PS Show me the money
Admission: I used to make fun of my wife for bargain shopping
I come from a time when a bargain = seconds (AKA – the one-armed sweater), but while looking at my options and making arrangements for test drives, I found pop-ups galore when I went to the dealers sites asking me to sign up for a test drive and in return I’d get a $25, $50, $75 or even a $100 gift card.
I was test driving cars anyway
So, why not make a little $$$ while I was at it? I found my pop-up directly on my local Subaru site. I simply clicked on the automobile that I wanted more information and up it came. A small box telling me that if I put in my name and phone number, that I’d get a $50 Visa card just for coming in and driving the car (in my case it was a Subaru Outback), no strings attached. I went into the dealership, took a spin in the car, gave the salesman the coupon, and I had an email in my inbox within minutes offering me a choice between a $50 digital card, or a plastic one to be mailed out.
If there was ONE offer
I figured that there must be more.
So, off I went to google “test drive gift cards” and there they were. Of course while on Google, I found blogs that listed MULTIPLE offers by all of the manufacturers who had current test drive deals, a much easier alternative to having to search for them myself.
Sites with test drive deals
Hustler Money Blog
This was the one that I used to find most of my test drive deals. This site offers primarily finance/bank bonuses for opening accounts, along with the best financing rates. A quick search for “test drive promotions” brought up the latest ones available including
- Subaru – $50 – $65 (depending on region – we were offered the $50 one)
- Jeep – $50
- Hyundai – $50
- and more
Maximizing Money
A similar site helping you to stretch that dollar offered those listed above plus
- Gander Outdoors RV Walkthrough – $25 (check to see if your state is listed)
- Local dealer offers from $25
They offer great tips for keeping on top of those offers by signing up with each of the manufacturers.
There are plenty more, but honestly, all of the deals are duplicates of the ones we found on these sites.
Make money while car shopping
I was car shopping anyway, so this was a great way to put a few extra dollars in my pocket while I was doing my test drives. Maybe we’ll list the offers in the future right here on Cars Bars and Pars. If you’d like us to do that, please let us know.
NOTE: Most of these test drive promotions offered us digital gift cards that came directly into our email. I was able to opt-in for a plastic one (to be used in stores and not only online) with Subaru. My wife did a Hyundai test drive for $50 and when she went to check the plastic card rather than a digital one, there was a $3 fee (so she’d get a $47 gift card instead.
Obviously, these offers vary by state and dealership.
