Letting a potential buyer test drive your car???

I have often thought of the same thing. How do you let someone "test drive" a Ferrari or any other exotic? Not knowing if they are serious or not. A BMW or Mercedes yes, all day long, but never an exotic. I believe the safest approach to this is to go through a auto broker. It may cost a comission but I would let them handle all the stress and strain of whether or not someone is serious.

 

I didn't even see, let alone test drive, the last two Ferraris that I bought...

 

Ditto. When I test drove my car I had a cashiers check in my pocket for the amount of the purchase price.

When I do sell my car it won't be on the side of the road with a for sale sign in the window, it will be listed nationally. And I do agree with you, Bill, I think anyone that drives more than 2 hours to come look at it is serious enough to warrant a test drive.

 

i could start a whole new thread series with all the wierdos that have called about the Dino and GTB. you really have to feel folks out when you meet them. as cheap as my two now are, i tell them i want to see the money , or no test drive.

 

Looking is free......the test drive requires $1,000 deposit.

 

One other item to condiser is insurance coverage. My car is under Haggarty and only the wife and I are valid drivers. (so a test ride could be costly should anything happen).

Typically when I sell something, the "no joy ride" rule applys. Unless I can read that the person is serious, I wont even offer to take them for a ride. (whether that be in car or boat)

 

I was a little surprised when the person I bought my Ferrari from gave me the keys and told me and my wife to take if out for a test drive. Also, quite a few years ago I was looking at a GT4 at MAG and they did the same thing. Both times I was a serious looker/buyer but it was still a surprise. I have looked at others that hardly wanted you to sit in the car let alone drive it.

 

When I went to look (and buy) the 348 I now own, I wanted to make a deal as soon as I saw it. The seller insisted on the phone and prior to taking my deposit, that I test drive the car. I went with the seller, and was respectful of the car. I revved it to about 6k rpm after it was warmed up, but no thrashing gears. I think the seller is perfectly in line to tell the 'buyer' that the test drive is not a race event and to take a deposit that will be considered spent if the driver does any damage. I would suggest predriving the car so all the fluids are up to temp prior to the buyer test driving the car.

I let my friends drive the car, and have no problem with them running it to 7k rpm after it is up to temp. Hey, these cars are meant to run fast!
BT

 

Of course you have to be comfortable that the buyer is serious before handing over the keys, but I think you can do that without a deposit in hand. My primary concern is I don't want to waste my time, not to protect the car. Exotic or not, its just a car and its meant to be driven. Unless the person is an idiot, they won't hurt it.

As a buyer, I doubt I would hand over a check just so I can take a test drive. The arrogance of the seller would turn me off and I would walk away. Its like when I hear people complainging when they walk into a dealership and aren't taken seriously as a buyer. Same rules apply on a private sale, I expect to be taken seriously and not have to prove it by writing a check or showing my bank account.

 

When I bought mine, the owner took me for a nice hard spin for about 20 minutes. Then we negotiated the price. After it was agreed, I drove with him as passenager....said it was great, he drove it to my mech. for inspect, then we certififed and made arrangements where I paid in full and took the car about a week later with no deposit down.

I think it has to do with the people you deal with, do you feel comfortable with them. I doubt anyone would want to waste there time if they werent partially serious. Before he hits 7k on the clock I would negotiate the deal first, as a feel good precaution and consider it his test drive to own.

 

I wouldnt buy a car without testdriving it unless it was for sale by a reputable garage or if i intended to work on it/mod it.

 

Back in 1975, I was selling my 330 2+2. I guy called and asked if he could come over and test drive it. I said fine and suggested that he bring a check or cash. In case he liked it, he could leave a down payment.

He said "Oh, I'm not interested in buying it - I just want to drive it".

Interesting combination of honesty and stupidity!

Bob Z.

 

I seem to find, for the most part, that the driver's are the shoppers. I deal with exotic cars every day, and I buy and sell probably 95% of my cars without me or the customer ever driving it, sometimes even sight unseen.

However, I have a good friend that, while he has money, he is the biggest shopper ever. He has beat on countless poor exotics at the seller's expense, and never purchased a single one.

Not to say there aren't buyers that want a test drive, but I just find that in general, this is true.

 

I've test driven every Ferrari I've purchased. Never had a problem, and the sellers have never acted like it was anything unusual. No deposits, etc. I've test driven a few I didn't buy as well.

When I test drove my Boxer, the seller just handed me the keys and told me to have fun. He didn't even come along on the test drive.

 

I've actually never sold to a private party in about 15 years- if you trade it to dealer on another Ferrari, of course you can lose you a** if you don't negotiate good or if you have a less-than-desirable f-car (no records, etc) but you also are getting on the dealer's "good side" a little more if you play your cards right. And if your trade in was serviced by them, they know they will make money servicing new car too, so there's a little "wiggle" room to negotiate more.

In L.A., I get a little wierded-out about home-invasion types of robberies and probably would not want anyone just come over to my house to check out the car (and rest of toys, etc, for maybe a "return visit").

Also, I never test drive car myself- I want owner or best driver at dealership to drive it while I'm in it and push it a little, which I would not do. Plus they know the roads and where the cops are.

Just my thoughts...

 

IMHO a serious buyer should not object to being given a "demonstration" drive by the owner. If you can't tell 95% of what is going on with a car from the passenger seat while someone else does the exercising, you probably won't be able to tell much more by actually driving it yourself. This would seriously discourage the guys who haven't even found the ba@@3 to tell their wives of their intentions yet, and also protect your toy/investment from unnecessary abuse!

 

I would give them a test ride only if serious, and they can take a test drive with a deposit. The deposit is refundable if there is a serious issue for not purchasing the car after the test ride. Refund at my discreation. I don't need to sell my car that bad to just turn over the keys. One poor turn and there goes the front air dam.

 

If I were to sell my car, I'd let someone test drive it, but I'd have to be in the car. I went to look at a QV once and the guy wouldn't let anyone drive it, and the car had issues. I just see how I could hand someone 30g's in cash for a car that when I don't even know if it will move. At least take me for a drive in it.

 

I was 22 when I purchased my first Turbo Esprit, the seller of the car was a little wary, but I was honest with him and he knew I loved the cars. He had a bunch of people call with crazy questions, and some test drove the car just for joy rides. I did not want to drive the car unless I had room to take my time to feel how everything felt. He drove the car for about 10 minutes, we went to a huge empty parking lot on a college campus, and we switched off. There were no high speed driving events, just getting used to how the car felt. He then said I could drive it back to the garage. Anyone who is serious and respects the cars would not be offended if you the seller want to take them for a drive.

If the owner never gave me the chance to drive car, I might not have been on the fun journey that has followed.

 

in my hunt for various cars, I have usually denied a offer for a test drive and let the owner drive it, you can tell far more about the condition of the car that way, does the owner ride the clutch, ride the brakes and you can also pay more attention to squeaks/rattles/odd things then you could if you were driving.

I am in the final stages of some good things in life (job and work wise, I am not that old) I expect I will buy one next year and been thinking about a certain 308 GT4 that has been talked about a lot here all the way to a 328, I do like the Mondial Cabriolet as well. Although I can come up with the cash (F-cars are toys and all my toys are cash) its just not a good time for me right now to spend that much, when I do finally get my car I do not expect to drive it, just hear it and ride in it. Looking forward to the drive home though

Wife says start small and work my way up to a 246GTS

 

Since I'm the offender that really started this thread (I drove the 328 in question) I feel obliged to comment. I drove 2 hours for the test, and though I didn't (yet) buy the car, I am serious about the purchase, and I had the salesman in the car with me. If I don't buy it, it will be because I am going to spend more on something else.

The car was warm, and he had driven it a bit. I asked him about the redline, and he said technically 7500, but he recommended considering it 7000. I asked him if I could run it up to see how it sounded, and he said sure. And it sounded good.

OK, I am new to Ferraris, no doubt. But to me, about 50% of the experience is the sound. The car is designed to be run up to 7000. I understand that you have to warm it up and keep an eye on the guages... but if it can't handle that sort of treatment, then I am not interested. That's the point of having a Ferrari. If I have putter around in it, then I'll build myself a GT40 replica with a motor that I can reliably spin up. The salesman told me it would run up to 7k all day long. If he's lying, somebody tell me before I do something that I really regret.

 

If the buyer is obviously serious, take him for a drive so he can see how the car performs.

Next, if he leaves a deposit and seems more interested than before the ride, let him the drive the car so he can make his final decision. Once you hand him the keys and he feels the car with his own controls, he will want to buy it! But, you dont have to be a butthole about letting people drive your car.

Its a Ferrari. And owners should share the passion with others.

 

And what if the broker and/or some of the kids he has working for him during the summer and on weekends beats on it? I've seen some brokers driving around pretty hard- no naming names, but one of them cut me off on the road and I was PISSED- probably a consigned car...

 

I'm sorry, but unless I KNOW the potential driver has driven Ferraris around my area, they can't. There are way too many dips in the road that people don't aniticipate, speed bumps on certain roads, and many hills where people who haven't driven a 6-speed for awhile will get into trouble on a hill, waiting for a stop light, etc.

I still find places in my 'hood whree my 355 scrapes where my (lowered) 996 TT didn't - and replacing the front spoiler on the p-car was about $350 for NEW + labor. When I sell my cars, the front is generally resprayed or at least spoiler fixed (TR and 328s) recently so I don't want some yahoo f-ing it up on a test drive.

That's just the way I work (and why I generally consign/trade-in). I don't think I'm being a butt-hole; there's plenty of other cars someone can buy if they don't think the test drive with me driving, documented history/service records, and a ppi are adequate.

Not being a jerk, it's just that I don't have an airport runway handy for the potential buyer to test drive on