How Long is too Long for a Test Drive?

[earlyre]

Not planning on buying a car for a couple years, but i would like to take a couple models for a test drive.
Primarily looking @ a Dart, 1.4turbo, with dual clutch auto, or Fiat 500.
Trying to plot out a good Mixed loop- some city, some country, some 4-lane interstate, etc.-
problem being where the local Dodge dealer is located, to get to the 4 lane, every loop i've tried to map out, google maps shows about 45 min or so round trip.. feels too long to me..

(my family has bought 1/2 doz cars from there over the years, and they've always let us take the cars ourselves, no pesky salesmen riding along, so no worries about that..)

 

[spackard]

Should be an interesting thread. I've been on "4 right turns" (most frequent) to "no test drives".
BMW motorcycle dealer is much more lenient, like 1-2 hrs drive, but I have a long relationship with them, uh, their parts dept.

 

[Chris142]

I don't think they are going to go for the 45 minute test drive. Plus you would be wasting the salesmans time he could be spending on customers that are really car shopping.

Ps. They let you go alone?

 

[Bandito440]

The last dealership gave me a plate and the keys and requested that I be back before they close for the day. That's service!

 

[earlyre]

Originally Posted By: Chris142
I don't think they are going to go for the 45 minute test drive. Plus you would be wasting the salesmans time he could be spending on customers that are really car shopping.

Ps. They let you go alone?


they normally do, so no wasted time...I DO plan on telling them right up front that "this is a research only trip, no buying will be done today."
- of course the last time was 12 yrs ago, but they gave my dad & i the keys and let us go on our way. same thing a few days later when i came back for a 2nd drive of the car (which i did end up buying) Came back by myself, they gave me the keys, let me(then 21yrs old) go out on my own.

when brought it back, no salesman roaming the lot, kinda stood there for a bit looking for someone to hand the keys back over to, when the owner of the dealership came over talked the model up, pointed out the safety features, etc.

 

[ram_man]

When shopping I usually go for a 25 30 minute drive. If i wasn't using the time to map out possible candidate s to purchase I may only do 15 minutes as to not waste as much of their time. Although with used cars if I hear a noise I'm not sure of ill try to figure out and may take more time. Or if the car is junk it don't last long my shortest was certainly under 3 minutes. Didn't even hit the main road and said nope.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: Bandito440
The last dealership gave me a plate and the keys and requested that I be back before they close for the day. That's service!


Yup, when I bought my Explorer, they gave me a dealer plate and told me to "take it for a week" to see if I liked it, LOL!

 

[MBS500]

Telling you right away Fiat 500 will be bumpy on every pot hole. Dart should be on par with your cars in sig. Turbo Fiat will be more quick and agile than Dart Turbo.

 

[daves87rs]

Last car I took for a real long test drive we ended up buying...got to keep it for a few days!

 

[gfh77665]

Test drove the Dart, and got a 500 for a $9.99/day weekend rental. The Dart is SO much more car. The 500 is a micro that will beat you to death while you are packed in like sardines.

 

[TechnoLoGs]

Until it runs out of gas.

Source: Seinfeld, and Cosmo Kramer's test drive in the Saab 900.

 

[JimPghPA]

If you take a vehicle to the dealer, and left that vehicle at the dealer while you had the test ride the dealer probably would not get too nervous about you keeping the test over night. I did that the last time, the dealer was about a 45 minute to an hour ride away, and the dealer wanted my to keep the test ride over night. I did not want to leave my car at the dealer over night even though the dealer had provided me a small shelter to keep my car in while I was gone. So I brought the test ride back before the dealer closed that day.

 

[SuperDave456]

+1 many of them would have no problem with you keeping the car overnight.

They used to have commercials about how they would let you do such a thing.

Swing by after work, take a new car out on the town. Bring the car home and go to work the next day, then drop the car off after work and pick up your old car.

They have done studies. The longer the test drive, the more likely you are to buy the car.

They have all kinds of crazy insurance, and if anything happens to the car while it is in your possession then their insurance company and your insurance company have a little talk.

The car dealership had very little to lose in a very long test drive.

 

[OneEyeJack]

There is a parking lot in the port of Long Beach, California that has thousands of new cars in long rows. If the dealer thinks you're really in the market a longer test drive should be in the cards.

Here's a video from 2009 and some of these parking lots are still full.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usi_JGMlTug

 

[Garak]

Have you been watching too much Seinfeld?

Nonetheless, it all depends upon the dealership and the customer's relationship with them and what they're buying. My dad never had a dealer hang out with him, and he usually kept the car for at least a couple days. But, he bought vehicles for the taxi fleet, had working relationships with the salesman for decades, and occasionally bought vehicles sight unseen. So, it was known that he wasn't going to steal or abuse the vehicles or be a time waster.

When I bought my Lightning, considering I had to order it, I was very lucky to be able to test drive one at all.

 

[demarpaint]

My manager wasn't thrilled with it but when I sold cars I put a plate on the car pulled it out and handed the customer the key. I told them to keep it under half an hour. When the store was busy it gave me a shot at working two customers at a time. He grew to like the idea of me handing them the keys and letting them drive w/o me.

 

[SteveSRT8]

Originally Posted By: OVERKILL
Originally Posted By: Bandito440
The last dealership gave me a plate and the keys and requested that I be back before they close for the day. That's service!


Yup, when I bought my Explorer, they gave me a dealer plate and told me to "take it for a week" to see if I liked it, LOL!


This is what we insist on. NO WAY am I driving around for 10 minutes and then buying something.

The last new car we bought we had the 'loaner' for several days.

 

[dparm]

Tell the sales guy you want to take a longer drive. They probably get asked that a lot and should know some larger loops to take.

If they hem and haw at the idea, find another dealer.

 

[SLCraig]

Depends how serious I am. If I am test driving a car I could be signing for, I tend to take it a bit longer, maybe 20-30 mins.

Some cars, just to see if I even like it or not, 10 mins is good enough.

 

[Doog]

My Toyota dealer has told me to take a salesman's demo car home for the weekend and let the wife have it for a day. I have purchased 3 vehicles from them though.

But you could always go to Vegas...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKKv6cASq4Q