Test Drive - Local dealer does not allow

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Slaughterhouse

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Yeah every dealership is different. The one closest to me requires a credit check and pay-stub before test driving any Raptor. It's not just Ford. My boss bought a corvette a few years ago and some dealerships wouldn't let him test drive one either. It wasn't even a Z06, just a loaded Z51. He went to a different dealership that was more accommodating.
 

2014RubyRed

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Dealers are such a bunch of ******** these days. I'd never buy from someone with that attitude. Kinda like the dude up above that 'screens' potential home buyers. WTF has happened to the world? How in the hell are you supposed to entice people of the world to do better for themselves if they can't see what their shooting for.

Man, times have changed for the worse that we all act this way to our fellow Americans.......
 

Uncas

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I called a local dealer in Washington DC metro area about a 2019 Raptor I was interested in. I asked about test driving and they said they do not take the Raptor's out on the road but that I could drive it around the lot. So I am suppose to drop some serious coin on a vehicle but I can't take it out for s test drive. Is this normal?
Roadtrip to Christiansburg VA, Shellor Motor Mile Ford is showing 3 19s in inventory. They handed me the keys on my 18 and said go. No ride along, took it down some of the mountain roads and I was hooked. As for Joe Buchanan.
 

benticles

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While there are obviously differences between the 18 and 19, if you want to drive an 18 you're welcome to hit me up and drive mine. FWIW I bought it from Koons Silver Spring (Noah was the guy) and there was no issue with a test drive, although we agreed on price before I even went up there so they knew I was "serious".

Edit: Just saw you've now driven one, but offer still stands if you want a bit more seat time.
 

Kraftei

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Dealers are such a bunch of ******** these days. I'd never buy from someone with that attitude. Kinda like the dude up above that 'screens' potential home buyers. WTF has happened to the world? How in the hell are you supposed to entice people of the world to do better for themselves if they can't see what their shooting for.

Man, times have changed for the worse that we all act this way to our fellow Americans.......

The average new real estate agent goes out of business in 2-3 years. The number one reason is not screening clients properly, my first client looked at 40-50 houses, wrote on two and never bought any, wanted to keep looking. My Manager took me aside and had a heart to heart with me, instructed me to ask my client for a non refundable retainer, I did and my client parted company. That lesson cost me 5k, but it was the best 5 k I ever spent. I researched her (later) and found out she had a Realtor before me. To my knowledge she never bought a house to this day. 13 years in the business now, I don't turn a wheel unless new clients are under contract.

The confusion that you experience is the fact that most people do not work for 100% commission. I have no medical, no sick days, no vacation days. I pay taxes and have to reimburse the gst paid by the clients back to the government. I pay dues and fees to the city, the province and the country real estate organizations. I pay money to hold my license at a brokerage, I lease a office, I have to pay for all required update courses, gas, insurance, vehicles, computers etc etc. The only time I get paid is when a deal closes, its my job to ensure that the clients that I work with will buy a house, otherwise I am spending money for nothing. As well I have a duty to the sellers not to disrupt their lives unnecessarily by bringing unqualified people into heir homes. You would be the first person to complain if I brought some baddies into your house, we have a problem with opioid and jewelry theft. I am the one that is held accountable for any problems that arise from a showing.

There are two sides to every story, a good sales person will normally get it right, but no one is perfect, as well we have bad people in our industry, just like any industry!
 

mezger

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I can certainly agree you *shouldn't* have to look the part. When I'm not at work, I'm usually in either basketball shorts, t-shirt, flip flops, and a baseball hat OR if it's colder track pants and a hoodie. However, I also understand that if I'm walking in dressed like that asking to test drive a $75,000 vehicle I may have some extra convincing to take on. I chose to dress the way I did and I'm not going to be offended if someone initially forms an opinion based on it. In fact, I often use it to my advantage.

Usually within 1-2 minutes of a conversation, a sales guy (whether it be for a car, a house, or something as simple as light fixtures) can tell my income does not match my personal dress code. If they continue forward with some obviously non-uniform policy, I'll simply go elsewhere. But asking for a buyer to prove income before a test drive? They can f-ck right off with that.

Basically my situation and philosophy.

That said, I've been denied a test drive on a well used Gen 1 at a major local stealership after showing up in a Z06 which was worth significantly more than the raptor. The salesman somehow thought I need a raptor to go for a joyride and wanted me to demonstrate the ability to pay for the truck and/or make an offer prior to driving it. This is the same stealership going for $10k markups.

They didn't even get a call from me when I was ready to make my new Gen II purchase, though I did stop by to compare leadfoot with magnetic since they had a bunch of stale stock sitting out.

WRT a new gen2, I can understand a dealership not wanting to give a test drive on the latest and greatest (and they better not be allowing test drives of a customer's order), but I do think such behavior is now unwarranted in the case of a used 2018.
 
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raptorexplorer

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The average new real estate agent goes out of business in 2-3 years. The number one reason is not screening clients properly, my first client looked at 40-50 houses, wrote on two and never bought any, wanted to keep looking. My Manager took me aside and had a heart to heart with me, instructed me to ask my client for a non refundable retainer, I did and my client parted company. That lesson cost me 5k, but it was the best 5 k I ever spent. I researched her (later) and found out she had a Realtor before me. To my knowledge she never bought a house to this day. 13 years in the business now, I don't turn a wheel unless new clients are under contract.

The confusion that you experience is the fact that most people do not work for 100% commission. I have no medical, no sick days, no vacation days. I pay taxes and have to reimburse the gst paid by the clients back to the government. I pay dues and fees to the city, the province and the country real estate organizations. I pay money to hold my license at a brokerage, I lease a office, I have to pay for all required update courses, gas, insurance, vehicles, computers etc etc. The only time I get paid is when a deal closes, its my job to ensure that the clients that I work with will buy a house, otherwise I am spending money for nothing. As well I have a duty to the sellers not to disrupt their lives unnecessarily by bringing unqualified people into heir homes. You would be the first person to complain if I brought some baddies into your house, we have a problem with opioid and jewelry theft. I am the one that is held accountable for any problems that arise from a showing.

There are two sides to every story, a good sales person will normally get it right, but no one is perfect, as well we have bad people in our industry, just like any industry!

same with law. i screen my potential clients. some essentially want a whole outline and legal opinions on their case before they agree to anything. that involves research, memo prep, and lots of phone calls. i generally give an overview and what i would do. once the number drops on the retainer though, more than half don't bother calling back.

as to the thread. I drove an f150 XLT and f250 a few times. And then just pulled the trigger on an '18 without ever test driving it. no regrets
 

VFFTX

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I called a local dealer in Washington DC metro area about a 2019 Raptor I was interested in. I asked about test driving and they said they do not take the Raptor's out on the road but that I could drive it around the lot. So I am suppose to drop some serious coin on a vehicle but I can't take it out for s test drive. Is this normal?
 

traxem

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same with law. i screen my potential clients. some essentially want a whole outline and legal opinions on their case before they agree to anything. that involves research, memo prep, and lots of phone calls. i generally give an overview and what i would do. once the number drops on the retainer though, more than half don't bother calling back.

as to the thread. I drove an f150 XLT and f250 a few times. And then just pulled the trigger on an '18 without ever test driving it. no regrets

That’s not quite a fair comparison. Not allowing a test drive is one thing; selectively allowing a test drive based on someone’s appearance is another. I’m sure if you selectively only offered free consultations to people based on their appearance, you’d earn yourself a bad reputation.
 
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