laneh

I am in the process of car buying right now and one of the cars I am looking at is the 350z. However, when I went to Maxwell Nissan in Round Rock they wouldn't let me test drive it. I was able to drive a Maxima that had a higher sticker price, but not the Z. I am never going back there again. Now, my question is what dealership in Austin to San Antonio would let me test drive the Z?

z_brit

That's a good question.

I took delivery of my 350Z sight unseen. I never test drove it, I had never seen the inside of one until I saw the inside of mine, and I'd onlyever seen three in total on the road when I got it.

It may well be that in dealerships with a limited inventory that they are not willing to let anyone test drive the Zs as all that is going to do is depreciate the value of one of their cars that they're not going to be able to sell new.

When I was at South Point Nissan over the weekend, trying to extract my spare key and remote out of them, there were 4 or 5 Zs out front. I don't know if they were letting anyone drive them though.

Phrizzer

Most dealers are hesitant at the very least to let someone get behind the wheel of a new Z.

You need to find a dealer that is still marking up the prices by a couple thousand, yes they still exist in Houston at least, and then go in and act like you are going to buy that car at that price (because as far as you know thats the MSRP anyway right?) as long as it drives better than the Subaru STi or Mitsu Evo or whatever car you "just got back from test driving."
Tell them you're not just looking for straight line accleration, you're looking for the whole driving experience because the Evo VIII has more kick to it than the Z and if you happen to get the one salesman who knows a little bit about the sports car world right now he might realize that the Evo is more "impressive" in this regard.

The ones that are marking up prices seem willing to drop to MSRP or lower, but they are more desparate for the sale right now because they want that extra money.

kman

There weren't any in Austin that would let me drive one before I bought mine in March (even Round Rock where I had a deposit with before they screwed up my order), but the one in Houston that did (Gillman down near Sugarland) is the one that I bought from. Of course, they did have the exact car I was looking for on the lot as well.

laneh

I understand they are hesitant, but, I could go drive a mercedes that is 45k and they wouldn't think twice about letting me drive the car. The top of the line Z is ~37k. It is more frustration than anything. I do intend to test drive the Evo8 and the wrx/wrx sti along with many other cars before making my decision.

I had read on this board that the south point nissan in austin was a good place to look, but I am also open to other places in texas that would let me do a test drive before I make a final decision.

Rob Nance

South Point will let you test drive one. Talk to Ruben Moreno, tell him Rob Nance sent you. He'll know you're serious and get you in a car to test drive. Even if you didn't talk to him, I've seen them letting tons of people take test drives in Z's at South Point I think. They do have about 4 or 5 in varying models and colors there now, a nice selection.

laneh

Rob,

Thanks, this is what I needed to know.

zpeedDemon

I had the same experience in Nissan Smithtown NY, never going back there again **** that dealership. They wanted me to buy the car even before i test it out.

z_brit

It pretty much all comes down to supply and demand.

Dealerships have demo Mercedes, Maximas, and whatever else for people to test drive. They'll end up selling the vehicle for a few thousand under MSRP once it's got a couple of thousand miles on the clock.

There is still a limited supply of 350z s. South Point has quite a few in stock right now, so is more likely to allow a test drive. Other dealerships may not have this luxury. These dealerships also know there are a lot of people like me, and probably other people on the board who bought their Zs without a test drive.

Good luck with South Point. They have a special place in my heart. If you buy before tomorrow evening then come and join us at Rudys.