Have you ever taken a car on a test drive? I’m guessing that while not everyone reading this has done that, a good percentage of people have actually taken a car on a test drive. Here’s another question: Have you ever received compensation for taking a test drive?
I got a promotional mailer recently that caught my eye, since it involved getting something in return for taking a test drive. It actually involved getting a $25 Target gift card if you test drive a Volkswagen. That’s right – you could get a gift card mailed to you upon completed test drive registration. There was some fine print, but the bottom line promotional offer was a gift card for going through the test drive process.
Personally, I took a look at that and thought that it wasn’t an offer that I would take advantage of. After all, I am not interested in buying a new car anyway – much less leasing one. I tend to embrace the value of car longevity, and like to minimize frequency of car purchases. So why should I take a test drive and collect anything for doing so, when it wasn’t a situation where I’d really be serious about making a purchase or lease agreement for one of those cars anyway? I’d be wasting time, both mine and theirs.
Then I started to think about it more. What if – hypothetically – it was a $50 gift card instead? Would I take the test drive in that case? No, I actually wouldn’t. That increase in card value wouldn’t change my position.
If the offer was a $100 gift card? Well, in that case I would give it consideration. If it was $200? I’d be cool with taking a test drive in that case, as long as it was workable in my schedule.
So, the amounts of the offer actually impacted my rationale for considering the promotional offer. At lower amounts, I was thinking that it wasn’t worth wasting anyone’s time. Yes, including theirs. At higher amounts, such concerns faded away. My viewpoint genuinely changed.
The point is that for many things, everyone has a price. In this case, $25 isn’t mine 🙂
My Questions for You
How would your answers change as the dollar amounts increase?
What dollar amount of a gift card would get you to test drive a car?
Do you agree with the notion that for many things, we all have “a price” that would change decisions or behavior?
This post was included in an edition of the Carnival of Personal Finance, at Wealth Pilgrim
In college, I would have run to the dealership to earn that 25 dollar gift card. Today, it would probably take at least a hundred dollars. Although that isn’t a bad wage assuming the whole experience could just take an hour. The thing is, I wouldn’t just be test driving, I would also have to put up with someone trying to push a car on me endlessly.
Interesting post Squirrel!
Kris – good to hear from you! I know what you mean about college, that would have been great back then. Of course, there would have been a massive line to get a chance to get money like that 🙂
I think the reward would have to be something like $500 to get me to bite. I’d consider that minimum compensation for spending time with a car salesperson. 🙂
Kurt – $500? Yeah, that would change the equation a bit!
It would take $100 and a car that I would be interested in driving. It’s cool to see new technology and features sometime. I would love to test drive a new Miata right about now. 🙂
Joe – sometimes test driving is fun, though getting compensated the right amount would make it more fun!
I would probably do it, maybe even for the $25. A lot of people might worry that they’ll get pressured into buying a car, but I’m of the opinion that if you make it pretty clear up front that you have no intention of buying a car anytime soon, a salesperson is going to waste too much time on you, otherwise they could be missing out on someone who is a bit more serious.
MB – interesting approach, I kind of like it. Make it clear that you’re really not going to be buying, to avoid the hassles. For me, I’d just rather not go at that amount, but would deal with the hassles if the gift card happened to be a bit more worthwhile 🙂
I think it depends on the rest of the deal. Car salesmen are pretty annoying so I don’t think I would bother unless I was a possible buyer. I get some solicitations for timeshares and a free weekend is pretty enticing, but I don’t think it is enough to go through the sales pitch.
Krantcents – yeah, we all have a different tolerance for such things.
Me too. I would agree with $100. It’s Volks. For sure they can afford that. lol