Hi all, I am new to the community, and am looking at buying my first TL. As somebody who tends to over-research my big purchases, I've read a lot of info, and test-driven a lot of different car models. Specifically have tested a Nissan Maxima(From a local used car guy), 2 Honda Accords(Honday dealer), a Ford Fusion(Ford Dealer), A Dodge Charger(Used Car place) and an Acura TL. The TL was a pre-owned, '06 with less than 40k on it, and is by FAR my favorite of the cars I drove. All cars were pre-owned or just plain used.

My one beef was with the experience test driving it. I tested from a local Acura dealer, and of the 6+ cars I drove, the Acura was the only one that the sales guy came with us. All the others, my wife and I drove them alone.

My question is this. Is that a common occurance, an Acura dealer rule of some kind, or did I just not ask the right questions so that I could get him to stay at the dealer like all the rest of the sales people did automatically at the other places?

Again, forgive the newb-question, but all my cars up till now were hand-me-downs, a 95 Buick, a 99 CR-V and a 01 Civic so this is my first real experience test driving cars.

 

I forgot to add, I live in the St Louis area, and the Acura dealer was Dave Mungenast Acura

 

Could be dealer policy, could be that the guy wanted to explain things about the car on the road, could be a whole ton of different things. I know I've been on a couple test drives in Fords (F-150 and a Mustang GT) and neither time did the salesman go with us.

It's also an Acura, which is a step above the other cars you're looking at in terms of luxury, etc.

 

I live in St. Louis too, and my wife and I recently went to several dealerships to test drive new cars (Acura, Infiniti, Lexus, Mercedes, Audi, Porsche, BMW, etc.)

The salesperson came with us every time. I didn't mind, but it would have been nice to drive the car alone.

A couple of the salespeople did offer to let us keep the cars overnight though.

 

Thanks guys, that was my thought process too, as the Acura is a luxury car.

Appreciate the input all, and hope to contribute more soon!

 

I also live in the st louis area and the salesperson rode along with me on one of the test drives and did not on another.

 

Also in STL. Did three test drives at two dealerships within the last few months. Twice alone, once with a sales guy.

I think if you ask, telling them you'd like to discuss car in private with your wife while driving it, they'd be OK with that.

Good luck with the purchase. I ended up buying from Mungenast and had an excellent buying experience there.