05RollaXRS

Read this on clubrsx.com. Found it very funny. Seems like a great salesperson:

Originally Posted by RSXs A-Spec
Haha I also went to the same place and test drove it last night
Felt really good....I didn't get to test drive it solo...but the guy that took me out of the dealer went crazy ont he thing burning out and like going on a twisty *** road going like 100 mph showing me the suspension..thought I was gonna **** my pants...anyways he then let me drive and forced em to do some crazy ****....

First he made me go from a stop and speed up really fast around the twisties almost to the point I thought we were gonna go off road.....Then he made me go really really fast like around 80 mph and just slam on the brakes on a twistie without holding on to the steering wheel.....Hah!...worked like a charm...he said the car wouldnt lose control and kill us all...it held straight and stoped immediately....Anyways thought I was gonna die with this crazy fool...and the car felt smooth as hell and was really fun to drive

Xanadu350

OMG, another reason to never buy a demo car. Are our Lexus salesman really this daring? Or is this made up? I've never had a Lexus salesman do that but a BMW salesman did this same thing when the new 5 series came out years ago.

ntran18

iTrader: (27)

They ALL do it, some more than others. Had similar experience when I test drove Audi. This is why you custom order your car. You at least limit this to the loader on/off of the ship & truck.

05RollaXRS

When I talked to the salesman at the IS launch party, he told me that they were going for a 3 day course at the race track where they will be trained to exploit the limits of the car in order to show case the capabilities to the prospective customers. From a customer's stand point, this is exactly what he wants to see before he writes a big cheque out. To see what the car is truly capable of. From a demo buying customer's stand point, it is definitely true that demo cars are ragged on and the customer might be given a beaten down car, but the customers usually pay $5000 - $7000 less than the MSRP as a compensation to the risk they assume about the abuse of the car.

Xanadu350

Speaking of test drives, Will Lexus let you test drive the new IS 350 alone without the salesman for 15 to 30 min as part of the full test drive when a person is ready to buy? (I'm not buying till next year) So maybe demand will be lesser then. A short 4 min test drive is hardly enough time (especially with the salesman talking) to really get a good feel for a car and after all it's a major purchase.

I wonder if each dealer is different with this respect. I want to test drive the car now but I'm not ready to buy yet and if I go they will pressure me to buy now and I don't want that hassle.

05RollaXRS

Toyota has a 24 hour test drive program where you book the demo car on a certain day, which allows you to keep the car for 24 hours and lets you develop a better feel of the car. If you show Lexus that you are serious enough, I am sure they would gladly let you keep the car for 24 hours just like Toyota does.