Question: What Have You Test Driven for Free Stuff?

"Wobbles the Mind" (wobblesthemind)
05/09/2018 at 06:45 • Filed to: QOTD

Every so often dealers will offer coupons, food, brand merchandise, “cash,” and all sorts of things just to get people on a test drive. Are there any cars or brands that you have checked out purely to yoink some complimentrials?

DISCUSSION (19)

jimz > Wobbles the Mind
05/09/2018 at 06:51

No. I’ve never test driven a vehicle I wasn’t intending to buy.

SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media > Wobbles the Mind
05/09/2018 at 07:06

Test drive? A new car? What a concept. When I put them together back in early 2002, I’d already bought the thing before I drove it...or anything similar.

KingT- 60% of the time, it works every time > Wobbles the Mind
05/09/2018 at 07:20

The only two brands whose dealers do this in my area are Nissan and Chevy and I’ve only seen it for their mass market Altimas Rogues Malibus Equinox etc.

It’s not like their incentivizing me to test drive a GTR or Corvette/Camaro

404 - User No Longer Available > Wobbles the Mind
05/09/2018 at 07:28

At dealers would be Fiat 500 when it first came out and the Dodge Dart. GM had the same thing for the Cruze, but that dealership I went to kicked me out literally calling me wasting their time. Same thing for Mazda, saying they are too busy.

I did also do some at GM mall shows long, long ago. where I drove the Solstice GXP, Camaro SS, Corvette and CTS-V. Auto Show wise there was the C-Class, E-Class, and the MissMercedesMobile on a closed course.

hike > Wobbles the Mind
05/09/2018 at 07:28

Many years ago I went with my dad to test drive a Maserati Quatroporte for some free Bose headphones. What a deal. Drive an Italian car and get free headphones? I call that a win win. More recently we’d walk into a Lexus dealer and they’d give us the gift card without the text drive.

PartyPooper2012 > Wobbles the Mind
05/09/2018 at 07:32

Hi, I am here to test drive this Porsche
Sir, do you know how to drive a manual?
No! But I am a quick learner.

pip bip - choose Corrour > Wobbles the Mind
05/09/2018 at 07:34

don’t seem to do those sort of promotions here. (not that i’ve noticed tbh)

Arrivederci > 404 - User No Longer Available
05/09/2018 at 07:34

The GM Auto Show in Motion was a blast. I remember they put on a great event as did Edmunds. I don’t think either had the intended result of selling cars, but it was fun to act like a hoon in the fun stuff. At those events I got to drive a CTS-V, C5 Z06, C6, GTO, SSR, etc.

Arrivederci > Wobbles the Mind
05/09/2018 at 07:36

At an auto show, the GM section was giving away coupons that would entitle you to a $50 gift card for test driving on of their cars at a local dealer. $50 to drive a Camaro SS? Sure.

Chuckles > Wobbles the Mind
05/09/2018 at 07:44

Nothing. I only test drive a car if I’m strongly considering buying it. Anything else and I’m wasting a salesperson’s time.

Ash78, voting early and often > Wobbles the Mind
05/09/2018 at 07:58

New Volvo V90 Cross Country for $50.

Worth it!

The $50, not the rolling bunker on stilts with the roid raging hamster under the hood and electronic nannies to wipe my butt.

Bman76 (hates WS6 hoods, is on his phone and has 4 burners now) > Wobbles the Mind
05/09/2018 at 07:59

I haven’t personally, but I know one of our high school teams had a fundraiser with the local Lincoln dealership one day where every test drive earned them like $50 or something. We all went and both my parents test drove stuff. I managed to get my dad to test drive an MKS with the 3.5TT ecoboost, which was the closest to performance you could get at a Lincoln dealer.

BJ > Wobbles the Mind
05/09/2018 at 08:14

I got invited to a Saab event a few years ago, in early summer 2007 if I remember correctly. We got fed lunch and were able to play in the new Saabs on three courses: collision avoidance, emergency braking, and race track.

On the track section, we were paired up in each car and had to share driving duties. My random partner couldn’t drive stick, so it was all me! Although I was probably faster than anyone else in my group, I was way slower than the pro driver we were chasing.

At the end of the day, we climbed 4 or 5 adults into the cars with the pro driver and he thrashed us about. It was a blast.

Later that year I bought a used VW Golf.

404 - User No Longer Available > Arrivederci
05/09/2018 at 08:17

That was the best part... no sales pitch.

And funny enough it was THAT drive that got me in a Solstice, albeit a used one after it was discontinued, lol.

PS: I forgot that was also where I first drove a G8.

WilliamsSW > Wobbles the Mind
05/09/2018 at 08:27

I’ve been to events hosted by GM, BMW, and Cadillac that had lunch and other goodies, including giveaways. But I was really there to drive the cars, not get free stuff.

I haven’t done a test drive at a dealer for a gift certificate or anything. I only go if I want to drive the car.

punkgoose17 > Wobbles the Mind
05/09/2018 at 08:41

I avoid dealerships unless I have to go. I got a lot of that type of add when I lived in Indiana. I do not get any of these now in Pennsylvania.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > Wobbles the Mind
05/09/2018 at 09:01

Have never done it, but I do have Ford and Lincoln dealer promo toy cars from ‘94, ‘63, and ‘59. Also, two VW pencil holders from a VW booth at an auto show and job fair respectively.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > Wobbles the Mind
05/09/2018 at 09:13

Once, for the labor of taking a CTS-V to 120+ on the freeway, Cadillac gave me a $100 gift card.

Eric @ opposite-lock.com > Wobbles the Mind
05/09/2018 at 12:48

Nothing, ever.

I did get a whole bunch of swag from Scion for waiting in line for Kogi one night in Tustin, though. The coolest thing was this little foam cube antenna topper that was like a head with all kinds of piercings and gauged ears. We named him Brandon. He faded a bit over the years, but ultimately was lost somewhere in the 909 on the 15 or the 215 when the antenna he was riding on broke in half. GM quality right there.