josedebardi

Problem is cars are a necessity to most, and many just walk in and buy a car without thinking about it (non petrol heads) and this makes dealerships lazy.

On top of that there are many time wasters just looking at nice cars for a Sunday afternoon this makes the dealers unwilling to waste time on everyone walking in.

The solution is simple, call ahead, never just walk in. This shows you are serious and you will get treated as such as soon as you walk in and then throughout the sale process.

It's a shame that the second most expensive purchase most people make has to be this way - of course as a serious punter you expect to be treated like gold dust, and why shouldn't you, but for the reasons above, an off the cuff visit rarely ends like that.

lmariorod

Most of you guys have it Sweet! Try asking at taking an Audi out by yourself as a young looking hispanic. Profiled me in not a good way. Had to ask the receptionist to get someone to help me. Then got a lady who knew less about the Q than I did. (We got our 2010 Q months after its release.) Practically had to give info on all, but my first born to get a test drive. Same with the S5, salesperson came along. Audi cars are great, not so much the dealerships.

Rlk1

It's too bad that many dealers act so unprofessionally towards customers new or not. I have been lucky to have a great dealership with which I do business. They never fail to greet walk-ins, and ask how they can help. They explain all the features of the model you may be interested in, and offer a test drive. They appear to be an exception. It is a business after all, and dealerships across the board need to do better.

Dalancroft

I literally drove my '11 Q Premium+ for about a mile before I knew I would love it. Did a U-turn, went back to the dealership, and bought it for cash + trade-in. Drove off 45 minutes later as a happy new owner.

Xylar5

I asked that question as well. The loaners were for service customers only. My only option was the "used" Q5 with about 2000 miles on it.

SDCEB

While I understand that it would be nice to have a longer term test drive before you buy specific car, I also understand why a dealer wouldn't want to lend out a brand new car overnight to anyone.

I know that when I bought my Q5, that I wanted no miles on it. Mine came in with 5 miles on it and that is what I was comfortable with, because I understand that they test them before leaving the factory. If it had say 100 miles, I would no longer have considered it to be a new car, because I would assume that it had been out with potential buyers, pushing it to its limits and maybe causing harm to the drivetrain.

My dealer leased the demo's and kept the new cars, new. It makes sense to me.

habu987

I'd be fine test driving one of the used models, as long as it has the features I'm looking for. I want a P+ TDI with B&O and nav. As far as an extended drive goes (or having the vehicle overnight/for a weekend), it wouldn't really matter to me whether it was one that was straight off the ship or if it was a used one with a couple thousand miles on it. That's why I'm trying to find out if the dealer will let you rent one of their loaners for an extended test drive.

alatsacto

I guess for me, I wasn't expecting to get a brand new car to have an extended test drive. I was simply hoping to borrow one of their loaners. While I know they need these loaners for their customers in the Service Department, but you would think an occasional loan out to a potential buyer may have even higher returns. Oh well...

200mph

It does help if you establish a relationship with the dealer first. I'd be reluctant to send a car home with anyone just walking in off the street for the first time.

My dealer had no problem letting me borrow a 2.0 and then a 3.0 service loaner, then a new SQ5 for about an hour each.

Actually, I wanted to drive at least one of them with 12k on it so I'd know what to expect as it "aged".

The 3.0 was "just right", and had all the right features/options; we bought it.

awryexperiment

Yeah.... you know us white guys. a bit of the old wink-wink, nod-nod and all the doors open up. ... my salesman even gave me his daughter's phone number.