Test Drive when buying via Salary Sacrifice

[zAndy1]

This is probably a stupid question but seeing as I genuinely don't know the answer I'll ask it anyway. I'm considering leasing an MG4 through my work salary sacrifice scheme. Is it ok to book a test drive with my local dealer when I have no intention of buying the car from them? I guess if I do have a test drive I'm going to get the hard sell, should I just make it clear I'm looking to lease one but want to have a test drive before I do and will they be fine with that? Anyone have experience of this?

Ta

 

[Rolfe]

Obviously you are under no obligation to buy from the dealer who gives you the test drive, for whatever reason, so basically yes.

When I bought my previous car I had a test drive in Edinburgh. I liked the car but I thought I could get a better deal elsewhere, went off to Lanarkshire to a different dealer and beat him down to a figure I liked better. I never went back to the original dealer, so I don't suppose he ever knew I had bought the car.

My instinct is to book the test drive and not say anything about how you're planning to get the car, but then I wonder about servicing and repairs. If you're planning to use your local dealer for maintenance it might be better to level with him from the start. I dunno, see what other people think.

 

[Minar]

You're probably best off just going in for the test drive, but don't mention the lease or salary sacrifice until AFTER youve done the test drive. Once they learn they can't make comission off you, they won't be nearly as helpful. That's what I did earlier this year before ordering through my employers salary sacrifice scheme!

 

[Rolfe]

Good point. That way he gets his test drive, but then if he takes the car there for service or repairs, he's been straight with them.

 

[zAndy1]

The lease deal includes servicing , tax (well there isn't any but anyway it saves what I'm currently paying for tax) and insurance. While I'm at it the SE Long Range is coming out at £336pm over 36 months for 8000 miles pa , as I said , maintenance , tax and insurance included with no upfront payment, does that sound like a decent deal? Seems to be I think

 

[Tweed98]

Morally you could argue it is a bit iffy, but that has never stopped me!

Until I got the company car I've spent the last 18 years leasing vehicles, I book a test drive, drive it like I've stolen it then I listen to the spiel, I get prices to set my mind at ease I am getting a good deal then I go to a few lease companies for their offers. I've always ordered from the same guy for an Audi, several Fords and a couple of Seats as building a relationship seems to work and I've always got the best prices from him.

 

[jpk]

The lease deal includes servicing , tax (well there isn't any but anyway it saves what I'm currently paying for tax) and insurance. While I'm at it the SE Long Range is coming out at £336pm over 36 months for 8000 miles pa , as I said , maintenance , tax and insurance included with no upfront payment, does that sound like a decent deal? Seems to be I think

I've ordered the trophy, 15,000 miles per year, tax, insurance for anyone I nominate & servicing included. £436 if I'm a basic tax payer dropping to £401 if I fall into higher earnings threshold. No deposit as well

 

[zAndy1]

I've ordered the trophy, 15,000 miles per year, tax, insurance for anyone I nominate & servicing included. £436 if I'm a basic tax payer dropping to £401 if I fall into higher earnings threshold. No deposit as well

Just done a quote through my work leasing portal for that, comes out at £403pm so the same basically.

 

[ukslim]

It feels a bit cheeky, but I think it's probably something the manufacturer expects of the dealer.

I must admit, I didn't do a test drive before going for salary sacrifice - I'm not all that discerning a driver anyway, and assumed that any new car will drive well; and I believed the reviews. But I did go to the Coventry dealer to hear the spiel, sit in the seats, see the size of the boot, see how the door sounds when it slams ...

I haven't needed anything doing to it yet, but I'm imagining that when Tusker organises servicing or whatever, it'll go to my nearest dealership (?)

 

[Rolfe]

I don't think it's particularly cheeky. It's allowed to give a salesman the opportunity to show off his wares to you! I was merely concerned about a future relationship with the jilted dealer if you needed him for service later.

 

[Diggsy]

Agreed, I don’t think it’s at all cheeky. They have demonstrator cars for the very reason of allowing customers to test them, including test drives. I don’t see it as that much different than going to an expensive clothes store to try something on without subsequently buying it.

Yes the salespeople will have to perhaps waste a little of their time, but that’s to be expected. They’re not going to get a sale with every customer who walks through the door.

 

[Rolfe]

Exactly. I go back to my purchase of the Golf. I liked the car on the test drive (despite making a bit of a mess of my first shot at driving a DSG) but the dealer was intransigent on price. I went to a different dealer who was more accommodating and bought the car from him.

It all worked out very well, actually. I had intended to buy a manual, but after that shot in the DSG I changed my mind. The second dealer's demonstrator (which I didn't actually drive) was a manual, so I would probably never even have thought about the DSG at all if I had gone there first. (I loved the DSG.) Conversely, the second dealer talked me out of specifying leather seats, pointing out how classy the grey-and-red tartan of the cloth seats was. (He was a real GTi enthusiast), so what I spent on the DSG I saved on the seats.

The first dealer probably never knew I bought the Golf at all. For all he knew I could have been tempted by the Ford Focus ST at the garage down the road.

 

[lsb777]

Unfortunately, there's not many other options unless you can get to a Gridserve Forecourt location for a no-obligation test drive or to an EV event like Fully Charged etc. As others have mentioned, some dealerships would probably get frosty once they know they're not going to get a signed deal, so you may have to play the game and take away some figures and then politely reply to any follow-up calls/emails that you've found a better deal. They'll soon move on to the next potential customer.

 

[Robf]

Please do remember you are talking about car salesmen and dealers here . Was going to paste a Swiss Tony video from youtube..... but they are too cringy...even for me

 

[Rolfe]

No-obligation test drive? All test drives are no-obligation.

 

[tsedge]

Please do remember you are talking about car salesmen and dealers here . Was going to paste a Swiss Tony video from youtube..... but they are too cringy...even for me

I still love this one: