Test Drives. How did you get the one you wanted?

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Thu 9 Feb 2012 08:37
Test Drives. How did you get the one you wanted? - Zuave

Morning again one and all.

Following on from my previous thread (asking for car buying advice) I would like to ask about Test Drives. Until recently I have always known exactly what car I wanted. 3 x XJ in a row and a RangeRover before that. Test Drive was easy.

The Range Rover had a 3.5 petrol and was an automatic. no problem.

Jaguar XJ. very similar, the first one there was only one engine and an automatic box.

Second one I wanted the supercharged and auto, little choice about the Engine-Box combo.

Third one I wanted a Diesel with all the toys...Voila, Automatic diesel sovereign.

Now, when you look at more mainstream cars, how to you get to drive the car you are thinking about buying?

I was at Skoda in Inverness. i wanted to drive an Octavia vRS petrol auto. They had no Octavia autos at all. So I drove a manual and, also, a Fabia vRS with the auto box.

far from ideal and the auto-box in the Fabia is a different one to the auto-box used in the Octavia vRS.

Ford I wanted to try a TiTx 2ltr petrol auto mondeo (trim level would not be an issues, tis more the engine-box combo). They had a manual diesel TiTx. (fortunateley jaguar loaned me a 2 year old TiTx petrol auto a few days before, so I got an idea, but it was the older mondeo of the current shape).

So how do you Guys (and Gals!) get to drive what you are actually wanting to buy?

Ring around until you find somewhere that has one, then travel no-matter how far?

Drive something vaguely similar and hope, when you buy the engine-box/version combo you want, that you like it?

Is it usual these days for the salesman to come along? I find it quite distracting and feel i don't want to be rude and tell him/her to shut up!

Is there a trick/tip for getting a longer test drive? I hear of people having a car for a day or so to see if it really is right for them.

Thanks again. Sorry if this sounds a little naive....but it was always so simple before.-))

Rgds

Zuave

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Thu 9 Feb 2012 08:51
Test Drives. How did you get the one you wanted? - veryoldbear

This is one case when it's easier buying second-hand ...

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Thu 9 Feb 2012 14:51
Test Drives. How did you get the one you wanted? - Andy P

This is one case when it's easier buying second-hand ...

+1 - makes things a whole lot easier (and cheaper)

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Thu 9 Feb 2012 08:57
Test Drives. How did you get the one you wanted? - ChannelZ
So how do you Guys (and Gals!) get to drive what you are actually wanting to buy?

Not buying an auto makes things very much simpler.

I also pretty much know what I want before I go to do a test drive, and go to the dealer who has that particular car.

I've had no problems getting test drives, and any dealers who don't want to be bothered don't get a sale, simple as that. They know it by the end of the phone call, too.

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Thu 9 Feb 2012 09:15
Test Drives. How did you get the one you wanted? - Zuave

Appreciate the point about an Auto-box however, as the wife is only licenced to drive an auto, we need to test-drive cars with Auto-boxes.

Rgds

Z

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Thu 9 Feb 2012 13:03
Test Drives. How did you get the one you wanted? - madf

I also pretty much know what I want before I go to do a test drive, and go to the dealer who has that particular car.

I've had no problems getting test drives, and any dealers who don't want to be bothered don't get a sale, simple as that. They know it by the end of the phone call, too.

+1

No test drive = no sale..

I'm fussy about cars and how they react to speed humps.. a key requirement of any car.. So any test drive has to have speed humps..

Edited by madf on 09/02/2012 at 13:04

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Thu 9 Feb 2012 13:38
Test Drives. How did you get the one you wanted? - csgmart
Don't get me started!

We recently wanted to book a test drive for a
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Thu 9 Feb 2012 14:39
Test Drives. How did you get the one you wanted? - RicardoB

Very good question that I often wonder, in particular whether nowadays you can get a solo drive.

That could be a deal maker or breaker for me - all due respects to the salesman doing his job, and the dealer not wanting to have a car nicked or trashed, but if I am going to spend a lot of my money on a new car, I want time by myself to be sure! Even just half an hour solo would do, and I would only take my time up testing a car that I was seriously thinking of buying, having made my shortlist way ahead.

Edited by RicardoB on 09/02/2012 at 14:40

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Thu 9 Feb 2012 22:44
Test Drives. How did you get the one you wanted? - Avant
"We recently wanted to book a test drive for a....

This looks as if you've had trouble with the execrable Internet Explorer. Try using Google Chrome or Firefox. Sorry!

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Thu 9 Feb 2012 15:24
Test Drives. How did you get the one you wanted? - craig-pd130

I wanted to test drive a Volvo V60 as my new company car but none was easily available.

The dealer obligingly offered an S60 with the engine, gearbox & trim levels I wanted for 24 hours, all covered on their insurance to save me hassle. They dropped the car off at my work, picked it up the following day. Subsequently contract-hired a V60 through them.

I think the willingness to help is more to do with the individual dealer than a marque.

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Thu 9 Feb 2012 16:11
Test Drives. How did you get the one you wanted? - gordonbennet

You go to old established family owned dealership that intends to be there another generation or two, and avoid the finance houses masquerading as car dealers like the plague.

One small Citroen dealer i used to deliver cars to has a senior saleman who's been there well over 25 years (nearly all staff are long termers), can see why, one time i was there unloading some new motors and this chap was just putting some trade plates on a demo.

As i unloaded the young lady customer arrived back having just tested the petrol version, and jumped straight in to test the Diesel he had just plated.

Thats how you sell cars by making the customer the most important person in your life, and letting them know they are by actions.

As for my test drive i simply informed them that i would be using my own route, a mixture of roads including one very undulating rough road, being a family Toyota owned dealer this didn't raise an eyebrow.

Car supermarkets?...you can keep 'em.

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Thu 9 Feb 2012 16:17
Test Drives. How did you get the one you wanted? - Bobbin Threadbare

I got a solo drive in a Mazda 6; it was a used car from an small independent dealership in Garstang. They photocopied my licence and then told me to have 20 mins bezzing about in it. I only didn't buy because it was too old - I had spotted a newer one for the same price somewhere else with a little less on the clock.

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Thu 9 Feb 2012 17:41
Test Drives. How did you get the one you wanted? - xtrailman

I've never had a problem getting a test drive, and i like to have two or three.

Usually with a saleman sat next to me, it can be a bit of a nusance, one sales woman was flapping at the speeds i was doing.

Only twice did i get to drive alone, well with the wife, once when we tested a Honda Accord, the first type in the country the sales man gave us the keys for a day, great car we bought one.

second time was a Audi Quattro, same thing gave us the keys, again latter bought one.

I usually know whether the cars for me after the first couple of hundred yards, but a longer test helps.

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