Good afternoon guys, My friend and I are having almost a heated discussion on how many test drives you take before you buy a new car.I say no more than 3 he says 5 maybe 6 before he buys.what do you think?
Up to the individual. I drive only 2, maybe 3, because I’m researching my next car the day I buy its predecessor. I sit in lots, read lots of reviews, then come up with the 2 or 3 I want to consider. But for non-car folks, it makes sense to test more, just do it on the same day or you’ll forget.
As many as it takes, You are going to be sitting in that seat for a while and I don’t get 3 test drives that’s it!
I’ve spent about 2~3 years searching for my next vehicle, test driving various makes, models, and types. From a new Silverado to a new Civic, a Flex to a Mini. My choices are still pretty much up in the air, but I think I’ve narrowed it down to 3 or 4 vehicles to chose from.
If you want a particular car, you test drive it. If it runs perfectly, you can have it checked by a mechanic. Most people don’t compare six different models. It isn’t worth any long discussion. After you have been owning cars for 25 years or so, you may find out what it takes for you to be happy. It isn’t a factual thing, it’s a preference for how and why of car buying. If you have no clue as to what you want, you will be test driving yourself crazy. Your time should be worth something.
In 45 years all the cars I have bought, I bought after one test drive and the car I was buying. So far I have never been disappointed with any car I have bought.
I’m pretty specific in the vehicles I want. So I only test drive one or two expamples that meet my criteria.
Few…and I’ve learned to take much longer test drives.
I start the process by first sorting to only the cars that meet my criteria and are within my price range.
I then sort by reliability and pick only the top choices. I then test drive them all at least once, the final choices more than once.
The last time I went through the process it failed. I test drove Honda Civic, Nissan Sentra, Toyota Camry, Toyota Corolla, Scion xA and Scion xB. My daughter talked me into testing a Scion tC, despite it being slightly more money than met that criterion.
I bought a Corolla. A good, solid, excellent choice. Within two months I realized it was killing my bad back. I went back and took the tC on a loooooooong test drive. I ended up trading the Corolla for the tC. I now have over 101,000 miles on it and I absolutely love the car.
So, the length of the test drives is every bit as important as how many. Probably more so.
Agree…that a test drive or series of drives that closely mimics your driving habits over time is essential to reveal weaknesses you may encounter. That may be one…or a dozen, depending upon how well prepared with research you are or how much you just like cranking on another’s car.