How to get a decent test drive in UK?!!

[RodeoDrive]

Good suggestion, thanks - maybe the dealer can reimburse me if I decide to buy from them? ;-)

You can't put a price on happiness, he'll say

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[f1eng]

Back when I was technical director of a Formula 1 team Porsche GB delivered a car at work for to me to try (a 911 993 type) and when I said it was slower than the car I had (a TVR Griffith) they promised me a go in a turbo, and I got that delivered to work for a weekend trial. It had too much lag to be fun on roads around here so I didn't buy.
When as a retiree I went to my local dealer as a regular punter I got great service despite it being towards the end of Covid, but the demo was only about 20 minutes. I ordered and paying cash was actually a downside for them, clearly hire-purchase deals are more profitable.
I did end up waiting 17 months from order to delivery and suspect I could have used my F1 mates to shorten that but I was so pleased with the service at the dealer I felt honour bound to stay with them though I regretted it when the delay expanded so much.

FWIW back with the original generous loans I was told I would get expedited delivery but no discount "even Nick Faldo paid full price" was what they said...

 

[Murph7355]

It also feels like Porsche might have got (or be getting) to grips with supply/demand curves too.

My dealer now does not do loan cars for service work...I suspect they're holding less cars now so have less to use?

 

[Crazymind]

Porsche Glasgow, got the car delivered home for a 2 days test drive and they collected it after.
Jen1.2 they drove similar car to my spec to double check I could get it in the garage without touching the front lip. I have a 4° incline that doesn’t help…
It really depends on the dealer…
In addition to that 130k this days unfortunately doesn’t make you VIP.

 

[Midlifecrisis]

I had a pretty good experience in Tewkesbury. They just booked the car out for most of the day for me so I could take it home and have a decent drive. They were much more sensitive about a 911 drive as the onward sale price is more mileage sensitive. However they just gave me the keys and let me go. I suppose I was a returning customer. But they did the same when I first bought a Macan from them.

 

[warnergb7]

Porsche South London lent me a J1.2 4S CT for the afternoon when I was looking. Lovely guy called Andy looked after me. In the end I bought from Porsche Newport as they had an ex demo but South London were super helpful. As someone else said, think about finance as you'll get a better deal on the price and I'm pretty sure you can just pay it off but do check that!

 

[69Mach390]

There is a bunch of paperwork and liability shit signed over here before every test drive. All your documents get photocopied, they do a background check, and it also depends on your age.
Never had a test drive shorter than 1 hour over here and if I asked I always got 2 hours.

Nobody gets to test drive new cars here. Every dealership has dedicated demo cars, which are used for test drives, and the dealers use them themselves as well.

What you are describing seems more similar to a used car lot, not for brand new cars at the official dealer.

I have admittedly never bought a new Porsche either.

For my other new car purchases, the test drives were all of brand new vehicles available for sale. Makes sense they want to keep the mileage to a bare minimum.

Dealers here may have some demo cars, but they’re mostly used for service loaners rather than new car test drives.

Makes sense if it’s a demo specifically for test drives.

For the OP, I think in the end from a dealer’s perspective they want to be sure that you are a serious buyer and not a tire kicker. The fact that you’re still shopping around months later doesn’t really help your case.

It’s fine to take your time, etc. but dealers do get a lot of people who just joy ride without intention of buying so they likely have their guard up in general when someone wants to take a high end car out for a few hours.

You may have better luck getting a longer drive with a used car. But just note that you’re likely just wasting the time of the used car dealer.

Either way, I’ve never had to drive a car more than a few minutes to know whether I like it or not. Everyone is different I guess.

 

[Peterp]

Porsche Guildford let me have one for a good few hours.

 

[YJZ]

Porsche Bolton let me their demonstrator out for a good couple of hours with no pressure at all. Easy enough done too all I did was ask. I have heard some dealers are way more restrictive

 

[Porsche-Guru]

Porsche Reading, Porsche Guildford and Porsche Bristol all gave a 911/ 718 for a 3-4 hour independent (unaccompanied) test drive.

First reaction was that we only do accompanied drives, but after a 5 minute telephone call; it was agreed that I could have the test/demo car for 3-4 hours.
I was just straight honest, that I am not spending in excess of£100k without having a car to myself (and my spouse) for at least 3/4 hours.
To be fair, all 3 dealerships agreed without much of a hassle.

Edit: When I got my Taycan in 2023, I did manage to get a 3 hour drive from Porsche Guildford as well. This was without any hassle at all, I just asked for an independent drive; and I drove the Taycan and the 4S; back to back. Each for about 90 minutes.

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