Car Test Drive

[gersfan]

Just wondering how far people would allow a potential buyer to push their car during a test drive.

I had a guy around today to look at my car and ended going for a test drive, each gear to 6,500 rpm before switching. I don't know if this is normal but I have never even pushed it that far the whole time i've owned it.

Anyway I wasn't impressed but he ended up putting a deposit down on the car so I'm not too bothered.

Should I have stopped him? or is this to be expected when selling a turbo car?

Just curious what others think.

[ossie_21]

Personally I'd drive it & they can just sit in the passenger seat. But I don't see anything wrong with what he did as long as it was kept in the limits of the roads & conditions

[Benzino33]

man, I'd slap the taste out of his mouth and ask him wtf he thinks he's doing.

[ossie_21]

Yeah no shit, he's not even onto the limiter yet

[axe s]

when i've taken cars for a test drive, i've asked if they mind if i give it a bit...

Gives them the opportunity to set some limits if they want...

i don't thrash them but...

[tm_r33]

when i've taken cars for a test drive, i've asked if they mind if i give it a bit...

Gives them the opportunity to set some limits if they want...

i don't thrash them but...

+1

while looking at both my r33's before i purchased them i did indeed test drive both.

i didnt quiet push the cars as hard as it seems your buyer did but i did now and then give them a bit of a punch.

i wasnt about to purchase a car in the 10-20 grand range and have no knowledge of whether the engine ran smoothly under a bit of heavy boosting/load.

but yes on the other hand i wouldnt jump in a car i was potentially buying and without permission take it to 6500 every gear change.

i do feel its necessary for a buyer to personally drive the car themselves, i know i wouldnt buy a car i had not driven. but keep in mind its not your vehicle yet. its still someones elses pride and joy.

Edited May 23, 2009 by tm_r33

[Benzino33]

+1

while looking at both my r33's before i purchased them i did indeed test drive both.

i didnt quiet push the cars as hard as it seems your buyer did but i did now and then give them a bit of a punch.

i wasnt about to purchase a car in the 10-20 grand range and have no knowledge of whether the engine ran smoothly under a bit of heavy boosting/load.

but yes on the other hand i wouldnt jump in a car i was potentially buying and without permission take it to 6500 every gear change.

i do feel its necessary for a buyer to personally drive the car themselves, i know i wouldnt buy a car i had not driven. but keep in mind its not your vehicle yet. its still someones elses pride and joy.

yeah, thats true, but Im not gonna let someone else waste my boost before the car's sold. I test drove an r32 before i bought my 33 and didnt even think of giving it any,, just wanted to feel how smooth it idles and takes off.. If u dont want a test driver to thrash your car.make sure u do the test drive off the freeway and on roads that require you to go slower than faster.

Unless you do want the buyer to thrash your vehicle

[tm_r33]

back when i sold my first skyline, i could tell that the young fella who brought it was a bit nervous on the test drive. he was grannying it like ive never seen before (which is to his credit really, he respected it wasnt his vehicle). i ended up forcing him to give it a bit of a squirt about so he could hear the thing run above 3000rpm lol.

but maybe i started a bad thing there because unfortunatly i heard he blew the turbo in no time after purchasing it from me.

[Nic_A31]

I think its ok to test it a little bit.

In a sports car / high performance car, you'd expect anyone to accelerate hard up to redline once or twice, just to see how fast it can pick up speed.

Doing it continuously, exceeding redline, purposely loosing traction, or just plain thrashing it or being a twat is an instant big smack aroud the back of the head.

[Ehgriez]

Ok, when buying a car I always want to give it a quick rap, just once or twice, especially with skylines missing on boost/coilpacks, i also try to let the clutch drop a little to see if its slipping.

However you always ASK first, "hey mate mind if i give it a bit of a squirt" generally its fine.

I wouldn't buy a car if the guy wouldnt let me drive it.

[-Dukes-]

Just make sure they know, they break it they buy it.

I remember my step-dad thrashing a brand new XR6 turbo with the ford salesman in the back seat... and we didn't buy it (got a WRX instead)

[2LV8ETR]

I ask first before getting in the car, if the owner was to refuse I'd walk away.

Have done it to every car I have bought, it's the only way to see if the engine is on the way out.

But yes, ask first.

[Mr. Keets]

It depends on how they approach the whole deal. If it's some kid on his "P" plates with the arse hanging out of his pants then no. It's about qualifying the prospective buyer. I'd warm it up first , take him for a spin then let him have a go. "Dont bounce the limiter and if you crash it you've bought it" lol

[Ten Four]

I had some guy test drive my old R32 GTS4T. He took it to about 160-170 in a 70 zone and he scared teh shit out of me when he flored the brakes. (stopped insanely well) He wasn't some young guy either..

Never heard from him after that.

[3LGODZILA]

when i was looking at cars i let the owner "show me what its capable of" and then after i drove it but not thrashed it just to see if everything's good/drivable

[gersfan]

well my car is gone now so it's all good. but anyways he floored about 10 times doing around 100 in a 50 zone.

had me clenching myself in the passenger seat once when he forgot about the stop sign.

Oh i'll add I had 2 of them in the car. prospective buyer thrashed it. then his knowlegable friend had a go. All the time speaking to each other in lebanese.

Made me feel pretty uneasy but they seemed like alright guys, and they ended up buying it so maybe I was just over reacting.

Edited May 23, 2009 by gersfan

[axe s]

i wouldn't let 2 of them come anyway... herd alot of stories about cars getting stolen that way...

when i was looking at a car once i had the owner and his brother in the car talking Russian or something...

It was very annoying, the more i looked the worse the car got, and the screwed me around twice so ended up telling them to stick it...

[GTR-N1]

well my car is gone now so it's all good. but anyways he floored about 10 times doing around 100 in a 50 zone.

had me clenching myself in the passenger seat once when he forgot about the stop sign.

Oh i'll add I had 2 of them in the car. prospective buyer thrashed it. then his knowlegable friend had a go. All the time speaking to each other in lebanese.

Made me feel pretty uneasy but they seemed like alright guys, and they ended up buying it so maybe I was just over reacting.

Well that's the difference between an enthusiast and a hoon!

Hate to see that car in 1 year's time = bling outside & tabouli inside

[Benzino33]

I had some guy test drive my old R32 GTS4T. He took it to about 160-170 in a 70 zone and he scared teh shit out of me when he flored the brakes. (stopped insanely well) He wasn't some young guy either..

Never heard from him after that.

thats what you call a test pilot

[Char]

if a car blows on test drive when u give it a bit would you pay to fix it? if car breaks with 1 boot surely its just a piece..

tho i guess situation varies

maybe a good bet would be to take it to a dyno and let them boot it n give the verdict

"no driving til i see ur bank balance" tends to show me who's genuine and who's "ohh.. but.. im just waiting to hear from the bank" etc