I tried to test drive a CTR... no dice

I've been lurking on the forum for a while now plotting my acquisition of a CTR and today I had my first interaction.

I currently have a 2015 Focus ST. I've only got 35k on the odo but I've been itching for something different. The larger size of the CTR is a huge plus and I feel like i can use that as an excuse to swap from the FOST.

I've been keeping up with CTRs for sale in my area hoping for one that was near by that was used that I could test drive. A Honda dealership a couple miles from my house happened to get a '19 with about 1500 miles on it. I figured that that would be the perfect opportunity to get a test drive.

Unfortunately, I was denied! I came in, took a walk around the vehicle, sat in it, etc. and asked about the possibility of a test drive. The vehicle was on the show floor but I was still hopeful. The sales guy said he'd ask and he came back saying they couldn't because their "insurance wouldn't cover it" . Sound like horse shit to me..

Manager came over and we talked a bit about numbers and availability. While I wasn't there to buy that day I still walked away a bit shocked that they didn't try to hook me with a test drive. Hell, it might have worked.

I hope to pull the trigger some time in the next 6 to 12 months.

Side note: I'll say that my biggest barrier to purchasing a CTR is the prospect of having to fork out some serious cheddar to swap the stock 20's to something more practical. Other than that I'm excited to land one in the near future!

Most CTR buyers want to see very few miles on the car. I'm sure if you were ready to buy and had all the paperwork done, minus signature you may get to drive it.

As for wheels no need to fork out tons of cash. Many here just swap tires for a 35 series. You can also look in the forum classifieds. I snagged a nice set of 19's for a great price.

I daily drive my car and 20's are fine. I think most of the guys use that as an excuse to buy new wheels lol. Agree with ExVTEC 255/35/20 are fine.

I'm honestly curious on why dealers are treating CTR's like they're exotics? At the end of the day it's a $35k car which isn't cheap but it isnt astronomical considering you can option out their odyssey minivan and pilot suv to actually be much more expensive than that. Even production numbers wise, it certainly is less mass produced than a regular Civic but is by no means a "rare" car. Doesnt make much sense to me. I'd only understand it if a dealer could tell that person was just trying to hoon the car around instead of seriously looking at it.

jred721 said:

I'm honestly curious on why dealers are treating CTR's like they're exotics? At the end of the day it's a $35k car which isn't cheap but it isnt astronomical considering you can option out their odyssey minivan and pilot suv to actually be much more expensive than that. Even production numbers wise, it certainly is less mass produced than a regular Civic but is by no means a "rare" car. Doesnt make much sense to me. I'd only understand it if a dealer could tell that person was just trying to hoon the car around instead of seriously looking at it.

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I agree. While I had no real intention of buying I could have if I so desired. I'm in my late 30's and just wanted to sample before I make the final decision.

It's also worth mention that they had a brand new CTR next to the 1500 mile CTR. Both in Aegean blue. Oh well, I do plan to keep my eye open for other test drive opportunities.

It's ridiculous to say their insurance wouldn't cover it.

The effort to pull the car out and wash/clean the car again after your test drive wasn't worth it to them, especially if they know you're just there for a 'test drive'.

You can call it lazy or just not wanting to take their time to move the car when they could be selling another CRV.

First impressions make a big difference with most dealerships. We all discriminate based entirely off of first impressions. A person walking into a dealership wearing a hoodie and sweat pants will be treated differently than a person coming up in a nice button up, slacks, belt, and casual/semi-formal shoes. Having money in hand/down payment might help as well. Keep in mind that a dealership would need to make the effort to get the car out of the show room and back into it. If they don't believe you're actually there to buy (just saying so may not be enough) they have no reason to go through said effort. The entire insurance won't cover it was probably just some BS because they didn't want to let you take the drive. Keep in mind that even if you are serious about buying in the next 6-12 months, saying so won't make them believe you. If you really want to test drive it, I'd probably wait until you are in the market to buy. It may be useful to call in advanced to ask to test drive as they could actually get stuff ready and move the car out in a more timely fashion.

To be honest, the 20" wheels aren't too bad. I daily drove mine with them for a good year, but the lack of all-season tire was what ultimately made me take the plunge for something different. Shifting to an 18" wheel that dropped 10 lbs a corner had some performance improvements with it. That being said the rims are pretty robust, despite the Chicagoland potholes landing hard blows the 20" didn't see a dent so the rims themselves are pretty resilient. Comfort mode was ample enough for most poor road surfaces though; it wasn't smooth by any definition but it was definitely more than tolerable. There are a good selection of summer and winter tires for the stock rim size, all seasons aren't as plentiful, though 255/30 or 245/35 are population tire sizes for stock that help with ride quality and open up tire selection as well.

This seems pretty common for cars like the CTR, Golf R, STI, etc. They can sell them without allowing test drives so that’s what they do.

If you can find a used one at a Car Max they will let you test drive it. That’s what I did.

If you live near a carmax, see if they have one in their lot. They can also ship one from another carmax for free if it's close enough.

They wont deny you a test drive.

Dealers are still being stingy about testing driving CTRs..?

Do what @ez12a said - look for a Carmax, Carvana, one of those sort of car buying places, and they should let you test drive one with no problem.

Zeffy94 said:

Dealers are still being stingy about testing driving CTRs..?

Do what @ez12a said - look for a Carmax, Carvana, one of those sort of car buying places, and they should let you test drive one with no problem.

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If the car is sitting in a showroom, I can kind of understand it. There's a lot of work getting the car out then back in and any cleaning/detailing that is required to do so. Also depends on how you look as well, a lot of stores in general discriminate based on how people look to decide how they'll treat you as a customer. But going in with money in hand will help convince them to take the keys out.

They should give every honda dealership a Type R to let people test drive as much as they want. This car is so great I wish more people got to experience it to realize how good it really is.

JustAddBeer said:

I hope to pull the trigger some time in the next 6 to 12 months.

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This is the exact reason they don't offer test drives, if everyone that was 6-12 months out wanted to drive the car that 1500 miles, it would be at double the miles before someone ready to buy walks in the door.

As a former employee of the car business don't go in for test drives until your serious, and ready to buy.

jred721 said:

I'm honestly curious on why dealers are treating CTR's like they're exotics? At the end of the day it's a $35k car which isn't cheap but it isnt astronomical considering you can option out their odyssey minivan and pilot suv to actually be much more expensive than that. Even production numbers wise, it certainly is less mass produced than a regular Civic but is by no means a "rare" car. Doesnt make much sense to me. I'd only understand it if a dealer could tell that person was just trying to hoon the car around instead of seriously looking at it.

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It’s not about the cost of the car. It’s a special car. Lowish volume. Low inventory. Seems like every BMW store has a number of M3s/M4s. Doesn’t seem to be the case with Honda stores and CTRs.

VTEC R said:

This is the exact reason they don't offer test drives, if everyone that was 6-12 months out wanted to drive the car that 1500 miles, it would be at double the miles before someone ready to buy walks in the door.

As a former employee of the car business don't go in for test drives until your serious, and ready to buy.

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Yep