Did You Test Drive Before Buying??

I can honestly say, I would have most likely not purchased a GT350 that had been test driven by a customer and I understand the position dealers are in. The times I have ordered a car, I won't even let the dealer rip the plastic off the seats or detail it.. I want full control of the car and how it gets broken in. I know that's picky, but it's my $60K+.

Now a used GT350 or dealer demo? I better get a test drive and I can accept the car for what it is because the price is going to be better.

No test drive for me. Never even saw one in person. The newest Mustang I had driven at the time, let alone sat inside was a 2005 Automatic GT. Still placed my order based off of reading every article and watching every video I could find. The first one I ever saw was my own as soon as it got to the dealer.

memustang said:

So you find the non Recaro special order 'wider' seats an improvement? That was one of my main concerns also. Thx

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The Recaros didn't do it for me. The "sofa seats" fit me better and I take advantage of their extra adjustments compared to the Recaros. Another thing is heated seats. On cool days, I enjoy running the heated seats while I drive with the windows open.

I think people have to decide for themselves, though. We're all shaped differently. What works for me may not work for you.

Bought it unseen, happy as hell!

I knew I loved the car. Had narrowed down to the R or a Z06. I also knew the R was hard to find after a month of searching and not finding a single one in my area. Z06s are everywhere...literally.

I rented a GT350-H Shelby from Hertz at Tampa Int'l Airport and even though it had a 5.0 with auto transmission it was enough to reaffirm how special driving the R would be. Plus I got to feel the cabin, buttons and software (which i love...bc i am an IT geek) to include driving modes. I sent my wife a picture of the GT-H from my parents' house and her exact words were "Great now you're going to want one ".

She knows me well...no regrets

Sight unseen. Had 8 miles on it. Salesman said 4 of those were to put gas in it earlier that day. Did not have an explanation for the other 4. He said no test driving of GT350 allowed nor starting them for his dealership. Last Mustang I drove before this was was a buddies 2009 GT but completely unrelated to wanting to see how a Mustang drove or rode. I sat in a GT350 about a month before buying mine. I wanted one and after sitting in one in south Texas and starting it, I knew I was going to buy on. They would not let me drive it.

I did not tell the wife I was buying one. The day I drove it home I told her come out to the garage. She saw it and said I knew you were going to get one after you talked about finally getting in one.

She too knows me well.

They didn't allow test drive. They said if I'm not happy after purchase within 24 hours, they will shred the paperwork. I traded my 2015 GT in and there was no looking back.

No test drive. Just saw videos online. Avid buyer of Japanese brands. Never owned a sports car, or an American car in general.

I now have a drawer full of Ford Performance apparel to go with th GT350.

This is exactly what I did..rented the GT-H from Hertz and it felt really good. That way I could take it on a real test drive (in the hills) to ascertain its handling prowess and it was already pretty impressive.

Dealer test drives, unless there are nearby twisties where they will let you wind it out, are pretty much worthless other than ascertaining comfort/ergonomics. Driving around a couple of blocks or going on the freeway with traffic gives you very little insight into how a car can behave at/near the limit. High RPM drives in the hills/turns aren't perfect but are a much better of suspension tuning, dynamics, braking, and throttle/power modulation.

Also, overver the years I figured out which car reviewers I agreed the most with (and driving the various cars they reviewed) and relied on their assessment for future car purchases, such as the GT350R. I haven't been let down yet.

chitlins37 said:

I knew I loved the car. Had narrowed down to the R or a Z06. I also knew the R was hard to find after a month of searching and not finding a single one in my area. Z06s are everywhere...literally.

I rented a GT350-H Shelby from Hertz at Tampa Int'l Airport and even though it had a 5.0 with auto transmission it was enough to reaffirm how special driving the R would be. Plus I got to feel the cabin, buttons and software (which i love...bc i am an IT geek) to include driving modes. I sent my wife a picture of the GT-H from my parents' house and her exact words were "Great now you're going to want one ��".

She knows me well...no regrets ��

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I didn't test drive....all the vides, pics and forum advise was good enough
Got mine from KS at MSRP...well $1k over cuz i had to pay for the shipping.
Plus my bro in law had the GT PP but believe me night and day diff.
Lastly, car has a warranty :clap2:

I haven't test driven any of my last 5 cars. I get them sight unseen usually from out of state. Stick shifting g35, cts-v, 5.0, cts-v coupe and gt350 are usually never in stock. The gt350 was available local but it was over sticker. I wasn't letting the dealer make "market adjustment" on me.

I did all my hands on research in a regular GT. So I could try out the fit and clutch feel. The rest was on line videos and I ordered in Feb. got it delivered in August . Paid 5k admin. and love this car. No regrets. I would not want one with even 20 miles on it. The only person that is going to abuse my car is me. And I don't. It is my Sunday joy ride and going to car shows car. I do understand the anxiety that comes with putting down 5k and waiting 6 plus months for a car you haven't seen or driven. Do it and you won't regret it ENJOY with a shit eating grin on your face

No test drive, not even a GT. Sat in a few at dealers to decide on the seats,
got funny looks sitting in the car for 20 minutes entertaining myself with
my phone....

Highly recommend a test drive on a used car lot or Carmax type place,
if you have them in the North.

raiderjatt02 said:

No test drive for me. Never even saw one in person. The newest Mustang I had driven at the time, let alone sat inside was a 2005 Automatic GT. Still placed my order based off of reading every article and watching every video I could find. The first one I ever saw was my own as soon as it got to the dealer.

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Ditto

Yes. I told the dealer I wanted to make sure I could live with the car in normal driving and if so would buy it upon returning from the drive. I took a 5 mile loop through a couple stop lights, across rail road tracks, etc. I quickly noticed three things. First, it was smoother going across the railroad tracks than the 2012 Brembo GT I had just driven to the dealer in and crossed those same tracks with. Second, the 2012 had more torque in the 1,000 - 2,500 rpm range that I normally drive in. That wasn't a big deal because it did feel civil in normal driving and that was the goal. Third, it was absolutely planted to the road. Bought it immediately upon returning from the test drive.