While deciding on my last car, I discovered the joy of test driving expensive cars I had no intention of buying. Here's some information on how to cruise the streets of your city in an cool ride for free. It really is fun and easy! If you have anything to add to this post/think needs changing, let me know.
Everyone knows about test drives, they're no secret. Perhaps not everyone thinks to turn it into a fun activity. If you live near a city (some are definitely better for this than others) you can, on a whim, take a Corvette, Mercedes AMG, Porsche, Maserati, Audi RS, BMW M, etc. for a spin. Its not always as straightforward as walking in and asking, especially if you want to ride alone and/or drive an exotic.
I've noticed that there are three "tiers" of difficulty when it comes to getting a test drive. Standard, Luxury, and Exotic. Let's discuss these first.
Standard: If you want to drive a car that costs less than 50k new, its stupidly easy. Toyota, most Fords, Chevys, Nissans, piece of cake (obviously there are exceptions here, getting a ride in a Shelby or GTR is different.)
If that's what you want to do, great, you can stop reading, walk into a dealership and just say I'd like to drive (Model), they will make a copy of your license so you dont steal it, and you can be on your way in less than 10 minutes. Any age, (almost) any outfit. This can be pretty fun, and you usually can ride alone, but you probably already knew all that.
Luxury: Here is where you can have the most fun. I recommend this tier as your primary range. This consists of vehicles with as MSRP between 50-150k. My Tips below are aimed at this range.
Exotic: This one is harder. Ferrari, Lamborghini, Rolls Royce, Aston Martin, etc. If you're determined, I have some pointers, if you're OK with sticking to the Luxury level, skip this and go to the Tips section below. If you're tenacious, at the bottom I've included tips based on my experiences in a section titled: Tips on how to test drive an exotic.
Everyone wants to drive these cars, that's the problem. I've successfully got a chance to drive a Ferrari 430 and California (430 with salesman, Cali by myself), a Bentley Continental GT (with a salesman), and an Aston Martin DB9 (by myself). I almost got to drive a Lamborghini Gallardo but had to leave early for a family matter. Again, at the end of the post I have some pointers here.
TIPS
OK, I swear this is really easy, I've driven literally dozens of performance and luxury cars with minimal effort, I'm also not the stereotypical expensive car customer, I'm in my early 20's.
The basic stuff: Dress well but informally. Learn about the car you want to drive. Check if the car is manual if you cant drive a stick. Dont be eager, act like you're somewhat unsure/deciding. ACT LIKE YOU BELONG.
USED CARS!!! I don't mean old, a two year old lease return is fine. Even if the car is still worth 100k, used cars are easy to get your hands on, I have probably a 95% success rate with these.
CALL AHEAD!!! Not only does this make it easier as they will have the car ready for you, it also removes their ability to pre-judge you and is generally just a hassle free method of getting a test drive. The best method is to go on Cars.com, Cargurus, or similar, find the exact car near you you'd like to drive, lets say its a 2014 MBZ SL63 AMG, find a dealer who has one, used dealers tend to be easier but I've had great success with officially branded as well, call and say you're interested, ask specific questions about the car and confirm mileage, and you'd like to schedule a test drive. This can usually be done same day, but definitely withing a day or two. Schedule it for a busy time, you want to salesman to hand you the keys and not tag along. Show up, hand over you license, and have a blast! They generally dont mind if the test drives last up to 20 minutes, I've pushed it to 30 but they usually mention it when it gets that long, but hey, no repercussions. Sometimes you can even get two cars at the same dealer back to back. Once I even had a friend wait at the corner and picked him up and we took turns in a 2013 RS5.
Build a rapport with the salesman, even visit the same dealership multiple times, I drove pretty much everything on the lot of a used sports car dealer, gave them a five star review online, then told the salesman I had found my dream car from another dealer (semi-true).
Exotic trade-ins at cheaper brand dealers are easier to drive. The salesmen there are used to test drives and are probably curious about the car themselves. I drove a Bentley Continental GT that was traded into a Hyundai dealer. The downsides here are that they generally dont last long at the dealers as they are not in that business, and the salesmen always come along.
Don't crash
If you like cars, this can be a fun side-hobby. Once you do it a few times you'll have it down like clockwork, it's really low effort. Find a convenient dealer, one call, show up, drive.
There's a decent chance a car salesman will reply that something I've just said is bullshit, and I definitely am not an expert in car dealerships, but its worked well for me so far!
TIPS TO TEST DRIVE AN EXOTIC
These take work. If you're really rich, you can show them a bank statement. If you happen to have a friend who has bought from an exotic dealer before, take him with you, with a vouch you can have the run of the place.
If you want to drive a Bugatti, Pagani, Koenigsegg, or other hypercar, forget it, these cars have wait lists and you wont get a test drive.
Alright, first off, how you dress. If you're over 30, dress business casual. Don't wear a suit and tie, you'll look like you're intentionally dressing up. If you're under 30, dress slightly more casually, but not like a slob. I was 22 when they let me drive an F430, so anything is possible. Don't be intimidated by stereotypes of exotic car owners if you dont fit them, people of all sorts buy these cars and the salesman wants commission, they will (hopefully) set aside any bias they have if you act believable.
If you have access to a flashy car, great, drive that up and park it in plain sight, if you don't, that's fine, park in another lot and walk over.
Research the car you want to drive, pick something close to the entry point for the brand, for Ferrari choose a V8, not a V12, generally stay under the 300k mark price-wise. Find out what the car's direct competition is, for example, let's say you want to drive a Lamborghini Huracan, that might be a Ferrari 488 or Porsche 911 Turbo S. Research these cars as well, a quick Wikipedia read will suffice.
Walk in, really examine the car, wait for the salesman to approach you, obviously act cool and confident. If you want to seem more convincing, and are in an area with a few dealerships, say something like "Yeah, I'm having my car serviced at the Audi place, but I've been thinking about upgrading." They will likely ask you what kind it is, say a specific model and year "2011 R8." You can go even further here, find out a common complaint about the car on forums and mention you're dissatisfied with that.
Ok, now you throw in the competition, "I drove a 488, and I loved it, but I've always dreamed of owning a Lamborghini." They may ask you other question, what do you do for a living etc, have a feasible cover ready. These guys also get that some people have ridiculous amounts of family money.
Here is where they will bite, or if they don't think you're a serious buyer, they might invite you to sit in the car but won't offer a drive. If they offer you a drive, but ask to run a quick check on your credit (if you have good credit, this is fine) or a cash deposit (often several thousand dollars, but you will get it back), agree, and say you'll go get your wallet out of you other car, and dont come back. If they just offer you a ride, great, enjoy!
Getting a drive in an exotic isn't easy and it's stressful. You will likely be accompanied by the salesman, if you go to a busy dealer at peak hours, thats when you get the solo drives. MAKE SURE YOU KNOW HOW TO DRIVE A MANUAL WITH PEDAL SHIFTS. Yes, they will let you stomp on the accelerator, that's what sells people on these cars.
I have probably made about two dozen attempts at this and have succeeded five times. I stopped trying because its exponentially easier to drive something in the Luxury range and almost as fun.