Test Drives Today

[Silvia_Drift]

I would say go for the WRX. The Civic SIR is supposedly one of the worst cars in that class and IMO, no FWD car will be as fun to drive as a RWD or some AWD. I would say the E36 M3 but the WRX is much more practical. Just get it used from another dealership.

[hemi_fan]

that is a very good suggestion Silvia... I do not think my dad was going to buy new because we just got a brand new SUV which put him in the hole a bit. The Impreza is the most expensive vehicle he was looking at, but it is also one of the few that has been around for a few years. The Lancer Ralliart, Sentra S-ER V-Spec, Civic siR, Toyota Matrix, and Acura RSX/Integra Type-R either were only made for 1 year (type-R), or are new vehicles in the past 2 years. The Impreza however has been around for a while and is therefore easiest to find used. I also like the handling of the Impreza, and it would be cool to get one. My mom told me earlier that my dad wants to buy a new car soon, and let me drive it! He loves his old Accord so much that he wants to see just how long it will last before it finally dies. It currently had 465,oookm on it, and he wants at least 1/2 million. This would be pretty cool, as I would be pretty much the only kid in school with a new semi-performance vehicle. My one worry about Imprezas is that they seem to be favourites for beating up in muddy fields and therefore might not be the best used cars to buy. Any thoughts on this?

[Tomerville]

They really are pricks, but I guess its because of insurance policies why they are so strict. I remeber in 1997 our family was allowed to test drive an Audi A8 for 2 days! Now, you are barely even permited to take di yute pon di block

[Garretts_turbo]

the subaru dealership is also stingy about the STi. all you can do is look at it, because they wont let you sit in it...
the same is true of the Mitsubishi dealership in our town, too. they have 3 evos, and you gotta be approved and ready to buy for them to even look at you, regardless of what you look like.

[hemi_fan]

Went for another drive today, this time in the rain. We test drove the 2004 Mitsubishi Lancer RalliArt. Its a 2.4L 4cyl, with 162hp/160tq. The car seemed very good, nice build quality, pretty peppy little car, the tranny is the same as in the EVO VII, and the power was pretty good also. When I got there, I was surprised to see that they had an EVO VII on display. Its not "Canadianized" yet, so its not for sale, but the salesman said his boss let him take it up and down the road, and he says its amazing! My dad really liked the RalliArt also, and hes not leaning towards that instead of the Nissan or Subaru. Only problem is that its first year for the 2.4L in the lancer, and my dad will probably have to wait for the 2005 lancers to come out before he can afford it. I got to sit in the EVO today, and I was quite pleased, the EVO seemed a lot like the RalliArt, interior was pretty much identical, but im sure they drive much differently. Just thought I'd give my 2c on this car, it was surpisingly pleasing, and as my dad put it,... "I never thought id find anything this quick from Mitsubishi". Now since he cant afford that yet, im hoping on a car for me soon

[novass]

Both of my roomates work at a Subaru dealership as mechanics and one used to sell cars. I understand what you guys are saying about them not letting people test drive the STi but you have to look at it from their standpoint. Weeks before it came out they had already recieved several offers from potential clients. By the time the car actually arrived, each dealership only got a couple of them. There was no way possible to even sell to every person that wanted one let alone let them drive it. Plus, as with the WRX's, too many irresponsible teens get them and destroy them. I cant tell you how many stories theyve told me of WRXs coming in wrecked with less then a few hundred miles on it.

But I agree that its hard to buy a car they wont let you drive.

Anyway, back on topic. Hemi-fan, IMO I wouldnt go for the Sentra, its pretty slow from what ive seen and FWD sucks. That Evo VII sounds nice though or a WRX. But I wouldnt buy a second-hand WRX either, those cars get beat to shit. I remember one kid that went into their shop had already fixed up his WRX with performance parts but the idiot revved it up to 7 grand and dumped the clutch completely destroying the tranny. All the teeth were ground off and it was a complete mess.

[hemi_fan]

O, im deffinitely not gettina an STI or EvoVIII, cant afford it. My dad currently would have financial problems if he got the $20,000 RalliArt or Base Impreza... My mom wants him to get a used impreza, but I warned him against it as they seem to be prime vehicles to beat the shit out of. I can understand them not allowing test-drives in STIs to younger people, but my dad is almost 44 years old, and hes been driving manual tranny cars since he was 11, I think he could handle it for 20-30 mins. They had 2 STIs there anyway, and one looked like a demo cuz it was parked in the sales lot and had a few k km's on it already. The guys at DSM were at least nice enough to allow me to go into the EVO, pop the hood etc, and tell me a bit about it. Surbaru guy just acted like I would never be able to get the car in my wildest dreams, all I could think was "Its only a $45,ooo car, its not really 'unattainable' come on... they act as if it costs over $150,ooo."

[enigmatic]

from what i've seen, we dont seem to have that sort of problem in australia. well atleast not in perth. when we took to STi for a drive, the salesman even asked me if i'd like to take it for a spin; not that i did.. and look at my age.
we've been to almost every car dealership in perth, and have never really had a problem with salespeople, they seem to offer a testdrive before we even ask.
and theres generally no stereotype to fit us in either, we dont go out of our way to impress the salespeople at all..

maybe its just different over/down here.