I went to Park Place the other day to try to look at an older 996 but they told me I couldn't test drive it but they could open the car for me so I could sit in it. I told them my lease was ending at the end of the year and I was trying to narrow down my choices by going on test drives. The guy told me to try Barrier Porsche or to come back a week before I was ready then he would sit down with me, go over financials and then let me test drive. I got tired of the b.s. so just left.

 

yea. i would be suspicious. i dont understand why they wouldnt let you test drive the car, even if they had to ride with you. i wouldnt really want to do business with them if they didnt let me test drive before you had to go over the financial situation.

 

They get a lot of "browsers" in there. I know that if you mean business, they'll set up an appointment where they'll line up 3-4+ cars for you to drive. They can be kind of rough on the casual shopper, though. Its unfortunate, since they have so much nice stuff.

 

I've never had a problem but I don't normally test drive unless I am ready to buy. I've bought a couple of cars from them though. Also, I'm sure to tell the sales guy when I am in there (I know a couple of them pretty well) whether I'm "just looking" or "interested."

Last time I was there, they handed me the keys to an Exige S 240 to "play with for a few hours".

 

It amazes me what lengths some companies will go to "not sell" something. The lack of salesmanship today is so surprising given the value of the dollar and todays current financial environment. I am a salesman and respect someone who does their job. I have overpaid for product knowingly because I had a pro helping me. Now is the time to work harder and be the best you can if you live on commission. I can not believe how lazy some people and companies are right now.

By the way, this statement was a generalization of what I have consistently seen lately in luxury retail stores and dealerships. This is not a view directed at Park Place.

 

Wow! I have been doing business with them since '95 and never have had an issue with a test drive. I was given the keys to the first car I bought there for the weekend and wound up not giving them back. I have showed up unannounced and had two cars prepped in no time for my wife to test drive. The last car I bought from them was done without a test drive in that it was an impulse buy. I would recommend them to anyone until I have a reason not to.

All that said you need to think about the luxury car market right now and what dealers are going through. I was there yesterday and it was obvious that they are reducing inventory at a drastic rate. With reduced inventory the cars remaining will be harder to get a test drive of. If you have a relationship with them or are a serious buyer will change this scenario for you.

 

Guess I have to know someone there then. I even told the guy I was a dentist and the owner of the practice I work at knew the owner because we had our xmas party in the dealership showroom a couple of years ago. I usually hate saying sh*t like that but I wanted to see if it changed anything and it didn't. I could tell this guy who had been working there for 5 months wasn't gonna let me do anything other than sit in the car. He kept on saying how sitting in the car and showing me the car would build "value". After he started giving me that line for the third time I just said seeya. I mean, it's a 7-8 yr old $30-40k car. He was also implying that I wouldn't be able to handle a porsche and might let it get loose and hit something (I just found that insulting). He was even trying to steer me to a BMW at one point saying it might be more suitable for me. Bad thing is I look younger than this guy but I'm probably 5-10 yrs his senior. Hard to make an educated decision on the next car when finding a car to test drive is like pulling teeth!

 

I'm sorry to hear of your experience there today, and will admit that it would be a major turn-off for me (as a potential buyer) as well. I'm sure you can find a suitable example to test drive locally though, it probably just won't be there.

 

I didn't have a good experience with Park Place when I was considering a Turbo purchase. He pulled the, "if you walk out that door...the price will probably be higher for you later..." trick (he called me the next day BTW with a lower price rofl). I passed, as the price was completely unreasonable (as I knew the auction price they paid). Car was on the lot for a looong time.

 

Should have walked over to the BMW dealership right across the street at that point

 

I have heard from Park Place that some of the cars they have on consignment have orders from the owners not to have them test driven. Note the two R8s there. They have been there for a couple hundred years because the the owners don't allow test drives.

 

I've seen the white R8 driven on 20th, but maybe it was the owner of the car driving because it was being driven pretty hard.

 

Wow, that is terrible. At least they offered to let you sit in it. They wouldn't even let me sit in the passenger side of a GTR at the Nissan dealership!

 

I get a bit of a bad vibe from that place. The prices seem a bit high. I know they are asking but still. I was looking at a 2003 C4S that was priced at 43k and asked if there was any room and was told that it was already "priced to sell". It's been "priced to sell" for months. They do have some nice cars. I didn't ask to test drive but I bet they would have let me if I pushed the point.

 

i've always gotten a bad vibe there, even when i've gone to the parties and/or been seriously looking. i don't know how i wouldn't be a qualified buyer even when i pull up in a new high end car...