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Back to Malcolm Gladwell #4, with Malcolm Gladwell.

Should You Test Drive a Ferrari You Cannot Buy?

Dax Shepard says you should not test drive a Ferrari you cannot buy. Personal decency, he says, means you should not make salespeople spend their limited eight hours trying to sell a car to someone who cannot buy it.

When Dax Shepard was 18, he had no money and went to a Ferrari dealership. He says he would be a shithead to waste a salesman's hour and to take on the liability of driving an expensive car he could not replace if he smashed it on the ride, only to experience a Ferrari for a half hour. He asks where his personal responsibility is if he feels entitled to drive a Ferrari only because he wants to. A dealer will let him test drive now, he says, because he can buy one and can replace it if he destroys it on the drive. Dax Shepard says you can walk into a Toyota dealer with no appointment, point to a car, and ask to test drive it.

Monica Padman tells Dax Shepard the staff do not know, and that he later did have the means. Monica Padman says the time spent with a shopper is the job. Monica Padman is unsure about car dealerships and asks whether a test drive needs an appointment, and whether anyone can do a drive or only someone who can pay.

Grokipedia·Ferrari·Dax Shepard

Transcript

Malcolm Gladwell #4 ·

Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard

More from this episode

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  2. Are Crime and Violence Separate Things?Malcolm Gladwell says crime and violence are two completely separate things.
  3. Why Does Gladwell Open His Audiobook With Troubles?Malcolm Gladwell opens the audiobook with Drew Holcomb singing Troubles because a mass shooting is one of the rare moments when the reality of gun violence in…
  4. What Was Virginia's Second Amendment Debate About?Malcolm Gladwell says the Second Amendment debate in Virginia was about slave patrols.
  5. How Does Baltimore Stop Revenge After a Shooting?Malcolm Gladwell says Baltimore stops the next killing by talking a likely avenger down before he acts.
  6. How Does Fear Shape the Gun Debate?Dax Shepard says liberals and conservatives split on guns for the same reason: fear. One side fears the other person who has the gun.
  7. Why Is New York's Suicide Rate So Low?Malcolm Gladwell says New York State's suicide rate has historically been half the national average because a handgun law kept for a hundred years made a…
  8. Was Sir John Knight's Gun Case Made Up?Malcolm Gladwell says the Sir John Knight gun case used to read the Second Amendment is completely made up.
  9. Why Was Dax Shepard Embarrassed About a Golden Globe?Dax Shepard was embarrassed to be nominated for a Golden Globe while Malcolm Gladwell was left out.
  10. Why Does the Kelly Clarkson Story Feel Light?Dax Shepard and Monica Padman turn to a Kelly Clarkson story that feels light because the world is so depressing right now. The algorithm needs a cleanse.
  11. What Magazine Does Gladwell's Book Say He Got?Malcolm Gladwell's book says he got Life magazine and read it. In the interview he said the magazine was Time.

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