Tips to consider during Test drive of cars!

VBV · 25th July 2007, 15:12

One more thing:

Try to go for a TD with all kind of turns. my first TD of SX4 was a short one I went around Lavelle road in Bangalore. It so happened I had turned left throughout. Now that eclipsed the right side blind spot during TD.

A few things I try:
- Go at higher speeds and quickly turn the steering back and forth; and observe the response time for wheels.
- Take a longish curve and see if you need to correct the steering after the initial turn. It will tell you whether it has a oversteer or an understeer.
- Try the ergonomics test:
5tests-web

Indian · 25th July 2007, 15:22

I think, few other things to check:

1. Sit in the rear-seat & ask someone else to drive the car. Experience the rear seat feeling, just for the sake of your family members.

2. Check how easy is it to get-in & get-out of the car, both from driver seat & from rear-seat.

3. With the driver seat adjusted to your comfortable driving position, check the leg room at the rear. This is very important, as otherwise, you will hear the backseat people asking you "to move little forward". This will definitely affect your driving comfort.

rks · 25th July 2007, 15:26

I agree, tyre pressures should be set 1-2 psi higher when tyres are hot. What I am concerned about is that the dealer may have neglected tyre pressures altogether and may not have checked for a long time. So it would be wise to take the pains to check tyre pressures before test-driving.

Vid6639 · 25th July 2007, 16:06

Check air in the tyres during a test drive.

rks · 25th July 2007, 16:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by vid6639

Check air in the tyres during a test drive.

If you are going to do some of the things listed like throwing the car into corners, check the ride on bad roads, check the steering/handling at high speeds and so on, tyre pressures should be correctly set; otherwise you may get a wrong impression.

thefreak · 5th August 2007, 10:28

Another thing that people may like to do is to schedule test drives of several cars on the same day. I know that this may mean that the test drives become a full day phenomena but if you have decided on your cars well and have short listed say 3-4 cars that you might want to test it is best to go in for the test drive on the same day. It will allow you to better compare the cars. Comparing something that you have test driven today with something that you test drove a week ago may not produce accurate results. "Telescoping effect" in the management jargon.

thefreak · 5th August 2007, 11:10

Wow! two things i posted (repititive) but none of them show! I wonder why..

Note from Mod : Please do take the time to read the announcements section. Especially the rules. Also your answer is in this thread

EatMyDust · 5th August 2007, 21:05

Superb thread, I wish this was there around when I made my choice about a month and half back.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eddy

Is it possible that the dealers tune the demo cars for maximum performance caring very little about the fuel efficiency ? This way the car "seems" pwerful and responsive during the TD at the cost of FE and the driver is impressed.

I dont know if this happens but I might be tempted to do this if I am the dealer

. If it does happen, any way that this can be detected during TD ?

Telling you from my own experience. I bought the AVEO UVA in June 07. The TD car had a butter smooth gear shift. But in the one I own, the gear shift is notchy.

When I posed this Q to fellow Tbhp-ians, they said, there are 2 reasons possible:
1. Since, the TD vehicle had clocked over 6K kms, and so the shift became smoother over use

2. My car has clocked only 500km and after the service it'll smoothen out.

Not sure whats the actual reason though!

- EMD

sathya_nars · 6th August 2007, 18:46

@MODS: Why not park this thread? Or are you planning to come up with article clubbing all replies?

While I was newbie to TDs, I really felt such tips would help me make my search better.

diabloo · 7th August 2007, 14:46

LHD Controls VS RHD Controls:

Cars from Ford, GM have indicators on left hand side. But cars from Maruti, Honda, Toyota, Hyundai have it on right hand side. Adjust from one to another takes very little time. While TDing, be aware of this. Dont reject the car based on this criteria alone.

Rehaan · 8th August 2007, 04:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by sathya_nars

@MODS: Why not park this thread? Or are you planning to come up with article clubbing all replies?

While I was newbie to TDs, I really felt such tips would help me make my search better.

Great thread sathya_nars,

I have parked it. If we do decide to compile either an article or a template using this information we will replace this with that when the time comes, and give all the contributors due credit.

Thanks,
R

nssrini · 14th August 2007, 22:21

I think that's a good point - sometimes, the test drive cars may deceive or may not reflect the true good potential. When I got a toyota corolla for test drive, the car they brought first was so lousy - hard cluch, rumbling brake, etc..- when I gave my dissatisfaction, he brought a brand new car the next day, that was far better...In case of SX4, the test drive car had hard gear shifts & poor stereo - but the new one that I bought, both were quite good..l guess test drive plus some judgement helps....

Quote:

Originally Posted by EatMyDust

Telling you from my own experience. I bought the AVEO UVA in June 07. The TD car had a butter smooth gear shift. But in the one I own, the gear shift is notchy.

- EMD

skandyhere · 23rd August 2007, 22:29

here's a queer query that might look out of place, yet i place it here.

i wonder how everyone here keeps test driving every new model all the time.

supposing there are dealers of 5 different manufacturers in the city, you can go for test drive visits only ONCE to each of these showrooms.

the second time you visit the same showroom to test drive a model just introduced, and you are obviously unwelcome there. how can one justify test-driving every new entrant without the intention of buying it unless you're close to the manager or someone like that?

well???

sathya_nars · 24th August 2007, 10:38

You can say that you are yet to check various controls of car and previous test drive didn't allow you to do that since that was very short trip.

I TDd many cars many times with same dealer, he never questioned me.

BTW, you can't decide just with one time TD whether to buy it or not, so even if they decline to TD many times (they won't do it anyway), go to other dealers and try out.

End of the day, you should be convinced enough to buy it or not, forwhich you have to TD many times.

CrAzY dRiVeR · 24th August 2007, 11:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by sathya_nars

I TDd many cars many times with same dealer, he never questioned me.

Thats not the case everytime.

Am 20 year old, and still in college. Some showroom guys dont seem to appreciate the fact that college kids are walking around for TDs.

25th July 2007, 15:12	#16
VBV BHPian Join Date: May 2007 Location: Bangalore Posts: 227 Thanked: 6 Times	One more thing: Try to go for a TD with all kind of turns. my first TD of SX4 was a short one I went around Lavelle road in Bangalore. It so happened I had turned left throughout. Now that eclipsed the right side blind spot during TD. A few things I try: - Go at higher speeds and quickly turn the steering back and forth; and observe the response time for wheels. - Take a longish curve and see if you need to correct the steering after the initial turn. It will tell you whether it has a oversteer or an understeer. - Try the ergonomics test: 5tests-web
	() Thanks

25th July 2007, 15:22	#17
Indian BHPian Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Bangalore Posts: 212 Thanked: 186 Times	I think, few other things to check: 1. Sit in the rear-seat & ask someone else to drive the car. Experience the rear seat feeling, just for the sake of your family members. 2. Check how easy is it to get-in & get-out of the car, both from driver seat & from rear-seat. 3. With the driver seat adjusted to your comfortable driving position, check the leg room at the rear. This is very important, as otherwise, you will hear the backseat people asking you "to move little forward". This will definitely affect your driving comfort.
	() Thanks

25th July 2007, 15:26	#18
rks BANNED Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: ?? Posts: 1,238 Thanked: 17 Times	I agree, tyre pressures should be set 1-2 psi higher when tyres are hot. What I am concerned about is that the dealer may have neglected tyre pressures altogether and may not have checked for a long time. So it would be wise to take the pains to check tyre pressures before test-driving.
	() Thanks

25th July 2007, 16:06	#19
Vid6639 Team-BHP Support Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Bangalore Posts: 17,730 Thanked: 43,483 Times View My Garage	Check air in the tyres during a test drive.
	() Thanks

5th August 2007, 10:28	#21
thefreak BHPian Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: New Delhi Posts: 362 Thanked: 7 Times	Another thing that people may like to do is to schedule test drives of several cars on the same day. I know that this may mean that the test drives become a full day phenomena but if you have decided on your cars well and have short listed say 3-4 cars that you might want to test it is best to go in for the test drive on the same day. It will allow you to better compare the cars. Comparing something that you have test driven today with something that you test drove a week ago may not produce accurate results. "Telescoping effect" in the management jargon.
	() Thanks

5th August 2007, 11:10	#22
thefreak BHPian Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: New Delhi Posts: 362 Thanked: 7 Times	Wow! two things i posted (repititive) but none of them show! I wonder why.. Note from Mod : Please do take the time to read the announcements section. Especially the rules. Also your answer is in this thread Last edited by Rehaan : 5th August 2007 at 11:45.
	() Thanks

6th August 2007, 18:46	#24
sathya_nars BHPian Join Date: May 2007 Location: Bangalore Posts: 642 Thanked: 56 Times View My Garage	@MODS: Why not park this thread? Or are you planning to come up with article clubbing all replies? While I was newbie to TDs, I really felt such tips would help me make my search better.
	() Thanks

7th August 2007, 14:46	#25
diabloo BANNED Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Bengalooru Posts: 1,480 Thanked: 17 Times	LHD Controls VS RHD Controls: Cars from Ford, GM have indicators on left hand side. But cars from Maruti, Honda, Toyota, Hyundai have it on right hand side. Adjust from one to another takes very little time. While TDing, be aware of this. Dont reject the car based on this criteria alone.
	() Thanks

23rd August 2007, 22:29	#28
skandyhere BHPian Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Charlotte/Blore Posts: 347 Thanked: 92 Times	here's a queer query that might look out of place, yet i place it here. i wonder how everyone here keeps test driving every new model all the time. supposing there are dealers of 5 different manufacturers in the city, you can go for test drive visits only ONCE to each of these showrooms. the second time you visit the same showroom to test drive a model just introduced, and you are obviously unwelcome there. how can one justify test-driving every new entrant without the intention of buying it unless you're close to the manager or someone like that? well???
	() Thanks

24th August 2007, 10:38	#29
sathya_nars BHPian Join Date: May 2007 Location: Bangalore Posts: 642 Thanked: 56 Times View My Garage	You can say that you are yet to check various controls of car and previous test drive didn't allow you to do that since that was very short trip. I TDd many cars many times with same dealer, he never questioned me. BTW, you can't decide just with one time TD whether to buy it or not, so even if they decline to TD many times (they won't do it anyway), go to other dealers and try out. End of the day, you should be convinced enough to buy it or not, forwhich you have to TD many times.
	() Thanks