I've always been under the impression that test drives were always with the salesperson. When my dad test drove a Prius the salesperson was in the car with us. When I went for a test drive for my 3 the salesperson tossed me a set of keys and pretty much said take your time. Is it dependent on the dealer or the manufacturer as to their test drive policies? Was you test drive alone or with a salesperson?
Test drive...alone or with salesperson
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I think Mazda is pretty chill with that compared to other dealers. When we(my dad and I) tried the Mazda P5 when it came out he gave us the keys and when I went to the dealer two days ago some guy took off with a Mz3 while the salesman went back inside. But I also think that if you are young (me) they are more strict. It also depends on the salesman, if he trust you or not.
When my parents bought their Chevy Impala a few years back, the dealer let us do the test drive on our own. With my Mazda3 this weekend, my salesperson also let us do the test drive on our own while he tracked down a Red 4-door for me to see.
I think it has alot to do with the salesperson, and how confident they are you'll buy. In both cases above, I had done thorough research into the cars, and let the salesperson know that. We were going to buy the car in both cases, it just came down to the best deal we could get. If the salesperson sees that you don't know much about the car or aren't to sure, he may be more inclined to do the test drive with you as a part of his sales presentation.
That's just my $0.02.
I think it has alot to do with the salesperson, and how confident they are you'll buy. In both cases above, I had done thorough research into the cars, and let the salesperson know that. We were going to buy the car in both cases, it just came down to the best deal we could get. If the salesperson sees that you don't know much about the car or aren't to sure, he may be more inclined to do the test drive with you as a part of his sales presentation.
That's just my $0.02.
I went to mazda 2-20 in ile perot last week with my gf and another friend all three of us in our 20's The salesguy just gave us the keys to the mz3 GT GFX that we asked to try and let us drove away without any questions... We were kinda surprised it was that simple.
Later we went to try the civic SI and the guy made a photocopy of one of our drivers license and joined us for the road test. It did seem like he always did that to help with his presentation.
I personnally thought that the mazda guy thought we werent serious so he wouldnt lose any time with us. Heh... too bad for him cause were definatly buying a 3 but not from him!
Later we went to try the civic SI and the guy made a photocopy of one of our drivers license and joined us for the road test. It did seem like he always did that to help with his presentation.
I personnally thought that the mazda guy thought we werent serious so he wouldnt lose any time with us. Heh... too bad for him cause were definatly buying a 3 but not from him!
Sorry if I shouldn't post here as I am from the U.S., but I thought I would add my experiences. I think this topic should be moved to "consumer reviews" 
I have done 2 test drives at the same dealer; the first time, the saleswoman came along with me but allowed me to pretty much go/do anything I wanted. The second time she just gave me the keys and let me go by myself. I am 23 and both times I wasn't asked for my driver's license. I did say the first time that I was researching the Mazda3 through this forum and was making sure that the car was what I hoped it would be, and would probably be buying in the near future. Maybe that had an effect on how the test drives went.
I have done 2 test drives at the same dealer; the first time, the saleswoman came along with me but allowed me to pretty much go/do anything I wanted. The second time she just gave me the keys and let me go by myself. I am 23 and both times I wasn't asked for my driver's license. I did say the first time that I was researching the Mazda3 through this forum
and was making sure that the car was what I hoped it would be, and would probably be buying in the near future. Maybe that had an effect on how the test drives went.I hate the salesperson coming along, but that is what happened to me on all four of my Mazda test drives over the past 12 months.
At other dealerships, it's been a 50-50 thing.
I find having a salesperson there to be distracting, diverts attention away from the driving experience. I always remember more about the car from my solo drives.
At other dealerships, it's been a 50-50 thing.
I find having a salesperson there to be distracting, diverts attention away from the driving experience. I always remember more about the car from my solo drives.
i agree with bombail .. distracting..
but i bet wen i went to go test drive a 3 those salespersons probabaly thought i wuz in dere fooling around thats because they think i am too young to have enuff $ to buy a 3 so my chances of driving solo wuz like 0% lol
but i bet wen i went to go test drive a 3 those salespersons probabaly thought i wuz in dere fooling around thats because they think i am too young to have enuff $ to buy a 3
so my chances of driving solo wuz like 0% lolI went to two dealerships, one the salesperson came with me, the second one I was left to go alone. I really dont thing it matters how young you are, both times my parents were with me.
The Ajax dealership is the one thats lets you take off with it ... BUT very disappointed in my salesperson there...
This weekend when I went to sit down hoping to finalize the deal. But when I got there he was busy with someone else so he pushed me off to someone, as if my sale didn't matter to him ... well if it didn't matter Ajax mazda just lost a sale
The Ajax dealership is the one thats lets you take off with it ... BUT very disappointed in my salesperson there...
This weekend when I went to sit down hoping to finalize the deal. But when I got there he was busy with someone else so he pushed me off to someone, as if my sale didn't matter to him ... well if it didn't matter Ajax mazda just lost a sale
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Sales person came along with us on our test drive and I was a bit disappointed until she took us on some steep incline, decline winding back roads and told me to give her all that she has. She even suggested that I get up to 50mph, let her know, and slam the brakes on as hard as I could. I was super impressed after that too. The car stayed straight and under major control. It's funny that I read afterward in the manual that hard breaking, exactly how I did it, should be avoided during the break-in period. Good thing I didn't buy that exact vehicle
Good thing I didn't buy that exact vehicle
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Varies with the dealership's insurance, that particular owner's policies, how busy they are, how the individual salesperson approaches a sale, how you present yourself, and several other factors.
It's not too unreasonable to get a 24hour test drive if you really want one too. Just have to jump through a few more hoops.
It's not too unreasonable to get a 24hour test drive if you really want one too. Just have to jump through a few more hoops.
I think it depends on the dealership and/or sales, I test drove quite alot of cars, only my sales from BMW, bankrupted Daewoo let me drove lanos :?: :?: , all other cars the sales come w/ me. I don't think it's a bad idea the sales come along, so they can explain many features inside the cars rather than sitting at the dealership.
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Test Drive
I test drove the mazda 3! with no saleman, he basically said here is the car and the keys are inside, have fun and park it anywhere u like. So as soon as i got in I FLOORED that thing, what a joy it was too! i went into small side streets taking fast turns the car handled very well, but when i got back to the dealer u can smell the new engine over heating, haha probably cuz i drove it way to hard, but the positive thing was it was fun to drive it. and within the next week i got my Mazda 3 In lava orange and im loving it. :twisted:
I test drove the mazda 3! with no saleman, he basically said here is the car and the keys are inside, have fun and park it anywhere u like. So as soon as i got in I FLOORED that thing, what a joy it was too! i went into small side streets taking fast turns the car handled very well, but when i got back to the dealer u can smell the new engine over heating, haha probably cuz i drove it way to hard, but the positive thing was it was fun to drive it. and within the next week i got my Mazda 3 In lava orange and im loving it. :twisted:
I don't know whether it's just me, but even if I drive a demo unit, I won't "abuse" it since I know someone will be buying this car someday. I don't mind testing the car a little aggressively, but I won't push it especially if it hasn't that many kilometres on it already.
How would you like to be the person buying the car that has 60 kilometres on it, and it's been driven by a couple of maniacs already? It probably won't make a heck of big difference since Mazda makes pretty solid vehicles, but still it's just the thought of it I guess.
How would you like to be the person buying the car that has 60 kilometres on it, and it's been driven by a couple of maniacs already? It probably won't make a heck of big difference since Mazda makes pretty solid vehicles, but still it's just the thought of it I guess.
I run up the revs a bit, in the lower gears to get an idea of how "tall" the gears are and to see how much responsiveness the engine has over 5000 rpm, but not for very long.
On a recent test drive the dealership had a car that had been used as a dealer demo for a bit, so it already had over 500 miles on it. I took it on a 15 mile test drive, through some hills, a short stretch of interstate, and on a lonely back road that had a long straightaway. So I got a chance to see how it handled through sharp turns, up & down hills, passing performance on a 65mph road, noise levels at 70mph, and how stable the car was at 90mph on that back road.
When I got done, I wanted to do it again.
On a recent test drive the dealership had a car that had been used as a dealer demo for a bit, so it already had over 500 miles on it. I took it on a 15 mile test drive, through some hills, a short stretch of interstate, and on a lonely back road that had a long straightaway. So I got a chance to see how it handled through sharp turns, up & down hills, passing performance on a 65mph road, noise levels at 70mph, and how stable the car was at 90mph on that back road.
When I got done, I wanted to do it again.
Oh, I should add that one dealership offered me a very extensive test drive experience. They have a 2000 Mercury Cougar V-6 w/5-spd that they really want to move. I've never been on the lot before and they didn't know me from Adam, but after chatting with them for 15 minutes, they offered to let me take the car for the weekend.
The Cougar isn't at the top of my list, but it is a blood cousin of the Mazda6. Built at the same factory, based on the Ford Contour/Mondeo, and even able to use some of the same mods as the 6.
Didn't take them up on their offer as I was too busy that weekend. But I may go back and see if the offer still stands. It would be fun to put a Cougar through it's paces for a couple of days.
The Cougar isn't at the top of my list, but it is a blood cousin of the Mazda6. Built at the same factory, based on the Ford Contour/Mondeo, and even able to use some of the same mods as the 6.
Didn't take them up on their offer as I was too busy that weekend. But I may go back and see if the offer still stands. It would be fun to put a Cougar through it's paces for a couple of days.
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