subject: Learning to Effectively Test Drive a Potential New Vehicle [print this page] Before you actually do the test drive on a car you have to make conditions right for yourself.
First of all, if you have a car model in mind, research about the car in car magazines or on the website of the manufacturer. You should have all the features promised in the model well kept in a compartment in your head before you even approach a retail outlet.
When you do visit an outlet, make sure you have got at least half a day to devote to testing the car. In this way, you will be able to concentrate well on feeling the car and on deciding afterwards.
You will have to take everything the salesman tells you with reservation. Don't believe anything unless you have seen it in the performance of the car. Along this line, focus on what you are doing even to the point of ignoring what the salesman has to tell you. He will understand that you are too occupied with testing the car and will eventually keep quiet.
Drive the vehicle over the parts of town you normally go to. If you intend to use it to go on outings to the mountains, find something approximating that terrain close by. Actually, before even paying the outlet a visit, you should already have an idea of the route you are going to take to test drive the vehicle. This way, you don't waste time going through places that will reveal nothing more than what you may already have found out.
Pay careful attention to the feel of the steering wheel, whether it is too heavy or too light. How do the wheels behave in connection with steering. Are they easily maneuverable or difficult to turn.
Maneuver the car around corners. Occasionally go through bad roads. Once in a while stop the vehicle and start it again. Check the feel of the gears, the clutch, the gas pedals and the brakes. Drive it through the highway and try changing lanes with it
Inspect the rear view and side mirrors, the upholstery. Perhaps you might want to bring along a friend to test the how the back of the car feels.
Drive around for long enough to get slightly fatigued. Then you will know how conducive the car seats are for comfort. You should also try all the adjustments available for reclining the seats. Take careful note of whether the door is firm or flimsy. If there are any temperature controls in the car, try all of them.
Check how the car conducive remedying emergency states will be with your car. If you leave the car keys inside inadvertently, is there some convenient way to get it out?
Check the hood and the trunk of the car. Are they convenient enough to open and shut. If any remotes are installed, you need to make sure these remotes will work in a way that is convenient for you.
After concluding the test, don't get sold on the item immediately and tell your salesman that you need more time to thinkbecause, as a matter of fact, you do.
Wait a few days until the initial impression of the car has been somewhat forgotten. Then pay the outlet a second visit and request for another test drive. It is important that you should try and forget all the impressions you had during the first session. Approach the second test as if it were the first.
If you still like the car after the second test drive, you can start talking to the salesman about the terms of the sale and the question of warranties and insurance. And depending on whether the conditions of the sale seem right or not to you, proceed with buying the car or look somewhere else.
Learning to Effectively Test Drive a Potential New Vehicle
