I'm still trying to figure out the rational for this kind
of thinking. Is this car such a hot
item that the dealer is being ripped off
by test drivers???

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"What you hear in a great jazz band is the sound of democracy. “The jazz band works best when participation is shaped by intelligent communication.”
Harmony happens whenever different parts get to form a whole by means of congruity, concord, symetry, consistency, conformity, correspondence, agreement, accord, unity, consonance…….

GM needs to reorganize either way.

Funny story as I have test driven Bentley and the dealer had no problem. Did not even ask for my license.

You sure that CTS-V was not made of gold and diamonds?

The only car I've ever been told this about was a Ferrari. They basically wanted to run my credit and negotiate a price before I drove it, and since I had no intention of buying it, I just left. But even when I leased a $90k Acura NSX, they let me test drive it first. I've also test driven a Porsche 911 before with no problem.

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my experience on X5world when I spend too much
time posting in political threads in the lounge...

Unbelievable! Hey Barry, go try and take one out for a spin and see what happens. GM should literally be kissing your ass if you are even considering buying one of their cars these days! If this is their modus operandi, then they should go under!

Thinking about doing just that.

__________________
"What you hear in a great jazz band is the sound of democracy. “The jazz band works best when participation is shaped by intelligent communication.”
Harmony happens whenever different parts get to form a whole by means of congruity, concord, symetry, consistency, conformity, correspondence, agreement, accord, unity, consonance…….

Wow, this sounds crazy to me. I know the CTS-V is a nice car, but an M5 it is not and with GM hurting so bad I can't believe this is happening. As others have said, you would think they would be paying people to test drive their products these days. I guess this is why GM is currently doing so well. What B.S.

Two dealers had the same response? Makes you think that the dealer's stock is financed by GM (very likely) and there are rules about the mileage on those vehicles that mean it moves over onto the dealer's balance sheet once it is a demo. Just my guess.

While I do think that dealers would sell more cars with demos (to pre-qualified buyers) it is worth thinking about how things will be changing this year and next in the car business. Many will go under for lack of cash, others will have to raise prices or change policies to survive, and it is is likely to be a painful transition.

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2007 X3 3.0si, 6 MT, Premium, White

Retired:
2008 535i, 6 MT, M Sport, Premium, Space Grey
2003 X5 3.0 Steptronic, Premium, Titanium Silver
2002 325xi 5 MT, Steel Grey
2004 Z4 3.0 Premium, Sport, SMG, Maldives Blue

JCL I understand your attempt to make excuses for the dealership but at the end of the day what they are trying to do is not only unethical, it's blatantly stupid. And regardless if it is coming from the orders of the dealership or GM, it is a reflection on the brand.

This is Los Angeles where 1/4 of the cars on the road are near six figures. This is a city where there are hundreds of car dealerships within a stones throw of each other. This is a city where things of high value are frequently bought and sold without great care for pre-qualifications, cause many, many, many people here have lots and lots of money.

What Cadillac and the subsequent dealers are trying to do is prevent the potential buyers from doing research. They want to make on the spot deals for cars that haven't even been driven in the hopes of grabbing the "I need it now customer" but in trying to expand those profit margins they are also pushing away the, "I am an educated consumer but might like to buy a nice car" market.

And with the way GM is doing, they have no business pushing anyone away. Especially two brothers who lease high line cars and refer business.

Here is what I think, I think the quality of the sales people and the management people that Cadillac gets in a city like Los Angeles has probably just moved up to selling Cadillac's from trying to sell rubber dog shit to novelty stores. Cause lets be honest, the good salesman, the good managers, etc. are going to be in houses built for BMW, LEXUS, MERC, AUDI, Infiniti, etc. at least in LA...

The Cadillac dealerships in LA are disgusting at best. They have no class, no sophistication and no idea how to move product which is echoed in todays events.

It's like they think they went to the Glengary Glenross school of "how to close a deal" and now they are going to try their great sales technique on me. "Sure you can drive it, after you pay for it..."
-- Well, maybe that works when you're selling F-Cars, Lambo's, etc. But I bet you I could walk in and test drive almost any exotic if I really wanted to.

So my summation is, the sales people, the management, THEY ARE CHEAPLY trained. They have no class, they have no real world experience, they don't understand their market. You want to sell me a car, hand me the keys and keep your mouth shut and don't ask me, "Can you take the car home tonight?"

I highly doubt we will even bother trying to find one for a test drive now cause to be honest, the brand is pretty crappy anyway and this experience just dialed in the unpleasantness of the typical, slimy, classless, Cadillac dealer and customer.

Thank you but I will take my hard earned American money and will use it to buy German. And if one Mofo bitches at Cadillac about the recession or the economy they can use their sales technique book and gently ram it up their own arse..

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"When two people agree on everything, one of them is not necessary" - Arliss

I made no such excuses for them. In fact, I said I thought they would sell more cars with demos (to prequalified buyers, which probably implies meeting them in person, but that is another thread). I haven't figured out how it is unethical. They even told you before you bothered driving down there, saving you the trip.

What I said is that the car business is changing. I would be interested in knowing why they are not allowing test drives. Either they don't need to, they can't, or they don't want to. You assumed it was because they were idiots, and they very well may be, but there is the chance that they either don't need to, or can't. That's all. It is all a bit of a moot point IMO, since a very large percentage of dealers, and a couple of major automakers, are about to go broke anyway.

If they are that unethical, stupid, low quality, untrained, classless, unpleasant, slimy, and represent a crappy brand, it seems you would be happier with that German brand anyway.

__________________
2007 X3 3.0si, 6 MT, Premium, White

Retired:
2008 535i, 6 MT, M Sport, Premium, Space Grey
2003 X5 3.0 Steptronic, Premium, Titanium Silver
2002 325xi 5 MT, Steel Grey
2004 Z4 3.0 Premium, Sport, SMG, Maldives Blue