Conference terri::cars_uk

had the same problem with a renault dealer in Coventry...

would not let me drive a 5 gt turbo & claimed people DO buy them without
first driving them (both new & used!!!)


...Art.

    
    Rubbish!
    
    It's amazing how many dealers will tell you that they can't get
    a car for you to test drive and still expect you to buy one from
    them! Tell them exactly what you think of them and make it quite
    clear that there's no way you would consider buying a car from them
    if they won't let you test drive one first and that you'll tell
    all your friends, family and workmates the same.
    
    If they're still not interested in your business give them 2 fingers
    and try the next dealer!
    
    One question. Are you BUYING a car or getting one from the lease
    scheme? I can sympathise with garages who don't want to waste time
    on people who won't even be buying a car from them, regardless of
    how much they help. This obviously isn't the case in Art's case.
    
    Mark

    I'd agree about Vauxhall. I was recently trawling the dealers for
    both my new lease car and my wife's new lease car. One rule seemed
    to apply fairly consistently - turn up in a suit and get loadsahelp,
    turn up in jeans/t shirt and the brochures are over there mate!
    
    I would summarise the dealers as follows on test drives:
    
    ARG - no problem, even if its a lease car
    Ford - as above
    Vauxhall - pretty disinterested probably because they can't get
    any SRi's anyway!
    Audi - not bad but didn't ask for a test drive
    Toyota - mixed, but one dealer gave me an hour in a Celica for Pam
    Dormer's phone number!
    Citroen - not interested
    Alfa - bent over backwards and thats what I've got - a 75 TS
    
    My wife's ordered an SRi but is hoping the new Rover 216GSi goes
    on her list before the Cav arrives so she can swap.
    
    You have to beat the pavements I guess, or find other Deccies with
    the car you want.
    
    Paul
    

    We resorted to white lies when I wanted to try out a Peugeot.  (Say
    your getting lease and they lose interest fast!)   We went to the local
    Peugeot dealer and they said the same as the last few.... they could
    sell them so quickly/easily they didn't need any in stock to test
    drive...people bought them anyway! 
                                      
    Conversely, Jacksons the local Ford dealer bent over backwards to
    help. I even test drove the car I was interested in!
                                      
    I ended up getting a Peugeot thanks to a Deccie who had one, and
    let me loose behind the wheel!                              
    
    
  

    
    I've been trying to get a test drive in a Nova TD for the last 4
    months !
    
    "We can let you test drive a Nova 1.0...", it's not going to be
    anything like the Diesel is it ?????
    
    Humph....

    Saw in the German motoring press lately that a high percentage (80%?)
    of BMW owners buy the cars without test driving them first...
                                       
    Had the same problem with buying a new bike a few a few years ago.
    One dealer allowed a test drive but only if I followed him, and
    the test circuit was only a few miles. The next dealer gave me the
    keys to a used example and said to come back when I was ready. 
    So I bought from the second dealer. 

    Jan
    

    JULLIANS (Sp?) are good (Jaguar, Land Rover & SAAB).
    
    Grant

When we were looking for the RX7 convertible, we just phoned up the 3 nearest 
Mazda dealers, asking each if they had a demonstrator in, 1 said no, but we can
probably get one out of the importers for you sir, the next said, the same but
you could try the 3rd dealer, "we think they've got one sir" and the third said
yes sir, come along anytime you like. This was all after just asking for a test
drive, no mention of buying/leasing or anything. Most impressed. If anyone's
interested they were the ones in Southampton, Portsmouth and Chichester. We
were actually only after a test drive with a view to leasing, but ending up
buying the demonstrator!

I certainly would not purchase a car from the dealer that you have mentioned, I
would even consider giving Vauxhall customer service a call, and telling them
about the 'helpfull service' that you recieved from the dealership - I'm sure
that they would be quite interested in the fact that potential customers can't
try their cars before making a decision on whether they wish to buy one.  

I don't know if you are considering any other manufacturer's products, but if
you are (and THEY let you try it out) you may want to tell Vauxhall CS about
that too.  I assure you that the next person who walks into the dealership and
requests a test drive will get one with a smile.

Good or bad, that's what we'd do in the states.  Take it for what its worth.

-Al

    
    Talking to Vauxhall sounds a good idea to me too. When I've had
    trouble with my local Renault dealer Renault CS have been VERY helpful.

    To be fair to Vauxhall dealers, they aren't all bad. My father wanted
    to replace his old style CD with a new style one and was greeted
    with the 'Oh well, we don't need to provide test drives.People'll
    buy them anyway' attitude from his local dealer, but found that
    a dealer in a nearby town was prepared to get him a test car from
    another dealer AND then (when he'd decided to buy) scoured the country
    to get him the model and colour and option he wanted.
    
    Mark
    

I had no trouble getting a test drive in an SRi when I bought 11 months 
ago, dealers offering a test drive were;

	Bakers of Aldershot
	Great Western Moters

Dave.

    back to .0, Paul, your old mate Keith Edmunds has just taken on an 2.0
    24v (I think) SRi. Give him a ring...
    
    Richard

	There appears to be some misunderstanding here about 
	demonstrators.

	I alway's thought they were kept to provide garage staff
	with something to drive around in.

	When the Esprit turbo came out a certain demonstrator
	did 20,000 miles in 6 months - I knew the man who had it!.

	-John

    
    re .14
    
    24v SRi....
    
    Either Vauxhall have got a v6 in there or they have leapfrogged the
    japanese and forgotten to announce the first 6 valve/cylinder engine...
    :-)
    
    Nigel 
    

    re-1
    
    I think .14 is confusing the 16v GSi2000 with the Calton GSi3000 24v.
    
    Grant

    All right I admit it, I got carried away with all the numbers and
    letters! :-)
    
    In defence, he's got a 16v GSi2000 and my manager is about to get a
    Calton GSi3000 24v, so it's hardly surprising I'm confused!.
    
    Confused_of_decpark_whose_RD_has_just_become_a_TGD_and_who_wanted_a_DTR
    and_now_has_to_get_used_to_wanting_a_TZD_aarrgghh!!!!!!!!!!
    
    Richard :-)

	According to Fleet VTX, Ford have introduced a scheme where,  you can
	get a day long test drive in any Ford. Ford will give you a voucher,
	which you redeem at your local Ford Car Hire Garage, or Swan or somebody
	else, for a day long test drive.

	The number to ring is 0245 493046.

Richard.

    I wanted to test drive a Fiat Uno, fine the guy said, ah but there's
    nobody here right now, would you like to come back around 3pm? So, I
    come back later... sorry, there's still no-one who can... oh well,
    never mind!
    
    Pete.

    Re . 19
    
    I just called...
    
    They are you a lot of details around name,address, age, are you a
    member of Talkback and what car you currently drive.
    
    Apparently they send you a voucher for a generic model type i.e. Sierra
    and a list of places where the voucher can be redeemed. The girl said
    it would be about 3 weeks in arriving. It's then a case of phoning
    around until you find a place that has the car you want to test drive,
    arrange date and time etc. and away you go.
    
    Rich
    
    

re the talkback scheme...

I thought it sounded too good to be true. At last a car company trying to please
the customer...

I duly got a voucher for a Granada Scorpio - talkback chose this, not me, to 
replace an Audi 100 - seems a fair swap in list price terms. 

Could I find one of their garages who would loan me one for the day? 
Like H** I could. I complained to talkback who said I could borrow one from 
a dealer in London (I live west of Newbury) but I didn't fancy driving 150 
miles round trip in my car and 150 in the Granada just to get a days 
test - seemed too much effort;-)

I filled the questionair in with 0/10 on all counts and never heard any more.


Jc

Re .-1

I rang them up too and got all the questions.  The last one was age: I said 22
and they said you've got to be 23 for this for insurance purposes...

Ho hum.
I'll have to get another make then.  It's Ford's loss!

Jon

    S'funny, this about the Ford scheme, as (one of my) boss(es)
    got a voucher from Ford, and he used it at Swan National to rent a
    Granada for the day...
    
    I thought that was the same scheme, maybe not!
    
    Peter.
    

It was the same scheme - just wern't prepairded to give out the scorpio
that I had the voucher for...

Jc

Judging from the replies, my experience is not uncommon ;-(

Now...as a way out of my predicament, does anyone out there on the lease scheme
(or not... I don't really mind) have either of the aforementioned models and is
willing to let me have a test drive please?  (Cavalier SRI & GL 2.0i)

Paul

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Note 952.0             Hey you go guv' ... A car for s day            No replies
WARNUT::YATES "Turbcharged for perfection..."        13 lines   2-FEB-1990 10:38
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    Has anyone tried out this new offer from Ford yet?
    
    I read about it in Fleetnews - seems you ring a central number (I
    forgotten it for now...it's on VTX though), and explain that you want a
    test drive a particular type of Ford car, they then send you a voucher
    and you take that to any Ford dealer with a CAR HIRE section, and they
    arrange a car for a DAY for you. Swan National car hire is an
    alternative to the Ford dealership in your area if they don't have a
    Car Hire section.
    
    Any views??
    
    Mark. 

    Re. -1 
    
    Forget that last one - I didn't realise that the issue had already been
    discussed.
    
    Mark. 

    
    I'd heard that Penta were about to be disenfranchised? Is this true?
    
    Mark

re .-1 Wouldn't be too surprised, it happened to them with the TVR franchise,
and in conversation with the hordes of ex-Penta people at Nias of Newbury,
they've been expecting it for a while ...  

    I've been doing a bit of shopping around lately since the 205 is coming
    up for renewal, I found the following garages helpful when getting test
    drives...
    
    Reading Garage, Reading		Peugeot
    ????????, Slough			Volkswagen
    Monroe, Andover			Vauxhall
    Ormsby Cars, Reading		Citroen
    
    I've made my mind up what to get.... 
    
    
    John

    
    You can't have!
    
    
    
    You haven't been to the Renault dealers! :^)
    
    Mark

    Re PENTA and its franchise. Now that its mentioned I remember the
    salesman muttering something about how they 'own' all their demo cars. The
    implication being that they have to buy their demonstrators rather than
    get a standard manufacturers 'promotion pack'. Having said this, I've
    no idea about garage finances so maybe this is just a red herring.
    
    	Richard

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Note 1023.0                    Ford Test Drive 24                     No replies
AYOV27::ISMITH "Mr The Fish?"                        21 lines  12-APR-1990 16:56
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    If anyone with a lease car is interested, Ford have started a program
    called 'Ford Test Drive 24', where drivers who are to be replacing
    their cars in the near future can have a free 24 hour test drive.
    I think it started as part of Talkback, which is how I got to hear
    about it.
    
    Yesterday I received my information pack, complete with a voucher
    to take along to the rental place of my choice.  The voucher was
    for a Fiesta, but I took advantage of the fact that you can send
    the voucher back and change it for a different one, so I have requested
    one for an Escort/Orion.  The conditions are that you get the car
    fully insured for a day, only you can drive it, and you only pay
    for petrol used.  Very reasonable.  Oh, and drivers can't have
    endorsements, and must be over 23 unless the car is a Scorpio in
    which case the age limit is 28.
    
    These vouchers are sent out automatically to Talkback members, but
    if anyone else is interested they can apparently phone up and ask
    about it on 0800 581779 or 0245 493046.
    
    Ian.

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Note 1023.1                    Ford Test Drive 24                         1 of 1
LARVAE::BRIGGS "They use computers don't they?"      11 lines  17-APR-1990 09:47
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    Is your existing car a Ford?
    
    I have been receiving Talkback since day 1 and have never received any
    such vouchers. I've just replaced a BMW with a Montego and I didn't get
    any offers of free test drives, brochures etc etc that I expected to
    get trying to convince me to go Ford. After all they had all the
    details from my Talkback application (type of car, replacement date etc
    etc). I just thought they were blowing an opportunity to influence me.
    
    Richard

    Well I received one about six months back, followed by a Ford Cars
    catalogue. I've since received a mail that say's "according to the
    information you first gave us you should have recently changed your
    car..." 
    
    I know I would have told them it's due for change August 90 not
    89. So obviously they try, but their database is suspect.
    
    richard

    No, Ford's database is not at all suspect. It is an unmitigated
    shambles. Due to me sending change of address notifications, they
    now have me on their books at least twice. They got the impression
    that my car expired a year later than it did, and are now totally
    confused. I think part of this is that their minds can't get around
    the idea of two-and-a-half-year replacement cycles.
    
    That said, at least they are trying. I don't see anything approaching
    Ford's initiative from anyone else.
    
    Steve
    

Well, on one level, Ford are trying. The ideas are good and my database
entry always seems good. On the downside, they sent me vouchers for a loan of a
Scorpio for 24 hours and then couldn't deliver (unless I went to london to 
collect and return it). Some offer!

Jc 

    My car isn't a Ford, it's a VW Polo.  Based on that they sent me
    a voucher for a test drive in a Fiesta, together with the latest
    Ford Cars brochure.  I am going to get another VW after this one,
    or maybe even buy it if the lease company offer me a good deal,
    but I still wouldn't mind a day out in an Orion.  8^) 8^) 8^)
    
    
    Ian.

    
    I have recently started looking for a replacment decmobile and saw
    in VTX that to test a Citroen or Volvo all I had to do was to phone
    the person whoes name and number is therein listed. I phoned both.
    Volvo fleet person not in and will phone back - I think they have
    forgotten! Citroen person not in. He did phone back and we made
    an arrangment for me to borrow a BX Turbo Diesel for a whole week.
    The great day came. I had the car delivered to my home. When I got
    home it was parked in the road outside my house. Funny, I thought,
    there is no "TURBO" badge. Shure enough the     car was an ordinary
    diesel a BX 19DZT! When I spoke to Citroen about this they were
    as surprised as I was. The car had just come back from another
    potential customer who asked for a Turbo. Presumably he/she didn't
    notice the difference!
    Citroen are now looking for a TURBO for me to try.
    
    Ian.

    Don't suppose you can ask them to extend the period so I can have it a
    couple of days?. 
    
    Richard

    re the last couple;
    
    don't bother with the test drive- just order one!!!
    
    After all my to-ing and fro-ing, I'm gonna order a TZD Turbo with ABS
    and Air-conditioning, in black.
    
    The quotes have just come back; with ABS it's 4631/1209, and the a/c
    is 4857/1436.
    
    I've decided to pay the extra in case the heatwave returns!!
    
    Peter.
    

    
    My lease car runs out in a few weeks, and I want to replace it with a
    Rover 218 turbo diesel. Following the guidelines in VTX, I phoned the
    Rover information centre and they arranged for me to test drive one at
    my local dealer - 'brilliant', I thought.
    
    Anyway, I turned up at my local dealer for the test drive, only to be
    informed that they didn't have a turbo diesel, and would I be
    interested in test driving a diesel. As I've already got a Rover, I
    declined their kind offer. The Rover dealer was very good and informed
    me he'd get hold of one and contact me. Sure enough, a couple of days
    later he called, but only to inform me that the nearest turbo diesel
    was in Newcastle - 200+ miles away from where I live, and unfortunatly,
    because it was a company car and he wasn't guaranteed a sale, if I
    wanted to test drive it, I'd have to make my own way to Newcastle.
    
    I went back to the Rover information desk and whilst they could see my
    point of view, there was nothing they could do to help. I called car
    fleet, they too could see my point of view, but all they could suggest
    was I walked round my local digital car park and see if I could see the
    particular model, make a note of the number and contact them, they
    could then tell me who had the car, and I could contact them for a test
    drive. 
    
    HELP !!!!!
    
    Does anyone know anyone in the North-west of England with a Rover
    218SLD Turbo diesel that I could test drive ?????
           
    Paul

I can't believe it!  I have just phoned Davy's, the Vauxhall garage in
Basingstoke, to get a test drive of a Cavalier 2.0i GLS, prior to a probable
order for one as my next company car.  The fleet sales guy there, Paul, tells me
that "I haven't got a 2 litre demonstrator at present.  Have you tried Kennings
in Reading?".

I expected the situation to be bad, since the car will not be delivered by
Davy's, but this is incredible!  Is this the service I have to expect from my
local Vauxhall garage when the car needs servicing as well?

T

Just had the same problem with Grimshaws in Manchester. Contacted them regarding
Omega 2.5TD - " Oh we don't have that model as  a demonstrator, can you arrange
something with Vauxhall?"

    re .0
    
    Check VTX. All test drives for Vauxhalls should go through your
    nearest fleet authorised dealer. Yours would be Wadham Kenning.
    They can also arrange extended test drives for you with car fleet's
    approval.
    
    Royston

    I contacted Grimshaws FLEET people as identified in VTX, they then fax
    Vauxhall central demo control who get back to you in a couple of weeks.
    
    I got 2 different cars Fri-Mon over 2 consecutive w/ends.
    
    Greg

Thats what I did. That was the authorised dealer in question

    Vauxhall Central Demonstration are 0905 726767

    So can we organise this ourselves by phoning Vauxhall Central
    Demonstration directly or do we need to go through one of the garages listed
    in VTX first ?
    
    Royston

    I went through Wadham Kenning but they said they didn't stock any
    Cavalier automatics as demonstrators and I had to wait a month before
    Vauxhall failed to reply (I suspect that Wadham may have forgotten to
    send the info as when I chased it up Vauxhall called back the next day
    with a date).
    
    So I vote for going through Vauxhall directly.
    
    tmp

    and one more thing....:-)
    
    Last time I received one of those booklets that lists garages, Davy
    weren't an approved garage !  Maybe they've improved since then.
    
    tmp

Re .7

Global replace Wadham by Grimshaws for my exact same story.  Vauxhall
eventually gave me a date for a loan car but by then I had given up,
chosen a Frontera Diesel, and had it delivered !!

David

    I just asked Wadham for "any cavalier saloon" and got the response "we
    don't stock any of those as demonstrators, we'll have to send the
    request to Vauxhall".  Oh well, I guess I'll get to keep my Astra GSi
    for another 6 weeks. :-)
    
    tmp