I worked at a Nissan car dealers here in the UK. It's a Saturday and the pitch is swamped with punters after a week long advert campaign. Us sales guys are dribbling like vaulter's. In comes 2 lads with their bimbo girlfriends in an expensive
Fiat sports car. As I'm about to pounce on a likely looking punter these lads breeze by me and one goes "do you have a QX (sports car) on display." Feeling obliged I takes em over to the car in the middle of the god darn show room and stuff a brochure in the guys hand who's asking. Just about then my manager walks by and the other lad litrally talks over me to the manager. "Can we take this for a test drive" the manger goes "sure...Steve (me) will get it out for you". I'm like WTF
I've been with these lads about 3 minutes and I haven't had chance to qualify (sales speak for ascertaining the needs of the customer) the punter. I'm throwing daggers at the sales manger.
Anyways after moving 9 cars and putting them back we're off on the test drive. The girlie's are left behind...no room. Turns out the guy that's interested is up from London (like he's really going to buy a car 100 miles from his local dealer) visiting his former university buddy (
the guy in the Fiat) who works as some kind of office geezer at
Jaguar her in Coventry. They also are short on time cause they want to watch the Cricket in 1 hour. As I'm finding more stuff out I'm getting madder and madder with my manager
and these knob heads, test (clarkson style) drivers who have no intention of buying a Nissan QX. Their just tooling around.
waisting time before the Cricket.
In for a penny in for a pound ... I takes em on a long long test drive.
The dealership isn't allowed to clock more than 50 miles on a new car otherwise they have to register it . The Fiat lad does nothing but slag the QX off on build quality compared to a freaking Jag...
IDIOT in a plastic rocket Fiat. Then he's coming up with gems like "Oh feel the lag on the turbo" "Oh it under steers" and the guy who's half interested in a Nissan QX starts agreeing with his mate. I counter each objection then I start to be rude about the Fiats guy idea of build quality, torbo's, plastic Fiats, Jaguar cars and do they have Jaguar car money...
hence the plastic Fiat.
Being on the bad end of smelly stick I'm feeling like kicking em out in the middle of the sticks and telling me boss what to do with his job. I'm madder than a box of frogs on the inside but all cool on the outside. I tell the customers I'll drive it the last 5 miles
Man ..I gunned the nuts off that QX. The fiat guy was sliding from one side of the back seat to the other. I get the real punter to white knuckle on the grab handle as I slammed the QX into a left hand 90 degree bend at over 60. They are both screaming at me to slow down
Should have seen their faces
A real delight. Keeping the pace up through the country lane I tell em "I was half expecting the QX to let loose on that curve" The guy in the passenger seat looks at his mate like WTF.
Yep... the test drive from hell
Back at the dealership the girlie's lay into their respective boyfriends for leaving em hanging around a dealership for 45 minutes
...who have 5 minutes to get home to watch the cricket.
The QX which had 3 miles on it in the show room now has 42 miles.
I have a polite word with my manager about qualifying customers .....out on a bleedin jolly