brushman

At least for me the S2000 was a very hard car to get a test drive / ride in. This makes purchasing one a very difficult decision.

I believe that Honda would sell more if the dealers had more test drive cars available to give more test drives. Although I belive that the dealers are the ones who keep the test drives at a non-existent levels. Go to a Nissan dealer and they are stepping over themselves to give you a drive in the 350Z. Any Chevy dealer will throw you the keys to Vette. Hell...even Porsche will give test drives in any of the base models.

I personally like the fact the car is more or less "limited" based on sales numbers, but sales numbers usually drive model changes and improvements.

thunderchicken

Many of the people who purchase S2000's want one right off the truck. The number of S2000's a dealer gets is based on their volume of overall Honda sales. In my area, for example, any time a dealer had an S in, they put on a spoiler or something and marked it up another 4k.

If they had just one used s2k that let everyone drive (how I got my first test drive), then that would be cool. The time I had my first test drive, I had to wait 2 hours while others test drove the car. These two pieces of trailer park miracles drove it before me and only brought it back because they didn't want to put more gas in it. "We would have driven it more if it had more gas in it". I don't think they had the interest in purchasing the car, or probably the money.


I don't either want honda to increase production. The main reason I love this car is that it's so rare. I see about 8 porsches to every S on the road, and I have a feeling that the Nissan Z will be the same in 2 years. I didn't see an S on the road until late 2001.

WestSideBilly

The problem is that most dealers sell every S they get without giving a TD, so the dealers have little incentive to give you one.

Honda dealers don't know how to deal with either sports cars or customers, end of story. It's been so long since they've actually had to sell a car that many of them have become lazy and arrogant. Chevy dealers have been selling Vettes for 50 years, by now they've realized that not everyone who tests drives one will buy one, but anyone who isn't sure will only be swayed by driving it. No amount of a salesman saying "this car is phat man, it hauls ass" is going to affect your decision, right?

The first Honda dealer I went to had a brand new one and a trade-in with about 2000 miles (swapped for a different color). They wouldn't even let me touch the new one, nor would they let me TD the used one (even though the dealer had racked up 150+ miles on it since trade-in). This, after me saying "I'm 99% sure this is my car, but I've got a few reservations about in-town driving". The 2nd dealer tossed me the keys and asked that I take it easy (salesman didn't even come along), and the car sold itself - and the salesman got his $2000 commission for being a friendly guy.

RedY2KS2k

How can they sell more when they're already selling all the factory is capable of making?

Jenner

[QUOTE]Originally posted by thunderchicken
[B]I don't either want honda to increase production.

Helios

I must have been an exception. I called ahead and asked if they had an S2000 for a test drive. They said yes, I made an appointment, and was able to take a nice long test drive -- with no salesman aboard. Of course, I ended up buying it!

I agree with the poor opinion of most Honda dealers, though. For too long, they've been able to sit back and wait for us to come to them.

thunderchicken

The car does sell itself, Car and Driver's top 10, limited production. I think Honda dealers have the right to sit back and wait for us, no advertising for a top 10 car, and they can't keep the damn thing in stock!

Helios

Sure, the S2000 is an easy sell -- however, we also have a '93 Civic and we've been subjected to some pretty poor sales and service treatment. We've found a good dealership now, but it was a long search.

offroadr35

there are two dealerships near my house. I called the first one (closer) and the salesman said they don't let people test drive the S. So, i explained to him that i am very interested in purchasing one, already pre-approved for financing, but just didn't want to pull the trigger until i drove it. He said he would check with his manager and call me back. So i called the other dealership, spoke to the sales manager and didn't even explain to him how serious i was before he told me it would be no problem to get a test drive. I went right over and drove it, although didn't drive it as hard as i would have liked. About 3 hours later i got a call from the first salesman saying he checked and i still can't drive their car. Needless to say, it's obvious who my money will be going to if i buy a new one.

The flip side to this is another dealer a little further away from me has had a demo '02 with 1200 miles on it on their floor for 4 months at $30500, no one will touch the thing. Because it's such a hi-revving car and break-in seems to be the key to long-term reliability, no one is going to want to buy a car that people have abused for the first 1000 miles.

-Steve

mister_two

Test drives really vary from dealer to dealer. When I was shopping for a S back in 2000. I was able to get a test drive at 2 different dealerships. No appointments.