teased & unpleased

[DanoFA20]

Originally Posted by JERZgrl88

Oh yes & totally not disowning the auto. I just prefer the manual, for my preference. Who knows maybe that will all change after the test drive

the auto is nice...
but its still autotragic.

id say nothing beats the feeling connected to the road more than a manual gearbox.

[Slartibartfast]

We have two automatics available to drive without a deposit (we just sold our manual demo), and I'd let you drive my manual if you wanted to. Only a few hours of driving for you to get to my dealership. Ok... Maybe more than just a few, I'm an hour west of Toronto, but the offer still stands. Don't have to sign anything with us.

[ill86]

Originally Posted by sho220

How would they know you're serious then? Me thinks that's where the $$$ comes in...otherwise it would go down like this...

Salesman: Are you a serious buyer?
Customer: Umm...yeah!

I've sold so much crap on CL, ebay, want ads to know that no one, NO ONE is a serious buyer until they are standing in front of you and you see the money...

Not my car buying experience. Ever.

FR-S:
I called the dealership & told them I was interested.
Arrived 15 minutes before closing.
Test drove immediately after exiting my vehicle.
Returned from test drive ten minutes later.
Did paperwork.
Drove off the lot. Total time invested, 1.5 hours.
No deposit, waiting list, no "show me the money" attitude before the test drive.

I can certainly understand a dealer not taking someone serious and denyng, or dancing around, a test drive. It happens for all makes. I've bought several new cars and have never had a hard time scheduling a test drive. YMMV.

Hope the OP gets an oppurtunity to test drive soon..

Peace.

Ps.. I've sold a ton of stuff on eBay too and I consider them a serious buyer when I receive the funds. I don't require them to be standing in front of me waving money. I have no idea how this relates to the topic however.

[sho220]

Originally Posted by ill86

Not my car buying experience. Ever.

FR-S:
I called the dealership & told them I was interested.
Arrived 15 minutes before closing.
Test drove immediately after exiting my vehicle.
Returned from test drive ten minutes later.
Did paperwork.
Drove off the lot. Total time invested, 1.5 hours.
No deposit, waiting list, no "show me the money" attitude before the test drive.

I can certainly understand a dealer not taking someone serious and denyng, or dancing around, a test drive. It happens for all makes. I've bought several new cars and have never had a hard time scheduling a test drive. YMMV.

Hope the OP gets an oppurtunity to test drive soon..

Peace.

Ps.. I've sold a ton of stuff on eBay too and I consider them a serious buyer when I receive the funds. I don't require them to be standing in front of me waving money. I have no idea how this relates to the topic however.

I've never had any problems with dealers not letting me take test drives either. And you never answered the question...

It can be a sticky situation...you may piss people off asking for a small deposit, or you can take the chance of wasting your time trying to sell a car to someone who has no intention of buying it, or can't afford it...

If someone is seriously interested, I don't see the problem with a small deposit. If anything, that hints that the car may not have been ragged on during test drives...aka joy rides...

[jm1681]

It's kind of funny, I walked into the dealer I ended up buying from, and like I complete ass, told the nearest salesperson, "I really want an FR-S". He looked at me like I had ten heads, but in five minutes I had keys to both manual AND automatic cars.

I just find it insane that a dealer wouldn't let you drive the thing without being "serious". I can't even count all the random test drives I've taken just because I was bored on a Tuesday night.

On another note, I really hope you can get yourself in one of these cars OP You will not be disappointed

[jarviz]

Originally Posted by @Art_Mighty

Don't knock it until you try it. For a planetary gearset transmission with a torque converter, it's unbelievably good.

When you test drive it, put the transmission in sport mode and manually shift...

Just curious - I've never driven a car with paddle shifters, Do you switch gears simply by hitting the paddles or is there a clutch that you need to use as well?

how do you heel toe in one of these...or you can't?

[n2oinferno]

Originally Posted by jarviz

Just curious - I've never driven a car with paddle shifters, Do you switch gears simply by hitting the paddles or is there a clutch that you need to use as well?

how do you heel toe in one of these...or you can't?

There's no clutch, so no heel toe.

[einzlr]

Originally Posted by jarviz

Just curious - I've never driven a car with paddle shifters, Do you switch gears simply by hitting the paddles or is there a clutch that you need to use as well?

how do you heel toe in one of these...or you can't?

what @n2oinferno said (actually, there *is* a clutch (sometimes two), but no clutch pedal; the car works the clutch for you), and yeah "hitting" the paddle is pretty much it, although I wouldn't describe it as "hit". There are different paddle configurations. Some paddles you pull towards you, others you push away; sometimes one paddle is for upshift, the other for downshift; other times pull is up, push is down, and so on. There's a lag between when you actuate the paddle and when the shift actually happens; with some transmissions it's significant ... and annoying.

[JERZgrl88]

Originally Posted by einzlr

what @n2oinferno said (actually, there *is* a clutch (sometimes two), but no clutch pedal; the car works the clutch for you), and yeah "hitting" the paddle is pretty much it, although I wouldn't describe it as "hit". There are different paddle configurations. Some paddles you pull towards you, others you push away; sometimes one paddle is for upshift, the other for downshift; other times pull is up, push is down, and so on. There's a lag between when you actuate the paddle and when the shift actually happens; with some transmissions it's significant ... and annoying.

I never really experienced a paddle shifter before when driving...except one time in my friend's X5 for about a mile or two. I feel like I would be intimated by this feature but once I'd get the hang of it things would be good. I just don't see the point, rather drive a manual. What is do you guys think is the ultimate best way to go? I have no room to judge until I get familiar with both options.

[ExWhyZer0]

^^^ As much as I hate to be the bearer of bad news...find a way to make a couple of test drives happen somewhere and see which one you prefer.

[einzlr]

Originally Posted by JERZgrl88

I never really experienced a paddle shifter before when driving...except one time in my friend's X5 for about a mile or two. I feel like I would be intimated by this feature but once I'd get the hang of it things would be good. I just don't see the point, rather drive a manual. What is do you guys think is the ultimate best way to go? I have no room to judge until I get familiar with both options.

Like @ExWhyZer0 said, there is no "best" in absolute terms; you have to decide what works best for *you*. See if your friend will let you take the X5 for a longer drive. Test drive some other cars with paddles. There are lots of them these days; lol one I know offhand is the VW Eos, or the BMW E92 M3. Also, find someone to teach you to drive stick. A few people on here have reported that *dealers* have offered to teach them (no kidding!) when that was what was holding them back from buying this or that model. Or find some local meets and get to know people; someone might be interested in teaching you.

edit: the "point" of paddles is (a) that's what race cars have so it must be cool; (b) assuming an amazing awesome transmission, shifts can be faster; (c) you can pick your own gears without having to learn to work the clutch; (d) in some cars (e.g. the Nissan 370z) they build in rev matching so you can be an expert without having to actually learn heel-toe. There might be other reasons that other people can think of to add.

[JERZgrl88]

Originally Posted by einzlr

Also, find someone to teach you to drive stick. A few people on here have reported that *dealers* have offered to teach them (no kidding!) when that was what was holding them back from buying this or that model. Or find some local meets and get to know people; someone might be interested in teaching you.

OoOo ok...sounds ideal. But I did learn how to drive stick when I was 17 and haven't looked back since!

Lol imagine going to a dealer and being like 'Oh hey, I want to test drive this new car, but not sure how to drive stick. Can you teach me real fast? kthnks.'

[einzlr]

Originally Posted by JERZgrl88

OoOo ok...sounds ideal. But I did learn how to drive stick when I was 17 and haven't looked back since!

Lol imagine going to a dealer and being like 'Oh hey, I want to test drive this new car, but not sure how to drive stick. Can you teach me real fast? kthnks.'

Dunno, people on here have said that dealers have taught them. It for sure works better if they get the impression that you are genuinely interested in buying the car and the only thing holding you back is your lack of stick-shift ability. But if you already know how it's pretty much a moot point lol

[empower-auto]

the the fk is this still going?