weekend test drive

andystephens

Hi all,

I am looking at a mercedes viano for my new business venture. If I was to go into my dealer will they let me test drive it over a weekend do you think? Also, are there any other people who are doing weekend rentals? I have looked at renault but that's full.

Thanks

Andy

Hintza

Depends how desperate they are. You can only ask.

But if it was my business I would say no (unless manufacturer was backing it) ; potentially open to too much abuse.

flea72

andystephens wrote: »

Hi all,

I am looking at a mercedes viano for my new business venture. If I was to go into my dealer will they let me test drive it over a weekend do you think?

most dealerships will no longer do unaccompanied test drives, so the days of test driving a vehicle for the weekend are long gone (unless you are on buddy terms with the owner)

Other than that, the only option would be to hire one for a couple of days, to see if its fits your business requirements,but obviously that costs, and finding a rental company that has the exact make/model you want can be a task. Again, most dealerships, no longer do rentals, so you would have to go look at places like Wilhire, Sixt, thrifty, etc.

Flea

Hintza

Just a thought one way they might do it is if they knew you had a van and left it with them over the period. At least then they could see you were not just looking for a free hire?

Lemonade_Pockets

Renault have a fleet of demo's which they provide to prospective customers to test drive. However this is normally reserved for clients who are ordering more than one van.

As far as mercedes goes i beleive they have a similar set up.

I would go and speak to the dealers in person, explain the situation and see what they can do.

If you came in to see me i'd rule out as many of the other variables first e.g. give you a short test drive, sort out the figures etc etc. If that was all to your liking i would then arrange a weekend test drive for you.

Its a costly excerise lending a van or car out for that period of time: You need different insurance cover, you have to register and tax it, you then have to have another van onsite incase someone else wants to look at one. Etc etc. So dealers are quite rightly wary about going to these lengths incase its just someone wanting free van hire for a weekend.

ozvaldinho

Just a thought, Andy. I was considering buying a Viano for my business last year, but didn't in the end.

Firstly, Vianos are sold through Mercedes car dealers rather than commercial vehicle dealers. The commercial vehicle side has a dedicated fleet of demonstrators, last time I asked they lent me one for a week, and so did Peugeot.

Secondly, the Viano is very similar to the Vito, which is a Light Commercial Vehicle rather than a passenger vehicle. If you're a VAT registered business, this can make a huge difference to how much you can claim back.
I don't know if the servicing or warranty are different for the Vito, but I think you get at least 60k of servicing and three years unlimited warranty.

Vitos are fairly crap to drive, but Vianos are really dreadful