Test drive

LENNY86

Ive always bought a car either a year or 2 old never had I bought brand new till this week, the dealer 1, of 3 I was dealing with i went to view a car when asked to drive it he handed me the keys and trusted me going alone.

The other 2 I went to accompanied me, I chose this dealer as he was trusting in me. I dont know if solo test drives are the norm but it was nice.

biko

Perhaps the two who went with you did it in case you had questions or comments during the drive?

LENNY86

biko wrote: »

Perhaps the two who went with you did it in case you had questions or comments during the drive?

Maybe I didnt mind,, it was just when guy threw the key's and said take as long as is needed, it left a really good mark on the situation.

JoeA3

Always nice to get a test drive without some greasy salesman sitting next to you for sure. Not many main dealers allow it though, I'd imagine mainly for insurance reasons.

Del2005

LENNY86 wrote: »

Ive always bought a car either a year or 2 old never had I bought brand new till this week, the dealer 1, of 3 I was dealing with i went to view a car when asked to drive it he handed me the keys and trusted me going alone.

The other 2 I went to accompanied me, I chose this dealer as he was trusting in me. I dont know if solo test drives are the norm but it was nice.

The person who gave you the keys put the insurance obligation onto you whereas the garages that accompanied you were using their insurance. It's not trust it's a cost saving if you crash.

R.O.R

They are doing it wrong, not a test drive nowadays, it's a demonstration drive.
Salesman should be driving the vehicle out of the dealers to demonstrate the features, stopping somewhere safe to do a 6 point sales presentation on the car, then letting the customer drive it back to the dealership.

Yes, I have been paying attention to the training videos, even though I'll never have to do it.

LENNY86

R.O.R wrote: »

They are doing it wrong, not a test drive nowadays, it's a demonstration drive.
Salesman should be driving the vehicle out of the dealers to demonstrate the features, stopping somewhere safe to do a 6 point sales presentation on the car, then letting the customer drive it back to the dealership.

Yes, I have been paying attention to the training videos, even though I'll never have to do it.

Doing it wrong? How is that they secured a sale for 48k. To me thatsa doing something right.

Del2005

LENNY86 wrote: »

Doing it wrong? How is that they secured a sale for 48k. To me thatsa doing something right.

How many businesses give assets worth €50k to random people who walk in off the street?

LENNY86

Del2005 wrote: »

How many businesses give assets worth €50k to random people who walk in off the street?

I didnt walk in off the street, id made an appointment.

Del2005

LENNY86 wrote: »

I didnt walk in off the street, id made an appointment.

Same difference, they've no idea who you are but are willing to give you an expensive asset.

LENNY86

Del2005 wrote: »

Same difference, they've no idea who you are but are willing to give you an expensive asset.

Exactly this was trusting me with theirthe asset. The point of post was just to explain my joy at being allowed drive myself.

Toyotafanboi

Was the one that let you do a solo test drive also the cheapest?

LENNY86

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

Was the one that let you do a solo test drive also the cheapest?

No but wasnt the most expensive there was 750 quid in difference of all 3.

bmwguy

I was doing a test drive in a car earlier this year the sales man came with me.
He took a call, presumably from the dealership, while in passenger seat saying

'yes it's still in stock but actually out on a test drive in it now. I'll let you know later if it's still available'

Thought it was a very crude sales tactic to be honest. Would have preferred to just go for a spin on my own.

LENNY86

bmwguy wrote: »

I was doing a test drive in a car earlier this year the sales man came with me.
He took a call, presumably from the dealership, while in passenger seat saying

'yes it's still in stock but actually out on a test drive in it now. I'll let you know later if it's still available'

Thought it was a very crude sales tactic to be honest. Would have preferred to just go for a spin on my own.

I went for a drive for 10 mins but thenI stopped and looked around bootspace sat in the back. Id not of been able to think straight withto salesman beside me

DaveyDave

When I went for a test drive the salesman went with me, it was just a drive though. He didn't show off any of the features or anything. He was happy enough to let me go my own route, I live in the area so took it through roads with a silly amount of speed bumps, roundabouts, straights to get a good feel for the car. He didn't say how long I could go for so I didn't go too long.

I don't have insurance of my own so their insurance covers that? Good thing I didn't go alone so! I didn't even think about it until this thread. He didn't check my licence so for all he knows I didn't have one :P

LENNY86

DaveyDave wrote: »

When I went for a test drive the salesman went with me, it was just a drive though. He didn't show off any of the features or anything. He was happy enough to let me go my own route, I live in the area so took it through roads with a silly amount of speed bumps, roundabouts, straights to get a good feel for the car. He didn't say how long I could go for so I didn't go too long.

I don't have insurance of my own so their insurance covers that? Good thing I didn't go alone so! I didn't even think about it until this thread. He didn't check my licence so for all he knows I didn't have one :P

My license wasnt checked by any of thethe dealers before heading out either.

bazz26

It depends on the dealer's insurance - some policies require that a member of staff accompany any potential buyer on a test drive while others may not.

ba_barabus

R.O.R wrote: »

They are doing it wrong, not a test drive nowadays, it's a demonstration drive.
Salesman should be driving the vehicle out of the dealers to demonstrate the features, stopping somewhere safe to do a 6 point sales presentation on the car, then letting the customer drive it back to the dealership.

Yes, I have been paying attention to the training videos, even though I'll never have to do it.

It gets awkward though when the customer knows more about the car than they do. It turned me right off buying in 2 plaves earlier this year. They could have been selling toasters for all they knew.

grogi

ba_barabus wrote: »

It gets awkward though when the customer knows more about the car than they do. It turned me right off buying in 2 plaves earlier this year. They could have been selling toasters for all they knew.

It is awkward alright. But I really don't pay any attention to what the salesmen are saying unless it starts with discount and ends with thousand... ;-)

The only thing I expect the salesman to be is to honor the arrangements - be it about the test drive, price and delivery time...

Toyotafanboi

ba_barabus wrote: »

It gets awkward though when the customer knows more about the car than they do. It turned me right off buying in 2 plaves earlier this year. They could have been selling toasters for all they knew.

But to 95% of punters, all they are buying is a toaster too.