Ferrari - Test Drives

balsingh

After lots of saving, I'm finally in the market to buy a used Ferrari (an old one albeit).

The problem I have is that none of the dealer/specialists seems to want to let you test drive the cars. Even after long calls to discuss the cars and long journeys to get to the dealers, until you show them the cheque book, they see you as a timewaster and wont let you drive them!! The usual response is "you can have a drive when we get close to a deal".

I find this very annoying because when I do find a car I like and drive it, I'll have nothign to compare it to so I wont know if its a good one or a dog!!

My current stance on the whole thing is that if they wont let me drive it, I dont want it. They lose my business - but then I might miss out on some good cars!!

Anyone got any advice on how to easily get a short test drive from these places??

ffs

Join one of the owners clubs and get advice from them. If you go to a meet you will probably get offers of demos too, and possibly drives if the owners car is for sale.

balsingh

Check this out for a laugh!! I've phoned up a specialist regarding a car. Its 200 miles from where I am so I asked in advance about a test drive. I'm not driving 200 miles to not get a drive. His response was that I could have a test drive after I have decided to buy the car, given him a deposit and got my own insurance sorted out. Then he went onto say that if I decided not to buy it after the test drive, he woudl refund the deposit ... what about the £1500 insurance premium that I woudl have already dished out?????

ceminem

u would buy insurance on a daily basis or weekend, you wouldnt buy one years worth for a test drive!

mr_accountant

balsingh wrote:

Check this out for a laugh!! I've phoned up a specialist regarding a car. Its 200 miles from where I am so I asked in advance about a test drive. I'm not driving 200 miles to not get a drive. His response was that I could have a test drive after I have decided to buy the car, given him a deposit and got my own insurance sorted out. Then he went onto say that if I decided not to buy it after the test drive, he woudl refund the deposit ... what about the £1500 insurance premium that I woudl have already dished out?????

if that’s the attitude before the sale imagine the after sales 'service'. I would tell this person exactly what to do with his Ferrari!

balsingh

I never realised how difficult it was to part with 30k. If it was any other make, the dealer would have the red carpet out by now!!

ffs

If you think it's difficult to part with £30k, then wait until you've bought the car, then you'll see how quickly the next £30k disappears. That's the other reason you need to join an owners club, or better still a forum (I'm a member of Rennlist but that is for Porsches), so you'll have somewhere to turn when things go wrong.