How to get the most from your test-drive

When you take a car out on a test-drive it can be really difficult to make up your mind about it. After all, you´re comparing driving a car on for a few miles along with an eager salesperson, to living with it every day for a few years. Just because it feels good after a 10 minute drive doesn´t mean that it will feel good on a 2 hour commute to work every day.

So to help you get the most out of your test drive and make sure that you´re getting the right car for you, we´ve put a little guide together.

First things First

The very first thing is of course, to choose your car carefully.

Once you know what car you want to test drive, try and ensure that the car you are going to take for a road-test is the exact make, model and specification that you´re interested in buying. Different models can have different engines, trims, interior designs, features and tyres to name but a few, and this can make for an entirely different driving experience.

So you´ve got the car in front of you. Forget about getting into the car for a good few minutes at this point. No matter how eager the salesperson seems to pop you into the car and get you on your way, you need to stop and take stock at this point.

Walk around the car first of all and take in the bodywork and shape from a number of angles. Is the paint job good? Are there any gaps in the panels? Check the door handles and make sure that you can open them easily, even in the winter, when you´re likely to be wearing thick gloves.

Next open and close all the doors, the boot and the bonnet. Make sure they are comfortable to manoeuvre. I once bought a car that I thought was fantastic in every respect. However, once I´d opened the boot in a supermarket car park, I found that being 5´2" meant that I wasn´t tall enough to reach the boot and close it. I had to go and ask a taller person to come and do it for me. So save yourself the embarrassment and don´t make the same mistake. See how much space the doors take up when open and make sure that your driveway or garage is wide enough for you to get in and out of the car with the doors open.

Last but not least, check the back of the car and the boot for space and try to imagine all the different scenarios that you will embark on in the car - going grocery shopping, ferrying children and elderly relatives about, possibly driving with animals in the car if you have a dog or cat - anything you do on a regular basis might become a problem if you don´t make sure that the car you´re choosing has the right kind of features that you need.

The touch and sight test

Now it´s time get into the car. - but don´t get excited, you´re not going to drive it just yet!

First thing to do is to check the seats - are they too high, too low or just right? If you have small children or elderly relatives, will they be able to get into the vehicle comfortably? Ask yourself if it is comfortable for you to get in, then imagine yourself in winter clothes and heavy boots, and check that your sleeves won´t catch on the gearstick.

Now you need to get yourself comfortable in the car and look around. Do you like the interior? Are the seats comfortable - do you have any special requirements or health issues, such as sciatica or a bad back that might flare up if the seats aren´t ´just right´? When you sit on the seats, can you feel contours and seams, or is the whole seat comfortable for you?

Next, check the headroom. Is there enough for you and anyone who will drive the car frequently? Make sure the steering wheel is in a good position for you and that the seats are easy to adjust. Make sure you can still adjust the seat angle wherever it is positioned - my friend´s car has a circular seat adjuster that is completely blocked on the driver side by the built in cubby in front of the gear box. It´s impossible to move the seat angle up or down without moving the seat as far forward as it will go (into go-kart position) so that you can get your hand to the adjuster.

Are the pedals a suitable size for your feet? Or will thick winter or work boots make the pedals too small to function effectively? Consider this too for anyone else who is likely to drive the car on a regular basis. For example, if you´re 6´5" you´re likely to have big feet, so you need to make sure that your toes aren´t folded back by the pedal arches when you go to accelerate or brake.

Reach out to all the controls and the cockpit - make sure you are in easy reach of all the controls you will need and see how easy they are to use - are they immediately obvious or will you like me in my first hire car - frightening the wits out of myself and everyone around me by honking the horn every time I tried to wash the windscreen?

How do the buttons and controls feel? If they feel cheap and tacky, you might want to consider the overall finish quality of the car. If they feel smooth and comfortable, check that they´ll be comfortable to use when you´re actually driving the car.

Try to imagine yourself driving the car and how you´d feel - would you be proud driving it, or ducking out the way to make sure that no-one you know sees you?

Ask the salesperson about the car at this point. Get them to point out all the special features while you´re making your mind up about the exterior and interior look and design of the car.

Now...get ready - it´s time to get on the road!

Now you´ve done all of your preliminary checks and you should be starting to feel the first indications of whether or not this car is for you. Assuming you like the car so far, this is where you find out whether or not the drive quality matches up to the build.

So, what is it we´re looking for now?

We´re looking at how the car feels, how it handles, how comfortable it is, how it sounds and checking out its power, gadgetry, braking, and just helping you get an overall ´feel´ for the car.

The most important thing I find when going for a test drive, is that the salesperson isn´t constantly chattering away about how great the car is. Ask them politely but firmly to belt up in more ways than one, before you set off.

If you can, ask if you can choose your own road to drive on. Unfortunately, a lot of the time dealerships won´t allow this, they will ask you to drive along a piece of road that they are familiar with, but do push for it, as it will give you a better idea of how the car will handle on different types of road.

Now it´s time for the real road-test. Here´s a checklist of the things you need to pay special attention to while on your drive.

How powerful is the car?

Test the car when it is safe to do so for the following :
Merging onto a motorway, passing and acceleration and slow/stop urban driving. Does the car accelerate as soon as you want it to or is it a bit sluggish? Drive up and down hills, along country roads, city roads, small streets and over potholes. How does it feel - capable or stretched?

Transmission

If the car has manual gears, then feel how the clutch and stick work together...is it like a bowl of soup or stiff as a branch? Are the gears on good solid grooves making gear changes easy or are you fighting to get the car into the right gear?

If your test car is an automatic, feel how it goes into gear - again is this smooth or hard to manoeuvre?

If you´re test driving a car that has 4WD (in particular SUV´s) engage and disengage it to see how easy it is to work, and how effective it is too.

Ride quality

How does it feel physically when you are driving the car? Is the suspension good or are you being shaken all over the place like a pea in a whistle? Is the vibration too strong or are you comfortably cushioned from the road surfaces?

Handling

This is really important. This can tell you how the car will handle in difficult situations. Try out short turns, long turns, swerves and smooth bends. Does the car respond well to sudden changes of direction? This could be the difference between getting caught up in an accident or escaping, so make sure you concentrate hard on this part of the test and don´t stop until you´re happy with it. If you wiggle the steering wheel does the car respond or can you hardly tell it´s happening?

Braking

This is really important as well. Test the brakes and see how they react if you carry out an emergency stop. Brake both softly and harshly, and see how the car holds up. Tell the salesperson before you do it, so you don´t terrify them and make sure there are no other cars around you that you are going to surprise. If you can, try the braking exercises in a car park, away from other traffic.

Stop, Look and Listen

What does the car sound like? Are there any strange noises that you can´t determine the cause of? Is it loud while you´re driving with the windows both down and up? Remember that it might be ok on a test drive, but loud road noise can start to stress you out if it´s over a prolonged period of driving.

Parking

Don´t forget that if you buy the car, you´re going to have to park it. So have a go at parallel parking and reversing into a space - make sure that the wheel is comfortable to use and that you don´t have any blind spots - depending on your height, some cars have a really high rear window, leaving you unable to see the back of your vehicle at all, so you need to make sure you can cope with parking it.

Now it´s over to you

Now you´ve covered all the basis, the final decision is down to you

Of course, one of the best ways to test drive a car is to have it for more than half an hour. There are several car makers now, who are cottoning onto the idea of 3-day test drives (Vauxhall have been doing this for a few years), where you can take a car over a weekend, and make sure that it´s suitable for your needs. Or if you don´t mind spending a few quid to make sure the car is right for you, you can always hire one for a week from a rental company before you make the decision to buy.

Whatever you do, try not to make any snap decisions. It´s easy to do when there´s a shiny new car in front of you along with a smiling, encouraging salesperson, but remember that you´ll have to live with your decision for a good while at least - and those little problems that niggle at you to begin with, will just get worse. So take your time and make sure that the car you eventually buy is the perfect car for you.