My husband’s Hyundai Sonata took out a good-sized doe this fall and just had a slightly dented hood. I was suprised at the lack of damage. And he’s 6’2" and fits just fine in the car.
What you’re saying is that the Sonata has a high ability for killing deer, is that accurate? How many deer do you think it could withstand before the hood becomes too battered from all the deer ramming it does?
Around 8 years ago my Jeep Wrangler mileage was getting up there. I called the guy who sold me the car to see if he had any new Wranglers, and he did. One he described as just like the one I was driving.
My business is a 10 minute drive from the dealership. He brought the car to me, along with paperwork. He told me to take it for a spin, but I declined. We did the paperwork, cleared out my old car, and he drove away in the old Wrangler. Maybe 25 minutes tops.
Easy peasy.
Around a month later, I saw my old Wrangler (it had a distinctive roof rack) in a neighbor’s driveway! I had a spare key that I dropped off for him.
Assuming you didn’t also buy a DeLorean (and this isn’t a typo), could you explain? I’m not used to cars being described by model year in this way. If I bought a car right now it would be a “12 plate”, as the year of registration is marked on the number plate. How early are “2013” cars released on sale in the US?
I had this happen in the late 90’s at a Charlottesville VA dealer. I was looking at Ford Explorers and the saleslady encouraged me to take it home for the weekend. I was reluctant because I wasn’t ready to buy but she persisted so I agreed. Drove it all over and came back Monday to drop it off, she seemed like she was offended I wasn’t buying it.
It’s getting earlier and earlier. It used to be that 2013’s would be released in the fall of 2012.
Congrats, Hyundai is really making some very nice cars these days.
As for the test drive experience, it really depends on the dealership. I have had experiences like the OP’s where they just hand you the keys and send you off. In my experience most places are like this. Some salesmen will ride around with you, which I don’t care for. And then there’s Carmax. Goodness. The salesperson must not only ride with you, but will direct you through a predetermined route. The only time I ever test drove a car at Carmax they didn’t even let me get on the highway. Sorry, but I’m not buying a car without getting it over 35mph.
Last fall, I was in the market for a new car and had a very similar experience. I had decided one day to hit 3 different dealerships within a few mile radius (in Central NJ) as I wanted to look at a Nissan Altima, a Honda Accord and the new VW Passat.
Each of the three had a different policy. The Nissan sales guy went with me, but didn’t care where we drove. The Honda dealership sent a “test drive specialist” with me who sent me on a specific path. The VW dealership gave me the keys and said “take your time, we close at 5” (it was like 1pm).
I finally asked at the 3rd dealership (the VW) and was told it was because of insurance reasons. The sales guy said that the Honda and Nissan dealerships were in more congested areas (they were, if only slightly) and their various insurance companies insisted.
In the United States new models (next years models) are released sometime this year. Traditionally this was in about September, but it is up to the car maker.
The earliest you can build a car to be sold as a 2013 would be Jan of 2012. (federal regulation I have been told)
So anytime after about March is fair game for a new model year.
At 6’4", I too have difficulty fitting into cars, but I have no problem with my Kia Shuma, nor did I have a problem with the original Nissan GTR. Even when wearing combat boots.
Yes. Hyundai has started selling their 2013 models. On the other hand, the Kia dealership across the street (which is owned by the same guy) is still selling 2012 models.
Since it’s been so long since I got a new car, there are all sorts of things that have changed. For instance, my Saturn would beep if you accidentally left the lights on. This didn’t, and I didn’t like it – until I realized it shut them off automatically after 30 seconds.
I hadn’t expected to buy it so soon after we made the deal; I needed to get to a bank to get the money together. But they asked, “want to put it on your credit card?” Since I was planning to pay it off all at once, it sounded like a good idea. I had joked I had a high enough credit limit to buy a car. Turned out, the limit was just short of what I needed. But the card was accepted and I discovered later that I had an automatic bump of the limit.
The dealership is one of Billy Fuccillo’s. Fuccillo has dealerships all over New York, Florida, and now in California, I think. He shows up all the time on ads with his catchword “Huuuuge!” In any case, though, Billy grew up near me on Long Island as a kid and was a friend of my brother. I mentioned that to the salesman and he told me that Billy was there. A little later, in came Billy – about 25 years younger than me. I realized it was his father that I had known. I negotiated the final deal with him and felt I was treated fairly in the negotiations.
In any case, I’m loving the new car.