Aren Jay
02-26-2008, 12:20 AM
I've had great and good and just amazing test drives and one or two so so test drives.
Hmm Test drive one, that I can remember well. 1999. Looking for a SUV. Ford Explorer at a Ford Dealership. We drove in, my Dad and me, in our 1994 Firebird, red looks like a scify car, back then anyway. Salesman asks us what we want and we talk about SUV's. Look at Excursion but can't afford one, he takes us to look at what is on the lot we look at a lowend Explorer he hands me the keys and says to go for a drive. Dad and I go for a drive by ourselves. Even tried it out driving through a ditch. Although it did fell tippy.
Price was too high so we kept looking.
Tried out another Explorer because they don't sell Mountaineers in Canada at the Mercury dealership. Again talked about the Navigator this time but couldn't afford it at all. Took out a Explorer this time with a saleman, he had me drive over some railroad tracks, at the crossing on the city road, felt tippy still on the turns. Brakes where good when I made an emergency stop at a quick light turning red, the yellow lasted about half a second. Price was still way too high for what you get.
Waited a couple more days and looked at a brochure for a Durango. Parents climbed into and out of one and said they were nice so Dad (the mad haggler car buyer) and I go for a test drive. They only had a bright blue one, which was kind of an oddball colour. Parttime 4x4 shift on the floor lever. Saleman was a moron. Durango felt way more truck like and had the truck like interior. Nice on the outside terrible on the inside. More stable than the Explorer a little more 'grunt' to it but felt like a big pickup truck. Then the brakes made a funny noise, saleman ' don't worry that is normal', drive home and let Mom look at colour she says it is ok but not her favourite. I'm talking to saleman, we get into an arguement about the difference between partime and fulltime four wheel drive. He tires to tell me parttime 4WD means it is on 4wd all the time, but only has the wheels locks part of the time. Fulltime means that it is always locked in 4wd and that's why it is not as good. Guy is a just too stupid to know any better. Anyway Dad comes out and we go back to the dealership. We sitdown and talk about price, still to high. Dad asks aobut a lease; Saleman says that is possible but we can only look at the lease after we sign the paper saying we will lease. Dad says no, wants to see lease so my sister the lawyer can look it over. Saleman says no. Lease doesn't get shown to us until after we sign for it. goes gets manager, he says saleman is right, no seeing the lease before we sign the lease. Then we walk then he changes his mind but we walk away.
Wait a week or so, thinking about the Explorer again but the price is too high and power too low. V8 price way too high. Sister, the Doctor this time suggests we go and look at a Subaru. I look them up and the Forester looks ok. Little known car place called Centuar, like the Greek horse creature guy, they sell them. Dad and I cruise down there, there is nowhere to park the place is so small. We double park. Forester looks nice specs look good but it is a bit small. We meet the first female salesperson and wonder if she knows anything about cars. (back in the day remember) She asks if we want to go for a test drive. Asks for my Drivers license photo copies it,(now illegal) i'm a bit wairy at this. Then we go out to test drive a Forester L. It is a 98 they don't have a 99 to test drive. Guy in Honda Minivan is double parked behind the Forester. I ask if we should get him to move and Darlene says no we can go straight ahead. I look at 3 foot pile of snow infront of Forester dubiously. We all squeeze into the Forester, all the cars are jammed next to each other and we can just squeeze in. Me driving, Dad up front Darlene behind us in middle. As I start the Forester the Honda owner comes running up to me and taps on window says that he's blocking me in and needs to move. Darlene says it is ok we are going straight ahead. He looks a snowpile, looks at me I shrug my shoulders he qucikly hops into his minivan and drives around the block and parks on the side street. Darlene assures me, just give it some gas she says...
...I put us in drive, 4eat and floor it, Forester hits snowpile jumps the sidewalk and lands on the main road, Mcleod Trail, (for those who know) and off we go. I'm already impressed. Thinking the Honda guy must have loved to see the tire tracks stop before the sidewalk and then appear on the road.
We drive around the back and take the next full street up into the hills of the area, there is about 4 to 6 inches of snow on the ground and a layer of ice under it. We drive down a steep icy snowy road and then Darlene says go straight up that back alley. It looks like i'll be backing down half way up but she says no problem. Off I go and drive all the way up no problem. the back side is all down hill and leads to another main road and back to Mcleod trail just behind the dealership. It is steep and the antilock brakes pump the whole way down we even slide about the last quarter in semi control.
Big smile on my face.
We drive back down Mcloed Trail and go down to about 46th ave? then down into the industrial park and towards Blackfoot trail, big city snowy roads. We drive down a side street and hill and pull off into a gravel and snow 6 inches shoulder parking area. Forester doesn't get stuck and is impressive. I try to spin wheels and fail. Darlene asks if I want to try something more challenging? I'm impressed and game. She says instead of turning back towards the dealership we go the otherway. It is a deadend. She says jump the curb. I wonder about it but slowly drive over the curb and go across a field towards an industrial little used railway track. Then we drive along the side of the railway track between it and a business of some kind. It is a little less than a 1/4 mile long but very rough. (It is also now blocked off.) We are sitting at about a 45 degree side slope, drivers side down. Fighting the wheel driving in deep 3 inch gravel and 6+ inches of snow. I'm keeping the Forester up at the top of the slope near the tracks and within sight of the road about 50 feet away, I decide to see how good the Forester really is. I stop. We slide sideways down the slope in the gravel and snow with the gravel and snow piling up beside the dirvers side. The snow and some gravel reaches the window. I'm thinking maybe this wasn't very bright. But I also think that I can climb out dads door, more like a hatch now, and the dealership is only three long blocks away and it isn't very cold. Darlene looks worried.
I hammer the gas and the Forester drives out, no problem. Now I'm impressed. Drive back to dealership and we take a look at the paperwork. Lease is odd but we take the paperwork home and check finances and do some homework. Take a good look decide to wait a little while. about 6 months goes by and we stop in again.
From the point when I just drove out of that railroad track I knew my next car would be a Subaru. Nothing else would do.
It took a while longer and after testing out 4 more Foresters, 3 impreza's and finally 2 Legacy's I bought my 04 Legacy L sedan.
I miss my Mustang's power in the summer and the looks of the 94 Firebird, but I know that when I get stuck in my Legacy, I just need to hit the gas and drive away.
My Final Salesperson was Lynn she too knew her stuff and was very good. I tried to buy from Darlene but she no longer sold Subaru's, would have no qualms about buying a car from a female salesperson ever again.
Then I got bored driving such a slow car year after year and replaced it with my Marauder.
Hmm Test drive one, that I can remember well. 1999. Looking for a SUV. Ford Explorer at a Ford Dealership. We drove in, my Dad and me, in our 1994 Firebird, red looks like a scify car, back then anyway. Salesman asks us what we want and we talk about SUV's. Look at Excursion but can't afford one, he takes us to look at what is on the lot we look at a lowend Explorer he hands me the keys and says to go for a drive. Dad and I go for a drive by ourselves. Even tried it out driving through a ditch. Although it did fell tippy.
Price was too high so we kept looking.
Tried out another Explorer because they don't sell Mountaineers in Canada at the Mercury dealership. Again talked about the Navigator this time but couldn't afford it at all. Took out a Explorer this time with a saleman, he had me drive over some railroad tracks, at the crossing on the city road, felt tippy still on the turns. Brakes where good when I made an emergency stop at a quick light turning red, the yellow lasted about half a second. Price was still way too high for what you get.
Waited a couple more days and looked at a brochure for a Durango. Parents climbed into and out of one and said they were nice so Dad (the mad haggler car buyer) and I go for a test drive. They only had a bright blue one, which was kind of an oddball colour. Parttime 4x4 shift on the floor lever. Saleman was a moron. Durango felt way more truck like and had the truck like interior. Nice on the outside terrible on the inside. More stable than the Explorer a little more 'grunt' to it but felt like a big pickup truck. Then the brakes made a funny noise, saleman ' don't worry that is normal', drive home and let Mom look at colour she says it is ok but not her favourite. I'm talking to saleman, we get into an arguement about the difference between partime and fulltime four wheel drive. He tires to tell me parttime 4WD means it is on 4wd all the time, but only has the wheels locks part of the time. Fulltime means that it is always locked in 4wd and that's why it is not as good. Guy is a just too stupid to know any better. Anyway Dad comes out and we go back to the dealership. We sitdown and talk about price, still to high. Dad asks aobut a lease; Saleman says that is possible but we can only look at the lease after we sign the paper saying we will lease. Dad says no, wants to see lease so my sister the lawyer can look it over. Saleman says no. Lease doesn't get shown to us until after we sign for it. goes gets manager, he says saleman is right, no seeing the lease before we sign the lease. Then we walk then he changes his mind but we walk away.
Wait a week or so, thinking about the Explorer again but the price is too high and power too low. V8 price way too high. Sister, the Doctor this time suggests we go and look at a Subaru. I look them up and the Forester looks ok. Little known car place called Centuar, like the Greek horse creature guy, they sell them. Dad and I cruise down there, there is nowhere to park the place is so small. We double park. Forester looks nice specs look good but it is a bit small. We meet the first female salesperson and wonder if she knows anything about cars. (back in the day remember) She asks if we want to go for a test drive. Asks for my Drivers license photo copies it,(now illegal) i'm a bit wairy at this. Then we go out to test drive a Forester L. It is a 98 they don't have a 99 to test drive. Guy in Honda Minivan is double parked behind the Forester. I ask if we should get him to move and Darlene says no we can go straight ahead. I look at 3 foot pile of snow infront of Forester dubiously. We all squeeze into the Forester, all the cars are jammed next to each other and we can just squeeze in. Me driving, Dad up front Darlene behind us in middle. As I start the Forester the Honda owner comes running up to me and taps on window says that he's blocking me in and needs to move. Darlene says it is ok we are going straight ahead. He looks a snowpile, looks at me I shrug my shoulders he qucikly hops into his minivan and drives around the block and parks on the side street. Darlene assures me, just give it some gas she says...
...I put us in drive, 4eat and floor it, Forester hits snowpile jumps the sidewalk and lands on the main road, Mcleod Trail, (for those who know) and off we go. I'm already impressed. Thinking the Honda guy must have loved to see the tire tracks stop before the sidewalk and then appear on the road.
We drive around the back and take the next full street up into the hills of the area, there is about 4 to 6 inches of snow on the ground and a layer of ice under it. We drive down a steep icy snowy road and then Darlene says go straight up that back alley. It looks like i'll be backing down half way up but she says no problem. Off I go and drive all the way up no problem. the back side is all down hill and leads to another main road and back to Mcleod trail just behind the dealership. It is steep and the antilock brakes pump the whole way down we even slide about the last quarter in semi control.
Big smile on my face.
We drive back down Mcloed Trail and go down to about 46th ave? then down into the industrial park and towards Blackfoot trail, big city snowy roads. We drive down a side street and hill and pull off into a gravel and snow 6 inches shoulder parking area. Forester doesn't get stuck and is impressive. I try to spin wheels and fail. Darlene asks if I want to try something more challenging? I'm impressed and game. She says instead of turning back towards the dealership we go the otherway. It is a deadend. She says jump the curb. I wonder about it but slowly drive over the curb and go across a field towards an industrial little used railway track. Then we drive along the side of the railway track between it and a business of some kind. It is a little less than a 1/4 mile long but very rough. (It is also now blocked off.) We are sitting at about a 45 degree side slope, drivers side down. Fighting the wheel driving in deep 3 inch gravel and 6+ inches of snow. I'm keeping the Forester up at the top of the slope near the tracks and within sight of the road about 50 feet away, I decide to see how good the Forester really is. I stop. We slide sideways down the slope in the gravel and snow with the gravel and snow piling up beside the dirvers side. The snow and some gravel reaches the window. I'm thinking maybe this wasn't very bright. But I also think that I can climb out dads door, more like a hatch now, and the dealership is only three long blocks away and it isn't very cold. Darlene looks worried.
I hammer the gas and the Forester drives out, no problem. Now I'm impressed. Drive back to dealership and we take a look at the paperwork. Lease is odd but we take the paperwork home and check finances and do some homework. Take a good look decide to wait a little while. about 6 months goes by and we stop in again.
From the point when I just drove out of that railroad track I knew my next car would be a Subaru. Nothing else would do.
It took a while longer and after testing out 4 more Foresters, 3 impreza's and finally 2 Legacy's I bought my 04 Legacy L sedan.
I miss my Mustang's power in the summer and the looks of the 94 Firebird, but I know that when I get stuck in my Legacy, I just need to hit the gas and drive away.
My Final Salesperson was Lynn she too knew her stuff and was very good. I tried to buy from Darlene but she no longer sold Subaru's, would have no qualms about buying a car from a female salesperson ever again.
Then I got bored driving such a slow car year after year and replaced it with my Marauder.