joeg26er

Went the Jacksonville Florida Coggin Honda and wanted to test drive the s2000.

Funny thing - they don't allow that at all.

You have to haggle the price and financing and then you can "test drive" the car.

The first salesperson said this is their policy. I was pissed as this seems counterintuitive to me.

I asked when one would be available for a test drive.
They said they don't allow any to be test driven.

I made it a point to ask to speak to the general manager Joe Corey.

While waiting, another salesperson approached me and cited the policy.

I repeated that I would like to test drive the S2000 and would like to speak to the general manager.

All of a sudden, they caved and said they would let me test drive one.

How odd - why - would they change this so-called policy?
Also odd is that a key was readily available.

By this time I was quite sure I would not spend any money at this dealership.
I concluded due to the inconsistencies of their "policy" I was being discriminated against.

General Manager Joe Corey finally arrived and reversed again and
said he would not allow a test drive of an S2000.

This is kind of a pattern -
I went to a Lexus dealership and walked around for a bit and was not approached by any salespeople.

I finally had to ask for assistance from a group of people who were just sitting at a table chatting
amongst themselves. ( I had walked by them at least twice and it was clear that they worked for Lexus)

Long story short - when I finally got to talk to a salesperson, they said they did NOT have a 5-spd
for me to test drive. I asked him if he was sure of that and he "checked" and he said "Sorry, none here - those are scarce".

I handed him my card and told him to call my cell phone when he had one for me to test drive.
He had indicated that it would probably be a few weeks before one was available.

I turned to walk out and was nearly out the door (enough time for him to read my business card)

All of a sudden, there WAS as 5-spd that could be test driven - it was in the back lot...

How very interesting...

Anyway, I test drove the car and was not impressed by the handling, shifting and response.
Another interesting point was that the car had 70 miles on it.
I wonder how they overlooked this car which suddenly materialized when they read my business card?

I guess car dealerships don't keep very accurate inventories. Riiiight....

I did not abuse the IS300 and thanked the salesperson for his time.
(That was last year.)

In addition to going to the Coggin Honda dealership today,
I went to the Coggin Nissan dealership and first asked the deskperson if a salesperson was available.
There was a man dressed like a salesperson hanging around the desk that did not say a word to me.

The deskperson asked the man who was hanging around if he could help me and he said - he was with a customer.
Odd, I did not see anyone near him for at least 10 yards except for me.

I then asked for a business card from the deskperson.
His reply was - "What do you need that for?" and not in a conversational/friendly tone either.

I stated that I would like to have one to which he replied again - "Why?"

I said I needed one for my records. He said he had "many cards which one do you want."
I said the general manager's card which he finally handed me.

He then started to interrogate me as to what I did for a living.
He was NOT being friendly or conversational. I did not feel very welcome at all.

Strange...

Long story short - they had one used 350Z that just came in that would be available for test drive on Monday.
Turns out this unfriendly deskperson is a salesmanager. He was quite unfriendly and continued his behaviour.
He asked if I test drove the car now, would I buy it today?
I said that I would not know as I did not know if I liked the car or not without test driving it.
Besides, didn't they just tell me the car would not be available for test driving until Monday?
Hmmmm...

Am I alone in this or have you guys had similar experiences?

Type R1

Sorry to hear about those idiots at the dealership. I know how you feel. In NYC they don't allow test drive either. Went to Jersey to find a dealership that allows it, but had no luck.

Try another dealership.

Good luck

Razor

damn im sorry you didn't have a nice shopping experience. i went into landmark honda in va and asked for a test drive. the salesman was very nice and handed me the keys to a '02 black/blck demo in the lot. he said he was with a customer so he couldn't come with me, and he let me test drive with my friend. that was so cool and I was so happy, that i bought my '03 white from them the following week. i am young btw so i don't think it has to do with age. its just meeting the right people.

AamirCWITR

I dont always blame salesman for their demeanor. When you walk in dont simply ask to test drive a car. Tell them your situation, i.e I am looking to buy a car with in the next few weeks(if your not, why do you want to drive the car?), i have these few in mind, I have driven these cars so far, i want to take this car out and see how it compares, and are you willing to match internet prices such http://www.carsdirect.com. If you say all this they have more reason to take you serious, going in and asking to test drive a car with out context is reason to be ignored. And if your not serious about buying one car out of the grouping you mentioned you really have no reason to be there asking to test drive a car other than to waste that persons time, exactly what they are trying to avoid.

froggie3kb

Down here in Georgia its pretty much just the kinda car you pull up in determines whether or not any of the sales people will talk to you, for instance we went to the Honda dealership one time looking at a new SI for one of my buddies and we went in his old chrysler POS, and nobody would come talk to us at all. Well in the past week we have went to that honda dealer and another honda dealership in my lexus and they dont pause for a second and their out their talking to us, and i just acted interesting in buying an s2000 and i have been lucky enough to test drive 2 of them and now im saving for one i love them so much, lol. but personally i think its sad when they judge by the car you pull up in b/c somebody in a POS could have been saving their money for a long time and have some cash, i know thats rare but you never know.

PornStarRacingB16T

I experience very similar behavior at many car dealerships. I don't know how old you are, but I am pretty sure my age is what spurs this kind of reaction. I'm 23 and when I go to look at cars I generally do so in my free time so I am dressed accordingly. Lets just say that most dealerships do not give a high priority to a 20-something year old in baggy jeans and a t-shirt. Its not until (much like your situation) I give them my card and they read it that I get any attention. Just this friday I was purchasing a new beater car (got me an EG woohoo!) and it wasn't until I told someone that I was looking to pay cash for the car THAT night that anyone gave me the time of day (and that was only for a <$3,000 car!).

I know i could solve the situation by dressing more professionally, but its my time and with me either a dealership will deal with me or I'll take my business elsewhere.

-J

PS> You should have seen them at the Honda dealership where I bought my S2000. The only thing that made them pay attention to me was the fact that I had been on the phone with them a couple of times that week trying to track down the frist '03 silverstone I could get my hands on

rockwilda

I know exactly how you feel. I've been in the car market for about 2months, and everytime i walk into a dealership(except for Some Infiniti or John Eagle Acura) I <U>never</U> am approached. I get dirty looks and am ignored a lot. It blows chunks.

I guess being young(20), Asian, wearing "urban" clothing constitutes not buying a car.

Sorry for your bad experiences


edit: so what DO you do?

Ramocheese

I know of a lot of local dealerships that don't allow test drives of certain cars. At the local Ford dealership, they won't allow lightnings and saleens to go out, but you can drive GT's all day. At the local Acura dealership, they never let me test drive an Integra Type-R but they let people drive GSR's.

What I have been told, is that they try to keep the mileage down on the "special" cars because they are harder to get a hold of than the regular models. They only let you go out after you have been approved for the loan, and all that is left is to sign the papers. That way, it scares joyriders away, and it keeps the mileage down on cars that the dealership may have problems getting a hold of if the customer doesn't want a car that has been driven already.

StormBringer

I for one am happy that they don't give test drives on S2000's off the lot. In fact I went out of my way to get one that still had the plastic on it as they are incredable sensitive to break-in as well as oil consumption in the early miles.

They always use the buy the car then test drive to sell sports car's, A because people like me who are buying them want a completely unmolested one and 2 they can;t just hand the keys to any yahoo off the street.

And looks have little to do with it, I walked into three dealersin jeans and a tee shirt and had three totaly different experiances. But having the equvilent of a check in hand help in each case.

s-silver

Man, that sucks big time.

Well, I am 'very well known' to one of the DC area's Honda dealer: Herson's, because my family and friends bought no fewer than 10 cars from them. I can walk in and ask to test drive any car I wish. But that's different.

Here's my experience with a new dealership just opened last year in Germantown, MD:

Overall they are nice, but they will occasionally ask the question: "what can I do to put you in the car TODAY?" And it really depends on different salesperson. Once my wife and I went to look at the 2002 Accords in August last year. Perhaps becuz they want to move the old Accords out of the lot so they will get the new ones, but that was NOT a pleasant experience. However, when I returned in Feb. this year to test drive an S2000, the salesperson (a different one) happily handed me the keys and let me drove the one they have on the lot. It had 30 miles, but when I returned, it had 50. Then comes the sales pitch, but I said I'd probably wait until summer to get it, and then he let m go. Just like that.

I guess the competition around my area is more intense, that's probably why the dealers here can't offend customers as often as they would like to.

blacks2000

I'm 24 now, but was 23 when shopping for my S2000. Went to BMW and sat in cars in the showroom and generally made a scene that I wasn't being helped. No response. Same results at the Audi dealership. Nissan was extremely snotty about the Z.

Only dealership that was decent was O'Donell Honda. I drove the S2000, then my father drove it, then I had my buddy drive it too. They didn't care at all. Needless to say, that was the car I bought.

Aquafina

iTrader: (3)

What did your business card say?

chan1wan

Interesting. In bay area, Ca. You can test drive S2000 in any honda dealer w/o commit to purchase. Possibly S2000 no longer a hot item than Evo.

ThrillaKilla

hey man my dad works at a dealership... he talks bad about those kind of dealerships all the time.. but besides the point ive gotten the oppertunity to drive one.. 5 times... i fell in love with then.. a long way before i have that cash though.... i like rear wheel drive cars, which is why i like muscle cars too, honda only offered fwd cars until then (to my understanding)... so its like the best of both worlds.... anyone check out importbuilders.com? i wonder how much that built s2k engine goes for....

viCeVerSa

how old are you and what did your buisness card say...... if you go to carmax when they have some nice cars they are always nice as hell to kids like me................................... as for a car you roll up in.... me and my freind chase went to this exotic car dealer in summerfield NC and not ONE person said a word to us, ......... and he was driving his hooked up 300zx which im sure to the female salespersons mind was a nice car? , wait she didnt even know what year the ferrari was in front of her when i asked , i dont know why shes working there ..... **** dealers..

(its obvious were not buying one , but at least at foreign cars italia in greensboro NC a guy came up and asked us what was up and if we had any questions about the cars he would be glad to help out.... then proceeded to talk about the 360 modena sitting in front of us)

Rodney

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by SuperStreetRX7 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">What did your business card say?</TD></TR></TABLE>

exactly what i was wondering? doctor? dentist? pornstar? what?

FBP#494

Sorry about your experience at the dealership...I use to be the fleet manager at AUtowest Honda in Fremont, Ca. At our dealership we let anyone with a valid driver's license that is over 18 test drive any car on our lot that is for sale. The only reason why the salesman wouldn't let you test drive it because he was being a Dick. If you ever run into any uptight dealerships like that, expect to negotiate for 5 hours.

MugenHonda

**** like this happens all the time, but if you are looking for a high end 30k car its gonna happen! If you were to buy a civic or accord, nobody would care!
But high end cars, you have to show them that you want to buy it asap right there and show them that you got the cash before they allow you to do anything abot test driving.
I think through all these years, dealers get pissed off with people who just want to test drive and leave.
No offense to anybody, this is just how the dealers looks like it. Remember, they work on commission and if the salesman doesn't sell anything, he just worked at the dealer for nothing.

Def

I drove up to a Nissan dealership just to look at the new Z's. Some salesman kept trying to show me Sentras and talking them up about how fast they are(yea... right).

The guy wouldn't give me the time of day, and was a pretty sorry rookie salesman. EXTREMELY pushy, and asked me would I be buying today, would I be trading in, where am I going to get financing. HELLO buddy! You haven't even opened the freakin' door to the car for me!

So after he ignores my requests to look inside, I have to say I might be trading in my M3 that I point to. He makes SURE we're talking about the same car by asking, "the silver one? with black leather just over there?" repeatedly, then he hurries away and the sales manager comes out with the keys. All in all, he let me only sit in the passenger seat. As I'm looking around he just sits in the driver's seat giving me the eagle eye like I'm going to steal the ash tray or something. Never offered to let me drive the car(although this one was a non-track model with about 200 miles on it...), and was generally quite rude.

Honestly, I wasn't going to buy the car and I guess it was obvious. Yet showing people common courtesy goes a LONG way towards maintaining a professional atmosphere at your place of business, no matter what line of work you're in.

The generally bad experiences I've had with dealerships definitely was a factor in me going with a used car. Everytime I had to deal with ANY dealership, I walked away thinking, "What ********, how do they make a living off commission?"

BTW - the 350Z's interior is horrid. My interior design which is 11 years old is arguably better, and the quality of materials is definitely better. Seats are pretty good though. That's about all I got to see of the car, so don't have anymore info.

Aquafina

iTrader: (3)

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by rodney &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

exactly what i was wondering? doctor? dentist? pornstar? what?</TD></TR></TABLE>Anyone want to steal one of his cards and scan it?

Stupendous Man

hmmmm....

Funny thing...I'm just a 17-year-old kid (who looks 13) and i got to test drive an s2000 w/o any problems.

Guess the dealerships are friendlier here in SoCal

MashiM0t0

More than likely it says Doctor or President/CEO

ThrillaKilla

or gay male prostitute for cheap.....

01-1293

**** I pulled up right in front of the sales office at a local Nissan dealership with my type r and asked for them to open the door of a 350z so I could sit in it and they told me to **** off......

same situation someone was talking about earlier..........a group of salesmen at a desk all talking to each other and paying no attention to me

M-Type

yea they be a real rude sometimes. Try going to a bmw dealer in the bay area, good luck.