Test drive a car, get a gift card thread?
 

I see these happening lately at malls and dealerships here and there but I tend to miss it because lack of info when they're doing them. :(

Anyone know of any good sites which lists them or should we create a separate one here at FT solely about "test drive a car and get a gift card" thread?

Here's one for starters:

Test drive a 2012 Kia Optima by 3/31/2012 and get a $25 VISA gift card

Any more to share would be appreciated.

Thanks...I used to do these all the time & sometimes they had $100 gift cards. I will do this one over the weekend....I usually tell the sales person not to waste their time on me & they just sign it anyway. I don't remember where I used to find them.

The last test drive for a gift card that I did was last September when I stumbled upon a test drive for a Fiat 500 at the Ontario Mills Mall. I had no prior knowledge that it was happening that day and I just happened to be at that mall that weekend. I got a $15 AMEX gift card from that which came in handy at the mall that day. ^

It'd be nice if there was a consolidated thread just for such test drive offers as these VISA/MC/AMEX gift cards can be used anywhere they're accepted, even to help pay for gas. ^

Nice find. Now don't u all go drive to a dealer so far away, u spending $25 in gas to get there. :D

Luckily my nearest Kia dealer is about 15 min away from my workplace. I'm going there after work. :)

Just be careful.. I've heard too many stories of people having their credit report pulled just because they took a car for a test drive and the dealer asked to get a copy of their license first.. (I think this is ridiculous, personally.)

Hard inquiries have a dollar value to some people, so if they do to YOU, be sure you are getting a gift card with a value that makes it worth a possible hard pull.

I have told my husband in the past, regarding other credit issues, "if its only going to save me $100, forget it - it's not worth an Experian pull" ... but YMMV of course!

Most sales people, if you tell them up front that you're only there to get the gift card, will simply sign the form and let you be on the way. Any time they spend with you, on a test drive that won't do anything, is less time they have to potentially greet customers who are interested in buying a car.

I suppose this is a valid point.

I'm not sure I'd let someone test drive a new car if they told me they were only doing it because they really, really wanted/needed a $15 gift card, but...

yeah. :D

The last time I did something similar, at a Suzuki dealership, the salesman said they don't want people running up the mileage on their cars with a test drive if they're not interested in buying one.

Went to my local dealer on Saturday. Started to say to the sales person the "I am not currently in the market for a new card," and the salesperson immediately finished my statement: "... so you want your $25 ?". Tokk less than a minute to fill in the form.

A friend of mine test drove a Ford and only a photocopy of the driver's license was needed. No credit report pulled.

I did one the other day from Mazda. You test drive (or not as folks are saying) and they donate $25 to a kids reading program and you are entered in a sweepstakes to win a trip to Orlando for 4. Do this before April 2, 2012.

http://www.mazdatestdriveoffer.com/lorax

I'm figuring that's how it'll be here.

I think thhere is a thread on fatwallet. Im on a tablet so hard to link.

Anyone receive their gift card?