When you test drive a car you are looking at do you baby it or beat on it? Also, do you have different etiquette whether it is a dealer or a private seller?
I say give her a moderate beating but only long enough to see how the car takes it then cool down, for a private seller. As for a dealer I have never test driven their cars.
What do you do?
dealer cars: beat the pis out of them till the sales man says something about it
private cars … drive them nice except for a hard pull or two
drive it like your going to drive IRL
Drive it to the point where you say “I want it” or “I dont want it” if you dont give it a little abuse, how are you gonna know?
I hate when a dealer says “Only make right turns, take it easy…” because they just want you to take it around the block! WTF?
private seller: drive it like i would normally drive it, and if i feel there is nothing wrong with the car, i push it a little, and if i still feel nothing wrong, then really go at it just a little. i always ask the seller ‘mind if i get on it a little’ or ‘mind if i take this turn a little quick?’ etc. if they say no, then they obviously have something to hide.
dealer: fuck it, beat the piss out of it
dealer: beat on it.
private: beat on it, but make sure I tell them that I am going to beat on it. If they don’t want me to beat on it, I don’t want to buy it from them.
Both: Do a couple hard pulls in 2nd or 3rd gear after the car is warmed up. Look in the rear view for smoke, pop the hood to look for leaks after. For suspension hard left right left right in a parking lot to get the weight to transfer hard. Brakes 8/10 emergency.
now I want to test drive a dealers car :snky:
Like I said
Every car I have test driven
I have beaten on.
The best mistake is when the seller decides to not come with me…
dumbass.
Exactly.
Unless the dealer lets you go out on your own. Then you beat the piss out of it the whole time.
(test drove a WRX wagon by myself. Good times.)
They let you drive it alone… did you know the salesman?
No. My fiance was with me. Perhaps they thought I was responsible.
haha, I should try that but instead find a small child to borrow
i’ve had private sellers tell me to beat on it. but that just tells me that they beat on it too… and that’s not usually the best sales pitch.
i definately drive it hard on a dealership test drive, but usually only if they tell me to… which should be the case with anything remotely quick. although i drove a wrx and the dealer was a big baby who cried when i drove through a puddle.
It’d be stupid to test drive a car and not drive it like you intend on driving it.
How are you supposed to know if you like the way it drives if you don’t do that?
i wouldnt necessarilly beat the piss out of it…but give it a good pull or two to make sure the power is there…do some swift lane changes and what not
with a private seller, ASK before you do anything hard to their car. show some respect, it’s still their car.
the dealership, try to get it up on two wheels.
However, with a private seller…One that tells you that they don’t want you to get on it at all is someone trying to hide something.
very true. still, let the guy know what your intentions are first.
dealer cars i’d beat on moderately after all they are new and if i buy a car i don’t want something that someone else was abusing first. though usually i test drive a similar model and then grab the one i want with 5 miles or less on it heh.
private sellers i ask first and run about the same rule of thumb.