√The 14 things you must do when test-driving a car
Getting behind the wheel of a potential new ride? Make sure you tick these things off – or you’ll risk buying a car you hate driving.
Buying a car without sitting in it, or test-driving it, is like getting married based solely on someone’s dating profile – you’re asking for trouble.
Yet more people are skipping the all-important test drive and, in the internet age, sometimes even buying their next car sight-unseen.
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It’s not until you sit in a car, however – away from highly crafted and polished brochure images – that you get a real sense of what it’s like to own. And then there’s a whole new layer of knowing on top of that: taking it for a test drive.
In this article, we speak to a mechanic and used car dealer to stress why the test drive remains king, and what to look for when you get behind the wheel.
Of course, if it’s a second-hand car you’re courting, the test drive comes after the service history has checked out, and you’ve had the car looked over by someone you trust, such as your mechanic.
Why it’s still important to do a test drive
Would you buy shoes without trying them on? The same analogy fits – pardon the pun – for a car. Your body shape and the car’s interior design might simply not gel; something you can’t know until you sit in it and take it for a drive.
For a used car, there’s an added element: the test drive is a chance to spot things an unscrupulous seller might be trying to hide.
“The test drive is extremely important,” veteran Melbourne mechanic Kieran Feck tells Drive. “Someone can clean a car so it presents well, but until you drive it, you can’t know about the car for sure.”
It’s advice echoed by Joey Riggio, dealer principal at MAW Motor Group – one of Melbourne’s highest-rated used car dealers. Riggio says the older the car, the more you should be asking for the keys.
“Depending on the age of the car, a test drive isn’t as important if it’s a later-model car with low kilometres, still under the new car warranty,” he tells Drive.
If it’s a new car, some new car dealers will offer to loan you the car overnight or over a weekend – and if they do, say yes, as it’s a golden opportunity to trial the car in your own time, and in your own circumstances.
Think about how you’ll use the car. If you do a lot of freeway driving and like to use cruise control, take the car onto a freeway and try the cruise control. They’re not all made equal.
Test drive tip 1: See if the ‘check engine’ light is on
Often immediately prior to starting a car, all the instrument icon lights will illuminate – but if one in particular remains on, be wary. That’s the little orange engine symbol that means ‘check engine’, indicating the car wishes to see a mechanic immediately. “That’s number one,” says Feck.
Test drive tip 2: Start the car cold
Try to undertake a test drive prior to the car warming up at all. “When you start the car on a cold start, it may present some issues that are reflective of a cold start,” says Riggio. “Valve stem seals, for example, are more common to show in a cold start rather than a car that’s been heated or pre-heated.”
Test drive tip 3: Check the driving position carefully
Even if the owner or a salesperson is sitting next to you, take your time getting comfortable. Adjust the steering wheel, seat and mirrors. Like the shoe analogy, make sure the car ‘fits’ you the way you like. Some cars, the pedals might be too close or the steering wheel too far away. Future you will be eternally thankful if you can notice this before handing over your hard-earned.
Test drive tip 4: Crank the AC
A seller might assume the air-conditioning works, and price the car accordingly. Crank it to maximum cold and check it’s nice and frosty. If it isn’t, it might need to be re-gassed or, even worse, overhauled.
Test drive tip 5: Crank the stereo
If you’re an audiophile and expect to use all four, six, 10-or-more speakers on a regular basis, connect your phone and play your favourite tune to see how the stereo performs. Totally Addicted to Bass is a good reference track (and not a bad tune, to be fair).
Test drive tip 6: Listen for weird noises
After you’ve tried the stereo, turn it off and drive in silence for a while. All you should be able to hear is the static of tyre noise and the engine revving – and nothing else. Clunks and whines, especially from the suspension, indicate things have worn out and need replacing.
Test drive tip 7: Put your foot down
Find a freeway on-ramp and blast up to 100km/h, testing the overtaking ability of your potential new ride. It’s not until you try this that you may discover you’re buying a car so underpowered it feels like it’s towing a small parachute. All Aussies love a bit of power in their cars.
Test drive tip 8: Check the fuel economy
Scroll through the trip computer and take note of the fuel economy on one of the trips, if it’s available. The more kilometres it’s been measured over, the better. This will help give you an idea of how much it will actually cost to run.
Test drive tip 9: Play with the infotainment
Do you tend to use a car’s built-in satellite navigation and audio controls rather than Apple CarPlay or Android Auto? Enter an address to gauge how fiddly the software is, and see how it navigates you (or doesn’t). Try the native voice control – these systems range from godly to god-awful. Equally, you might find the navigation voice reminds you of that person you worked with all those years ago, who you couldn’t quite stand. You might not be able to change it.
Test drive tip 10: Press every button
Car reviewers often focus on things like cornering ability, but it’s how buttons and dials feel – the things you experience every single day – that matter more. Make sure you prod the switches, twirl any air-conditioning knobs, and drag your finger up and down any haptic sliders.
Some modern cars have awful buttons, or none at all – hiding them in the centre screen. If this is the case, try turning the air conditioning down using the voice control – another always interesting test.
Test drive tip 11: Do a parallel park
A simple parallel park can reveal a great many things about a car: its rearward visibility, whether it has parking sensors or a reversing camera, its turning circle, if it’s deceptively large. If you intend to leave the car on the street and foresee a parallel park in your daily routine, try it before you buy.
Test drive tip 12: Drive it at 100km/h
If it’s a second-hand car you’re test-driving, try to get beyond 50km/h or 60km/h, explains mechanic Feck. “Always try to get it on the freeway if you can,” he says. “Sometimes you won’t notice a wobble or a noise until you hit 80km/h or 100km/h. A wheel bearing might not make any noise until you’re just over 100km/h.
“Check for any lack of power, any wobbles in the steering or the car itself. If it’s an automatic, give it a bit of a hard time and go through the gears and make sure there are no odd feelings.”
Test drive tip 13: Do a freeway merge
If it’s a brand-new car, just as instructive as the humble parallel park is merging onto a freeway, where you’ll quickly learn the size of the rear three-quarter blind spot – or how effective the blind-spot monitors are, if the car has them at all.
Test drive tip 14: Try pairing your phone
Pairing a phone is not just an insight into how brilliant – or baffling – the design of the user-interface may be, but it also reveals whether there’s wireless Apple CarPlay or Android Auto.
If that is the case, make sure you check how well it fills the central infotainment screen. Some cars have huge screens but tiny Apple CarPlay displays that look like an old Tom-Tom.
Did we miss any? Let us know in the comments. For now, happy test-driving – and buying.
The post The 14 things you must do when test-driving a car appeared first on Drive.
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