in regards to what car you rock up in - i have tried this at many places, and they are all as bad as each other. If you drive in with a car more expensive than the one you are 'looking' at, they treat you like god!
I thought it would be funny to call in at a dealership that I had been to before in my sisters starlet (yes, they ignored me). When i rocked up a month later in the Type R, instantly got attention, then I said i decided I didnt like FWD and wanted RWD. practically begging to hand keys over to me for test drives.
so a little hint, go car shopping in a nice car, makes things so much easier
Mick - what happened in the end, you find out what the problem was?