Ok, I just negotiated a price (exactly what I wanted to pay) with a single glitch. My particular car choice is only available at dealer 200 miles away. They want to drive it to the dealer for me to pick up at the end of the week.

Am I being silly by hesitating. I have received assurances that the driver is a "professional" late 40s, meticulous, non-smoker, no tickets, etc.

Upside: perfect deal, perfect car;
downside: I don't get the first 200 miles.

Any thoughts? Should I take it and run?

thanks ladies and gents; you have been so helpful before and now I'm really counting on you.

Mark

 

take it, mine was from irvine, had 216 miles on it, still perfect! Just a couple of hundred miles, besides, it's shorter away from the end of the break-in period

 

Some options:

ask them to put it on a carrier (they swap inventory)

pay a little extra pay for a carrier

rent a trailer and pick it up yourself

pick it up yourself and drive it back

P.S. No way in hell would they be driving my car 200 miles

 

I agree I am going 150 miles to pick up my car. Just take bus,rail,plane to get your car.

 

Fly there and drive it back. It'll be the best $300 investment you'll make.

 

Drive it by yourself!! No matter how trustworthy that person is, who knows what the heck that person will do on your car while driving? I have seen this all the time that those dealership technicians or whoever they are drive those brand new car like a race car.

 

Would you let some other guy be your newborn's father for the first day of his life? Drive it back yourself.

 

take it.... mine had 175 miles on it

 

Dealers hire people to do just this, drive cars to and from other dealerships. A friend of mine bought an Accord coupe, and some old retired guy drove it to the dealership. We talked to him and he was cool. Said he always loved cars and now he gets to drive all kinds.

 

I went 150 miles to pick my baby up.

 

Tristero,

Dealers hire drivers for this very purpose all the time, so it is not uncommon. If as you said this is the "perfect deal", then make sure that you will have the ability to refuse delivery for any reason, if the car does not/is not up to your expectations. If the dealer balks at this, and tells you that is not an option - i.e. you must take the car, then walk away. There are other "perfect deals" out there if you continue searching.

Remember, they need your business, and will not want to lose a sale.

Good luck,

 

You know why I love this board so much? Talk about the Passion!! (to quote REM) :p

After some soul searching, I decided to let them drive, though we renogiated an already good deal.

Why go against my initial instinct? Long story. But, although I really did want to drive it myself, it was way too complicated (w/a separate set of costs/benefits), alternatives too costly, and I did not want to wait for the factory build (my current car from graduate school is literally dying.)

Mostly, though, the above post put the whole car-buying thing into just about the right perspective ...

After all, its just a car :wow: Did I really just say that?

Am picking it up from my dealer Thursday (and the dealer is aware that I will walk away if I find something unsuitable.) btw, buying this car w/out haggling and getting the price I wanted--that happened in no small part because of all the insight that I got from this forum. Thanks a bunch for your thoughts guys!!!

 

Congratulations on your soon-to-be-yours TL. I still remember the day I picked my car up. It was my very first car so you can imagine the feeling.

Anyway, the drivers I've seen at dealerships are typically retired and know that their job is on the line if the car arrives with a problem. Although I am reluctant to buy a dealer trade with that many miles, it's not necessary a "bad" idea if you've negotiated a great deal.