[dL_EVO]

I want to rent a Lotus for a long test drive before I commit myself to purchasing one. I have a feeling any Lotus dealer will blow me off because of my age.

I'm 23 and dealerships tend to blow me off because of my age (Yes, I can afford a Lotus). I can typically get help from lower end brands. But, whenever I go to any dealer like Benz or BMW. They blow me off like I'm invisible and I think it will probably be the same at the local Lotus dealers.

Do Lotus dealers let people demo the Elise or Exige? I know when I was shopping for EVO's, I wasn't allowed to drive one. I had to test drive this beat up 50K miles 2003 EVO VIII and gauge my purchase with that.

 

[rnr]

I want to rent a Lotus for a long test drive before I commit myself to purchasing one. I have a feeling any Lotus dealer will blow me off because of my age.

I'm 23 and dealerships tend to blow me off because of my age (Yes, I can afford a Lotus). I can typically get help from lower end brands. But, whenever I go to any dealer like Benz or BMW. They blow me off like I'm invisible and I think it will probably be the same at the local Lotus dealers.

Do Lotus dealers let people demo the Elise or Exige? I know when I was shopping for EVO's, I wasn't allowed to drive one. I had to test drive this beat up 50K miles 2003 EVO VIII and gauge my purchase with that.

I was 24 when I ordered my Elise and SVAG was happy to let me drive.

If you make an appointment and go in as a serious buyer you should have no problems. I'd suggest you contact members AgentXXX or Brendan_Dolan who are the BMC and Boardwalk dealers respectively. At SVAG I dealt with Graham Pike.

 

[FIRME]

I was 24 when I ordered my Elise and SVAG was happy to let me drive.

If you make an appointment and go in as a serious buyer you should have no problems. I'd suggest you contact members AgentXXX or Brendan_Dolan who are the BMC and Boardwalk dealers respectively. At SVAG I dealt with Graham Pike.

If you go to Boardwalk, speak with David Horn; the sales manager as Brendan no longer works there.

Good Luck.

 

[Mr. Know]

Try Specialty Rentals. I rented a white Elise from them (it was a little rough), but was a great experience and made me 100% sure I wanted my Exige.

Actually, it appears they removed the Elise from their fleet...

Being 23 you probably would have had problems renting from them anyway. I think a lot of companies require 25 minimum.

Since you have to make an appointment to get into BMCD in San Francisco, they know you are serious regardless of age.

 

[dL_EVO]

Does BMCD or Boardwalk allow customers to demo the Lotus?

 

[FIRME]

Does BMCD or Boardwalk allow customers to demo the Lotus?

I can't speak for those dealers however, GENERALLY dealers require one of their employees to acompany you on a test drive for insurance purposes. That being said, some have been known to allow the client go on their own but you'd need to speak with the sales manager first to find out what their company policy is...every dealer is different and just because they don't, doesn't make them a bad dealer...it's just company policy.

A couple of years ago, Lotus contracted with a rental agency to rent these cars but after reviewing the cost to do this, it was a mistake.

The only thing I would say is, find out what is the purpose of your interest with Lotus is first i.e. daily driver or track events. If it's about tracking then I'd recommend that you sign up for one of their driving course set up in Pahrump or else go with one of the dealers sales person on a extended test drive if the dealer does not allow a solo test drive.