Well, me and PJ (The Flying Skwirrel) set out on a random quest this afternoon to try and test drive either a Solstice, Sky, or both. I've wanted something eco-powered, and rwd just seemed to make it all the better... well, two problems...
1) out of two dealers, both slithered out of allowing us to test drive the vehicle. Mind you, I'm 22, and PJ is 23, but both of us make around 35-40K a year, thus, the price of the Solstice (well, MSRP anyway) is well within reason. The pontiac dealer told us "we don't really want to put too many miles on the car" despite the fact that this unit already had 290 miles on it (which i know is quite high and indicates SEVERAL test drives from working at a dealer for 3 years). The saturn dealer simply said they don't allow test drives because its a floor unit, its $1000 deposit and a 4-5 month wait to order one... Umm... Lady, how do I know if I want to shell out 30K on a car if I haven't even DRIVEN it yet?
2) Ridiculous price gouging. Like, absolutely ludicrous. A 2.4 5 spd Solstice was priced at $29,990 BEFORE taxes and the various other fees they rape you for. Granted, it was loaded, but thats TWO GRAND over the MSRP of a GXP, for a 2.4! With a STICK! WTF? The Sky, i don't even know how much that was, because the windows and top were rolled down concealing the sticker price. When the saleswoman said I needed a $1000 deposit to buy one without test driving, we basically laughed and walked out the door
As we were leaving, and middle aged couple was looking at it, and we were tempted to chill in the lot and see if they were allowed to drive the car... I would have pitched a sh*t fit, but we decided it would probably be better just to leave without waiting to see if i had a reason to get fired up.
So I guess this is why GM is REALLY in the sh*tter.... Its not poor workmanship, or bad cars, its idiot dealerships gouging prices and expecting you to shell out 30K for a car you can't even drive. The pontiac dealer was really ridiculous, there was an 03 auto sunfire there with 50K miles with a sticker price of $12K!!
In conclusion, if there's any philly-area PA people that read this, let me know if they're allowing test drives and not gouging prices by you... normally thats how it works, Jersey dealers try and rape you while the PA dealers get the sale.
Arrival Blue 04 LS Sport
Eco
Turbo
Megasquirt
'Nuff said
Quote:
So I guess this is why GM is REALLY in the sh*tter.... Its not poor workmanship, or bad cars, its idiot dealerships gouging prices and expecting you to shell out 30K for a car you can't even drive. The pontiac dealer was really ridiculous, there was an 03 auto sunfire there with 50K miles with a sticker price of $12K!!
x2.
fully loaded cobalt SS is stickered at 26,xxx around here.
Next year around May I start getting the GM employee family discount.
....I get any GM car at cost.
________________________________________________________________
"For some reason it is a very American thing to do to take highly unlikely vehicles and stick insane engines in them at huge cost for no reason." Oh hell yeah!!
The Hellserpent
I have a friend who works in the auto industry and I got to have a ride in an automatic Sky. It was the same color as you posted and it was a lot of fun. Too bad I can't afford one.
I was happy when I heard my car ran 10s. Then I found out that was 0-60.
i saw 2 on ebay , 1 was over 28k with reserve not met , and both had over 500 miles
My parents were allowed to test drive a Sky. That is in MN though.
At my dealership anyone can take any car for a test drive so long as it not a Z-06 Corvette, or an XLR, or any "V" series Cadis untill your credit is run and they know you are serious about buying the car and are not just a "tire kicker" Anything limited production means limited access its just the way it is. You figure if you were actualy serious about buying the car and did all the paper work and got a total price and not showing up with your buddy helps believe me! then I'm sure they'd let you out.
Semper Fi SAINT. May you rest in peace.
i wish i had billions of dollars so i could walk in wearing a members only jacket and parachute pants and some sweet clogs and ray ban aviators asking to test drive corvettes and when they deined me id whip out a suitcase filled with 4 million dollars, and my cock.
theyd be sorry.
on a serious note, i would have raped the sales lady
-Borsty
Evilserpent wrote:Next year around May I start getting the GM employee family discount.
....I get any GM car at cost.
HAHAHAHAHAHA im sorry but honestly, dont bull @!#$ us, it doesnt make you cool.
I have the GM Employee discount and you get a % off the car. My parents just looked at a new escalade, fully loaded it was around 65k, they could have gotten it for 56-58k.
Now when i bought my silverado, i almost bought a coloardo instead. The one i wanted was 18 grand, and with the discount i would only be getting 1500 dollars off.
On top of that, even the straight up GM employees, dont get cars at cost. My uncle is a manager for GM,(Which is how we get our family discount) and although he gets a better discount than we do, its not at cost...
Quote:
So I guess this is why GM is REALLY in the sh*tter.... Its not poor workmanship, or bad cars, its idiot dealerships gouging prices and expecting you to shell out 30K for a car you can't even drive. The pontiac dealer was really ridiculous, there was an 03 auto sunfire there with 50K miles with a sticker price of $12K!!
I dont see that as being a problem, seeing as the price is so high because everyone wants them, and they dont care if you cant drive them because people will still by them.
While I was at the local pontiac dealership, trying to get my car fixed (under warranty)
They practically begged me to test drive a solstice. (I was looking at it)
If I saw a couple 22-23 kids walk into a dealer driving both a suped up Cavalier and suped up Beetle, I wouldnt let you test drive them either. All you're looking to do is beat the crap out of the car, and post up your experience here. How is that fair to the people who actually want to buy the car?
#1 I actually do want to buy the car
#2 I had no intention of beating the piss out of it
#3 basically, I just wanted to see how it felt, and how I fit the car. To be honest, I'm a small guy and I sit so damn low in the thing its difficult to see out the windsheild.. I was surprised how small i felt in that car
I would have liked to see how the steering felt, and how the suspension handled regular and maybe slightly spirited driving.
I don't give a crap about the motor because i fully intend to be in a GXP when it comes out
Quote:
I don't give a crap about the motor because i fully intend to be in a GXP when it comes out
Well given that the GXP isnt out yet, my comment still stands. You guys had no intention of buying that car, so why should the dealer let you "test" drive their car?
I had to put a $1k deposit (refundable) down on my car before I test drove it. Mind you, my deposit was put down 6 months before the car arrived.
That's funny..
I've driven a Solstice, a Z06, G6-GTP and a Denali, and GMCanada sent me an iPod to thank me!
YES I'M SERIOUS!
I didn't even have to show them my Driver's license 'till AFTER the test drive. (filling out the voucher)
I used to be a loyalty leasee, and when I bought my place, I dumped the GA GT I used to own and got another car (well, 2 others..), my credit was on file, and so was my license number. Plus, my folks have 2 GMC Yukon XLs, and a Solstice, my uncle has a Bonnville GXP (with the northstar...forget what year) and a Grand Prix GTP, and my sister has a Pursuit, all on lease.
Credit, license, insurance... all no problem. The Z06 was on order for someone that knows my folks, and the salesman checked with him first.
*post edit*
Squirrel, Scarab, the reason the dealers were reticent to let you test out a car, is precisely because you're 22-23... usually anyone under 25 is going to have troubles with buying a car with that kind of draw.
I had the same problems when I had tried to go to test drive the Mini Cooper S... I'm in the target audience for the car, and they wouldn't even talk/look at me when I wanted to buy it.
It sucks.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edited Saturday, July 01, 2006 8:21 PM
RIP CPL Brian St.Germain (SAINT), Semper Fidelis
Possibly, but not at cost. Oviously you skipped over my post that explained the discount. And like i said, the discount helps, but its nothing to brag over, which is what you tryed to do.
Sunfire 2.2 wrote:If I saw a couple 22-23 kids walk into a dealer driving both a suped up Cavalier and suped up Beetle, I wouldnt let you test drive them either. All you're looking to do is beat the crap out of the car, and post up your experience here. How is that fair to the people who actually want to buy the car?
Uh, wrong. First off, while we did carpool in PJ's cav, neither salesman saw what we were driving when we pulled in. Secondly, you can not tell by looking at the bug that anything has been done to it without me popping the hood.
Third, I AM dead serious about buying one, and have the credit rating and finances to do so, which I told both salespeople outright. Fourth, while I know that the typical view of someone my age is someone out to take a joy-ride, regardless of that fact, either salesperson could have simply come with me on the drive to make sure I behaved. Whether you believe it or not, I was NOT out to whoop the crap out of it, in fact, I really could have settled for going around the block to make sure that my size 12 feet and the very tight pedal spacing agree with each other enough not to cause me problems.
Regardless of many times the stereotype of someone my age may be true, not allowing me to test drive because of my perceived age (i don't even remember them asking) is still discrimination which has cost both of them a sale. And yes, I'm sure there are plenty of middle aged white males lining up to buy them at the gouged prices which makes them not give a damn, but its still
no matter how you look at it. If I wanted to, I could have put the deposit down and ordered one that day, but out of principle, I'm not ordering a car that i haven't driven and potentially won't like if it means that I'm going to lose money by backing out when the car is delivered becasue i wasn't allowed to drive it by some tool at the dealership. I've worked at a dealer before, and I know the games played. I won't pander to that crap.
Arrival Blue 04 LS Sport
Eco
Turbo
Megasquirt
'Nuff said
I just turned 19 on the 23rd and i was able to test drive a Cobalt SS/SC with no money down or anything. Then again I was a returning Customer and I talked to the guy that sold me my cavy. Im in Wisconsin... Usually if I work on him I can drive most affordable cars.
Now Powered By TEAM GREEN
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/827643
boost will be soon for me....
Rosario wrote:Possibly, but not at cost. Oviously you skipped over my post that explained the discount. And like i said, the discount helps, but its nothing to brag over, which is what you tryed to do.
word, the GM discount does not mean you get the vehicle at cost, if that were the case a fully loaded duramax would prolly end up costing you 25k. In reality you get roughly 10k off most of the fullsize trucks/SUVs. And the discount varies from vehicle to vehicle, obviously you're not going to get 10k off a cobalt. So quit bragging about what you "think" you're getting.
Quote:
So I guess this is why GM is REALLY in the sh*tter.... Its not poor workmanship, or bad cars, its idiot dealerships gouging prices and expecting you to shell out 30K for a car you can't even drive. The pontiac dealer was really ridiculous,
thats GM for you. they wanted me to put down $1000 to test drive my 05 cavalier. so im like FU ill find another dealer "its not a corvette.its a cavalier" and then i headed for the door.they where very nice to me after that gave me the keys to the one i wanted to drive. a fully loaded 05 cavalier Z24, then on the test drive we where talking about the clearance pricing on the cavaliers and i asked him if the employee discount applies to them as well. (grandfather works there) this guy must have felt like an ass for the $1000 deposit @!#$
i did end up buying the car from that dealer. after he figured out that i actually wanted the car they gave me great service, and i talked them in to a free bug guard thing for the hood.
but i can see a lot of people test jockeying cars, and the dealer has every right to choose who drives there cars. they just need to realize that people 18-25 have the most disposable income and are willing to spend it on a car.
http://registry.gmenthusiast.com/images/my2005cav/my%20car%20the%20bash.jpg
