exactly I am not a good passenger and watching someone drive my car is like watching someone fiddling with my wife Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neilp Posted April 26, 2012 Share Posted April 26, 2012 I'm going back a few years now, but a mate of mine had an Alfasud that was written off by a guy taking it for an accompanied test drive, went straight through a fence and into a field up on Flint mountain. As for my own experiences I don't think I've had that many test drives, when I drove The Zed I have now the salesman came with me...the first one I drove back in January 2006 was a Chilli Red demo Pete Hmm exactly I am not a good passenger and watching someone drive my car is like watching someone fiddling with my wife Mike Somebody's got to do it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Posted April 26, 2012 Share Posted April 26, 2012 The only place I ever had an issue with a test drive was with Seat when I bought my Cupra. They kept trying to talk me into a 1.2 & tried telling me the Cupra was too expensive for me I think the garage I looked at the Maserati gave the best service, they let me get on with it & I got a decent drive out of it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MFM Posted April 26, 2012 Share Posted April 26, 2012 Somebody's got to do it Yes it is me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geordielad87 Posted April 26, 2012 Share Posted April 26, 2012 Last weekend I went to 3 garages to try test drive a Z but failed at everyone as they firstly asked how much I was willing to pay a month, worked it out and decided they were out of my price range. Finally found a garage that let me take 1 for a spin no bother Same thing happened when my lass was looking for her Citroen Ds3, Citroen wouldnt even let her test drive 1 until she signed the finance agreement!! Ended up getting 1 from fiat who hoyed the keys at her when we asked for test drive and even gave us money to put fuel in Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted April 27, 2012 Share Posted April 27, 2012 Last weekend I went to 3 garages to try test drive a Z but failed at everyone as they firstly asked how much I was willing to pay a month, worked it out and decided they were out of my price range. Surely at that point you just lie? Why on earth would you tell the truth??!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Posted April 27, 2012 Share Posted April 27, 2012 Last weekend I went to 3 garages to try test drive a Z but failed at everyone as they firstly asked how much I was willing to pay a month, worked it out and decided they were out of my price range. Surely at that point you just lie? Why on earth would you tell the truth??!! +1 You just agree with them & after the test drive tell them its not the car for you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris`I Posted April 27, 2012 Share Posted April 27, 2012 Last weekend I went to 3 garages to try test drive a Z but failed at everyone as they firstly asked how much I was willing to pay a month, worked it out and decided they were out of my price range. Surely at that point you just lie? Why on earth would you tell the truth??!! +1 You just agree with them & after the test drive tell them its not the car for you This. I tell them I can buy it outright but would prefer to finance it. This is their dream as they know they can make the sale and also a bit extra on the finance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Builder49 Posted April 27, 2012 Share Posted April 27, 2012 Hmm exactly I am not a good passenger and watching someone drive my car is like watching someone fiddling with my wife Mike You've watched? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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