Extended test drives?

[lornemalvo]

Do any dealers allow extended test drives nowadays? (we live in South Yorkshire). It's for my wife, who's fairly open minded about what she wants, but wants to make sure she likes whatever she decides on.

[paul_c123]

What is extended?

[RS Grant]

A couple of hours, yes.. pretty common in the places I've visited/bought from.

A day/overnight, rarer.. but have heard of this being arranged for a serious buyer.

Longer than that, not really.. I got a Ford Ranger 48-hr test drive, but that was a nationwide manufacturer supported campaign. On a used car, I'd think that would be unlikely unless you were at the 'leave a deposit' stage pending a successful test drive.

[ScoobyChris]

I’ve seen a few 24 hour/overnight promotions advertised (with a mileage limit) but will likely be dependent on what vehicle you’re looking at and what the manufacturer/dealers are pushing.

Chris

[redstar1]

I've had 3 or 4 24/48 hr test drives and all of them have had mileage restrictions of 100 miles per 24 hrs. Tesla said it was a restriction of the insurance they used and was generally very strictly monitored.

[paul_c123]

I try to give the opportunity to try on a variety of roads - urban, countryside, a motorway run. Takes about 20 mins on a 10 mile round trip to do that. I am not sure what more advantage a longer drive is; and of course there is the disadvantage more miles goes on the car, gets dirtier, just consumes more time, etc.

[QuattroDave]

I've also done 24hr test drives a few times. I've usually requested it to try out my commute and agreed with the dealer the actual mileage I'm going to do as my round trip commute is over the usual 100 miles I didn't want any surprises when I returned it!

[InformationSuperHighway]

paul_c123 said:

I try to give the opportunity to try on a variety of roads - urban, countryside, a motorway run. Takes about 20 mins on a 10 mile round trip to do that. I am not sure what more advantage a longer drive is; and of course there is the disadvantage more miles goes on the car, gets dirtier, just consumes more time, etc.

I think this is why these are more manufacturer sponsored programs than at the dealer level. No decent sales rep would give someone that much time.

[raspy]

BMW dealer gave me a whole day with no mileage limit.

[HTP99]

InformationSuperHighway said:

paul_c123 said:

I try to give the opportunity to try on a variety of roads - urban, countryside, a motorway run. Takes about 20 mins on a 10 mile round trip to do that. I am not sure what more advantage a longer drive is; and of course there is the disadvantage more miles goes on the car, gets dirtier, just consumes more time, etc.

I think this is why these are more manufacturer sponsored programs than at the dealer level. No decent sales rep would give someone that much time.

The manufacturer backed extended test drive initiatives are just advertising by the manufacturer, the dealer will still have to use their demos and time.

I don't get the whole 24/48 hour test drive, at night the car will be stuck on a drive/outside the house not being used and when during daylight hours it's hardly going to be in constant use either, it's just something that some prospective buyers think they need.

Whenever we've lent a car out for an extended drive (usually no more than half a day) which is rare, nothing has ever come of it and it's usually the same people who crop up yearly asking for one.

[66HFM]

I think Mini are currently doing a 24 hour test drive on the new electric Mini, although once again this is a manufacturer backed promotion rather than dealer.

[ilikejam]

I've had both a BMW and an Audi from local dealerships for a weekend in the past (probably 8-10 years ago to be fair)

[AlwynMike]

I had a Ford Kuga on Ford's 48 hour test drive scheme. They stated 150 miles max, but when I picked it up from a Dealer, they weren't bothered how many miles we did. It was a PHEV so I wanted to see how it fared on both full and empty charge. Sales guy looked bemused when I asked for it to have no battery charge on pick up! Would have had one of the numbers had been better. Looks like I avoided the potential fireball issue 😱

[alscar]

To add my tuppence it probably depends on many factors including whether new or used , price range , willingness of dealer etc but ask when you visit the dealer.
I’m not sure in recent years I’ve ever needed more than the usual 20 minute to decide but in fairness I was usually fairly sure of what I wanted as was my wife.
I think the longest test drive was a week a long time ago when we went on honeymoon and hired a Fiesta XR2 - liked it and bought one when we came home.