I am curious how many of you typically test drive cars? I don’t beleive I have test driven a car in at least the last 8 or so cars we leased, but my wife got a on me today for getting her a car she hasn’t test drove, even though I have done that many times before.
Just wondering if test driving is really important for others.
I would never consider leasing a vehicle I hadn’t tested drove. I have very broad shoulders and end up running into the b pillar uncomfortably on some cars.
I also test drive every specific vehicle before signing to check for any issues.
My last vehicle I got from 200 miles away. I rented a car to drive down, test drove the vehicle when I was there, and if there was an issue with the vehicle, I would have turned around and drove home. That certainly wasn’t the first time I had test driven that model vehicle before (I did that locally and gave the dealer I test drove with first an opportunity to earn my business).
We are pretty much complete opposites when it comes to this. I wish I was a little more like you, I tend to not worry enough. That being said I have been lucky so far with all our leases, no complaints.
I haven’t yet ran into a vehicle that I was intending to purchasing that I had to walk away from on that final test drive. I did have a loaner xc60 that I was seriously considering that I walked from because of the condition it was in, but that was a test drive 45 minutes away.
I have had a ton of vehicles that I really wanted to like but had to mark off as not an option due to the initial test drive and it not “fitting” right though.
I always test drive the specific model with specific features that I want. I don’t test drive specific car as that rarely winds up from the same dealership. The only times I don’t test drive if it’s the same model and nothing or barely anything changed from the car being returned.
I shortlist vehicles to usually 2-3 based on online reviews and Youtube videos. I check here, Edmunds and usually the model specific online forum for discounts/deals. Then I go test drive those. I settle on the best one of them that also has good deals.
That’s when I am done with the dealership until I’m ready to sign paperwork. Everything post test-drive is done over email.
I have a similar issue - broad shoulders, but rarely test drive. Instead (well pre-pandemic), I’d go to Carmax and sit in dozens of vehicles on the same day to analyze how well they fit me. Id use the results from that to make a short list of vehicles to try to hack.
I test drive almost every competitor to the car I’m interested in and get rough lease numbers on everything. I also try to get rough numbers on how much better off (or not) I would be if I did a low APR finance and held onto the car.
It’s how I intended to get an Acura MDX for my last lease in 2018 but ended up with a QX60 as it was over $150/month cheaper.
I could care less about test driving a car, however I know of some people who have to test drive cars like they are trying new clothes and test drive 17 cars before they find the one.
For me, I like to at least test drive a similar model before finalizing anything. There is ONE previous instance that I did not test drive until I was taking the car home. The GM of the dealership even pushed to drive it and I refused. I’ll never forget him saying (as he laughed), “very smart, leave emotion out of the equation”.
I don’t think I’ve ever been more jealous of anything in my life. Last time I was buying shoes I shipped everything that Zappos had in the style that I wanted, and was able to find one that fits. But at least now I have that shoe in every color and multiple pairs to last me a long time to not repeat the experiment
I used to, but I don’t bother anymore. Test drives aren’t long enough to determine how you’ll feel x days/weeks/months from now anyways. I don’t think I’ve ever driven a car that I completely hated upon first test drive, but did regret my decision sometimes weeks later after the newness wore off. By then, it’s too late anyways. That said, it’s only a lease, and I can suck it up for 2-3 years if I completely hate it. Luckily that hasn’t happened too often. I’m not stuck with it forever if it does though.
If I like the look, and there is enough HP/TQ under the hood, that’s all I care about anymore, outside of the bill.