The family and I have an appointment at Carmax tomorrow to look at a SUV to replace our 2010 honda odyssey. After the crank bolt fiasco, I'm over it. Anyhow, I went and sat in all of their SUV's the other day, specifically expecting to zero in on a Highlander or 4runner. Well, it turns out it's just about cheaper to buy a Lexus GX460, and you get booty cooling a/c in the front seats- among other options. So that's what we're going to see, and likely buy. What I'm daydreaming about is- how awesome would it be if you could "rent" the exact car that you would like to purchase for the weekend! I've got to drive to photograph a wedding in the keys this weekend, it's a 3 hour round trip and typical of what I'll be doing with the car. I'd love to be taking the car to make sure it's really what we need. I realize it's a huge risk for them, adds miles and all that- but- just imagine if that was a thing. I'd certainly sign up.
When I was 7 my parents went to look at a new car. It was when the Acura Legend came out. My sister and I loved it, mostly because it had rear seat reading lights, and we thought that was neat. The dealership ended up having us take it home for a couple of days! It was great. Of course, my parents decided not to buy it, but I'm not sure how you don't make the sale after someone takes home a car for the night. Regardless, it seemed even then to be a really good move.
Has anyone done this before? Take a car home from a dealer while thinking about buying it?
Renting would be cool, but we recently were in your same boat. Looking to buy a 4Runner or Highlander and needed up with a GX460. It’s freaking fantastic.
mtn
MegaDork
5/9/18 11:37 p.m.
I've heard of a bunch of dealerships in our area who will let you take it home. But with Carmax, they have a pretty all inclusive no questions asked 3 (or 5?) day return policy. I don't know what the mileage limit is, but I do know it is pretty amazing. My dad bought a $40k 5 series. Took it on a ~150 mile round trip excursion, found out it didn't have seat heaters. Returned it the next day, and just like they said, no questions asked. I think the only hiccup, if you could call it that, was that the refund was going to take about a week or more to process, which is a long time to not be holding your $40k. It ended up not mattering as he bought another car from them.
In reply to pilotbraden :
Yeah, if you're looking used, definitely turo
In reply to grover :
For current models, a weekend(or longer) rental from Enterprise/National/Whoever is a good way to see if the vehicle suits you, although it may not have the exact options you like.
As an example, when our Fit was waiting for airbags a couple years ago we had a Hyundai Veloster for about 6-weeks. While it was an ok car, in daily use we realized it was way more quirky than practical. I also had the chance to autox it, and discovered the drive-by-wire really didn’t tolerate that at all.
After it we had a Jeep Cherokee that we really ended up liking. If it hadn’t been for all the reported transmission failures it would have been on our shopping list.
We test drove a Frontier last fall, but didn’t really care for it like I thought I would. However, when my Suburban broke down in February I rented a Frontier for a week & put 1200 miles on it getting home & going back a week later to get my truck. After spending that much time in the Frontier I really grew to like it.
For that matter, one of the reasons we have our ‘14 Town & Country is because we rented one twice for family vacations. After doing 4000 miles in a week with one I realized it was a great way to eat up miles on the highway.
Yeah, Carmax (and its new competitor Carvana) both offer a return within 7 days if you don't like it. I'd just do that.
I would love to do that. A 10 minute test drive is one thing, but when you put the car through your normal daily routine is when you really see how well it'll fit your needs and wants. I wish there were better options to be able to do this.
Years ago my parents "test drove" a Chevy pickup for a weekend camping trip. I was too young to ask the details.
In reply to octavious :
That's what I needed but didn't want to hear
FieroReinke said:
Years ago my parents "test drove" a Chevy pickup for a weekend camping trip. I was too young to ask the details.
Sounds like a college roomate of mine that "test drove" a banana republic suit to formal.
Jaynen
UltraDork
5/10/18 6:51 a.m.
grover said:
In reply to octavious :
That's what I needed but didn't want to hear
Side note, I have a 2010 Odyssey and just did timing belt etc since we are just over 100k what happened with your crank bolt?
Pete Gossett said:
In reply to grover :
For current models, a weekend(or longer) rental from Enterprise/National/Whoever is a good way to see if the vehicle suits you, although it may not have the exact options you like.
As an example, when our Fit was waiting for airbags a couple years ago we had a Hyundai Veloster for about 6-weeks. While it was an ok car, in daily use we realized it was way more quirky than practical. I also had the chance to autox it, and discovered the drive-by-wire really didn’t tolerate that at all.
After it we had a Jeep Cherokee that we really ended up liking. If it hadn’t been for all the reported transmission failures it would have been on our shopping list.
We test drove a Frontier last fall, but didn’t really care for it like I thought I would. However, when my Suburban broke down in February I rented a Frontier for a week & put 1200 miles on it getting home & going back a week later to get my truck. After spending that much time in the Frontier I really grew to like it.
For that matter, one of the reasons we have our ‘14 Town & Country is because we rented one twice for family vacations. After doing 4000 miles in a week with one I realized it was a great way to eat up miles on the highway.
This does work well for more current models. I had a 7th gen Maxima as a rental in LA and it turned out to be a very competent canyon runner, it's been on my list ever since. But for a 5 year old car, there isn't much you can do.
cmcgregor said:
In reply to pilotbraden :
Yeah, if you're looking used, definitely turo
didn't even think about Turo- I've even used them before. good call.
