Do you take surveys for a premium?

 

They have dried up, but it used to be car cos. offered $50-$100 for test drives. So I would do them. Ever so often, a salesperson would say I can fill it out for you, you don't need to drive.

Funny on car forums, it was like Seinfeld. Some people said if you drove the car knowing you are not buying it, you're dishonest and taking advantage of the system. My position was, huh? Cars can be impulse buys, sometimes a person drives one and they they buy. So the forum would be divided some say unethical to test drive for a gift card, some say fine they asked. I remember with Audi, the salesperson said hey, we're really busy, would you mind taking the car out yourself, and coming back when you're done? I said sure, ok. It was an A6 and LED headlamps were optional back then, HID xenon were standard. So I found the headlamps fascinating. The sticker was $72k. What a laugh, that shows you how long ago that was. Today, a ford explorer is in the mid to high 60's. Back when the Suburban came out in 2016, you could get a Suburban for 60's, not an explorer.

Now, the surveys seem to be about internet. Get 12 points if you answer these questions, get 4 for this, that etc.

I do them because each time I reach 20 points, it's a $20 gift card. imho nothing wrong with it. Sometimes like today? 3 questions for 12 points, takes all of 35 seconds to answer.....

maybe they don’t like me!

I’m never offered anything! Perhaps it is because I read almost everything with Firefox private browsing which is no slouch protecting you from trackers and I also use Privacy Badger and Duckduckgo Privacy Essentials. Occasionally I can’t read what I want so I use Chrome with a temporary profile.

Or,,, maybe they don’t like me!

Those car surveys were

Those car surveys were great... Hyundai, kia, nissan, subaru, lincoln ($100!), dodge, ford.

Oddly never did one for chevy, honda or toyota.

Needless to say, I may actually consider a subaru one day... Or a Genesis G70.

i

zx1100e1 wrote:

Those car surveys were great... Hyundai, kia, nissan, subaru, lincoln ($100!), dodge, ford.

Oddly never did one for chevy, honda or toyota.

Needless to say, I may actually consider a subaru one day... Or a Genesis G70.

did many. BMW 7 Series was a $100 gift card for Thomas Pink. Problem was, nothing was $100 lol

Audi was $100

Lexus was $75--they have good customer service but terrible cars (I own one, 100% reliable, but if you don't DIY you'll need to move out of your house and eat cat food lol--German car prices without the German car driving experience).

Many GM cars, they were all $50 a pop. One time, the sneaky Chevy salesman gave me a bogus code. Don't worry got my $50. I took a Buick Regal GS turbo for a test drive and at my first opportunity turned back in, not good lol

Subaru was only $25 but I actually wanted to drive the car, WRX Limited manual. Not STi, Limited. Still made in Japan back then maybe 2016?

Ford was also $50, they probably are my favorite American brand but I've never owned one nor anyone in my family. Only GM.

Porsche was the ultimate, zero sales pressure (I think everybody wants the vehicle, the challenge is paying for them). There was an autocross and lead/follow culminating in a 911 Carrera GTS. My wife was like this is free? And she only took one turn, so I got 7 hahahahahahahaha (you have a partner and work through all 4 cars following the instructor).

with Covid 19 BMW is still doing their autocrosses....they may be middle of the road cars, but they run great events, really pro drivers and have that customer service aspect too. Cadillac was crazy several people almost crashed driving the CTS-V...inexperienced event folks....

Just thought of another for $25, VW Passat diesel 6-spd manual. Except for the steering loved it. The salesman was into diesels and was an older gentleman. We went 29 miles away and he said you can keep going if you want hahahahahahaha The steering was too light but the thought of 50+ mpg on the highway.....this was pre dieselgate

Never did by test driving cars

But, I used to do car surveys. They would have a big car show and they would send you an invite to come and assess certain vehicles. Upon doing that, you would get your 25 or 50 bucks. They don’t do that anymore, but it was fun while it lasted.

--
With God, all things are possible. ——State motto of the Great State of Ohio

just thought of another one

We were at Great Adventure so 2018? There was a Chevy test drive event and I know you always can get a nice Hanes beefy T shirt. So I didn't have my license and had to go all the way back to the car to get it (split up from my wife and son who was probably 4 back then).

I guess I didn't follow the directions as you are supposed to get in this long a** line and drive something you don't want to, before going to the Corvette Stingray C7. Well I noticed that zero people were in line for the manual which is why I just walked up. The manual was a base model but the auto was a Grand Sport, which is what I would get. So I basically drove it and left, and upon leaving, I realized you're supposed to take a Suburban or Impala etc. for a drive first before the Corvette. But since nobody else was waiting to drive the stick, I thought no harm no foul. It's astounding that today it seems not everyone knows how to drive a manual....

Sales pitch vs. freebie

johnnatash4 wrote:

Some people said if you drove the car knowing you are not buying it, you're dishonest and taking advantage of the system. My position was, huh?

Two similar opportunities where people could get (at least pre-Covid) something of material value for volunteering to be subjected to sales pressure:

1. Attend a "retirement investment seminar" in exchange for a free restaurant meal.

2. Attend a timeshare sales pitch in exchange for a comped vacation stay at a timeshare property.

Of course some people signed up for these, one time anyway, without really understanding that a formal sales pitch was coming. But I knew people who would do these serially, sit through the pitches, knowing there was going to be pressure to buy something, but no way they were going to buy the widget. They just wanted the freebie and would sit there with their arms crossed, shaking their heads "no," until the salespeople let them go.

I prefer to avoid salespeople on commission whenever possible.
And I avoid marketing research opportunities for privacy reasons.

--
"141 could draw faster than he, but Irving was looking for 143..."