I always persuade the garage to let me have the car for a day or two, that way I can try it properly.
I have found that the insurance can be difficult to get sometimes as they think because its a test drive I'm going to thrash the nuts off it and get the back out on every bend.
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Never, EVER take the saleman with you! Insurance is not a problem as you will be covered either by trade plates, the garage's own insurance ( as you are driving the car with their permission) or even your own as most comprehensive insurance policies allow you to drive someone else's car under third party cover.
Al.
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Everything I know about cars you could write on the back of a bacterium.
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Never, EVER take the saleman with you! Insurance is not a problem as you will be covered either by trade plates....
Unless a garage representative is with you, you cannot use trade plates. The trade plates will only cover you if they are with you.
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For every person with honest intent, there is probably some womble who abuses loan arrangements so I sympathise if dealers are a bit cautious.
If however, an appointment is made after an initial enquiry that allows the dealer to make a few sensible checks it shouldn't be a problem - after all it's what insurance is for and they do want to make a sale.
It's one advantage of finding a good dealer and sticking with them - they end up ringing you; anxious for you to try the latest model.
Some dealers like BMW/Merc can be awkward because they feel you should be happy enough to be allowed to buy one! What do you need to test it for? In those circumstances the loan car idea seems a wise move.
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Mercedes are always willing to let me have a car for up to a week but when I wanted to have a test drive in a BMW 3 series the other year I was politely told to sling my hook.
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I had no problem getting a 24 hour test of an IS200 from Lexus. Nissan once lent me a Primera for a whole week!
Peter
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Renault gave me a Laguna for a day to test, and a Scenic the next day. Nissan delivered a new primera to my work to test for three days and Ford sent a focus round to my house on the friday morning and collected it the next Monday. There is no way I would live with and drive 60,000 miles in a car I have tested for an hour! Vauxhall were willing to deliver a new vectra for the weekend, but I drove it at Millbrook last year and didnt like it so i didnt take them up on the offer.
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Drove a new Mégane yesterday for about 40 minutes. I liked the car but the deal I want (free insurance, cheap PCP) is only on the 1.4 base 3 door. It's a good car and while it doesn't slap down the Focus in every way, it looks a better car at the same money. The engine is a bit anaemic compared to what I'm used to though. (Mmmmm, 1.7, torquey!)
I also tried to book a Vectra for that 48 hour test drive. I wanted it for the weekend of 11-13 July but... you have to be 25. I'm 24 years, 11 months and 11 days old, so the javascript form on the Vauxhall website told me to go away.
I'm not going to be buying a Vectra this time but I did quite fancy a go and would look very seriously at something of that category next time round.
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Drove a new Mégane yesterday for about 40 minutes
How did you get on with the steering? I absolutely hated it on the one I drove for a few days, the way it loaded up in corners and seemed to have a time delay. Very odd!
Speaking of time delay the dip sitch was odd too. Reaction time from main to dip was instantaneous, but a definite delay in going back from dip to main. Multiplex wiring?
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I liked the steering; a decent amount of feel, very grippy and not too light - although no effort required to park. The Focus tends to do that delayed reaction thing even more, although you get used to it and it becomes quite talkative so eventually you learn to place the car very well in the bends.
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Oh and I didn't bother testing the headlights as it wasn't dark and I wouldn't have noticed if they'd been yellow like the fogs on my 1989 R19...
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