Scion's biggest enemy is their own dealerships.

[thill]

Originally Posted by BRZer86

Because a test drive consists of a 20 mile around the block cruise. I guess they (Toyota) forgot to bring back class to their dealerships when selling a TRUE sports car. I'm sorry I won't pay for a damn thing unless I know what I am getting.

If the dealer does not have a dedicated demo model, then I agree. Not letting someone test drive a close to $30K car is a no sale for me. I would just find another dealer.

That said, if the dealer demo was an automatic and I wanted to buy a manual, I would drive the automatic as my test drive and then tell them I need 5 miles or so in the manual to get a feel for the shifter and clutch but would put down a deposit. I don't think it is fair to log 20+ miles on a non-demo car if a demo car were available. I can usually tell within 5-10 miles if I like a car or not.. Sometimes I know just by driving it in the parking lot for a few minutes

[thill]

Originally Posted by NeedsmoreCowbell

My 5 last cars I purchased without a test drive. Either a friend or a friend of the family was working on the deal for me. Guess you could say I like to roll the dice and take a risk on not knowing if its going to work out. Personally to me a test drive does not matter if its a brand new car and I know what the said vehicles intended purpose is. If the numbers look good to me thats all I care about really. Otherwise why waste any time on a deal.

Everyone has different buying habits. What you have to do is find a dealership that will work with you. Very sorry to hear about what happened. Hope you find the peace you need in the automotive world

2013 FRS

2007 Audi A4

2006 VW GTI

2000 Dodge Dakota

1999 Camaro w/ TTOPS

All no test drive buys The only car I test drove was the VW Tiguan for the wife.

By the way I just noticed my car buying pattern. Fingers crossed I break the year mark lol





I see what you did there Half baked? In the LBC nahhhhhh

So do you buy a house without physically walking through it and just go off the pictures and the specs of the home?

[DantKR]

I also refuse to buy a car w/o a test drive. But I test drove the auto twice and was able to get a feel for the car overall. And found a manual BRZ limited and was able to tell within about 5 seconds I would love the clutch and shifting so I didn't take it very far(wanted to leave ASAP because we had 280 miles to drive back home).

[Ricochet48]

I understand the low allotment amounts for the first several months, but seriously....

When it comes down to it, we have a 200hp, 150tq fuel efficient, light, sporty, toyobaru. If a dealer looked me in the eye and said I couldn't test drive it, I would walk out.

I still do not like that people are being forced to pay msrp, which is why I am getting pushed further away from the car I have been following for over 3 years now. Now add that they will not even let you test drive it?! That's just too much.

I walked into a Nissan dealership and was given the keys of a 370z within minutes. Also people typically get them right at invoice, especially 2 years back when the economy was even worse. With options, the FRS/BRZ encroaches on the Z's base price tag, which although they are different markets, blah blah, will still push some people to switch/take another look.

[csbassplayer2003]

Originally Posted by Ricochet48

I understand the low allotment amounts for the first several months, but seriously....

When it comes down to it, we have a 200hp, 150tq fuel efficient, light, sporty, toyobaru. If a dealer looked me in the eye and said I couldn't test drive it, I would walk out.

I still do not like that people are being forced to pay msrp, which is why I am getting pushed further away from the car I have been following for over 3 years now. Now add that they will not even let you test drive it?! That's just too much.

I walked into a Nissan dealership and was given the keys of a 370z within minutes. Also people typically get them right at invoice, especially 2 years back when the economy was even worse. With options, the FRS/BRZ encroaches on the Z's base price tag, which although they are different markets, blah blah, will still push some people to switch/take another look.

This. Everyone is acting like MSRP is some sort of deal. It isn't. Pretty much in every other platform paying MSRP was considered a ripoff. With the markups (pretty wild) and the general crappy treatment of customers it is a wonder some of these places stay in business. It isn't like a metro area like STL (where I live) doesn't have about a dozen other dealerships. The other thing I don't get is the double standard of some of you. It is considered folly to buy a car without a test drive, but some of you are advocating the lowest possible mileage for your new cars. You had to have test driven someone else's car at some point unless you got lucky enough to test drive the exact configuration you wanted. Is the "I got mine with 5 miles" some sort of new competition?

As previously stated, a test drive doesn't have to be 20 miles of road racing. I could figure the car out in about 2 miles as long as there were some curvy roads, and not even at speed. Body roll, relation of the steering wheel to seat, and general comfort don't take many miles to figure out. And it was the ONLY FR-S on the lot. A demo model wouldn't have bothered me, and as previously stated, I wanted to drive a manual, but lack of availability, forced me to try on whatever was around to at least get a feel for the platform.

Ironically enough, I had the same experience test driving the 350z as well. They didn't raise much of a fuss as long as they had a copy of my drivers license. The salesman even encouraged me to take it on a back road to get a feel for the handling (not at high speed mind you). I don't get why the cheaper makes and models seem to be more stingy about such things?

[blu_]

Originally Posted by fistpoint

I have to disagree with you in regards to them not allowing a test drive...kudos to them. They apparently don't have a demo model, so why should they turn a new vehicle into one for you or anyone else?

That's fantastic that the eventual customer will come along that has driven one elsewhere, and came to purchase theirs that has NOT been test driven by every Tom, **** and Harry.

I will not buy an FR-s that has over 10 miles on it unless I'm the one who put them there. Yes it would have been nice if they let you test it, but at the same time it is even more nice that the purchaser will be buying as pristine an example as possible.

It is a good point. I have seen several people on this forum put upwards of 20 miles on the car they preordered only to walk away because of "financial reasons"(basically they never would have bought it good test drive or not). Or in another case they hated everything about the car (IMO if you hate everything about the car, how did it take you 20miles to realize this) I'm all for good customer service, but there are plenty of serial test drivers out there, who seem to just want to be able to do their little review of the car for the interwebs.

I drove my car 2-3 miles before I bought it and left the lot with 7miles on her.

[blu_]

As for MSRP not being a good deal. The car has been out for 1 month. If you can't wait for a few months for supply to build and hype to die, then you are just acting entitled IMO.

[csbassplayer2003]

Originally Posted by blu_

As for MSRP not being a good deal. The car has been out for 1 month. If you can't wait for a few months for supply to build and hype to die, then you are just acting entitled IMO.

I most certainly can wait to buy at below MSRP. The idea was to determine if this car was worth considering, or should I move on to others on my list. If you notice, most of the cars on my list are at almost the same price point.

[blu_]

Originally Posted by csbassplayer2003

I most certainly can wait to buy at below MSRP. The idea was to determine if this car was worth considering, or should I move on to others on my list. If you notice, most of the cars on my list are at almost the same price point.

I think by mid summer it should be easy enough to find a dealer with one you can test drive (not that its impossible now) and by the end of summer you should be able to start getting them below MSRP. I think of the cars you listed, this is worth considering. I certainly like mine.

FWIW I've never paid MSRP for a car before this one, but TBH at the time and given the market for a brand new hyped car MSRP WAS A GOOD DEAL.

[fistpoint]

The only time I have seen Scion's below MSRP is when they are moving last years model out. That's how it is with at least a couple of my local dealers.

[HotLava]

Well, there are 1400 Toyota dealers in the US. If they're bringing in 20,000 FR-S cars into the US for 2013 model year thats not a lot of cars per month per dealer. In 2005-2006 Ford was making about 25k of Mustangs per month! But I think you guys are right about one thing: in a couple of months I think they will keep at least one in stock for test drives. I have a relative who said his local Subaru dealer is getting only ONE BRZ for the entire year because it's a small dealership. That's just crazy. I bought an FR-S. But I'm really irked with Subaru. It's like they don't want my money!

I'll add one more thing. When the 'new' Mustang arrived in 2005 a lot of people had to wait months to get a manual GT because they only built them in batches and the V-6 was very popular so Ford produced more of those. Around mid 2006 the Mustang 'craze' had died down and production and ordering were normal. I was very lucky and walked into a dealer and got my Hot Lava FR-S because everyone on the waiting list wanted black, white or another color. There was no one on a waiting list for Hot Lava. But if I couldn't get a Hot Lava I just would have ordered one and waited a few months for it to be made. No big deal.

[MVJ1975]

If you are waiting to pay less than MSRP for this car you might as well go buy the 370Z. You will be waiting a very long time.

[Boosted2.0]

Not all dealers are like that. When I went to buy my FR-S the salesman (Bibin Thomas) at Ft. Bend Toyota had the car ready for me to look at and let me take it for a test drive. Mind you I already had an hour or so of seat time in a couple different FR-Ss from training at that point, but I was very pleased that he offered it up and I graciously accepted. I don't buy cars without driving them.

[barney]

Agreed - not all dealers are like that. My wife works for a Toyota/Lexus/Scion dealer as a manager. Earlier this month they got their initial allotment of three FR-S's. Two were pre-sold; the other was meant to be a demo from the outset. They realized that demand would exceed supply and most dealers would indeed sell out their allotments and that, more importantly, people would want to test drive the car prior to purchase. And for what its worth, my wife ensured both pre-orderers (that's not a word, right?) that they were expected to try the car before taking delivery and if they didn't like it, their deposits would be refunded no questions asked.