Test drive etiquette

[u0362565]

Hi all,

So I'm about to do my first test drive, I have owned a car for a short period in my teens but that came down through the family, so got to 30 without needing to.

Got a couple of questions, I've booked to test drive a model of car I'm interested in but probably have no intention of buying this particular car, I'm looking at different manufacturers/models all within the same class of car and want to try one of each first which I don't think is unreasonable. So do dealers see this as wasting their time? I will make this clear before we drive that this is the case to save him making a huge effort to try to sell it to us, but you have to start somewhere!

The second thing is, is it unreasonable to ask to take a look at the car for 10-15 mins without them hanging over your shoulder? Do they normally hang around. I feel like they'd be insulted if I did simple things such as checking the lights work? not that I care it's my cash to spend. Perhaps more simple checks like this are only required for private sales,I'll be going through a franchised dealer. My nieve hope is that a franchised dealer wouldn't knowingly buy a dodgy model to sell on, they could make a mistake, buy and then realise but they undertake rigorous tests I presume?

I really have no clue and am therefore probably a salesman's dream.

thanks

[u0362565]

I totally understand what's been said and generally agree but the problem still stands that if i haven't even driven all the model cars i'm interested in, how can I do that without taking up a salesman's time!? I was able to drive one car that i like because city car club use them, so i have tried where i can not to go to a dealer to drive a car.Is it not like buying a house, you do a lot of viewings but you don't necessarily take the first one, an estate agent wouldn't bat an eyelid at that, ok there's no fuel cost for them to pay.

It was probably too strong a statement to say I have no intention of buying but considering its the first car I'm looking at I think it's unlikely. So basically I need to treat it like I might buy but hopefully they're not too pushy.

[u0362565]

Wow this thread has exploded. Its used cars i'm looking at, the car is the right trip/model, my biggest issue as shallow as it sounds is the colour. It ticks most boxes, arguably we can afford to buy a slightly newer plate, but not against this slightly older model. But not having tried all the cars i'm interested in i'd be reluctant to buy. I'm probably looking at 3 different models. Another problem is that its ok to say wait until a car comes in that you do definitely want but could be waiting a while if you're picky about trim, colour, age etc especially when you don't have a car to be able to travel long distances to different garages to view them. I have about a 5 mile radius to travel to so pretty restricted.

So my opinion now is, we'll treat the test drive seriously, but its highly unlikely we'll take it being the first car we're viewing. And i will say, this is the first car we're testing, surely then he's going to think they'll need some time to think or test others. Colour is probably a deal breaker for me but perhaps not for my partner who will be driving it most.

Another thing i thought of is if the salesman makes an impression then there's nothing to say i wouldn't go back to this garage to look at other models if they have them. Saying no to one car could lead to sale down the line if they're attitude is right.

[u0362565]

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.