Deposit to arrange test Drive??
Discussion
Went to a well known huge car place in Cannock, Staffs, looking for an MPV. Spotted the right car (VW Sharan in case anyone's interested)on the stock list and enquired about a test drive. Sure, they said, no problem. Just give us £250 first as a sign of good faith... No goddam way I said. If I like the car, I will buy it straight away (who's got time to waste looking at loads of MPVs?). But I'm buggered if I'm going to pay for a test drive. In that case, they said, you can't test drive it.
Is it me or is this normal practice these days?
Is it me or is this normal practice these days?
That's a bloody disgrace. I had this once at a Rover dealer. I told the bloke to f*** off, and bought something else instead. Considering TMS have lent me a £37,000 Cerb S6 for a whole bloody weekend and their Tamora demo twice, without asking me for a penny I would be well insulted by being asked for £250 
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I've never heard of paying a deposit for a test drive. They're bl**dy insured in case something happens. I certainly would put a deposit down, sounds very dodgy to me.
Actually, the 'excess' that most insurers charge a dealer for any claim makes in un-economic to make a claim. The dealer would have to fund repairs at their own cost. This is also true of thefts from dealers (which are becoming more common during test drives). It ends up being a cost that the dealer has to bear.
Hang on though. If I buy a car from them (or the same from a supermarket/internet) I will be giving them sales through their service department which also makes money. Lets not have the dealers pleading povety cos we all know its not true. Car sales have increased this year and all dealers make a large profit on the cars they buy, sell and service.
Its in the dealers best interest to get us to test drive the new cars to get us interested in buying them. My service garage lent me an Exige to play with for a day whilst my Elan was being serviced. There was no exess to pay as they are obviously hoping that I will buy the car from them. IT HAS WORKED my next car will most likely be a Lotus again and I will definately be buying from this garage.
Its about time that dealers saw exactly what we are. We are your next customer, we should be treated with respect and friendliness. My dealer has sussed this out and its perhaps why they are successful and time and time again customers come back for more servicing and cars. They are not cheap but customer service is everything. I run my own business and I give out free samples to my customers to try before they buy. If I started charging for this I would very quickly find I'm no longer in business.
Being charged/making a deposit to have a test drive will have me very rapidly leaving the showroom, and telling all my friends about their dealings.
Its in the dealers best interest to get us to test drive the new cars to get us interested in buying them. My service garage lent me an Exige to play with for a day whilst my Elan was being serviced. There was no exess to pay as they are obviously hoping that I will buy the car from them. IT HAS WORKED my next car will most likely be a Lotus again and I will definately be buying from this garage.
Its about time that dealers saw exactly what we are. We are your next customer, we should be treated with respect and friendliness. My dealer has sussed this out and its perhaps why they are successful and time and time again customers come back for more servicing and cars. They are not cheap but customer service is everything. I run my own business and I give out free samples to my customers to try before they buy. If I started charging for this I would very quickly find I'm no longer in business.
Being charged/making a deposit to have a test drive will have me very rapidly leaving the showroom, and telling all my friends about their dealings.
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What the dealers get p155ed off about (especialy where i work)is the fact that a lot of cusomers ask for a test drive only to buy the same car at one of these car supermarkets at a much lower price. then when they have bought the cars take it to the dealers to get it serviced!!
Why should they care they make more money in servicing then then do on selling new cars, and its not like they are responsible for warrenty claims.
Mark
If a garage wants my business they have to treat me as if the sun shines out of my arse. Otherwise I will just vote with my feet and buy from their competitors. Simple really.
Whatever next, would they ask me to pay for the petrol as well?
The cost of insurance is a TRADE RISK and part of their operating costs. This needs to be built into their profit margins, not billed to someone who hasn't even brought a car yet!!
When will people learn that unless you treat a customer right he won't buy your product?
Captain Angry
Whatever next, would they ask me to pay for the petrol as well?
The cost of insurance is a TRADE RISK and part of their operating costs. This needs to be built into their profit margins, not billed to someone who hasn't even brought a car yet!!
When will people learn that unless you treat a customer right he won't buy your product?
Captain Angry
That's unbelievable - £250 quid deposit to test drive a sharon (going rate in parts of essex I believe however 
)? When I went to test drive an SLK with my mum, we turned up in my battered old golf, and no problems.
One thought though - could be because it was a Sharan they've had a lot of people not used to the size clipping the corners? This would explain a deposit against minor damage (understadable considering the way most people movers seem to be driven)
)? When I went to test drive an SLK with my mum, we turned up in my battered old golf, and no problems. One thought though - could be because it was a Sharan they've had a lot of people not used to the size clipping the corners? This would explain a deposit against minor damage (understadable considering the way most people movers seem to be driven)
I went to the Peugeot dealer near where I live a while back and the spotty kid salesman didn't give me the time of day. A few weeks later I went to the local Lotus dealer (Kings) and they were only to pleased to speak to me and offer me a test drive. When I did take an Elise for a drive I didn't have to put down a deposit but I did have to sign an insurance agreement making me liable for the excess. Never went back to that Peugeot dealer.
I phoned my local Lotus dealer when the Elise was first introduced for a test drive, no documents were waved in front of me, & no deposits were asked for.
I went to the local TVR dealer shortly afterwards, and took out the Griffith demonstrator, again no money & no signing.
I would walk away if anyone asked for money...cheeky barstools
!!
I went to the local TVR dealer shortly afterwards, and took out the Griffith demonstrator, again no money & no signing.
I would walk away if anyone asked for money...cheeky barstools
!! Me & a mate went to a Golf Club to hire some clubs (sticks?) use their pitch & put (neither of us are'golfers').
They fussed about us wearing jeans, and when they finally did us the favour of letting us onto the course, demanded a deposit for their clubs - either a credit card or car keys.
As an afterthought - as I was retrieving my keys from said scruffy jeans - one of them said, they could only accept the keys if the car is worth more than the clubs (£1200). Had a company Lexus at the time & threw the keys at him with "it's the second most expensive car in your bloody car park!".
They fussed about us wearing jeans, and when they finally did us the favour of letting us onto the course, demanded a deposit for their clubs - either a credit card or car keys.
As an afterthought - as I was retrieving my keys from said scruffy jeans - one of them said, they could only accept the keys if the car is worth more than the clubs (£1200). Had a company Lexus at the time & threw the keys at him with "it's the second most expensive car in your bloody car park!".
The Caterham policy is simply the insurance situation.
Graham Nearn (then MD) was kind enough to loan me a brand new car for a weekend when I was aged 20 - but I had to arrange my own insurance (70 quid for the weekend plus 30 quid for the speeding fine!!!!).
Apparently the Caterham staff have been nearly killed before now on test drives, as well, so maybe they are slightly more reticent than other garages. Having owned a couple of sevens I can testify that they are a world apart from most modern sports cars to drive - closer to a formula ford in feel. Take some getting used to.
Graham Nearn (then MD) was kind enough to loan me a brand new car for a weekend when I was aged 20 - but I had to arrange my own insurance (70 quid for the weekend plus 30 quid for the speeding fine!!!!).
Apparently the Caterham staff have been nearly killed before now on test drives, as well, so maybe they are slightly more reticent than other garages. Having owned a couple of sevens I can testify that they are a world apart from most modern sports cars to drive - closer to a formula ford in feel. Take some getting used to.
The bravery of salesmen acompanying 'virgin' sports car drivers on test drives is admirable!
I do think the whole issue is the reason and attitude that a deposit is asked for. IMHO Insurance considerations should generally be the 'risk' of the dealer, but in their defence, if some stuffy twat wants a 100% deposit for some golf sticks, are the really that far out of step?
I do think the whole issue is the reason and attitude that a deposit is asked for. IMHO Insurance considerations should generally be the 'risk' of the dealer, but in their defence, if some stuffy twat wants a 100% deposit for some golf sticks, are the really that far out of step?
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