Hey Guys,

I currently own a yellow protege5 and am dreaming of an RX8 which I believe is the ideal car for me. To verify this I'm planning on test driving one here in St. Louis Saturday. My question is this: should I expect to have any trouble test driving the 8? I'm a younger guy (24) and all I want to do is test drive. I wouldn't buy the car for close to a year, however I can't wait any longer for the drive. This is important because otherwise I probably would let go of the dream.

So, are dealers in general being relatively free with test drives or should I expect to go through some hoops? I'm bringing my girlfriend along also in order to get her on the same page as me.

Any input on this would be appreciated.

 

I wouldn't let them know that you won't be in the market for another year. If they think they can sell you the car right then and now you should be able to get a drive. I went to my dealership almost weekly for 6 months before I bought one. Asked alot of questions, shot the bull with the salesmen, generally showed them that I truly was interested in purchasing and not just wasting their time by taking joy rides in a $30,000 car. I doubt you will able to get the car for any extended amount of time without a dealer rep. present in the car but, any drive is better than no drive. BTW, I lived in St. Louis for 10 years(actually right across the river) and I miss it dearly Good luck.

 

Thanks for the info.

I'm well aware of the need to appear to be buying a car soon. I am not a joyrider. The dealership that does the best job allowing me to test drive this car will get my business in the future. I own a retail store myself, so I have some strong ideas about how customer service etc should be undertaken. This thread is being ignored and it's a shame.

This is a legit point of discussion.

What is the best strategy to use when one would like to test drive a car and would prefer to deal with as little BS as possible. I understand the dealer's point of view. I am not interested in hearing that they are too busy to deal with folks such as myself. We have just as much of a right to drive the cars as anyone else. Mazda sends me postcards all the time imploring me to drive the 8. It is part of the salesman's job to allow me to drive the car in order to help me along in the decision process. When did we decide that we must suck up to the dealers?

Whether I buy it or not, the salesman has just impressed a Mazda lover in his geographic area. That salesman has just generated very positive word of mouth that very well may make him lots of money in the near future.

Now, I'd like to discuss how we car enthusiasts can achieve our goal: test driving desirable cars.

Anyone have any anecdotes, tips, etc?

 

Texas 8,

I'm sorry, I did not mean to sound as if I did not appreciate your advice. St. Louis is a pretty good town. Currently I'm stuck in O'Fallon, MO. Its major attribute is that it's near St. Louis.

 

argh,
Just be up front with the dealer. Tell them you are not buying today, but that you are going to buy in the next few months, and you are using this time to sort out what your final 3 or 4 choices are going to be. They should jump at the chance to get you in the car.

 

Also it helps if you let the dealer know that you are looking at other similar cars on the market (350 Z, S2000 ect..).
I went and test drove all of the cars I was considering, on one weekend. I could really compare the differences that way.
The only reluctance I met was with the 350Z. I had just come from the Mazda dealer and had been test driving an RX-8 20 minutes earlier. I told the Nissan dealer that. I also told him, if I could not test drive a 350Z that day, I would take my business and money back to the Mazda dealer and buy the RX-8.
15 minutes later we were flying down the highway in a sweet silver 350Z.
I still bought the 8 of course. But at least I got to compare the two cars within an hour and it left no doubt in my mind which car I wanted more. Also when I went back to the Mazda dealer and told him how much I loved the 350Z, he told me he would take another $1000 off of our previously negotiated price if I would give him a deposit that day and not go back to the Nissan dealer.
(i wanted the 8 all along anyways).

Another point to note is that most of my test drives were about 30 to 45 minutes consisting of both highway and city streets, and occasionally a back road.

I hope this helps.

 

argh,
I live right next door to you in St. Peters. I just went to Bommarito South County on Thursday and they have 70 8's in their possession. Just go up there and ask for Brad Augustyn. He let me test drive a Nordiac Green with the sports package. And get this, I was all by my lonesome self!!:D I don't plan on purchasing until after I get back from Daytona Bike Week.

 

im 22 and 3 days ago i went to my mazda dealership looking at the rx8. i wasnt sure what to expect from the salesmen since i am a younger guy looking at a car thats 30,000. At first it took a while to get someone to help me so i started really playing with the 8, like opening the trunk then closing it, opening all the doors, sitting in the back and front seats, then opened the hood. This got the salesman attention and asked if i needed help. I told him i was interested in buying a rx8 and i told him what my specs where. he took m eto the back of the lot and showed me a car that almost matched excatly. then after looking at it, he asked me if i wanted to test drive it. i was shocked that i didnt even have to ask!

 

Thanks guys!

I'm going today, to Bommarito! I'll let you know how it turns out.

Argh

 

Order mine in november , visited 4 differents dealers and was able to test drive twice, the other two did not had demo. Looking foward to get mine in April04.

 

well.....when i first got to the dealership my intent was to look only and i knew i was probably gonna buy the 8 or the z within the next few weeks. when i got there i was IMMEDIATELY hounded by the salesperson and before you knew it he asked me to test drive it and of course i did.....then i bought it about an hour later.

Friday- February 6, 2004