Took my car in for 30k service and look who was lounging there. This is a small Ford dealership in IL. Must be making a lot to send them out for test drives.
It's called a "mannequin". Dealerships get 1, and they have to put a certain number of miles on it before they can sell it months from now. Has to be driven. Most dealerships will probably defer to their "waitlist" for driving it. We took a Mach-E mannequin home last June for 2 days to confirm we wanted to buy 1.
My dealer got their mannequin 2 weeks ago. It’s mainly a service loaner and someone has already put down a deposit to buy it when its time and miles are up.
That's how i got my MachE. Went into dealership and they had the one I was going order on floor. Test drove, put deposit down and walked out the door the following week as it's time was up. Lucky for me.