good passtime

[wwgkd]

I was bored , And came up with a brilliant idea.

I went to the VW dealership, And said I was intrested in a MK5 GTI.
After some chit chat I asked if I could maybe test drive one. They had a black GTI with DSG and loads of options ( worth 33000 clams) standing there.
On Monday they will entrust me with 200 horses. Hoping DSG is user friendly.

Has anyone around here done much testdriving for fun? Because it really seems to be quite easy...

Oh yeah. As a college student what they'll let me drive is limited (my best so far was $54,000 because they didn't have the model I was looking at without ALL the options.) Fun stuff and good times.

[Niko_Fx]

What keeps me away from test driving is the damn salesperson... I test-drove a Nissan 350Z a few weeks ago and the guy wouldn't leave me the F alone. I was trying to enjoy the ride while he would only ask about my credit and what not. When I told him I had to think about it he pulled me aside and said "Listen, the car is $25,000, it's the end of the month and I gotta meet a quota, how does $22,000 sound?" So I told him that the rims were scratched and he said "$20,000" after that. The car had 25k miles and was in mint condition except for the rims... too bad I didn't have the money.

[2ndclasscitizen]

Can't comment on cars, but with bikes it'll go 2 (and a bit) ways. It'll either be no, if you wanna take it for a ride, you've gotta buy it. Or they'll say sure, no probs, here's the keys, see you in an hour, though most of the time you'll have to sign something for if you bin it, and they'll photocopy your licence. When I bought my Bandit, the 2nd thing happened, despite me only being on my Learner's and not having ridden for about 4 months.

[LandQuail]

AH! The sneaky test drive.

I've done it a few times, and all for cars I'd consider buying. My best was in a Lancer EVO VIII. I pulled my STi in and told the sales manager that if I thought the EVO was better, I'd trade in my near-new STi towards an EVO purchase.

I took it for a spin and (though out of sympathy for the machine I never crossed 6,000) found it to have excellent steering and an engine that, though probably as potent as the STi's boxer four, just didn't sound the part.

The guy who rode along was about my age. After I told him I didn't think the EVO was the huge step up I'd thought it might be, he started telling me about how the EVO was "the fastest car I've ever seen."

'Quail offered him a Subaru ride. We went up and over the same twisty ridge where I'd test driven the EVO, but this time at brain-scrambling speed. I turned down a straight sideroad, accelerated to the top of first gear and nailed the brakes a split-second before yanking the handbrake and giving a half-turn of lock on the wheel.

My Subaru did an obedient 180. As it lurched to a stop I fed in a boot-load of throttle and grinned at the salesperson before side-stepping the clutch in a full-on drag launch through the first two gears.

He was a quivering, babbling mess; and it was ****ing great. His days of telling customers honestly that an EVO VIII is the fastest car he'd ever been in were over.

It was just such a bullshit test drive two years before I bought my STi that kept me from buying a VW Golf VR6 and a new Pontiac GTO. I didn't have the money for either, but I knew they wouldn't suit me on the bullshit test drives.

Keep up the good work, but always understand that you're gathering information, not joyriding.

Squawk = Wisdom.

Squawk!

[h22a]

we require a photocopy of your lisence plus signatures.
I agree with niko most sales guys are twats, they spirt so much BS. Luckily ive got a preety good product and i dont have to get my ramble on very often. but...in saying that dealing with old school jag customers is hard work(sigh), man they like to crap on.

[kingofthering]

How to Get That New-Car Test Drive - Feature/2006/All/Features/Car and Driver - Car And Driver

Car and Driver did a feature on it two years ago.

[h22a]

interesting read, most of it is on the money. I cant count the number of test drives where ive absolutely shat my pants. Old people, asians(im not racist, they just suck at driving) and young tools who think their schuey come to mind.

[clutch-monkey]

i remember tooling around with a GT3 clubsport for an afternoon, including a home to work commute with dad. they asked that we leave our car there ( a jeep LOL) that was pretty much it

[AMGtech55]

Im 27 and my friend and I go out once a month and test drive all kinds of cars. It helps that I work for Mercedes Benz. I have test drove a F430, a SL65amg. It's alot of fun It's a good idea to show up to the delership in a nice car if you want to drive anything worth driving

[ripper46]

today was the big day!

I arrived at the dealer, and there it stood, a shiny black mk5 gti on the parking lot. Went inside , told them that I came for a testride, they where verry friendly, fixed some administrative stuff, and they gave me the keys for a half an hour.

The DSG was a bit confusing because I have only driven manuals in my life , I missed that clutch pedal. Once the engine was warmed up, and the dsg was in sport mode I "explored it's performance" , moves nicely, dsg gets you through the gears quickly.

Aftwerwards I configurated one for myself with some nice options such as leather tinted windows, best stereo, climatronic is standard as of this year apparently, I ended up at 27000 euro's

I'm gonna deal some coke now

[VtecMini]

Can't comment on cars, but with bikes it'll go 2 (and a bit) ways. It'll either be no, if you wanna take it for a ride, you've gotta buy it. Or they'll say sure, no probs, here's the keys, see you in an hour, though most of the time you'll have to sign something for if you bin it, and they'll photocopy your licence. When I bought my Bandit, the 2nd thing happened, despite me only being on my Learner's and not having ridden for about 4 months.

Dealers over here won't let you anywhere near a bike unless you're over 25, or so I'm led to believe. I haven't tried it yet, but I guess there's no harm in giving it a go sometime.

As far as cars go, I've never pushed my luck, but I've always had a fair bit of success. I test drove half a dozen or so RX8 231s about 12 months ago, when I was contemplating buying one. I was 21 at the time, but I dressed reasonably smartly and acted the part and had no hassle. Don't think I've had a try since, so maybe I'll go see what's out there this weekend...

[jediali]

today was the big day!

I arrived at the dealer, and there it stood, a shiny black mk5 gti on the parking lot. Went inside , told them that I came for a testride, they where verry friendly, fixed some administrative stuff, and they gave me the keys for a half an hour.

The DSG was a bit confusing because I have only driven manuals in my life , I missed that clutch pedal. Once the engine was warmed up, and the dsg was in sport mode I "explored it's performance" , moves nicely, dsg gets you through the gears quickly.

I'm gonna deal some coke now

sounds like fun! I thought the cabin was a bit boomy, engine note was suitably gruff, but a little too uncouth at times. liked the cabin and the controls. DSG is fun, i would prefer a clearer instrument binacle LCD so i could tell easier gear info, a problem for me just paddle shifting when all my experience comes from TDU, still this gearbox is ace, totally justifed against a die hard manual IMO. I noticed the car rolls a far bit, but the relatively light steering is very communicative and direct. So not my perfect 2 car garage