Went for a test drive today.

Had some time to burn between picking up jeep parts, metal, MD visits and such. stopped by Century Dodge in Mt Airy to test drive the Hemi Challenger. For those that have been hiding under a rock here is a pic.


Elva drove it first with the salesman riding shotgun and me stuffed in the back seat, needs about 3" more headroom for me to sit up straight. She just cruised around and didn't really open it up. We got back and she said "I don't know, you will have to drive it". I said but it is your vehicle but she still insisted that I drive. So reluctantly I drove with Elva riding shotgun and the salesman stayed at the showroom. Tell ya what, that thing can really move. I cruised out past the first turn and then just stomped on the gas and held it to the floor. the car slipped just briefly and then took off like a rocket. I got to about a 100 fairly quickly and there was no sign that the car was anywhere near its potential. Speedo goes to 180 and I think it could do it fairly easily. The car is quite nimble on the turns, really hugged the road on the corners and felt good at 100, very stable. I was quite impressed with the car's power but I think it is a better west coast car than east coast. I say this because the gear ratio is set to sacrifice acceleration in exchange for high top speed. Kat, your car has faster seat of the pants acceleration. The car is very big, like 6' wide and 116" wheelbase. Elva was quite uncomfortable with moving it around in the parking lot, kinda like turning the excursion around. Mirrors suck because you cant see the end of the car, you can only see the last curve of the body over the wheelwell. rear mirror shows no trunk so cant see the end there either. I would have liked a better gear ratio and a little more rear seat headroom, and a better(louder exhaust) and better sound system. the system in this one did not have the upgraded sound system. Oh yeah, this car has the ESP too. I'd rather smoke the tires than be safe and stable. Looked at the Mustang but it has absolutely no rear seat leg room, not even for casey. Time to look at the new 2010 camaro.

That's a good looking car. I'm a fan of most of the new nostalgic domestics. Nice to see them turning back to the era where they did something right.

All but the Mustang, I am waiting for my Dad to Buy a Camaro they are sweet 426hp he said jus not sumthin he can trust Mom in everyday LOL she has a lead foot.... Those Challengers are very nice tho

Wow Bill - looks awesome...
I give it 6 months before your license gets suspended though..

connordanny wrote:

Wow Bill - looks awesome...
I give it 6 months before your license gets suspended though..

Thats why its "Elvas Car"

I like your style Bill

Yeah, she was scairt and didn't want to run it hard. she would have bought it right then but she is concerned about having 3 useless mirrors and you truly cannot see anything behind you. She almost hit a minivan in the car lot while backing up. Can't find those damn camaros anywhere. It will be Elva's car, it was her dream to have one but I know she will let me drive it.

If you get one of these cars I do believe there is still one rule for MARR.

It states

" If any member of MARR gets a cool new retro car that the speedo goes to 180mph that member must give other members a ride in so car"

I'm sure I saw that somewhere.

I have no problem with that...be very afraid.

SPP YJ wrote:

If you get one of these cars I do believe there is still one rule for MARR.

It states

" If any member of MARR gets a cool new retro car that the speedo goes to 180mph that member must give other members a ride in so car"

I'm sure I saw that somewhere.

Yes, some rules are still fair game - I second it.

Bill don't forget to look at the Pontiac G8 the GT has the LS2 engine in it and the GPX has the LS3 same engine that is in the Camaro SS. The Camaro has the problem no room in the back seat. The G8 you can fit the whole flamily in it(or some fiends when you scare the shit out of them) The other plus on the G8 there is no mark up on the price.

mdcj7 wrote:

Bill don't forget to look at the Pontiac G8 the GT has the LS2 engine in it and the GPX has the LS3 same engine that is in the Camaro SS. The Camaro has the problem no room in the back seat. The G8 you can fit the whole flamily in it(or some fiends when you scare the shit out of them) The other plus on the G8 there is no mark up on the price.

Pontiac is still around?

she said it doesn't look like a muscle car. she wants something with the classic styling and a good rumble to the motor. Might have to look at a restored 69 camaro or 70 mach 1 mustang

Pontiac is definitely getting phased out. I received a letter from them stating that fact. It said they will still honor the warranties and I can still get service and parts for my TransAm.

If you want something with a real back seat you'll want to go with the real muscle cars like the 69 or 70 you suggested. The back seats in my car are a joke...they are like car seats for kids. I don't think the Camaros are any better and the Mustangs are worse (as you already found out). Getting a convertible would help but really only with the head room.

i seen a new yellow camaro at the dealer in belair. sweet looking. they are coming with a whole new restyled corvette in 2012 supposedly.

Corvette's never did it for me although the new ones are pretty damn impressive, espcially the ZO6 and ZR1!

Went to Chantilly, Va to test drive a new camaro. Actually we started in Sterling on a tip from Nester. The guy we called there said "I have 2 camaros a V6 and a V8" so we went there and the silver V6 was on the show platform 4' up in the air so there was no climbing in that one. We waited for the salesman to come out for about 10 minutes and finally got in the truck and started to leave. The guy came out and decided to talk to us and said the V8 camaro is black and it actually isn't for sale, it belongs to the owner but if we wanted it bad enough he would probably sell it to us. We left. Went to Chantilly where they had 6 of them. Found the EXACT car we were looking for, the Camaro SS RS in inferno orange with the RS black stripes down the hood and trunk loaded. Elva loved the car and asked the guy to take her for a ride in it because she was nervous about driving it in the traffic. He said he doesn't do test drives without having some paperwork signed. I said what paperwork? we have a trade in and paying cash for the remaining balance. he said we don't like putting all kinds of miles on the car for everyone that thinks they can afford it. we decided no test drive = no sale. Tomorrow we will call the manager and give him hell about his sucky policy and let him know he lost a sale.

Wow...I would tell that guy to get fucked. Takes a real dumb ass to not be able to decipher a real buyer vs. a joy rider. His over zealous push for a sale just screwed him.

"We don't like putting all kinds of miles on the car for everyone that thinks they can afford it"


That is just shocking! If I was a manager and a salesman said that to a customer they'd be finding a new job. What was your reaction to that?!?!

Wow - great customer service!

They were prolly just busy - you know selling all those new GM's and all that are just flyin off the lot. They should be waiting at the entrance of the parking lot for customers. They didnt make just 1 of that car - you can find it somewhere else that isnt gonna monkey around.

Ford did that with some of there cars a few years ago. It made me mad then cause I wanted to take a joy ride !!

This is not an uncommon practice. I was actually going to mention it to you. They tend to keep the fast cars inside the showroom and being unable to get them out is an excuse that deters most people. There are A LOT of joy riders and people that can't afford those cars and they are really protecting themselves and keeping the cars in great condition for the person who does actually buy it. Just because you say you want it and have the $ for it, doesn't mean you will actually take it. If they let everyone who said they were going to buy test drive them...it wouldn't take long for the miles to add up and of course people are going to stomp on them. If you are the buyer you wouldn't want a bunch of people to have been in your car winding it out before you. Oh..and the people who work there are no exception. They often don't let the sales people take them out either.

I did test drive one TransAm but I can't remember if it was before or after I put the order in for mine...I believe it was after. My dad didn't get to test drive a GT500 before he ordered his either. My suggestion...if you want the car..fill out the paperwork.

Well Bill I can really only say one thing. " Welcome to Northern Virginia" Land of dickheads and douche bags. Customer service around here sucks asshole will never get better cause the volume the everyone sells due to the mass amounts of assfuckes that we have in my fine community.

Now about the test drive thats a load of shit. You might have to show financial proof that you can buy the car or sign a insurance wavier but if you can test drive 100K BMW's and Ferrari's you should be able to test drive a Camaro

i agree. we may drive it after elva finally makes up her mind what she wants. a big downside to the camaro is the rear seat is worthless to people over 5'4". So we couldn't take the car with the whole family for more than just a little ride. I think we may go to Flemings ultimate garage to look at some older classics so she can sit in them and see what they are like.
http://www.flemingsultimategarage.com/all-inventory.htm

MYYJROX wrote:

This is not an uncommon practice. I was actually going to mention it to you. They tend to keep the fast cars inside the showroom and being unable to get them out is an excuse that deters most people. There are A LOT of joy riders and people that can't afford those cars and they are really protecting themselves and keeping the cars in great condition for the person who does actually buy it. Just because you say you want it and have the $ for it, doesn't mean you will actually take it. If they let everyone who said they were going to buy test drive them...it wouldn't take long for the miles to add up and of course people are going to stomp on them. If you are the buyer you wouldn't want a bunch of people to have been in your car winding it out before you. Oh..and the people who work there are no exception. They often don't let the sales people take them out either.

I did test drive one TransAm but I can't remember if it was before or after I put the order in for mine...I believe it was after. My dad didn't get to test drive a GT500 before he ordered his either. My suggestion...if you want the car..fill out the paperwork.

If this is a common and acceptable practice I guess we'll tack this on the list of reasons for failure. Give me a fucking break. This is just complete lack of judgment. Also, I don't think the salesman belong driving the new cars coming in like that, I can agree there. Many of the manufacturers provide events to dealers where sales staff and employees are given an opportunity to demo exciting new "less common" vehicles. This way they learn the capabilities and can become excited about what they're selling. I would NEVER buy a vehicle without a test drive and I think it's a load of shit to get trapped into a dealers sneaky paperwork as well. With the GT500 at least you'd be able to hop in the average mustang and get an idea of the aesthetics, seat position, controls, visibility, etc etc etc.

I'm just telling you what happened with me and my dad.
They do let you sit in them and check them out...just not drive them.
But in both our cases, we knew what we wanted and didn't really need a test drive.
We both ordered ours from the factory.
There weren't many of either car at the time we were buying and the dealers couldn't exactly get what we wanted from another lot.

tomorrow we are test driving another vehicle. might be saying goodbye to the 2 door rubicon.