Talk Me Out Of Test Driving A GT350

[PP0001]

I’ve been to Switzerland many times for work….in Geneva and other places, it’s an exotic car paradise. No Mustangs there. Did see an old Firebird there once. Pretty sure Ford did not get the 350 certified in any euro country and given the money they’d have to pay to license it there, they’ll just stay with the Ferrari or Lambos.

Based on my records a couple of early 2020 Mustang Shelby GT350R HEP cars went to Europe.

I believe that chassis "LR020" went to Switzerland and chassis "LR075" went to Czech Republic.

Of the 280 regular production GT350R HEP vehicles, Canada got a total of just 4 units and of the 534 regular production GT350 HEP vehicles, Canada got a total of 13 units.

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[MachNroll]

The car was beautiful. But, in ways I felt disrespected. I was offered $45,000 for my loaded Mach 1 with 3500 miles and had to fight to get that number up to $56,000, knowing damn well they’d sell it for $60k+. The other thing was I wasn’t even allowed to drive the car til I agreed to numbers. I get I’m 26, but that didn’t sit right with me. The cherry on top was I pulled a 761 credit score and was offered the “best rate” of 13.99%. That was kind of when the writing was on the wall and I decided to walk with my Mach 1, pride, 6% loan, and 10year/100k mile ESP.

Bro, good for you to not taking a bad deal. The dealer loan buy rate was no doubt much lower than 14% which means they were looking to make serious money on your loan. Plus, $45k for your Mach was way low and I surmise that they were banking on the excitement factor of obtaining a 350 to play out in their favor. The bright side is that at 26 you have a Mach, a 761 credit score, and a willingness to seek input from others which will serve you well.

Also, I was in my early 50's when I went to test drive my former 21 Mach 1 and they would not allow just my wife and I to take it for a test drive - the sales guy had to go too. So, after some back and forth, they finally relented because I made it clear they were about to lose a possible sale because I was not going to drive a Mach with a sales person in my rear view mirror breathing garlic fries towards my wife.

Best of luck to you!

 

[Mach 307]

Bro, good for you to not taking a bad deal. The dealer loan buy rate was no doubt much lower than 14% which means they were looking to make serious money on your loan. Plus, $45k for your Mach was way low and I surmise that they were banking on the excitement factor of obtaining a 350 to play out in their favor. The bright side is that at 26 you have a Mach, a 761 credit score, and a willingness to seek input from others which will serve you well.

Also, I was in my early 50's when I went to test drive my former 21 Mach 1 and they would not allow just my wife and I to take it for a test drive - the sales guy had to go too. So, after some back and forth, they finally relented because I made it clear they were about to lose a possible sale because I was not going to drive a Mach with a sales person in my rear view mirror breathing garlic fries towards my wife.

Best of luck to you!

Thank you sir! Yes, I feel the same way, they were banking on the excitement, and don’t get me wrong I was excited. But, I felt like a winner either way, both options ended with leaving in a special car that we won’t see produced ever again in the same way. I don’t think they realized that. You know, when they tried the “come on, it’s the car you really want” line about the 350, I said, “I don’t know if it’s the car I really want because you haven’t even let me drive it”. The sales manager didn’t love that lol. I kept telling them the whole time how much I love my car, but the 350 would be cool if the numbers made sense. When presented with the 13.99% he said “just pay the payments to the principal and refinance with a credit union”. Like do you think I’m that dumb? It was kind of crazy. Next time I shop for anything I’m getting preapproved by my credit union and going BAT.

That would have annoyed me too if I were you. In this case, I wasn’t even allowed a test drive WITH the sales person. Like, come on.

You know between you guys, and I watch ton of George Saliba, as well as Delivrd on YouTube, I feel I know the dealership game very well by now. I have also watched my mom do it twice for cars she co-signed on when I was younger, and have done it myself twice now as well. I guess three times by myself now including today, and today was by far the most intense, and most pushy I’ve ever experienced. I felt like I could see the tactics before they happened. It was kinda cool, knowing they weren’t going to pull one over on me. Either the numbers were right or I was walking come hell or high water.

I’m a pretty easy going guy, so it was hard for me to put that face on. But, it felt good once I did and didn’t let them push me around.

 

[Mach 307]

These are not the best photos known to man so I apologize, and I apologize for the dust and water spots I sprayed the undercarriage a week ago or so. They make it look not so clean right now haha. I don’t do anything crazy like keep my cars completely dry, I wash them etc. My garage is not climate controlled or anything. Though they never see salt and ideally no rain even. This is the undercarriage of my Mach 1. I have high standards. The rust I saw on the 350 today undercarriage turned me off.

 

[Dr_Cat]

All good points. I was certainly in some aspects going to set myself back by getting this car, but cars are my love so I justify it. I feel after today, what I currently have is maybe the most I SHOULD have, and that’s brought some closure. Because, if I were to 350 shop again, it would again be a 2020 loaded HEP. Otherwise I’m happy to keep my Mach 1 HP. When the right car is available, it’ll be available and I’ll have the funds where it makes sense, is what I am telling myself. Back to the smart things, like investing in the S&P 500, my Roth IRA and chunking down my student loans I suppose.

Hello me from 10 years ago. Your 35+ yo self will look back at this thought process and smile. You will not regret it.

 

[Strokerswild]

Sucks for you, bunch of crap. I will say this if you were remotely still interested. Me being the …hole I am I’d do there deal, 14 percent and all. And as soon as the car was registered and the title was transferred I’d walk in to my credit union and refi it for 5-5.25. And then those …holes would have to write the check for the backend bump they pulled. What most don’t realize is almost all finance companies have six month rights of recission if the financee pays that note off within the first six months. The dealer is on the hook to repay that spiff they got, and so is the …hole finance guy that pushed it.

Heh, I did exactly this on a truck purchase in 2019. Despite a credit score of 830 and flawless history, the best interest rate they would give me was like 9% and the stipulation I HAD to stick with the loan for that magic six month period. I knew it was a crock of BS (probably illegal), so I took the deal, and refi'd it immediately once the title was sent. Take that, dicks.

 

[CorralesR]

Also thought you guys might find this funny. On my way out when they were essentially holding my keys hostage to my car. They were saying “we have a guy in Switzerland right now ready to wire the money” to where I could overhear it on purpose. LOL. I said “sounds like you got your guy”.

If you ever want to know the true essence of car dealers, watch the movie Fargo!

 

[skinnyb]

These are not the best photos known to man so I apologize, and I apologize for the dust and water spots I sprayed the undercarriage a week ago or so. They make it look not so good haha. I don’t do anything crazy like keep my cars completely dry, I wash them etc. My garage is not climate controlled or anything. Though they never see salt and ideally no rain even. This is the undercarriage of my Mach 1. I have high standards. The rust I saw on the 350 today undercarriage turned me off.

Agreed. Surface rust on the undercarriage, and 13.99 would have made me immediately walk with not another word. Them yelling to "come back" at me as I walked out the door. I had to get EXTREMELY pushy once a few years ago, they tried to hold my keys hostage while we negotiated. I finally told them in no uncertain terms, bring me my keys back NOW or I call the cops...

And my undercarriage is clean too I try my dead level best to keep it that way..

 

[PP0001]

Agreed. Surface rust on the undercarriage, and 13.99 would have made me immediately walk with not another word. Them yelling to "come back" at me as I walked out the door. I had to get EXTREMELY pushy once a few years ago, they tried to hold my keys hostage while we negotiated. I finally told them in no uncertain terms, bring me my keys back NOW or I call the cops...

And my undercarriage is clean too I try my dead level best to keep it that way..

Great looking undercarriage and one of the positive aspects of looking at a used car is that if we don't like what we see we can just walk away.

Now when it comes to ordering a Mustang or any other vehicle for that matter, if you think that surface rust may not be an issue, I suggest that you think again.

Many vehicles in Michigan are obviously produced in the winter months therefore are subject to movement within the various production plant holding yards therefore any vehicle can be exposed to road salt at any time let alone when each vehicle gets transferred at a rail holding yard to a road carrier for the final leg delivery.

Took delivery of a 2026 Bronco 60th Anniversary Edition a while back and it unfortunately has some surface rust and have had a couple of Mustang models that came that way as well.

On the flip side some of them have arrived in this condition which is very similar to your beautiful example!

 

[Gilberjj]

Sounds like a terrible experience... You were completely right to pass on this one. Your Mach 1 seems objectively in better condition.

That said, tell us how you liked the 350 driving experience compared to your Mach.

 

[G.T.]

Sounds like a terrible experience... You were completely right to pass on this one. Your Mach 1 seems objectively in better condition.

That said, tell us how you liked the 350 driving experience compared to your Mach.

From what I gathered they didnt even let him drive it. Good walk for sure.

 

[Mach 307]

@Gilberjj @G.T. Yeahh they didn’t even let me drive it, I had to sign the papers first lol, that was their stipulation. Unreal.

 

[Gilberjj]

W
T
F
?!???!

I thought you meant you had to “agree” on pricing first. What a ridiculous concept (signing before driving). Sounds like you didn’t miss anything.
I test drove a black gt350 in December. They had it in a showroom and understandably wanted some evidence that I was a qualified buyer. A quick look at my bank account was all the Sales Manager needed.
I was appreciative of them taking the effort to let me test drive the car… but at the same time, that’s literally their job.
I’m in sales and have no sympathy for lazy salespeople.

 

[NightmareMoon]

I do have $30k of student loan debt. I’ve financed three cars in my name, one with a co-signer. Other than that I have $0 debt then my student loans and car, no missed payments or late payments, etc. 761 score like I said. No credit card debt, though I’ve had healthy usage in the past of credit cards. My income is $7,500 gross. Idk what the issue was, other than that I’m 26.

No judgement, cause I made all the mistakes at that age, but you have a lot of money tied up in the car and you’ll be in a much better position if you can pay off the car and student loans and then build up some savings.

If you cant have fun in a 30k mustang, you wont be able to have fun in a 78k GT350 either, and the difference between them is pretty close to the down payment on a house, FWIW.

 

[PP0001]

No judgement, cause I made all the mistakes at that age, but you have a lot of money tied up in the car and you’ll be in a much better position if you can pay off the car and student loans and then build up some savings.

If you cant have fun in a 30k mustang, you wont be able to have fun in a 78k GT350 either, and the difference between them is pretty close to the down payment on a house, FWIW.

Totally understand where you are coming from, but when I look back at when I was a young Mustang enthusiast in the late 60's and early 70's I had much the same passion at Alec and disregarded any logic when it came to saving up for a house and/or paying off any loans that I had.

At age 22 I traded in my '67 Mercury Cougar in on a brand new '74 Mustang II Mach I four-speed and even though a V8 engine was not available for that MY I still went ahead and ordered a V6 engine and never looked back with any future Mustang purchases.

Did it make sense for me to do what I did along the way with respect to purchasing many Mustang models over the years, absolutely not but somehow I made it through life purchasing all things Mustang therefore totally understand where Alec is coming from.

Having said that, by walking away from this recent scenario I suggest that Alec showed a great deal of maturity for his young age but still hope that he can find a 2020 GT350/R HEP to his liking and suggest that he will be just fine further down the road when it comes to paying off student loans and/or purchasing a home at some point!

Alec, enjoyed our recent communications and based on timing, a little bit luck and patience I suggest that you may realize a new 2020 Mustang GT350/R sooner than you think.

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