STi and Evo Woes

[DarkRaptor42]

Ok so get this. The nearest subaru dealership to me is 30+ miles away. I call this place to check and make sure that the have an STi. They have 3. So my family and I hope in the car and take off to sacramento. We get there and I tell the guy I want to test drive the car before I think about buying it. They tell me no and that its in limited quantity, people want it with 0 miles blah blah blah. I tell him that I have 15K to put down and that Im a serious buyer and just gonna have the folks co sign so I can get a good interest rate (being 19 with no credit hurts). The salesman tells me that I have to have pracitcally BOUGHT the car before I can even start it up. They also tell me some lame *** story about people flying up from LA to buy there STi s I look at him and say "wheres this line of people"? Then he tells me that they dont make the gold rims for it anymore because subaru ran out of gold paint! Then tells me that the STi sells for 48k on Ebay BS!!!. At this point I tell him that Im a car salesman myself and let people drive the crossfire on my lot which cost alot more than the Sti and is much more limited.

At this point i dont even want the STi anymore and tell the guy hes just lost a deal. I drive down to the Mitsubishi dealership hoping to give them my money. Nope same case. THEY DONT WANT TO LET ME TESTDRIVE THE CAR BEFORE I BUY IT!!!! what the heck people. So the point in my rant is this, now im either going to go buy an RX8 (those people keep calling me asking for testdrive) or Ask if anyone knows of a mitsubishi or subaru dealership in NorCal that will let me test drive the car I want before I do paperwork.

This is really lame. I would never ever treat my customers like I was treated at these dealerships.

anyone have any advice?

[ca18guy]

I heard this before also, someone needs to remind them its just a 30k dollar car not a McLaren You should call the next closest dealer and tell then your situation and then ask them if you can please test drive, they'll probably be happy to steal customers away from a competitor. I would never buy a new car with out driving it also

[NZO]

Subaru wont let you drive an STi but mitsu should let you test an evo as long as your credit and everything checks out. At least thats what theyve been doing with everyone else. Maybe they just dont trust a 19yr old kid

[Steeles]

Originally posted by DarkRaptor42
Ok so get this. The nearest subaru dealership to me is 30+ miles away. I call this place to check and make sure that the have an STi. They have 3. So my family and I hope in the car and take off to sacramento. We get there and I tell the guy I want to test drive the car before I think about buying it. They tell me no and that its in limited quantity, people want it with 0 miles blah blah blah. I tell him that I have 15K to put down and that Im a serious buyer and just gonna have the folks co sign so I can get a good interest rate (being 19 with no credit hurts). The salesman tells me that I have to have pracitcally BOUGHT the car before I can even start it up. They also tell me some lame *** story about people flying up from LA to buy there STi s I look at him and say "wheres this line of people"? Then he tells me that they dont make the gold rims for it anymore because subaru ran out of gold paint! Then tells me that the STi sells for 48k on Ebay BS!!!. At this point I tell him that Im a car salesman myself and let people drive the crossfire on my lot which cost alot more than the Sti and is much more limited.

At this point i dont even want the STi anymore and tell the guy hes just lost a deal. I drive down to the Mitsubishi dealership hoping to give them my money. Nope same case. THEY DONT WANT TO LET ME TESTDRIVE THE CAR BEFORE I BUY IT!!!! what the heck people. So the point in my rant is this, now im either going to go buy an RX8 (those people keep calling me asking for testdrive) or Ask if anyone knows of a mitsubishi or subaru dealership in NorCal that will let me test drive the car I want before I do paperwork.

This is really lame. I would never ever treat my customers like I was treated at these dealerships.

anyone have any advice?

when you call them about a test drive mention your a salesperson. call and say hi this is (your name here) from the (your dealership here) and im intrested in buying an Sti but wanna test drive it. (last dealership you tried) gave me problems and acted liek they didnt want to make me this sale so Im calling you. something like that.. or call and speak with the sales manager. (dont take offense to this) dont settle for talking to a salesperson.

[whateverjames]

The Ford dealer wouldn't let my friend test drive a Cobra or a Lightning. They gave the same excuse, people don't want a new car like this with miles on it. Plus something like it was in the policy for SVT vehicles that they couldn't be test driven

The guy said he can't have us coming back with the Lightning with half the tread gone. Damn right those were our intentions, but my friend also had $12,000 for a downpayment. Still, no deals.

[Chernobyl]

Guys I understand how you feel about this, and I would be ****ed too, but it is true about customers not wanting cars with miles on them. Every guy that takes that STI or EVO out for a drive is going to rip the crap out of a car with an engine that has not been properly broken in and is not yet ready for abuse. After a couple people do this, would YOU want to buy the car? It's too bad some dealers look at the nicest cars they sell as some kind of supercars. It was the same case at the Dodge dealer I worked at with the new turbo neon. Nobody but the general manager was allowed to drive it. IT'S A NEON!! Oh well, the world is unfair, talk to the managers, they are usually much more understanding and willing to make the sale than the salesguys.

[Bill Roberts]

Goody goody gumdrop..hot damn...you just clicked on the "Bill Roberts time to tell a story"

But first...

I will explain the vibe of what I think about it...and then the story.

You are the customer. Go to the sales manager. It is customary for a salesman to at least start out driving the car and then let you take over in a place he deems safe...geeze, don't the dealership have insurance? and I can assure you each of those cars have some miles on them. Show me one car ever at 0 miles and zero tenths! The jackleg that unloads the trucks, the wash boys, the service technicians all drove it and the salesmen already took their turns. The cars have 15 to 20 miles on them. Rarely do I see a car with less than 3 miles, some mostly around 8.

Second, it is not a damned Aston Martin Vanquish and I got to drive one of those...233K is the sticker, unless used, closer to 300K.

The only vehicles I know that is buy before drive (and this is well established) are Harley Davidson Motorcycles.

Hell, I even got a call from the Porsche dealer the other day wanting me to take a boxter home for the weekend! I declined, they do nothing for me actually.

Now, my approach is this: Because I have a grey beard and I am 44 years old may have something to do with it...but actually, you had your folks with you as well so that should have accounted for something. You were too hungry...even saying you had 15K was a mistake IMHO.

IF you want one of those cars, and you want to test drive it, call on the phone to the sales manager and say, you have some competition. I am going to buy...either X, or Y, or Z or ZZ...(naming the car he has that you are intrested in)

My requirement for purchase is to schedule an appointment and tell them to be ready as my time is valuable. I have other appointments for other cars I am intrested in buying. When is a good time for me to meet with you, be introduced to a salesperson and arrange for the beginning of the process of attainment?

Next, if you are greated with , We don't allow test drives, then ask if they have a demonstrator. A demo car that is used for evaluation purposes.

If you go out to buy an 80K Benz, they let you take the demo and check it out...then if you are serious and you want to go forward with a purchase, you either can see what they have in stock or select from a data base and your car will be cleaned up and waiting for you (not a demo..but one with around 20 miles on it) for you to buy it.


If the sales manager says, no rides, no demos, you call the corporation and ask to speak to public relations. Give the name, address and the name of the sales manager of the dealership. The corporation will arrange for you to have your check ride.

They don't own those cars anyway, they are floorplanned meaning another company puts up the deposits to get the cars on the lot. The dealer has to pay intrest on the cars if they are on the lot more than 90 days..per month.

Go at it this way and be sucessful.

Story:

In 1983, the NEW Prelude came out and I went to Honda to buy one. I drove up on the lot...and was not greeted in my Moms old Maverick 4 door. I walked into the dealership and saw the "lude" and was looking at it (I was 24 at the time) and a dude came over and said, don't touch the car please..(it was a damned 14K Honda)...and I said, I would like to buy one of these and the cat simply was like, you couldn't afford this..and run along attitude. Needless to say, Mr. 6 foot 4 blonde haired prep grad could have gotten decked right there but I decided to one up this $hit.

I went to a buddys lot that sold restored antiques and exotics and told him what the deal was..He said, lets phuck them up..take that 328GTS Ferrari over there, it is only a year old and go back..here is my card..watch "Chads" face when you tell him you bought this instead.

It was great!

Mr Blondey came running over, I had on a british racing cap..not looking up (had the top off of the car) and he said Hello Sir...may I get the door for you Sir...I looked up and said, gonna sell me that Prelude now...well I don't need it, I found something better so why don't you just go back to your little Honda sandbox and learn from this experience. (the sales manager was walking toward us at the time...it was great!!) I don't think the guy had a job after that. Make sure the sales manager is involved with the transaction...if not, go to the cars corporate headquarters when met with such shinanigans and tomfoolery.

Needless to say, that Honda dealership got bought out by one in a bigger city due to their tactics.


Come to think of that, Honda makes damned fine cars. That one episode, I have never owned a Honda car. HONDA LOOSES. I bet Honda would love to hear about that...takes me around to "call the Corporation" and "get what customers deserve". Too Bad for HONDA because of one .


BTW, I did end up with a NEW MAZDA 626 fully loaded to the max for 13.7K

The 328GTS was around 53K at the time, could of had it for around 37 but hell, Mark let me driver it when I wanted to so no problem.




That attitude has no place in commodities sales.

The Only way around it for the dealership is to have a strict policy that you must be 18 years old to drive one of their cars. That policy is a good one actually. I assume you are of age to vote, therefore you are considered a full blown Adult.

[whateverjames]

LOL. good story.

I think each dealership should have a demo model of their "SUPERCAR". Just one, top of the line, fully loaded car that can be test driven to convince people. When I was 18 and wanted to buy a 99 Civic Si, they were the same way. "Sorry, but NOBODY takes this out, not even the manager" OOOhhhh! Scary 160 horsepower econobox! And 118 lbs of torque at high RPMs! How would I ever control the beast.

[-E-]

Bill always got the best stories

[s13chica]

I went to test drive the evo with a bank statement...they let me take it out for a spin and it wasn't even that hard. Now I am a girl...which can help....but not only did I go fast, my ex drifted the car!!!! Just bring a statement, then they should let you do it.

They did say that I was the only erson my age they had ever let test drive it. I'm 20

[zero.counter]

Aren't they supposed to have program cars available? They use them and when its time, they sell them with anywhere from $1k to 3k off. I thinks the reason they tell some of you guys that is the age factor or babyface. Its just wrong, and Bill's story of the old switcheroo proves that fact.

In my area, we have a some businesses biased against not age but race and its been all over the local news. Salesmen are taught all type of scoping potential buyer tactics, unfortunately they include some type of profiling based mostly on appearance.

[ruf]

HELLO? OF COURSE THEY WON'T LET YOU TEST DRIVE IT.

1) Reasonable exclusivity. Blah who cares. But still a reason.
2) You look like a punk kid that will thrash it on the test drive while it's still in break-in period. Old dude has a better chance.
3) It's not about the price of the car, it's about the capability. You can test drive a 760Li no problem. Walk into a bike dealership and ask to test ride a $7000 bike. Unless they know you and how you ride, the answer will invariably be NO.

It's about risk management. They have insurance, but they would prefer not to exercise it. Quit your b!tching and move on. Regardless of how serious you may be, there's got to be another 20 kids that look just like you walking in there every week wanting a test drive.

[ruf]

Originally posted by whateverjames
The guy said he can't have us coming back with the Lightning with half the tread gone. Damn right those were our intentions, but my friend also had $12,000 for a downpayment. Still, no deals.

Is this worth the "potential" sale? No. Frankly, I think that all test-driven cars should have the traction control and tachometer hooked up to an electric zapper in the seat. Respect other people's property, it's not your car YET.

[zero.counter]

[Tuck&Poke]

they did the same thing w/ the g35 coupe and the 350Z! assholes! i just wanted a spin around the block

[DragonReborn214]

If I were buying an STI - I wouldn't want you driving it around before I purchased it. They are limited production.

[revat619]

Awesome story Bill!

Me and my dad actually pulled one of those once.

My mom and i went to the dealership one time to look at Navigators. She has been talkining about getting one forever. Anyways, we took our 93 dodge caravan to the dealership. When we got out, the salesman pretty much acted like she couldnt even afford the thing. He was like "i dont think this is the car for you" and "i dont think you can pay for this thing". Needless to say, i was ****ED. Who the hell is the mofo talking to my mom like that. And to top it off, i think the guy was racist. I seriously wanted to give this guy a nice right hook to the jaw, but my mom just told me to calm down and go back to the car. Well, when we got home, i told my dad about it and he was ****ed too but he wanted to play a little game with that guy. So the next day, me and him went up there in his bmw 540i. Now my dad has his car all hooked up...rims, lowered, sound system....the works. (and yeah you guessed it, i'm not allowed to drive that car and i never will be ). Anyways, we get there and my dad gets out, but i stay in the car. That salesman is totally kissing *** to my dad. "oh the navigator is an excellent choice sir" "oh you have excellent taste" "should i draw up the paper work" blah, blah, blah.
At this point, i get out of the car and walk up behind my dad and tell him "yeah dad, this is the one me and mom saw, so what do you think". The salesman froze when i said that and right then and there i knew he remembered my face from yesterday. At that point he started fumbling over his words and crap and thats when my dad told him. "you know, my son told me how you treated my wife yesterday, and you know we were going to buy a car from here, but after what i've seen today, i've decided to take our money elsewhere. Oh and by the way, your supervisor will be getting a call about this incident very shortly. Have a nice day"

he just stood there in shock while me and my dad walked back to the car.

That salesman was eventually fired.

Anyway, i know how you feel man. It happens to everybody. Just do like everybody else said and talk to management.

[crioten]

i think it also depends on what car you drive up in...

my dad and i for fun go test drive cars, hes got a 1999 bmw z3, and all we do is go up to the salesman and ask to drive a certain car...

so far weve driven a m3, m5, 740i, 850...and even an nsx, the salesman actually told us to go for a drive b4 we even asked to do so...

and being that my dad is hella old too also helps

[Steeles]

Originally posted by revat619
Awesome story Bill!

Me and my dad actually pulled one of those once.

My mom and i went to the dealership one time to look at Navigators. She has been talkining about getting one forever. Anyways, we took our 93 dodge caravan to the dealership. When we got out, the salesman pretty much acted like she couldnt even afford the thing. He was like "i dont think this is the car for you" and "i dont think you can pay for this thing". Needless to say, i was ****ED. Who the hell is the mofo talking to my mom like that. And to top it off, i think the guy was racist. I seriously wanted to give this guy a nice right hook to the jaw, but my mom just told me to calm down and go back to the car. Well, when we got home, i told my dad about it and he was ****ed too but he wanted to play a little game with that guy. So the next day, me and him went up there in his bmw 540i. Now my dad has his car all hooked up...rims, lowered, sound system....the works. (and yeah you guessed it, i'm not allowed to drive that car and i never will be ). Anyways, we get there and my dad gets out, but i stay in the car. That salesman is totally kissing *** to my dad. "oh the navigator is an excellent choice sir" "oh you have excellent taste" "should i draw up the paper work" blah, blah, blah.
At this point, i get out of the car and walk up behind my dad and tell him "yeah dad, this is the one me and mom saw, so what do you think". The salesman froze when i said that and right then and there i knew he remembered my face from yesterday. At that point he started fumbling over his words and crap and thats when my dad told him. "you know, my son told me how you treated my wife yesterday, and you know we were going to buy a car from here, but after what i've seen today, i've decided to take our money elsewhere. Oh and by the way, your supervisor will be getting a call about this incident very shortly. Have a nice day"

he just stood there in shock while me and my dad walked back to the car.

That salesman was eventually fired.

Anyway, i know how you feel man. It happens to everybody. Just do like everybody else said and talk to management.

GREAT story Revat! thats awsome. My ex went to see about this lexus SC400 92 at a dealership no trade in her parents were buying it outright. well she pulls up in her early 80s beat up busted bmw and the sales people wouldnt even talk to her about it. she called me on the verge of tears. I pulled up in my dads 95 3000GT (cause my Supra was in the shop and I was on lunch) and someone comes right out too me. I ignored him and went over too her and dragged her inside and asked to speak to the sales manager... turns out my GF KNEW the sales manager and got the car for like 500 bux over what they had in it. I've got friends who are car salesman and they say just go in and talk to the manager lol.

[zero.counter]

Damn revat619, !!!FUQ!!! those guys. As I said, profiling salesman suck, unfortunately most new car salesmen suck about that sh1t. That is why for the mean time, I buy cars cash and talk them down. Used cars of course. The wife is looking to get a Honda Odyssey (new) sometime within the next couple of months. I will go with her and pounce the first guy that tries to talk to her like she is an involent. After I gave her the honda and the haynes manual, she has managed to change an alternator (breaker bar), replace spark plugs, wires, and I showed her how to change the oil after adding one of those FRAM easy change valves. She understans the HP to Weight ration and will burn those useless salesmen. Oh well, when that day comes.

[KiDyNomiTe]

lol these are some great stories. Dealers treat you differently by what car you come in, what kind of clothing you wear, some even by race.

Its kind of sad, but if I ever become rich I will show up to car dealerships in ****ty clothing and a beater car and basically pull something like you guys did.

[whateverjames]

Originally posted by ruf
Is this worth the "potential" sale? No. Frankly, I think that all test-driven cars should have the traction control and tachometer hooked up to an electric zapper in the seat. Respect other people's property, it's not your car YET.

we even asked the salesman if he would go with us. we still couldn't test drive it. my friend wouldn't have driven crazy.

[Warwick5s]

that's weird...


i walked in to the honda/hyundai dealer, said 'hey, i want to drive the s2000' and they responded with 'killer. let me get the keys!'


perhaps because it's a college town with lots of rich rich RICH east coasters attending, car dealers don't want to assume that people my age (early 20's) don't have the money to buy one.


of course, i did lie a smidge and say i was graduating in a month

[Keisuke]

Originally posted by DragonReborn214
If I were buying an STI - I wouldn't want you driving it around before I purchased it. They are limited production.

second that, and it is a supercar haha

[Jsquared]

haha, someone i know around here did something similar to the stories being told. in Raleigh (well, technically in Cary ) there is a place called the "Auto Park" which is basically a bunch of dealers all in one area, most of them owned by the same people. He works his tail off and has made some very good investments, so he was looking at a near-new BMW 3-series, Acura TL, kind of looking at A4s. He went into the BMW dealership and wanted to test drive a 325is, and basically they were assholes to him (he was like 20-21 at the time) and wouldn't even give him the time of day. The Acura guys were much nicer, much better service (ironically despite both dealerships owned by the same guy/group). So about a week later, he gets the Acura, rolls by the BMW lot in his shiny TL, and kinda pulls the Half-Baked thing... points at each of the salesmen that sucked, said "**** you, **** you, **** you, I'm out" and drove off in his near-new TL from the other dealer just down the road