Test drive etiquette
Discussion
doogz said:
unrepentant said:
You drive an 07 and a '92 though so of course you would say that.
A car is like a woman. You don't share and you don't want anyone's sloppy seconds. (Classics excepted). Your Audi was probably abused by Ronnie Rep before you got it.
I cringed when I read that. The whole post actually.A car is like a woman. You don't share and you don't want anyone's sloppy seconds. (Classics excepted). Your Audi was probably abused by Ronnie Rep before you got it.
(There is nothing like the smell and feel of a new car though, one of life's pleasures that you shouldn't begrudge yourself).
Centurion07 said:
u0362565 said:
...probably have no intention of buying this particular car...
Answered your own question there I feel.Put yourself in the salesman's shoes then ask yourself how you'd feel if a "customer" like that turned up.
Fair enough, go in, ask some questions, have a poke around, but don't waste the guy's time by test driving it. Just test drive the ones you ARE interested in.
unrepentant said:
(There is nothing like the smell and feel of a new car though, one of life's pleasures that you shouldn't begrudge yourself).
Just don't breathe it in too deeply.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_car_smell
I still don't fully understand the logic here. To me you can check various things about a particular car, yes, equipment etc. However, several people have said that the test drive is the last thing you do after you've checked it over etc. But doing all that is a waste of time if you then drive the car and think "actually i don't think this model of car drives very well, i don't want one of these". You have to know that first before you go any further and the question remains-how do you do that without pissing a salesman off whose not interested in letting you just test one out first!
I wish city car club had every car under the sun for me to test before going to a dealer but alas they don't. But i'm not a complete arse because where i could i did test with CCC because they had a car i'm interested in. Even if hiring a car, can you go to say Hertz and say, right my man i want a ford fiesta to rent and wont take anything else! Normally they don't give you the option.
I have a new plan which is perhaps what i should have done in the first place. Find examples of each car i want to test, trim, colour etc, look at each one seriously but only make final decision after seeing them all, that is surely not a problem. Unfortunately yes, before seeing all of them i would have to say to each salesman, i'm testing other models so can't give you a decision today. Thats as fair as i think you can be.
I wish city car club had every car under the sun for me to test before going to a dealer but alas they don't. But i'm not a complete arse because where i could i did test with CCC because they had a car i'm interested in. Even if hiring a car, can you go to say Hertz and say, right my man i want a ford fiesta to rent and wont take anything else! Normally they don't give you the option.
I have a new plan which is perhaps what i should have done in the first place. Find examples of each car i want to test, trim, colour etc, look at each one seriously but only make final decision after seeing them all, that is surely not a problem. Unfortunately yes, before seeing all of them i would have to say to each salesman, i'm testing other models so can't give you a decision today. Thats as fair as i think you can be.
doogz said:
unrepentant said:
Served it's purpose then!
(There is nothing like the smell and feel of a new car though, one of life's pleasures that you shouldn't begrudge yourself).
One of my cars has a slight whiff of petrol about it. I much prefer that than 'new car' smell (There is nothing like the smell and feel of a new car though, one of life's pleasures that you shouldn't begrudge yourself).
That's a bit different from the smell of "second hand car" though.
u0362565 said:
I have a new plan which is perhaps what i should have done in the first place. Find examples of each car i want to test, trim, colour etc, look at each one seriously but only make final decision after seeing them all.
BINGO!!To be fair, you don't even need to find one in the right colour or trim level (assuming any options not present on the one you DO test won't affect how it drives), just don't bother test-driving a car you have no intention of buying.
If you genuinely think you could see yourself buying a particular car, dependant on how it drives, then yes, go for it.
Test drive etiquette?
Book a test drive. Drive car.
How else will you know whether you even like that model?
Doesn't matter whether you plan to buy that particular car or not.
Ignore everyone who whines about 'wasting the salesman's time, puts miles on the car, uses fuel, etc'. The salesman is there to serve you, not the other way around.
Book a test drive. Drive car.
How else will you know whether you even like that model?
Doesn't matter whether you plan to buy that particular car or not.
Ignore everyone who whines about 'wasting the salesman's time, puts miles on the car, uses fuel, etc'. The salesman is there to serve you, not the other way around.
Ayahuasca said:
Test drive etiquette?
Book a test drive. Drive car.
How else will you know whether you even like that model?
Doesn't matter whether you plan to buy that particular car or not.
Ignore everyone who whines about 'wasting the salesman's time, puts miles on the car, uses fuel, etc'. The salesman is there to serve you, not the other way around.
of course it matters you tool, why waste someone's time if you have no intention of buying?Book a test drive. Drive car.
How else will you know whether you even like that model?
Doesn't matter whether you plan to buy that particular car or not.
Ignore everyone who whines about 'wasting the salesman's time, puts miles on the car, uses fuel, etc'. The salesman is there to serve you, not the other way around.
Ayahuasca said:
How else will you know whether you even like that model?
No-one's disputing that.Ayahuasca said:
Doesn't matter whether you plan to buy that particular car or not.
Or that.The issue is test-driving a MAKE/MODEL of car you have no intention of buying. If you know you're not going to buy THAT MAKE OR MODEL then don't waste your and the salesman's time.
Baryonyx said:
unrepentant said:
I bought my first 2 TVR's from HHC Harrogate. Nigel wouldn't let people have a test drive the first time they came in. You had to make an appointment and come back. Made a lot of sense to me.
That's just common sense though, with a car like a TVR. A few months later I bought a silver Griff 500 from a different dealer without test driving it.
I had it serviced for the next three years by Team Central.
What goes around comes around.
Ayahuasca said:
Team Central TVR dealers gave me a friendly and enthusiastic test drive in a yellow Griffith 500.
A few months later I bought a silver Griff 500 from a different dealer without test driving it.
I had it serviced for the next three years by Team Central.
What goes around comes around.
The salesman at Team Central must be over the moon everytime you book a serviceA few months later I bought a silver Griff 500 from a different dealer without test driving it.
I had it serviced for the next three years by Team Central.
What goes around comes around.
twing said:
Ayahuasca said:
Team Central TVR dealers gave me a friendly and enthusiastic test drive in a yellow Griffith 500.
A few months later I bought a silver Griff 500 from a different dealer without test driving it.
I had it serviced for the next three years by Team Central.
What goes around comes around.
The salesman at Team Central must be over the moon everytime you book a serviceA few months later I bought a silver Griff 500 from a different dealer without test driving it.
I had it serviced for the next three years by Team Central.
What goes around comes around.
Which means they will also bring it in for a moan when it goes wrong!
Butter Face said:
twing said:
Ayahuasca said:
Team Central TVR dealers gave me a friendly and enthusiastic test drive in a yellow Griffith 500.
A few months later I bought a silver Griff 500 from a different dealer without test driving it.
I had it serviced for the next three years by Team Central.
What goes around comes around.
The salesman at Team Central must be over the moon everytime you book a serviceA few months later I bought a silver Griff 500 from a different dealer without test driving it.
I had it serviced for the next three years by Team Central.
What goes around comes around.
Which means they will also bring it in for a moan when it goes wrong!
JimmyConwayNW said:
With regards buying a used car I feel you should only be requesting a test drive having already decided if the car is for you and you are ready to buy.
I see very little point in looking at a car picking out multiple things you dislike about it and then driving it just to confirm you don't want it.
By all means if everything else is positive and you are happy with what you have seen then get in it and drive it and if you like it and it drives right buy it before someone else does.
I was in the position before where I couldn't decide between 3series, C-class or A4 before, I made sure I read up online, looked at friend's cars and had a nose on the forecourts of main dealers but when you get to the nitty gritty why should I, or anyone in fact, make a choice out of the 3 without driving all 3? I drove a C class and a 3 series but was scoffed at by the Audi dealership, fair enough I was 19 or 20 (can't remember exactly), but I had my 3 year old MX-5 as a PX and explained to the salesman I wanted to drive all 3 before making the decision. His reply was "if it drives well will you buy it here and now?", obviously not, I'd just explained that I wanted to consider all of the 'big 3' german marques in that class of vehicle before making a decision. "If you're not gonna buy the car today, you're wasting my time, what's the point of a test drive?".I see very little point in looking at a car picking out multiple things you dislike about it and then driving it just to confirm you don't want it.
By all means if everything else is positive and you are happy with what you have seen then get in it and drive it and if you like it and it drives right buy it before someone else does.
Good to know he didn't want to add me to his client list by being so rude; since then I've owned 2 BMWs and 2 Mercs, I think that speaks for itself really.
On the other hand when I was looking for my next car at about 20 I took an '06 Impreza WRX out, the dealer was located on a country road so I gave it a right thrashing up to 60, round the bends etc etc but it just felt slow to me and I felt the interior just wasn't up to scratch (I think at that point I had just owned an E90 320d, which fair enough was slower than the WRX but really didn't seem that much slower then and there, and definitely had a nicer interior). I probably seemed like a right test pilot at that age, taking a scooby out for a rag then just says sorry mate wasn't quick enough, cya later.
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