test drives - anyone been able to score one w/o a deposit or guaranteeing purchase?

[KRAZYK]

About a month ago the girlfriend and I called every Toyota dealership in the DFW area.. something like 10 of them.. and only found 2 places that had an FRS on the lot. Showed up to the first one and as the salesman was bringing the keys out to let us drive it - the owner of the FRS showed up to finish up his paper work and drive it home, so missed that one by maybe 10 mins.

Only other FRS in town was about 20 mins away so we went over there.. same story.. Car was sold but pending some final paper work. The dealer let us drive it, no deposit or anything just your normal test drive.

I have a feeling that if the dealer is insisting on a down payment or a deposit before a test drive.. you are probably pretty young.. maybe around the 18 age range and the dealer doesn't want to give out joy rides to people who are not serious about buying.

[brufleth]

I'm surprised so many people had such an easy time of it. They were hesitant to even unlock the BRZ they had in the showroom of a large Subaru dealership south of Boston. They didn't even want us sitting in it. I was there with my wife just to have a look. Eventually they unlocked it but you'd think it was a half million dollar gold and diamond encrusted super car.

This was from a dealership we've bought two cars from and had tons of service work performed at. Even talked to the dealer my wife got her car from. We made it pretty clear we were almost definitely going to be buying a BRZ (which is true).

No test drives.

[Wolfking]

After trying to complete a deal on a Black FRS at a local dealer, they screwed around and someone purchased my Black FRS. Long story! Last sunday I was surfing the net while still a little intoxicated. I found a local dealer listing FRS in stock. I called thinking it was another fruitless search. I called and the salesman told me he had an Asphalt in stock and somehow I thought it would be an auto transmission...when he told me it was a 6mt, I replied "I'll see you in an hour!" The rest is history!

[Tman08]

Originally Posted by fiveoneoh

well i have tried to explain why i absolutely must test drive first, and they keep giving me the runaround, "limited production, high demand, corporate won't let us give test drives"

not really sure what to do =\

based on responses thus far, seems like those who got test drives live out in the middle of nowhere (no offense) so maybe demand isn't that high in those areas

Best bet is to just call around asking if they offer test drives. I went on google maps and located all the dealers around me and called. There was one next to my work that offered test drives (even told me to red line it if I wanted), but only did it once during the drive.

Thing is, I didn't plan on buying at the time and just wanted to finally test drive one of these cars. Depending on the salesman, I suggest telling them you are split between the BRZ and FRS and want to test it first...or something that shows interest in another car.

[fiveoneoh]

What a jerk, letting someone test drive a car that has already been purchased!

Originally Posted by KRAZYK

About a month ago the girlfriend and I called every Toyota dealership in the DFW area.. something like 10 of them.. and only found 2 places that had an FRS on the lot. Showed up to the first one and as the salesman was bringing the keys out to let us drive it - the owner of the FRS showed up to finish up his paper work and drive it home, so missed that one by maybe 10 mins.

Only other FRS in town was about 20 mins away so we went over there.. same story.. Car was sold but pending some final paper work. The dealer let us drive it, no deposit or anything just your normal test drive.

I have a feeling that if the dealer is insisting on a down payment or a deposit before a test drive.. you are probably pretty young.. maybe around the 18 age range and the dealer doesn't want to give out joy rides to people who are not serious about buying.

[Propaganda]

I went to Muller toyota/scion in clinton, nj.... VERY UNPROFESSIONAL. I had called ahead, drove 45 minutes and was rushed off the lot, barely got a chance to look at the car. Salesman was repeatedly telling me he was busy with another customer and would not refer me to another salesman. Car was an auto and was marked up $3k ....yeah right. All those sealed the deal that I would never go there again. Ever.

Went to another dealer, with a scheduled test drive for a MT, but it got sold out 4 hours before my appointment ... decided to just go ahead and buy one anyway. Came back a week later to test drive an auto that came in. That ended up making my wait that much worse. There was a whiteout in Boston that they were trying to get, but it was sold and was never listed as such in the system. The wait continues....


I've also gotten to test drive several Lexuses and an evo x without any hassle or license check. Only had a problem at the first dealer I mentioned.

[TRD_86]

Originally Posted by imravenit

Got a call that theres a virgin raven frs came in with 0 miles after there business hours.. test drove the car signed papers no down and drove the car home same night. Norwalk Toyota!

Yes, this is how you buy the new 86 legend !

[Smitty_89]

Originally Posted by sho220

And this is why I fall on the other side of this argument...I don't want a bunch of people with no intent to buy, "ripping" on a car I may be looking at buying...

Come on man, I wouldn't do that. Their test drive car was just that, a test drive car. It had nearly 500 miles on it when I test drove it. It is strictly their display car and its not for sale. All the other FRS's that come in to their dealership are already called for so they needed something on the lot at all times to show. I know all this because I put down a deposit at the exact same dealership with the exact same salesman.

[Perastis]

Got mine without deposit. Was sitting there on the lot due to someone ordering it and backing out on it. My buddy said let's look at it since I needed a new car. So we looked at it, test drove it and I was in love. Got financed that night. Drove it off the next day. I got lucky though.

Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk

[Gaiakai]

Test drove mine without a deposit, even after I told my sales rep that I wouldn't be buying that particular car because I was looking for a Firestorm 6MT. Handed me the keys to test drive when I dropped by 2 hours later. Wasn't in the middle of nowhere either

Oh and this was about two months ago, when Scion had just finished delivering the First 86 - so the "high demand" argument could definitely have been made. Hell the very car I test drove was sold 45mins later (not a pre-ordered car) lol

Power Toyota at the Cerritos Auto Square

[rikdrt1]

its Doable. i put no deposit down (after asking for one in may2012) and dealer found me MT RAVEN + they had also AT Firestorm - ended up driving both for 45min and decided i liked the AT but in Raven -- walked away and got lucky since the nearby dealer had what i wanted.

[FLIPs_FR-S]

Went in on June 3rd only to check and see if my local Toyota dealership even had any FR-S. They had 2, 1 Raven AT and 1 Asphalt MT. Test drove the AT. Showed up Monday June 4th after work signed papers and drove home with mine after only 45 minutes. Traded in my 2001 Tacoma Pre-Runner.