This is a follow on from my post in here . (sorry its a bit long)
is the 300C a marketing nightmare / dream ?
11am I arrive at Tony Purslow in Basingstoke.
http://www.tonypurslow.co.uk/
I was amazed at the amount of dealerships in a 1000 meter road stretch. About 10 (all very large). This is great for competition and you could find Honda's and other makes with 0% APR and 5 year old Audi TT's for £10,000. This place is like a car supermarket but with different dealerships all in competition
I entered the dealership and had a conversation with Mark Spence (whom I had talked to on the phone, when booking appointment). He's a very nice man and didn't give me any hard sell. He just confirmed my requirements and what I was looking for.
Then the test. The whole thing took about 45 minutes and we drove on country lanes till we got to hook and then M3 back to dealership.
I took over about a third of the way to hook. The one thing I noticed was the amount of space (loads and loads for passengers). The quality feel of the interior is comforting as well.
Yes there were many looks from other drivers
. The one sentence that summs this car is
"Road presence" - People know you there. They look again after catching a glimpse.
I'm not used to an automatic but its easy to deal with I drove with the radio off as I wanted to listen out for engine sounds and any other noises the car makes. Silent as a monk after taking his vow of silence. Its a born cruiser It eats motorway miles and before I knew it I was doing 90+ (got to watch out as the car just makes it seem like your gliding as it had no road noise)
I just love the car and will be getting one no doubt. I just need to finalise the finance method so that it works out most cost effective. I will most likely be going for a business lease. Although not sure yet.
My car will be similar to Bentley Blacks with all detail from rear removed and bentley grill added. Sat Nav, and Star Tech 20in Wheels and tracker fitted.
The one question I wanted to ask other owners is do you buy 2 parking tickets as I can't see this fitting into one space.
When driving I noticed that if I lifted off the exhaust and then accelerated that the car did not respond in the way I'm used to. It might be because I don't normally drive an automatic? but it felt like there was a lag (almost like an old turbo).
The one week was over guessing and they now state it was for the Midnight blue they have and not the black. But on the phone they did say black in 1-2 weeks (it was a different sales man than Mark though).
I will be going bakc tomorrow with my Fiancee so she can see it in the flesh.
My favourite feature is the seat retracting after the ignition being turned off. (Very nice touch).
If possible I will take it out again tomorrow as I still want to see the sat nav working and the computer console system (radio + mpg indicator etc) as this will be my main communication with the car.
So rounding up I love the car. Mark was very helpfull and a nice guy generally to talk to. This will be my most expensive purchase besides my houses so I need to choose right. The only thing now is getting the right deal.
Just got to see what the wait time is? (anyone aware of this?)
z