[theragingbull]

Chevrolet has been advertising the Beat with a new caption these days: "Test it like you OWN it!"


This has intrigued me because I have never seen any car dealer letting us test drive cars the way we want to. It's usually a short 15 min drive wherein we can't really test drive the car to the limits.
In fact when I had gone to TD the Beat, the SP took me for a barely 10min drive and when I asked him for a longer test drive he just said that they aren't allowed!
So my question is, does any car dealership actually allow a prospective customer to test drive a car like you "own" it? Like driving through the city and highway for an hour or so? Taking it to high speeds? etc..

[mjothi]

Yes. I had TDed Lancer, Tata Safari and also Fiesta. All the 3 guys allowed me to take the car from my house / office (Shell bunk in OMR road) to somewhere middle of Hoskote.

And I had even took the safari to try out the parking in the tight slot of my apartment parking. Sales guy never said anything.

And yes, tried for TD for Dezire in Bimal, and I never got a chance when I need it.

In Indiranagar Bimal(?) took the SX4 for TD, but was not allowed to drive it more than 10min. Not that they say it straight to your face, but the next thing would be that if you dont give it I guess

So, it also depends on the market and demand, unfortunately.

[gaurav_chopra04]

Most dealerships don't allow you to take good test drives. They have the kinda fixed route and you can test drive the car within limits on that route. I have test driven almost all Suzukis, Hondas, Hyundais, Fords, Fiats, Chevys (beat and cruze), toyota altis, Nissan Teana, and VW Polo. It was only in case of Maruti SX4 that I was able to take a good long test drive and I drove the car the way I wanted (very spirited driving). Secondly, I drove the VW polo the same way but that was on the regular route they were following, only for 10 odd minutes (they let you drive the way you want may be because they get a paper signed stating that any damage in case of accident will be borne by the driver.

But in case of all other cars, the TD was short and wasn't satisfying.

Cant say about Mitsubishi, I know people at the dealership so I have taken good long TDs, so cant say from customer's perspective.

Lastly, I agree with Mjothi, that it highly depends on the market and demand, same sales people giving TD for other Suzuki and sx4, while you only get to drive SX4 for good time and the way you own it.

[aargee]

So, it also depends on the market and demand, unfortunately

^^^Strongly agree to the above

I'd asked for Grande MKII for a TD just after launch & they didn't even bother to call me back; while I TD's the same about 4 months ago at my command & those guys never said anything.

So I would agree that when the model is new, the sales guy wouldn't allow you beyond certain limits (in time or distance), while they give you full liberty when they vehicle is not in demand.

My guess would be is that, GM is suspecting Figo to eat their numbers & hence they're making such ads. Yes, I see lots of Figo on roads compared to Beat.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Every time I drive, I am taking good, clear road (OMR), bad, rough, unmade road (between OMR and ECR) and normal city roads... the rest of Chennai! Really, I want to know how a car is going to perform on all of them.

There is one thing that no Chennai dealer can give us to try: proper hills!

One Mylapore engineer was surprised that I TD-ed a used car as far as Royapettah. My reason for doing so was that I could find a hill of some description, at least --- a flyover.

Maybe Chennai test drives should take in the St Thomas Mount shrine?

[roamingrao]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Maybe Chennai test drives should take in the St Thomas Mount shrine?

or maybe to a big mall with multi level parking. we pay the parking fees !

[Thad E Ginathom]

That's a good idea!

With sharp curves on the ramps too... almost as good as mountain driving!

[FlyingSpur]

Interesting. I've always test driven like I want to. Don't usually listen to the sales chap who's just trying to get the car back asap without a proper TD. They'll try all sorts of things like they're not allowed, etc etc, but if you're firm there's nothing they can do about it.

Hee hee. I just remembered the 530d TD. Really drove it like... I DIDN'T own it cause if it was mine, I'd have treated it with wayyyyyy more respect.

[Deeps]

Forget what the ad says. Just yesterday me and a friend went to one of the biggest GM dealers in NCR to try the beat and we got a standard response "Sir, no car available for test-drive".

[Sahil]

Originally Posted by flyingspur

.

Hee hee. I just remembered the 530d TD. Really drove it like... I DIDN'T own it cause if it was mine, I'd have treated it with wayyyyyy more respect.

I always test it like I STOLE it If the sales chap has a problem, he can sit out while I do my thing.

Most often with luxury cars, they encourage you to rip it to prove it's metal. Obviously without being rash.
When we TD'ed the E60 5 series, my father even went to the extent of putting a minor scratch on the bumper. Still no remorse from the sales team, however they did walk home with a booking amount so no hard feelings there

[raju2512]

I am surprised at the responses. The test drive for a customer is to have a feel of the car, seating and ergonomics. You are neither qualified nor authorised to test the car to its limits. There are qualified people who had tested the car in such conditions. On one hand we lament the poor up keep of the demo cars and reckless attitude of dealership drivers and on the other car abuse the car when we TD.

The ad literally means

"Take care of the demo car as if it is your car. Don't abuse"

[Nikhilb2008]

Raju, no one is talking about being rash. We are talking about high speed testing. Most dealers dont let you do this.

Now, would you want to spend 7-8 lakhs on a car and then realise a month after buying it that it is not very comfortable or stable at high speeds on the highway?

As for me, when we bought the Civic, we test drove it on the NICE road twice and the dealer offered to pay the toll as well. Same thing with Mr. Kiran from Southern Motors when we test drove the Cedia. He offered to pay the toll as well.

When we asked for a TD of the Altis from Ravindu, the sales guy encouraged us to drive fast but didnt offer to pay the toll.

My only problem was with Vinayak Skoda when he didnt allow us to go on the NICE expressway. However, he did allow us to go as fast as possible but how fast can you go on normal roads?

[Thad E Ginathom]

I think "high-speed" gives a wrong impression. "Highway speeds" is reasonable, though.

[McLaren Rulez]

Originally Posted by raju2512

The ad literally means

"Take care of the demo car as if it is your car. Don't abuse"

Someone should have told this to the guy who chose the image for the ad then

[theragingbull]

Originally Posted by raju2512

I am surprised at the responses. The test drive for a customer is to have a feel of the car, seating and ergonomics. You are neither qualified nor authorised to test the car to its limits. There are qualified people who had tested the car in such conditions. On one hand we lament the poor up keep of the demo cars and reckless attitude of dealership drivers and on the other car abuse the car when we TD.

The ad literally means

"Take care of the demo car as if it is your car. Don't abuse"

We aren't talking about 'abusing' the car here my friend! It's about spending a good time with the car and taking for a drive for a good amount of time rather than 10-15mins. One should be allowed to take it on the highway to judge stability; in the city to see how it drives and maneuvers etc.

And the ad no way means "Take care of the demo car as if it is your car"!!