I live in Los Angeles and no dealerships in this area are allowing test drives, but two weeks ago when I was calling around, Chip at Scottsdale Lotus was extremely nice to me on the phone and said he'd be happy to give my wife and me a test drive. So we booked two plane tickets to Arizona for last Saturday (Labor Day weekend). Our plan was to get there, drive the car, and fly back to L.A. several hours later.
The monday before we were to go, Chip learned that the dealership had made a last minute decision to be CLOSED for the entire Labor Day weekend! Chip asked me if I had already bought my tickets and I said yes, I had. He then said "Let me see what I can do, I'll call you back." I get a call back from him and find out he has volunteered to come in on Saturday just for us! Saturday comes and we get there at around noon and the dealership is dark inside, but he's there waiting. He unlocks the door, lets us in, and locks it back up. Then we head to the back where Elise awaits us. (walking by the F40 that's just sitting there in the showroom! and a couple of Diablo's, and a Shelby One)
He rolls up the back door, backs the Elise out, (black, LSS, Touring) and my wife gets her drive, then I get mine. AMAZING. It really is basically a race car/go kart. We have a Mini Cooper S that we thought handled well, and tracked like a slot car. The Elise makes our Mini seem like it handles like a '75 Gremlin with a set of weights in the back. (not that there's anything wrong with a '75 Gremlin).
After the drive, he graciously spent some time with us and then gave us a video on the whole Elise Project! Then he took us to the front, and unlocked the door to let us out. People were there at the door and asked if he had the Elise! He explained that they did have it, but were closed.
We went back to the airport talking non stop about our great day! Hats off to Chip and Scottsdale Lotus.
The monday before we were to go, Chip learned that the dealership had made a last minute decision to be CLOSED for the entire Labor Day weekend! Chip asked me if I had already bought my tickets and I said yes, I had. He then said "Let me see what I can do, I'll call you back." I get a call back from him and find out he has volunteered to come in on Saturday just for us! Saturday comes and we get there at around noon and the dealership is dark inside, but he's there waiting. He unlocks the door, lets us in, and locks it back up. Then we head to the back where Elise awaits us. (walking by the F40 that's just sitting there in the showroom! and a couple of Diablo's, and a Shelby One)
He rolls up the back door, backs the Elise out, (black, LSS, Touring) and my wife gets her drive, then I get mine. AMAZING. It really is basically a race car/go kart. We have a Mini Cooper S that we thought handled well, and tracked like a slot car. The Elise makes our Mini seem like it handles like a '75 Gremlin with a set of weights in the back. (not that there's anything wrong with a '75 Gremlin).
After the drive, he graciously spent some time with us and then gave us a video on the whole Elise Project! Then he took us to the front, and unlocked the door to let us out. People were there at the door and asked if he had the Elise! He explained that they did have it, but were closed.
We went back to the airport talking non stop about our great day! Hats off to Chip and Scottsdale Lotus.
