Dealers have a hard choice. Most people, including me, would never purchase any car without a test drive but when it comes to corvettes they get a lot of people who have no intention of buying the car, they just want to take it for a spin. Racks up mileage, and then a serious buyer won't touch it. Since I drove in with my current vette they practically forced the keys of a new vette into my hands and even let me test overnight. After the test drive I of course bought one. Considering how much these cars cost you need to find a dealer who will let you drive an auto or maybe find a vette club in your area.

I only have experience with the corvette auto. It is a good tranny but will never shift as hard as a stick, but I'm not sure why I'd need it to. Good luck.

 

I agree they have a challenge and must be very restrictive so the cars don't lose value. At the same time, if you are confident in your product then you believe a test drive will "sell" the buyer.

I have test driven the following prior to buying with no hesitation:
Audi R8, Audi RS4, jag F type V8, Lotus Evora S, Lotus Esprit V8, viper, Ferrari 355. All of these cars are in the same price range and the sellers didn't have a problem with it. I assume they make some assessment of those that are potential serious buyers. I actually ended up buying most of those cars (not all). I would have never bought the F type without driving it as I was convinced the ZF automatic transmission would be terrible. The test drive amazed me at how close it was to a dual clutch--it removed that concern and I bought it the following week.

 

Maybe not some car brands, but many car brands won't let people test drive them. So, you can be upset, but the way to do it is to find alternative such as the one I suggested. Or, you can buy a different brand. Still your choice. Just as it is a dealer's.

 

Fair enough. It is just hard to drop $100k on a car without having ever driven it. Most buyers are corvette enthusiasts and maybe they just assume a base level of experience and that this will be a bump up, but for someone new to the brand that is a tough leap. I think the company is looking to capture buyers of German and Italian sports cars with the new C7 line, but it is hard if they take the position that you should buy it based on a magazine review vs a comparison with what you currently drive. Having said that I actually found a local Z06/vert used at a local exotic car dealer so maybe I can check that one out.

 

I was permitted to test drive my vette

 

I went to four dealers in central Texas looking at Corvettes. I wanted to drive the manual and automatic both in Z51 and non Z51. None of them gave me a problem about test driving the cars. Two of them took a car off the show room floor to let me drive it. None of the cars had more than 15-20 miles on them and all were sold within a month of me driving them so I doubt they had much mileage on them. I bought from the first dealer that would accept credit union pricing.

I don't think dealers worry too much about selling a new car with 50 test drive miles on it. There are some picky buyers here on the forum, but I don't think most people really care if the car was driven before them.

 

Well I did not buy a Z06 but 2 weeks ago I did get a nicely loaded Z51 Vert at Kerbecks... I called the day before as I had a 6 hour drive to get there and they reserved the car I was interested in. Talked to the very knowledgeable sales guy a Mr. Dave Brown for a few minutes right after I go there and with no prompting at all said let me get the fob and get her outside and you can take a test drive. The only thing bad about the test ride was the weather was rather cold/windy and we left the top up.

Ride needless to say was a blast, and about 2 hours latter I was signing papers for my new summer ride.

As a person that has bought over 50 new cars (four of them Vettes) and trucks in my life I must admit this was a very decent and laid back purchase of a new car.

 

I don't think its that hard to get a test drive. I've never been turned down myself.

 

I contacted a salesman at a local dealership who is also a member of the local Corvette club. He told me that his dealership was one of North Texas' leading Corvette dealers. He knew I had just sold my C6 and was a qualified buyer and in fact wanted to order a car from him. I told him that I had recieved 23K for my old car and planned on adding an addition 10-15K to the 23K for a total downpayment of 35-40K. I had even met him at the Corvette club meeting. He lost the sale for 2 reasons;

1. He had 2 or 3 C7 Corvettes in his showroom. I asked him if I could drive one of them to get a feel for the car before I ordered it. He told me "no Corvette buyers will not buy a car with more that 3 miles or so on it", so he was unable to allow any test drive in the Corvette. All I wanted to do was drive it about 3-5 miles.

2. Even though he claimed his dealer was one of the leading Corvette dealers in the metroplex and had plenty of allocations, he also stated that that it would be 14-19 weeks before I could take delivery on my ordered car.

The dealer I ordered the car from (the day after this conversation) gave me a delivery time of 8-9 weeks afetr I explained to him what I wanted. It appears this target will be met or exceeded. he was also able to give me a sales tax credit on my trade, although this was not a deal breaker.

The orginal salesman must sell a lot of cars as he was not eager for me to buy a Corvette from him.

 

I've often wondered what buyers hope to learn with a short test drive on a car that's not yet broken in.

 

I think it has more to do with ego than the car. Most of these people already have a C6 and love it. We all know, or at least should, that the C7 is better in every way. So why do you have to drive one? You can find out if you fit in one, if you are large, in the showroom.

 

I don't know a lot about BMW's or Jaguars except they're very nice looking and prestigious cars and I love blowing the doors off of them. So, what's your quesion??

 

And I say fair enough back to you because you make some good points! But as you can see, some people get to test drive this, or other cars, and some don't. Some have never had an issue with doing so, and some have. To me, that just exemplifies the variability of the market and the choices dealers make. Frankly, some dealers just don't care if they increase the popularity/sales of Corvettes--they feel they have enough compared to the tire-kickers who just "want to test drive a new Vette."

And while you probably found one of a very few used, A8, Z06 convertibles, I agree with your basic premise that the producers of the Stingray and the Z06 are hoping to "convert" other brand's owners to their marque. You found the best choice, short of a new car dealer willing to let you test drive a new car equipped the way you want it.

IMO, the next best choices would be to locate a used or new Stingray w. an A8 and drive it. Then, locate a Z06 and test it. Not in the same car, I grant that, but at least you would have driven both important features: the car, and the trans.

I hope to read of your review of your test drive!