Thoughts on test-driving a car

A friend of mine is in the unfortunate position of needing a new car-- unfortunate because when you're not a petrolhead, generally you don't want a new car. I was originally putting thoughts on how to test drive a car into her Facebook page, but it got awfully large, and I migrated it over here.

I think the first piece of the puzzle is to narrow down what you're looking for. We get annoyed at the office when someone wanders in and asks for something incredibly broad. "Hey, can you make me a web page?", they might ask. "Sure, what kind?" "Like you'd get to in Explorer. A web page." So I have to imagine that car salespeople get the same way. "I want to buy a car." "Great! What kind of car?" "One with wheels. And maybe seats." 

The other thing you need to do before you show up at a dealership is to be prepared to take notes. I made a little crib sheet to jot notes down on. There's a lot of stuff to take in, don't trust your brain to remember all of it.  I put space for each of the vehicles I was interested in on my crib sheet. When the salesman sees it, he knows you're considering other vehicles.

Once you're in the car, take a moment before you put the car in gear to go over a few things:

• How comfortable is your seat? Would you be okay sitting there for a long road trip? If not, try to adjust it closer to what you'd like. Don't forget to re-adjust the mirrors. Does the seat belt adjust to where it's comfortable and not digging into your neck?
• Listen. You're sitting in the car with the engine running but not moving, just like you would be at a traffic light or commuting on the Beltway. Does the engine sound harsh? Are you going to have to crank the stereo up to Mötley Crüe levels to drown out the noise?
• If you ever drive with the windows down, put them down and listen again. 
• Where's your left foot? Is there a "dead pedal" for it to rest on, or is the seating position high enough that it rests flat?  Or is it going to be dancing the left half of an Irish jig two hours into your next road trip, trying to get comfortable?
• Check your mirrors again. Can you get a good idea of where all four corners of the vehicle are-- you'll want to know next time you're stuck with parallel parking.

The salesman probably has a route he likes to use for test drives. You'll probably want to add to it-- he's not likely to take you to a rough section of road, and he may or may not get you out to the highway. Ask to do these things.

Ideally, he'll hand you the keys and say, "See you in a half hour", but that never seems to happen to me. 

This is kinda the "easy part" of the test drive. Most of how the car drives will be something you'll feel more than think about, but a few things to consciously note:

• When you're on the highway, listen to the car again. Does the exhaust drone? Will you be able to carry on a conversation with the hiker next to you? Do the tires whine?
• Can you see what's going on around you? Do you seem to have huge blind spots that no amount of mirror adjustment can fix? 
• Pay attention to parking the vehicle-- the salesman may offer to do it if you just pull it around front, but you'll want to know how tough it is to see the car next to you and how hard it is to get out of the car when you're parked next to another one.

When you get back to the dealership, sit there and take notes before you get out of the car. Go back over the pre-drive things-- still comfortable? Does the engine sound louder/quieter now that it's warmed up?