My other car is a Porsche!

It was almost an office bet — would the good people at Porsche let a bunch of scruffily-dressed journalists attempting to look like laidback people with money to burn in their pockets, test drive a car? “Nah,” said everyone, but we were more than game to try our luck. At best, we’d get to ride the car. At worst, we’d be thrown out, but at least we’d have seen the car up close.

So it was that two colleagues and I found ourselves gawping at the Porsche parked in the middle of the showroom. “First visit to a Porsche showroom?” asked the salesman, having sized us up as country bumpkins. We nodded and asked him for a test drive of the Cayenne SUV, keeping our fingers crossed all the while. Now was the time for him to ask us to leave, right? But no, he said we’d have to book a test drive two days in advance, and if it was inconvenient for us to come back, he'd arrange to send the car to our doorstep so we could drive it right there.

But we were adamant. We wanted a drive, we insisted, and could we take a closer look at the car we’d set our hearts on? The salesman didn’t seem to have a problem with that, and though we turned down the offer for tea/coffee (we were too busy checking out the car), he said there’d be no hassle should we want to sit in the car to experience it.

So sit in it we did, my heart thudding all the while just to look at the controls in front of my eyes.

But what about the ride? There were three versions of the Cayenne in the showroom, he explained, but one was out for a test drive, another didn’t carry insurance or registration so couldn’t be driven around — but he’d be happy to take us for a spin in the third one.

Which is how we found ourselves strapped in and on the road, with the sales consultant (so his card said) behind the steering — lucky fellow. We could hardly complain, not when he explained that “a Porsche customer knows what a Porsche is all about”. So, all right, he’d seen through us, but that didn’t prevent him responding patiently to our clearly eager questions about the car and the company. Or from inviting us back for a test drive, but this time after we’d made an appointment. I’m booking myself for one on Monday, hope the boss understands. Source : www.business-standard.com