I've been looking to buy an S2000 in a couple of months and my trouble is that no one will even give me the time of day much less a test drive. I guess I look young for being 23 but every dealership Ive been to see my civic pull up and look away.

guess I have to ask some of you with s2000s how your test drive went? like what aspect of the car that sold you? I think that I wont even get a test drive till I decide to wave cash in thier face

The look of the car has always drawn me to the car ever since the release but havent had the chance to buy one till this year. I've always heard how good the car handles in magazines, but again, never got the chance to take advantage of it.

 

i test drove one yesterday... told them i'm looking to buy out right, $6,000 cash down, and i'm going to buy a 350Z this weekend and i wanted to see if an S2000 would talk me out of it, and if so i'll be buying the S2000 from them...

well i can't say it wasn't a nice car but i think i'm too big for one. a2 6'2" or so i don't know exactly i had to move the seat almost all the way back to fit my legs comfortably around the steering wheel. and while i was in there i just felt like the car was too small for me to drive every day... so i guess the 350Z it is...

 

most dealers won't let you test drive a brand new one unless you have pretty much everything in the sales process completed other then signing on the dotted line......

i say you go to a used dealer ship and try to find a used one to test drive...

 

We were lucky that my brother is a lot manager at a brokerage dealer, so we've driven plenty of them, including a 2004 they had purchased at Auction...we walked into the honda dealership, slapped the downpayment on the table and siad "Write her up...the red one, sitting right out there with our name on it" (we had held it until that friday we bought it because it was the only red one in like a 75mile radius at that time)...guy said "You want to drive it?" and i said "Nope, it better have ZERO miles on it..." Guy said "Yup, came off the truck earlier this week, like the day before yall called." So we got it done, got the whole "This is this and that is that" over view of the car and the whole thing took like 1hour...had enough time to take her out that night and drive it like a grandma under 5500rpm. hahaha...we put the needed mileage on it that weekend so that we could start pushing it.

Test drives on this car are probobly going to be hard to come by man because they are not normal cars, these cars WILL be sold by the dealer, and the people that buy them will most likely want them with zero mileage never driven...so like they said, find a used one, take it out...if your wanting an AP2, ask if they have one that is for test driving because you dont want to buy something so expensive without atleast a test drive, they might be able to send you to a dealer that might have one specifically for test drives...i know when my mom bought her RX330 a few weeks back they had ONE on the lot that was for test drives, had all the bells and whistles and everyone drove it, but it was good because it showed her that she wanted to have navigation on hers.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 03s2kblue &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">most dealers won't let you test drive a brand new one unless you have pretty much everything in the sales process completed other then signing on the dotted line...... </TD></TR></TABLE>

Not nessicarily true...but, you said "most" dealers.

When I was at the dealership checking out the 04 I purchased, it was in the showroom. The salesman offered to let me drive it, but it was raining, that was the only factor that kept us from driving. That was on a friday, I called the guys phone at his desk at work on Sunday and told him I'd be there to get it on Monday though!

Back to the test drive part though...I had a friend with a 2003. I asked if I could drive his, he let me. This gave me the opportunity to drive it like it was mine, and just a couple of full throttle burts and rigid turns was all it took to convince me to buy one. The car is awesome! While I wish I didn't have the payment, I don't think I'd change my decision to get one.

 

^^^ So you didnt get to test drive the new one? What are you basing your "Not neccesarily true" on then? (honestly curious, not trying to start an argument or anything)...as far as i have always seen, most cars over $30K sticker are not easily test driven...especially cars like the S2000 that arnt stocked full in the dealers lot.

BTW...just out of curiosity, how many of you live near honda dealers? How many S2000's do they usually have at any given time on the lot? I have one about a minute from my house where we bought ours at, and then one about 10min. south of me...both usually have 3...and at the close dealer, 2 of them are ALWAYS silver of some sort (either silverstone or the really really light colored silver), and then usually black. Suzuka Blue, Yellow and NFR are RARE...i think i've seen one of each between both dealers since we've bought ours. White seems to be the color that the dealer further from me has in stock all the time, atleast 1 or 2, then black.

 

i went up there with my homeboy. most of the salesman just looked at us and were like they're not serious. so this old guy comes out and helps us. i asked for the price, he gave it to me, i knocked it down like crazy, he tried to negotiate, i walked away, and then i got the car for the price that i wanted.... to my salesman... i didn't even test drive it. ahhaha

 

I know one thing, most dealers wont let you test drive it if your first question is "What are you asking for it?" Go in there like you know what your talking about, if they start talking prices, say something like "We'll talk dollars when i drive it to decide if i actually want to go with this over (insert another car in the same market and price)" That might get you in there...but i dont know.

 

Note just come over my house ill let you drive my S.

 

You dont need to test drive, just buy it.

 

Got an early one in 2001. no test drive, only sat in one once before that. Ordered the car, waited 10.5 months, flew out of state to get it, signed the papers, got in the car and they opened the showroom doors and back home I drove. That was the first time I drove the S, and a very memorable one at that. Especially with Tool's Hooker with a ***** screaming through the crappy stock speakers.

Ahhh, the memories.

 

i never drove mine either... hehehe.. they actually didn't even have my car at the dealer..... it was at some warehouse where they store all of thier cars. hehehe.

however i did drive my friends car..

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by JustinG60 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i test drove one yesterday... told them i'm looking to buy out right, $6,000 cash down, </TD></TR></TABLE>


how is $6k down out right pruchase?

 

I went to the Honda dealer 3 times. Once, when the 2001 models were available, I went in with my fiancee's little brother, and I was like "Hey i'm thinking of buying one, but i'm not sure, can I take it for a spin?" He looked at me with this condescending look, and pretty much told me that when I was ready to put $10,000 down on the car, they would let me drive it. I guess I thought driving the M3 over to the dealership would impress them or something.

Two years later, went with my fiancee to the dealership, told them that we were cashing out on some of the equity in our house, were thinking about buying the S2000, but that the WRX and the RSX-S were also on the list of "maybes". They let BOTH of us test drive it, top down, without flashing any cash or anything.

Still didn't buy it. Now, in 04, went into the dealer and bought the 05 without a test drive. Sight unseen.

It's all about the attitude you present. They're not going to let you drive one if you don't appear to be totally serious about buying one.

 

I was deciding also between the 350z and S2000 also. But when I worked at Nissan, I drove Z's all day long and came to the conclusion that it was too big for me. What surprised me most about working at this dealership was that the owner would let anyone with a license test drive a Z, but then we had 13 on the lot.

I'll try some of the ideas I've read earlier and see if it works.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Si_Racer13 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Note just come over my house ill let you drive my S. </TD></TR></TABLE>



I wonder how far riverside is from your place

So, I heard from a bird (chad) that you work at a Honda dealership??? If things go well and we get our restaurant, Im going to try and get an S2000 before the Eibach meet. Im going to you to lease an S2000.

 

i just went to the dealership today lookign to purchase, i went with my dad.. and hes a business man so he knows how to talk lol, we went in he asked if we could drive the new 05 s2k and they just copied his license and he told them i was the one looking ot buy the car, and they said thats fine and me and his went out adn drove it, then came back and i took my freind with me.. but anyway, now tonite it is in my driveway cant wait to drive it some more.. took it off the floor with only 36 miles on it

BUT anyway, im 6'3 200lbs, the can fits me really good, it was a little wet out and shifted into second and it got squirlly, and from that point i just decided i wanted one over the 350z.. plus i always loved honda's TWO thumbs up from me

 

most dealerships are snotty and sometimes even lock s2000's up so u cnt even sit in them...its just bad when ur young and going car shopping...u should bring ur parents along with you.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">then came back and i took my freind with me.. </TD></TR></TABLE>

So they let you take the S2000 without a salesperson on a test drive with your friend? I find that extremely hard to believe.

 

it's just a matter of how you go though the process..... i did an internet thing requesting or saying that i'm looking for an s2000 to purshase, gave them a little of my info, and then within a week i ended up getting like 5 differnt dealers calling me asking to make an appointment with me...

 

yea they never evan came in the car once when i was driving it, and i wouldnt lie abou somethign so stupid, just telling you guys what happened, but yea me and my freidn test drove it while my dad stayed inside

 

Whatever you say brotha...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by UnitZero &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
I wonder how far riverside is from your place

So, I heard from a bird (chad) that you work at a Honda dealership??? If things go well and we get our restaurant, Im going to try and get an S2000 before the Eibach meet. Im going to you to lease an S2000.</TD></TR></TABLE>

im like 20 min from UCR 30 from the tyler mall. Im pretty much where the 60 and the 10 meet.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by .::F[L &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Y::.]most dealerships are snotty and sometimes even lock s2000's up so u cnt even sit in them...its just bad when ur young and going car shopping...u should bring ur parents along with you.</TD></TR></TABLE>

That's partly b/c of young punks that steal things from the interior, like the shift ****

 

hypno dont hate brotha lol, i would have no reason to lie

 

I'm not hating man, like i said, whatever you say...