Mike_UCR

I had previously looked at a 2001 996 at WFC in Nov/10 but didn't pursue it because they wanted $1000 deposit for a test drive. Time has passed. the car is still available so I called the sales rep on Thursday and said I wanted to drive it today, Saturday.

He said he had to check with the boss and called me back later and said it would be ready for me at 3:00pm Saturday as requested.

So I hurry away from another appointment to get there on time. We were a little concerned when we don't see the car waiting outside for us. "Don't worry, honey" I said to my wife. "They must have it in the back ready to go."

Weren't we surprised when we walked into the showroom and saw it on the floor blocked in by four other cars. Not only that but the battery was dead so we couldn't have gone out anyhow.

Sooo, the rep comes up and says "Are you ready to put in an offer and $1000 deposit so we can set up a test drive?" "WTF" says I. He goes on to tell us that this is their policy and no one gets a test without an accepted offer and a deposit. "WTF" says I.

I mention that he could have told us this when we booked the appointment and didn't he think it was a little misleading when he told me the car would be ready to go. "Blah, blah, blah, the owners' policy, blah, blah, blah" says he. "WTF" says I.

As you can tell, I'm a man of few but succinct words.

World Fine Cars pissed me off!

PbPedis

So you have to put in an offer BEFORE you even drive it? No wonder it's still sitting there. That's BS. Look elsewhere.

Rooney

Too many cars to put up with that BS

LastMezger

They tried that a few years ago with me on a 993. I told the guy there wasn't a hope in hell that I was putting a deposit on a car to test drive it. They caved.

Imo000

You made me look up succinct.

peritus

I guess that means that their sales are so high that then need anti-selling tactics to keep everything in check...

I wouldn't have even gotten to "WTF", I would have been laughing too hard at the sales guy to get the words out.

Christien

Remember that 99% of dealer traffic is tire kickers, especially for high end cars. You can't have that many people test driving these cars or else it becomes a demo car.

We have the same policy, but it's to weed out tire kickers. When someone is a serious buyer, the policy isn't just waived, it's not even mentioned. It's usually easy to tell, though mistakes are always possible.

Mike_UCR

Christien:
I understand the rationale for the policy as a qualifier. However, I don't look like a tire kicker. Late 50's, had previously talked to the rep about my 924S and my involvement with PCA etc.

The real aggravation is that he told me the car would be ready to drive on Saturday, no strings attached. He lied and wasted my time.

PM me to tell me more about your services.

theporscheguy

Christien has a point, although I would never put down a deposit to test drive a car. If you are serious about the car it might be worth your while to ask for the Sales or General Manager and go from there. If I am selling a car privately I won't let anyone drive the car unless I am convinced they are serious.

theporscheguy

Wasting my time would be very aggravating.

GTASHARK

Very discouraging to hear. I had previously heard whey ware a reputable dealer.

Many Mitsubishi dealers use the tactic of asking for a $1-2k deposit to weed out tire kickers that want to test drive the Evo. That said, the demographic of tire kickers for that car are 20-something males.

I wouldn't have expected a more mature individual would be subjected to the same kind of 'screening' at WFC

Imo000

When the Turbo Neon (SRt-4) came out, I wanted to test drive it just to see what all the hype was about and the Dodge dealer gave me the same response and WFC salemes above.......talk about a WTF moment. I couldn't beleive it. Taking a $60K truck out for a spin was ok but a sub $30K compact was a no no.

pongobaz

Sorry but as a process training consultant, this type of pre-judging of customers is so wrong. This is a business where you can't judge a book by it's cover...particularly with high end customers who don't always fit the demographic marketing profile of a brand, anybody who believes otherwise is foolish and setting themselves up for failure. I went to see these guys years ago to look at a couple of cars I was interested in, needless to say that I never did purchase anything from them. Poor attitude/etiquette (the guy couldn't remember my first name while holding my business card in his hand!), low product knowledge and non-relevant follow-up.
FYI: The best way to weed out "tire kickers" and "test pilots" is by initiating your sales process (meet/greet, needs assessment, product presentation, etc..) in the right order before getting to the demo drive, most tire kickers won't want to stick around for a discussion of what their wants and needs are and will usually get impatient and try to demand a test drive right away. Someone who is serious about the car and has taken the time to come to the dealership, has the time to discuss things first too.

Shemmer

I strole into a dealer driving a minivan, ask about a Ferrari for sale, get asked if I would like to test drive it, no talk about deposits etc, make an offer "after" driving it and buy it the next day. What's wrong with that? Sometimes dealers have their heads up their asses thinking they are the only ones selling nice cars
Advice... take your money alsewhere!

Turbodan

here is how to get him back: find out the salesmans day off and make him come in for an appointment (tell him you have a cheque) ...and then stiff him! what goes around comes around