Scion's biggest enemy is their own dealerships.

[csbassplayer2003]

Ive been lurking in these forums for some time watching the excitement of this car coming to release, but I didn't really have much to say until today.

I really don't understand what these dealerships are trying to accomplish by lying to their consumers. And it isn't just Scion per se, as others have done it before, but Scion is the most recent.

I went to the local Toyota/Scion dealership that had just gotten two FR-Ss, one silver, one Firestorm, both automatics. I first inquired when they might have a manual. The salesman said he really didn't know, but he did know that those were the only two they were getting for some time unless I wanted to order one. I came back 2 days later after attempting to find a manual one in the local area to check out one of the ones they had so I at least could figure out if I was genuinely interested in the car.

Disclosure: I fully plan on buying a car in the next few months, but I want to test drive all of the cars on my list first.

They are: 2013 Genesis Coupe 2.0t (driven)
2011+ Mustang V6 (driven)
2012 Mazda MX-5 Hard top (driven)
2013 FR-S (not driven)
2013 Hyundai Veloster Turbo (not driven
2013 Ford Focus ST (not driven)

Yes, I am very much in the low to mid 20's speed/performance category.

I arrived at the dealership to find one of the FR-Ss had sold (the red one), no big, I was more interesting in what the platform had to offer. So I was approached by a salesman and we chatted a bit and grabbed the keys to the silver one, he opened the car up for me. As I was climbing into the driver's seat, he said "btw we aren't taking this car out on the road". I proceeded to ask him why not? "Well we don't want to rack up the mileage for the person who is going to buy it". I asked if it was sold. He said no. Is there a sale pending? "No". Has anyone else expressed interest? "No". I then asked him "how am I supposed to determine if I like the car if I cannot drive it?". He said "once the money is on the table, then we let you drive it". I proceeded to say that that was unacceptable. And I am not putting any money on the table for an unknown quantity. He said "well it will sell for the price we have listed, so we aren't going to drive it". I told him "I understand that you can't let every 19 year old kid who thinks it looks cool to joyride in it, but no consumer with half a brain buys a car and THEN gets to drive it". He proceeded to say "well we don't care if they are 19 or 65, this thing is rare and we need to see money first". I told him it was rare for this month, and then as rare as any other mass produced Toyota in the following months. I then glanced at the odometer. It had 22 miles on it. I asked him, so you deffinately aren't driving it eh? "No". "Well who put the extra miles on it?". "Well the technicians needed to drive it to get a feel for the car". I just smiled with a "mmhmm" and I then left. I'm sure those young mechanics were most certainly treating the vehicle like the delicate flower the salesman was trying to make it seem like....

Here is what I don't get. The insistance of these dealerships that when they get a new somewhat sporty model no one drives it until it is sold/paid for first. Ford was no different when the Shelby came out. I have gotten a test drive in a 335i and 135i without so much as a hiccup, and I didn't joyride either even though I didn't buy them (truth be told I wanted the 135 bad, but the repair bills worried me for a turbo German car), but a 25k Toyota is now somehow some sort of mythical beast? Also, somehow the "these are rare" myth persists, even though we know how many of them are going to be here by year's end. How on earth is someone supposed to know if a vehicle is worth their time and money, if they can't test drive it? Pay and pray? Why is it the Merc dealer is more willing to let me check out his 100k SLK before the Ford dealer will even open the door for the Shelby?

I am legitmately interested in this car, because I am in love with the MX-5. I just can't make it work because I can't fit a guitar or a rifle case in it. On pure driving credentials, the MX is the clear winner. When I factor in practicality, the Mustang wins. I am hoping the FR-S is the MX5 +2 that I am hoping for that has just enough room for a decent sized guitar case, but these dealerships, my current experience and stories of rediculous antics and markups is off-putting for those who are normal non fanboy, educated consumers. The only other dealership in the area, listed 13 of them on it's website. I went there yesterday hoping to see a nice assortment of the various colors and such, as it turns out, they had ONE hot lava automatic, the rest were "their projected allocation" for the next 4 months. Seriously? Can they even do that?

/rant

TL,DR Scion dealers because they are Toyota salesmen are leaving a sour taste in the fanbase who are legitimately interested in this car by employing the usual deceptive dealer tactics.

[Linseal]

I guess I just have an awesome dealership. hope you find what you're looking for.

[Hanakuso]

Funny how they mentioned it's rare. What do you except, it's been offically out for a week! Give it a year or so and we'll see about the rarity of this car

but yeah, it's not only scion dealerships. All car brands have bad dealerships

[K2]

I have emailed the promoter and have been told there will be a FR-S First Drive event in Chicago on June 30-July 1. Don't know where yet but I'll post when I find out if someone doesn't beat me to it. It may not be as good as a real test drive, but it will be seat time in and AT FR-S.

[flameSniper]

Sorry to hear that you're going through this. It seems in general not many Dealerships know what's going on in the first place and so it does seem like we're chasing a Unicorn here. I drive every day and haven't even seen any FR-S on the road and I'm traversing the most popular freeways in LA. I put money down (refundable) and have no clue when my car will be in...only that I am on the wait list and the dealer is expecting another allocation soon.

[homero]

same thing with chevy, a few years back i really wanted a camaro so i went to test drive it, they didnt let me drive the SS, just a 1LS, i went to bmw, infiniti, n merc, n i got to drive their 135i, g37 and c350 no problem.

[Doji Style]

The dealership that sold me mine not only let me drive it, they brought it off the show room floor to do so. And leading up to that moment, both parties knew I wasn't there to buy that one as I wanted to wait for a white one.

It sucks that you had to deal with that, some of the dealerships here in AZ even have demo units on the lot. I know for certain Avondale Scion has one that they will let you beat the piss out of, and the sales manager has been taking it home every night for the last week.

[Vracer111]

Wow, they won't even let you drive it without buying it?! When I looked for mine I made a list of all the dealers in Texas with manual transmissions in any color not black and called the few closest to me. The cars weren't in yet but they called me the next day when they arrived and let me come in to test drive. All you can do is look online for all the Toyota/Scion dealerships in your area with FR-S's and call around to try and schedule a test drive hopefully...

As far as a gun case goes...the Factory case for my Sig 522 just barely fits in the rear space...perfectly snug in place right across the trunk opening like it was made for it - but you can only get it into the snug position with the rear seatback down and moving it diagonally across the towards the trunk opening. Case outer dimension are 48 3/4" L x 11 3/4" W x 4 3/8" H. With the rear seats down there is lots of room. Guitar case no problem either, just checked a full size acoustic case and had to put the rear seat down to get it in, but once in and the rear seat locked back in place there was still plenty of room in the trunk for other stuff with the guitar case.

I would say right now you are in love with the MX-5 because you haven't driven an FR-S yet! And unlike a miata, the FR-S is comfortable for a regular size human being to drive.... the seats, steering wheel, and MT shifter = perfect positioning! Once you drive an FR-S I don't think you'd go back to an MX-5, it delivers driving joy beyond that of a Miata to me (I like cars as sensitive and quick to respond as possible - the less input I have to do with a precise desired output from the vehicle the better.)

[csbassplayer2003]

I don't have much need for cargo hauling, but i do need to be able to haul stuff for my hobbies.

Do these dealerships seriously think they are doing themselves any favors by pulling this crap? Do they inspire any brand enthusiasm or loyalty? I still have the business card of the guy I test drove the 2011 Mustang V6 PP with (back in 2010 when it was brand spanking new) and if I were to buy today he'd get first crack at making a deal if I bought one. I also have the cards of the guy I test drove the Genesis, the 135i and the MX5 as well. Im not going to let them rip me off, but they would get first chance at making the sale for those vehicles as I was treated well, and they gave me proper test drive time. I know these are for profit entities, but I work in customer service (delivery specifically) for a furniture company chain which moves millions of inventory a month, and repeat business is always weighed in to any sort of business/customer relationship, even if you take a small profit hit in the short term.

[Shagaliscious]

Originally Posted by csbassplayer2003

I don't have much need for cargo hauling, but i do need to be able to haul stuff for my hobbies.

Do these dealerships seriously think they are doing themselves any favors by pulling this crap? Do they inspire any brand enthusiasm or loyalty? I still have the business card of the guy I test drove the 2011 Mustang V6 PP with (back in 2010 when it was brand spanking new) and if I were to buy today he'd get first crack at making a deal if I bought one. I also have the cards of the guy I test drove the Genesis, the 135i and the MX5 as well. Im not going to let them rip me off, but they would get first chance at making the sale for those vehicles as I was treated well, and they gave me proper test drive time. I know these are for profit entities, but I work in customer service (delivery specifically) for a furniture company chain which moves millions of inventory a month, and repeat business is always weighed in to any sort of business/customer relationship, even if you take a small profit hit in the short term.

Some salesman just don't understand good business/customer relationships. Just stay away from that dealership, they clearly employ idiots.

[Celicadude]

I had the same issue when I went to go look at one. I'm with you one this one I'm not buying/signing jack until I test drive. But I also see the dealers perspective. All anyone keeps talking about is how well it drives, and the last thing they need is for some idiot to go in there turn off the traction control and wreck as soon as the hit the first turn because they think they're the "drift king". Hell even at the scion drive event I went too a couple of weeks ago they had the traction control button sealed off so you couldn't get to them, so even SCION HQ has this concern. Plus you gotta realize, this is the easily first "nice" car SCION has ever had. And as such these dealers have no idea what to do with car, probably even forgot how to sell cars they're so dumbstruck. Hell I remember this one time I went to a SCION dealer months before this car came out, to look around and get some info on the FRS, and I swear to you it looked like a scene out of that movie The Goods. I never seen so many hungry salesmen in my life. Every five seconds there was someone asking me if I wanted to see a car, what car do i drive, blah blah blah. At one point one salesman got mad at another because he thought he was snaking his deal. So I snuck out while they were arguing. It was a sad sight to see. So you can see how these guys are going crazy, now that people are even interested in this car (that song Jizz in my pants comes to mind). Now does it mean they have to act like this 26k car is a Ferrari or something. No. But give it some time for the hype to die down, and you should be able to walk in and test drive one no problem. These are not going to be super rare like they are claiming, Toyota/Scion want money and this is their saving grace. They'll make sure they meet demand.

[Symbiont]

The salespeople/manager at the Scion dealership I tried to go through originally lost a sale from me, as well.

Not only that, but I won't go back to that dealership again in the future when it's time for my girlfriend to replace her CX-7. They'd be lucky if I even considered the brand.

[mact]

I was at the Subaru dealership talking with a sales guy about one of the last BRZ's they sold and he accidentally admitted that they and the Scion dealer were having "fun" with the BRZ and an FR-S behind the Scion dealer... -_-

The odometer might only say 5 miles, but it makes me shiver to think what kind of miles those were.

[DieDriving]

Oh yea the frustration....I had a dealer went as far as saying "we can't sell you this FRS unless you have a trade in"....I basically told them to f@ck off....