[Gerrywaz]

Have something that never occurred to me. I have a 2013 3.6R OB Limited due to arrive at the dealer sometime in October. There's a strong possibility we may be out of town for a week or two when the car comes in. I've upscaled it a bit with a lot of accessories (moonroof, NAV, cargo nets, etc.)

Say the car comes in and I'm not home for a week or two and it sits out on the lot until I can get it.

Is the dealer right in letting potential buyers test drive my car? Can I ask or prevent the dealer from letting other people test drive the car?

And related to that, how many miles on a new car is "average" when you pick it up?

TIA.

 

[1 Lucky Texan]

I'd guess if you haven't taken delivery of it, it's theirs. What you could talk them into doing in a 'goodwill'-type of verbal assurance conversation - who knows?

maybe give some relative power of attorney to take immediate delivery for you? lol! I have no idea if that's feasible.

 

[subiesailor]

The dealer can show it - if you have not signed the paper work yet - however a good dealer will simply park the car in the back or put it on the show room floor with doors locked. Given when a car is sitting on the lot it is open game for test drives.

When our OB was shipped 700 miles in a dealer swap - our dealer had to park it in the back of the shop and even then he had several people ask if they could take it for a test drive given the OB they traded for ours was their very last OB on the lot. He said they nearly had to toss a cover over the car to get people to leave it alone regarding requesting to see it.

 

[cyberpirate]

Just let your sales guy know that you will not go thru the purchase if the car has more than 10 miles on the odometer.

 

[RoRsChAcH]

Sounds like you ordered it and put money down? If so then the dealer should park it in the back lot and wait for you to come sign the paperwork. I would be up front with them and let them know you could be gone when the car comes in. I would think anything in the neighborhood of 10-12 miles would be acceptable as I'm sure they will go fill the gas tank. If they have issues with anything you may want to find a new dealer.

 

[foxrider68]

Just let your sales guy know that you will not purchase it if the car has more than 10 miles on the odometer.

I like this idea the best. They can show it but no driving it.

 

[iainb]

If you ordered the car they should not be letting anyone test drive it. Just ask your salesman to verify that.

 

[BossMaverick]

They didn't let anyone test drive mine and it was on the lot for 2 weeks before I could get it.

It really doesn't do any good from a sales stand point to have customers drive sold cars vs other cars in stock. They want to sell what they can and customers generally like the car they test drove. It would be a hindrance to have a customer drive one car but then try to sell them a different car.

Just ask the dealer about it. I did so and I was assured that no customers would be test driving it. I got there and the car only had 4 miles on it which probably came from the factory test and the dealer (as a final dealer prep check and to get gas).

 

[scoobydoo2]

...every time mine goes in for service the guys like to show it to potential customers just so they can see what it could possibly look like...and since I added the supertones...sound like...

 

[Tom28]

Just let your sales guy know that you will not go thru the purchase if the car has more than 10 miles on the odometer.

I didn't have this option since the car was 200 miles away. Good news is, this time 2 weeks ago my car was a bag of parts. It made it to the dealership, no one got to test drive it and only the professional driver my dealer sent drove it prior to me picking it up.

 

[unsub1]

The car should ship with a small "L-shaped" mechanism that will be left in the passenger seat if anyone takes your car out on a test-drive or abuses it in any way. It's about 1.5cm long.

 

[Douglas_D]

The car should ship with a small "L-shaped" mechanism that will be left in the passenger seat if anyone takes your car out on a test-drive or abuses it in any way. It's about 1.5cm long.

Har har. Don't lose it.. it may be very important!

 

[TailFin]

The car should ship with a small "L-shaped" mechanism that will be left in the passenger seat if anyone takes your car out on a test-drive or abuses it in any way. It's about 1.5cm long.

Har har. Don't lose it.. it may be very important!

Ahahaha! Had no idea what unsub1 was talking about until I read your thread, Douglas!

 

[Hunny Bunny]

Is the dealer right in letting potential buyers test drive my car? Can I ask or prevent the dealer from letting other people test drive the car?

And related to that, how many miles on a new car is "average" when you pick it up?

It depends on what do you mean by "my" car
If you paid for it outright then it's yours and no one has a right to touch it.
If you didn't pay for it then it's not yours yet and the dealer can use it for whatever

You can ask the dealer to do anything, belly dance :dance2r striptease :rahrah: but will he let others to test drive "your" car depends on the condition above :roadtrip:

At the Subaru port they test drive new cars for about 3 miles.
This is exact mileage was on mine when I've got it :29:

 

[OutbackUFO]

I didn't have this option since the car was 200 miles away. Good news is, this time 2 weeks ago my car was a bag of parts. It made it to the dealership, no one got to test drive it and only the professional driver my dealer sent drove it prior to me picking it up.

Your dealer didn't flatbed/ truck your car in????:gasp: My car came from Orlando and had 8 miles on the odo.
Orlando is 240 miles north of me and I would never have taken delivery of my car with more than 10 miles on the odo either..

 

[Bologna]

If you PAID a deposit I dont think he should be showing it let alone test driving it with other buyers. Surely there's another 3.6 on the lot. In terms of how many miles your car should have brand new....mine had 4.5. Hopefully you've established a good relationship with your dealer over these weeks and feel okay asking him to keep it off limits.

 

[DOOM161]

If you put a deposit down the dealer shouldn't let others drive it. My outback had 10 miles before I test drove it

 

[Tom28]

Your dealer didn't flatbed/ truck your car in????:gasp: My car came from Orlando and had 8 miles on the odo.
Orlando is 240 miles north of me and I would never have taken delivery of my car with more than 10 miles on the odo either..

Nope. Apparently, none of the dealerships in NC or SC do that. I talked to a good dozen of them in the 2 states and it is common practice for them to go get the car.

I'm okay with it. First off, the warranty starts when I drive it off the lot. So no biggie. Secondly, it has 200 good, solid miles under its belt. Closer to that magical 1000 break in marker.

Now, had it come in with 800 or something like that, yeah. Then there's a problem.

 

[hallux]

IMO, if the vehicle was ordered for you (I've even seen where some manufacturers will put your name on the sticker), deposit paid or not they shouldn't be letting others test drive it. That vehicle didn't come in for stock, it came in "sold" already so it shouldn't even be in the main lot, it should be in a back lot someplace awaiting PDI.

 

[outbug]

Didn't they usually have a demo assigned for test drive?