david_d Posted November 29, 2005 Report Share Posted November 29, 2005 Do you get nervous when you take a nice shiny new car out for a test drive when the salesmans sat in with you? I do, It feels like the dring test to me all over again. The more expensive the car, the worse it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jojo Posted November 29, 2005 Report Share Posted November 29, 2005 I don't, just relax a thrash the thing to death I know someone who test drove a 911 Turbo, she(YES SHE!)didn't realise how quick it was, so didn't brake hard enough whilst approaching an island, luckily for her, there wasn't much traffic about and she actually mounted this island doing substancial damage to the front splitter/bumper and suspension. The funny thing was, the OPC called her 4 weeks later and asked her if she still wanted the car, now that it was all fixed up lol, she obviously refused. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mollox Posted November 29, 2005 Report Share Posted November 29, 2005 Not nervous really, I just find I can't enjoy driving something I don't own and have 100% responsibility for. I don't like feeling like I might have to answer to someone or, in the case of mates' cars, I simply won't drive them Well, if need be I'll drive them but never drive them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smurfette Posted November 29, 2005 Report Share Posted November 29, 2005 When I test drove my current car, I was switching from having driven a left hand drive semi automatic (3 years) back to a right hand drive manual - I'm pretty sure the salesman was more nervous than me!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidicks Posted November 29, 2005 Report Share Posted November 29, 2005 Yes, I guess I do feel a bit nervous. Partly because I feel the salesman is watching my every move, and therefore I'm very conscious of my driving style, just like a test drive. Also, recent test drives have been in cars that I've wanted to like - the Porsche C4S, for example - therefore I've been a bit apprehensive as to whether the experience is going to live up to my expectations. Sidicks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thorburn Posted November 29, 2005 Report Share Posted November 29, 2005 More so with second hand cars. With the Mk3 MX-5 by the end of the drive I had the traction control kicking in all over the place Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lottiefox Posted November 29, 2005 Report Share Posted November 29, 2005 I think there is a certain niggle that someone is sitting next to you watching how you drive...... When I test drove the QS the dealer let me have it for a day. So much better and really lets you have a good play with it. But thats the first time I've managed to get one without the dealer being next to me! Just try and forget they are there, have fun, be (a bit) sensible......I also got the stealer to "demonstrate" the first TT's "ability" first along some good lanes as I thought this was less risky than me piling us into a hedge! Gives you an idea of what the car can do and then when you take over the wheel you can have more fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snail Posted November 29, 2005 Report Share Posted November 29, 2005 That reminds me of a story i head. Some bald, chubby mid-50s guy goes into this dealership, and asks for a test drive of a Evo5. The salesman takes it out, has a bit of "fun" larging it. Then the guy takes over. By now the car is properly warmed up, so the guy gives it large, and it turns out he's a part time rally driver, so is doing 70 round blind bends, and basically scares the bejesus out of the poor salesman! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted November 29, 2005 Report Share Posted November 29, 2005 I can honestly say that it really has no affect on me.. I've driven cars with dealers sat next to me or mates.. I might not thrash a mates car quite as much as a dealers car but it makes no odds. I wouldn't drive dangerously or put anyone's life at risk but most dealers don't mind you putting the car through it's paces. I suppose that now I'm a bit older (35) most dealers let me take it out alone.. certainly the BMW, Audi and Merc garage.. the M3 was a hoot! . The only time i have been bollocked (and i mean really bollocked) was when i went to a vauxhall drive day. You could choose from their range what you wanted to drive and you had to follow a specifed route from the centre with a vauxhall person sat in with you. You had the choice of three cars, so i did the vectra Sri, the omega auto and didn't know what to go for last.. well.. i decided to take a little tigra and take it for a spin. (i had had a corsa Sri previously and as it has the same floor plan i knew it pretty well).. so i get in and this young lady gets in next to me and we set off down some country lanes.. very pleasent!!.. at the end of the lanes was a big roundabout where the minor road joins a A road, and as i had done the drive a couple of times before i knew what was comming, so i booted the tigra and power slid it round the round about and back up the road from which we had come... feck me.. she went bilistic , absolutly mental.. telling me to pull over and how dare i put her life at risk.. .. i managed to win her over but she wasn't a happy chappie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lottiefox Posted November 29, 2005 Report Share Posted November 29, 2005 Good job that salesladyperson wasn't out with me and stealer in the first 225 we demo-ed! Even I twitched at times on his drive, but stealer had done track stuff since he started driving, Nurburgring etc etc so I felt pretty safe. She would have shot him!! Tigra - one of the old or new ones? I took a new one out with the folding roof. I got undertook by a Transit van on a hill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted November 29, 2005 Report Share Posted November 29, 2005 It was one of the old ones.. a 1.6 i think.. we were never going to get into trouble!! Always sticks in my mind. One of my good mates is the audi dealer for Cornwall.. and whenever something 'fancy' comes in for demo , we 'have' to try them out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarMad Posted November 29, 2005 Report Share Posted November 29, 2005 I have to say I don't feel nervous but most of the dealers even sub 30 have given me the car to drive. When I test drove the Lexus it was take the details down and here are the keys and go and enjoy it for a few hours, so I did. I test drove 3 different 3 series recently. With the last one I just turned up and they gave me the keys to a 325 Sport brand new and didn't even take any further details or anything. I had the car for the day and had a nice play with it too. I think I'm a little more relaxed as the insurance on the test drive is covered by me employer. So its no big bills if it does all go wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lottiefox Posted November 29, 2005 Report Share Posted November 29, 2005 Its impossible to get into trouble in a new Tigra - this was a top of the range 1.8 sport (according to the sales guy) - as we were driving I kept asking him if it had a problem as it didn't seem to have any acceleration. He said it was a new engine and "bedding in". Nice to play with the new Audis as they come in - Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattR32 Posted November 29, 2005 Report Share Posted November 29, 2005 I was a little nervous testing the Elise 111R bu that was partly because I was sat next to a Lotus test driver! Cocked up a couple of gearchanges ever so slightly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted November 29, 2005 Report Share Posted November 29, 2005 [ QUOTE ] Nice to play with the new Audis as they come in - [/ QUOTE ] Oh yes.. for sure... the 4.2 tdi A8 is just amazing.. too big for me.. but a fantastic car! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterb Posted November 29, 2005 Report Share Posted November 29, 2005 When I test drove the RS6, the only 'demonstrator' was the MD's own 'run-around'. Even the salesman (who I know reasonably well) hadn't driven an RS6. He (the salesman) kept on encouraging me to "push it and see what it will do!" Although I had the A6 2.7T at the time, so felt comfortable with the size and layout etc., I was just conscious that this was the most powerful car I had ever driven, and that the roads were wet, so I didn't get it much over a ton. Also, before we set off, the tyre pressure monitor reported a problem on one rear tyre - the salesman got out and gave the tyre a kick before pronouncing it 'okay'. However, on the back roads the car was feeling a bit unsettled on uneven surfaces, so the TPM was probably correct! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ari Posted November 29, 2005 Report Share Posted November 29, 2005 Never bothered me driving with a dealer chappy. However, I often wonder how nervous they get, having to sit next to some test pilot they don't know and having no idea of their abilities and having to be polite and try and sell the car. They must get some right plonkers giving it loads, and at what point do you say to a prospective purchaser "I'm sorry, but I feel you are driving dangerously and wish you to slow down". Must be a nightmare sometimes. You've only got to read TSN somewtimes about peoples gung ho "yeah I had a testdrive XYZ Turbo sideways round a roundabout, poor dealer was crapping it" etc etc. I'd hate it I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattR32 Posted November 29, 2005 Report Share Posted November 29, 2005 [ QUOTE ] When I test drove the RS6, the only 'demonstrator' was the MD's own 'run-around'. Even the salesman (who I know reasonably well) hadn't driven an RS6. He (the salesman) kept on encouraging me to "push it and see what it will do!" Although I had the A6 2.7T at the time, so felt comfortable with the size and layout etc., I was just conscious that this was the most powerful car I had ever driven, and that the roads were wet, so I didn't get it much over a ton. Also, before we set off, the tyre pressure monitor reported a problem on one rear tyre - the salesman got out and gave the tyre a kick before pronouncing it 'okay'. However, on the back roads the car was feeling a bit unsettled on uneven surfaces, so the TPM was probably correct! [/ QUOTE ] That must have been fantastic, knowing that you were about to buy one too. One day.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theduisbergkid Posted November 29, 2005 Report Share Posted November 29, 2005 [ QUOTE ] Do you get nervous when you take a nice shiny new car out for a test drive when the salesmans sat in with you? I do, It feels like the dring test to me all over again. The more expensive the car, the worse it is. [/ QUOTE ] Nope - I normally ask for a car for the full day to give it a long run, never been a prob. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterb Posted November 29, 2005 Report Share Posted November 29, 2005 [ QUOTE ] That must have been fantastic, knowing that you were about to buy one too. [/ QUOTE ] Certainly, by the end of the test drive, I knew that I wouldn't be leaving the dealership without having placed an order. Thus it was that I was sitting at the computer, with the salesman, until well after closing time, getting the order placed on the factory scheduling system! When I eventually arrived home, the wife did seem a little miffed, though! "You only told me that you were going to have test drive!" Ooops! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted November 29, 2005 Report Share Posted November 29, 2005 [ QUOTE ] When I eventually arrived home, the wife did seem a little miffed, though! "You only told me that you were going to have test drive!" Ooops! [/ QUOTE ] ooops.. sounds familiar Mine (RS6) was the first they had seen, and they still remember when the delivery man started it up to reverse it off the trailer.. they remember it being like a spitfire Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattR32 Posted November 29, 2005 Report Share Posted November 29, 2005 Had a similar, albeit rather lower key experience with the R32. Wasn't quite as exciting in the Astra! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnss8 Posted November 29, 2005 Report Share Posted November 29, 2005 Don't really get nervous on a test drive just excited, have you noticed how salesguys/persons have a set route they want you to stick to and get annoyed when you don't. When i took an RS6 out on a test drive 1st thing i told the salesguy to do was put petrol in it as there wasn't going to be enough for drive Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Problem_Child Posted November 29, 2005 Report Share Posted November 29, 2005 I've never been nervous on a test drive apart from the time I accompanied a mate who'd just completed the Police Advanced Driver Training course. He was going a bit quick- the salesman was strangely silent too... I once got an MX-5 absolutely sideways on a roundabout by Albert Dock in London. I was bricking it, but the salesman told me off for not booting it and riding the slide! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattR32 Posted November 29, 2005 Report Share Posted November 29, 2005 I tried to get the R32 sideways on that same roundabout (I think) and the damn thing just stuck to the road! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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