Reuben

From time to time, especially on a glorious summers day, I long for a cabriolet. So a few days ago I contacted my local Porsche dealer (Princeton) to arrange to test drive a 996 Cabriolet (a new C4 and a pre-owned).
A salesman called me back, and in the course of our conversation it emerged that after a 15 minutes introduction to the vehicle, I would be granted a 10-15 minute test drive.
Needless to say, I turned down his offer. There is no way that such a short drive can give anybody a proper impression of a car. Clearly, this dealer has too many customers who buy Porsches for the wrong reasons, rather than for the qualities that true Porschephiles (I count myself as one) are looking for.
Is this a common occurrence in the US? In Europe, it has been my experience that dealers typically hand you the keys and say "Have fun!"

Ray Calvo

Understandable on a new one; kinda extreme on a "used" one.

When I was looking for a 993, local dealer I have dealt with for ages (but never bought a car from), called and said they had a used one in. When I showed up for a look-see and test drive, they tossed me the keys and said "Have fun!".
That's the type of dealership you have to look for.

Rezal

My personal experience is that new dealership tend to have the salesguy ride in the car with you but used car lots, potentially due to the lack of manpower, tend to throw you the keys (after getting a photocopy of your license) and tell you to come back in 30 minutes or so. A friend of mine once knew this used Porsche dealer in Cupertino, CA, who would just give him the keys for the weekend for a test drive.

GM is now offering a 24hr test drive where you get to take the car home with you. I guess they figured it'll be cheaper or at least more effective than just the 0% financing.

IMHO, 996s do okay with 15 minute test drives since it's a car that's relatively easy to acclimatize do if you haven't driven a 911 before. 993s, however, may take several hours before you realize that:
a) you get used to the floor mounted pedals
b) it's possible to operate your climate control by braille
c) the window controls are easy to find once you know where they are
d) 996 cabin space (vs. 993) is overrated
e) engine noise is a good thing
f) twitchier is more fun

JasonF

I live about 5 miles from that dealership, which is now owned by the same parent company that owns BMW of Princeton. I have purchased 3 BMW's from the Porsche's sister dealership and have seen several themes:

First, the salesmen are very nice and acommodating, but won't hand the keys over to you to drive (this was the case even after a second purchase from the same salesman, and he knew I would buy the car!) I believe it may be a company policy not to "hand over" the keys.

Second, the initial impression of the dealership is that it is somewhat snobbish. Kinda silly, so you get over it quickly when you walk in for service, etc...

Finally, the new owner of the Princeton Porsche dealership is known to run a tight ship, and so the Porsche guys may be wary to let someone have an extended test drive.

That being said, there's no way you're going to buy a car without being allowed to drive it. Autotechnik in Pennington has a 993 cabrio for sale, you may want to stop by there. BTW, when I drove by Princeton Porsche two weeks ago, they had a TON of Cayenne's for sale. Did you notice the glut?

laurence '97 C4S

Is the new owner Steve Kalafer (of Flemington, NJ)? If so, he is a great guy (very good businessman). Before I moved, Steve's dealerships were my source for BMW and Porsche. At least in Flemington, they just give you the keys (at least that was my experience--though I was a customer for 15+ years). See Ed Kiley at Flemington Porsche, he'll treat you right. Plus the drive from Princeton to Flemington (the back roads are great).

JasonF

Laurence-

That's not the new owner of Princeton Porsche. However, I had a great experience with Ed Kily at Flemington (where my wife bought a 5 series wagon). Unfortunately, I don't think they have a large used Porsche inventory.

Rick Lee

Wow! Small world. I'm from Flemington, went to the Lawrenceville School always drove past Autotechnik on the way to school. Too bad Rt. 31 is now down to 45 mph. I think the Autotechnik guys will want to ride along with you on a test drive, but they are always very nice to me. I usually talk to Don Deptula or Larry Hohman. The last time I was at the Princeton Porsche place was when owning a Porsche was a still distant fantasy for me.

B-Line

When I was looking for my 993 I went to Champion in Ft. Lauderdale. The salesman asked me what I was looking for and I told him a C2S, limited slip, sport seats, etc..
He knew he had an educated buyer and he threw me the keys and said have fun. (Unfortunately the car was vesuvio metallic and I didn't buy it.)
I had a friend who was a less informed buyer and he went to the same dealership, the salesman insisted he go with him on a 15 min test drive.
The point is, I think many salesman use the test drive as an opportiunity to sell the car, show the features, blah, blah, blah..
But (not always the case) if they have someone who already knows the car, they are more opt to just let em go.
I took the 993 for a 2 hr test drive, I even had Foreign Affairs look it over quickly like a mini PPI.
I think it really depends on the buyer, the seller and the dealership..
The jerk at Beverly Hills Porsche wouldn't even let me test drive the Cayenne..

Reuben

I can understand that a salesman might be reluctant to hand over the keys to an unknown driver unfamiliar with Porsches. But I told him that I am a long-standing 993 driver, and if he'd bothered to check the dealer records he'd have seen that I even have my car serviced at Princeton Porsche. I guess I felt insulted that they wanted to fob me off with a token test drive.
Oh well, their loss.

Steve 96C4S

I was shocked when my friend wanted to test drive a 97 993 Turbo S 2 months ago at Rockville MD Motors and they let me and my buddy have the car for as long as we wanted it . My jaw dropped as we drove away, knowing that we could drive it any which way we wanted. To leave us with a $110k car I thought was kind of nuts. I wasn't complaining, though <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="wink.gif" /> .

Steve

Surj-993C2S

**** happens - I wasn't even allowed a test drive at a particular dealership In London on a Boxster S a few years ago - bought a BMW M Coupe instead and haven't been back to that dealership since.
(nor will I). In times of recession, they'll miss people like us....

Jim Michaels

RL: "Oh well, their loss." It seems to me that it was your loss. You turned down their offer to let you drive their nearly new cab top down on a glorious day.

Dealers have different test drive rules that sales people have to follow. The last time I drove a new car at a dealer, the salesman was a friend that I autoxed with, yet he had to do everything by the dealer's book, including putting a record of the test drive in his log. He gave me about 10 minutes of pre-drive introduction (promotion), went with me on the test drive (but he did encourage spirited driving), and gave me a follow-up phone call.

Reuben

Jim Michaels
How do you presume to know that I was not serious about testing the car with possible purchase in mind?
I have already had two cabriolets and my first Porsche was a Targa.