I was considering a Focus ST (this was sometime last year) When I phoned the Ford dealer to try arranging a test drive, in so many words I was told I would need be already ready to buy the car instead of just wasting their time and fuel. I told him I was considering the GTI and he recommended me to go test the GTI then come back and when I was ready for the ST.
That's not so different to what happened to me. I was looking at the ST online, and I snuck off one lunchtime to the nearest Ford dealer for a look.
They didn't have an ST in the showroom. They couldn't book me a test drive in one. Best of all, they didn't have a brochure for one. This, apparently, because it was the car everyone wanted.
So I got back in my Peugeot, drove to the nearest VW dealer, where they had a Golf GTi in the showroom, handed me a brochure almost before I asked, apologised for not being able to give me a test drive then and there (which I hadn't asked for) and booked me in for Saturday.
The Ford dealer emailed me, and I suggested he get in touch when he could arrange a test drive for me. I also suggested he might hurry up, before I just bought a Golf. I haven't heard from him again.
Rolfe.