So, I’m curious…I’ve always liked exotic cars, but like most people, I’ve never driven one (aside from my parents’ Porsche Boxter, which doesn’t exactly break the bank). There is a Lamborghini dealership within close proximity to me, as well as a few Porsche, etc, dealers. I’d love to test drive some of these cars, but there’s no possible way I could ever afford one. Do exotics dealerships allow test drives? Do they run credit beforehand to see if you even can buy the car before allowing you to drive one, or is it like any other dealer, where you just walk in, say you’d like to take one for a test drive, and give license / insurance info and go for a spin? The reason I’m asking instead of just going, is I really don’t want to look like a complete fool in one of these places.
Dress well but casual, take the Boxster, know what you are talking about and act like you belong there.
There was an article in the local newspaper last year about a new Bentley dealership opening in the area and that is what it basically said. If you didn’t look and sound like you could afford one, they weren’t even going to let you in the door. I imagine it would be like that at any high-end dealership. I mean, who wouldn’t like to test drive a Lamborghini?
[HIJACK]Our local CBS affiliate has “Magnum PI” on one of its sub-channels every night at 9. I have watched on occasion and it cracks me up watching Tom Selleck driving the Lambo because his head sticks out through the top and it looks like he is driving a toy car or such.[/HIJACK]
[nitpick] Magnum, P.I. drove a (replica) Ferrari, not a Lamborghini. [/nitpick]
I never saw an Acura NSX at the dealer so I don’t think they had one to test if I wanted to.
:smack: I knew that.
I may as well point out the other inaccuracy in my post, which was that it was a Rolls-Royce dealership, not Bentley.
I did drive an Acura TL-S while looking pretty scruffy and they did not seem to care, I thought they might not talk to me. (It’s not exotic but to me it’s very expensive)
I read a book about this (fiction) and the guy went out and rented a Cadillac, then he used that to drive up to a Porsche dealer, which of course saw the Porsche and allowed him to drive the next class of fancy cars and then he did that and worked his way up.
Wear a dark suit and rent a helicopter. Land in the parking lot and step out. Make sure you have a friend with you that has a briefcase handcuffed to his wrist. I assure you that they will let you drive the car.
I did something similar with a very expensive show home in a very exclusive new neighborhood. I wasn’t dressed to the nines, but I walked in like I knew just what I was looking for. There was no one else there, so the sales rep came with me through the house and I asked all kinds of questions and harrumphed about “oh, I would definitely need upgrades on this and that.” When the tour was over I inquired about waterfront lots and how soon I could get a house built. When she asked about financing, I just said, “No, no, we won’t need to finance.” Then I made up some BS about being married to an oil executive and having 3.5 children (yes, I asked about schools, too.) She just about fell over her own feet rushing her business card into my hand and I said I’d be in touch and would be back with my husband.
I laughed all the way home, wondering if she saw me driving away in my 15 year old beater car. 
That was fun.
If you’re test-driving a Ferrari, have an extremely pushy, well-dressed blind man come with you; have him bribe the dealer to let you take the car out. As soon as you are out of the dealership, let the blind man drive. He will magically be able to race through the back alleys of New York; you just need to tell him where to turn.
That book was probably Syrup, by Max Barry. (Apropos of nothing, his name is spelled Maxx on the cover of the book, but Max on his website. Odd.)
And if I had bothered to read his bio on said website, I would have seen the explanation for the Max/Maxx thing.
Well, for about a couple of grand and change, you can rent a Ferrari 430 (or somesuch) for a day.
I work with the exotic dealers, have test driven the Lotus Exige and Elise and the Vantage V8.
Round here the exotics will qualify you pretty hard - which is a bit more than just walk in and ask for a test drive. is part of a whole pattern, including what you are driving now, what you are looking for, friends and the like.
But I say just take the Porsche, sound like you know what you want - but not too much, because a lot of the people who can afford are actually pretty clueless…
Also bear in mind that in Powell, OH (near you, I believe) there’s an Aston Martin dealer. So much classier than a Lambo.
“Classier” - maybe, but in terms of performance and desirability - not even close
An Acura isn’t even in the same ball game (though they are nice cars). It’s very easy to walk into an Acura (or Lexus or BMW or Audi or Mercedes, etc.) dealer and test drive a car. I test drove them all when we were last shopping for cars and had no hassle at all (certainly no credit checks or anything of that nature). Frankly, I found most of those dealers to be a lot easier to work with (both in the test drive and negotiation phases) than the dealers of less expensive makes. The exception was the BMW dealer who acted like he had better things to do.
Test driving something like a Bentley, Rolls or Lamborghini is likely quite different (though I admit I’ve never tried because there’s no way I could afford one of those and I don’t want to know what I’m missing). Those cars cost five to ten times what an Acura does.
[Nitier nikpick]It was a real Ferrari. In fact Selleck did so much for Ferrari’s popularity in the US that Ferrari gave him a car (But not a 308). You are correct that he didn’t fit in it with the roof up. It was a Mondial[/nitier nitpick]
Welll… the DB9 DBS is a bit faster than a stock Gallardo. But the LP 640 & 560 are a tad faster than the DBS.
However, Lambos are scientifically proven to be for fat middle aged douchebags. Young rich arrogant jackasses drive Ferraris. Pretentious gourmet-beer-loving hipsters drive Astons. Blonde ubermenchen drive Koenigsseneggesegs. Trust fund brats in Oakleys with popped collars drive Porches.
And idiots that are fond of walking drive Lotuses. (I still want one. I got lots of practice with the MG)