Skoda and VW refused point blank a test drive
We had our Golf GTE for a five hour extended test drive, only had to put the fuel that we used back in (which we of course gladly did).
It sounds like a huge stroke of bad luck to me, i genuinely have never been refused for a test drive. Not everyone does humour the thought of extended test drives, or nowadays even unaccompanied test drives – but the only time i came close to rejection was when the Cupra Born just came out and i asked my SEAT dealer (combined SEAT/Cupra dealership) if i could test drive it. He said “it’s not on the scheme, so i’ll let you test drive it once the initial wave of test drives (of potential buyers) dies down, but not now”, which i thought was understandable/reasonable since at that point, it actually would’ve been just a joyride out of curiosity.
Did you try more than just the closest dealership? Sounds like those two are simply awful. We went to a VW dealership 35 miles away over the two closer ones, since while they didn’t refuse a test drive (did an ID3 drive there), they got a funny attitude when we mentioned Motability, so “fork ’em”, i believe the term we used was.
In regards to the topic at hand.. buying a car is such an important (and “big”) thing, i don’t understand how someone would be so laissez faire about it. By the time i order a car, i usually know more about it than the average salesman. As for resolutions, the only way i could see this happen somewhat satisfactory is if you reject the car as “not as advertised”. I’m not sure if “lack of info” is reason enough to successfully reject a car (as in, the dealer didn’t give you a detailed list of what the car doesn’t have, which is a bit backwards) – but through Motability, i’m not sure if you’re going to be happy with the solution. It definitely would cost money (i think £250?), and i’m not sure about future applications, i’d argue to talk to them, explain your situation calm and friendly (instead of demanding things/blaming them, like i’ve seen here before) and hope that the agent on the other end agrees to find a solution with you.
Best of luck.
Prior: SEAT Ateca Xcellence Lux 1.5 TSI DSG MY19, VW Golf GTE PHEV DSG MY23
Current: Hyundai Ioniq 6 Ultimate
Next: we'll see what's available in 2028.