Your heart rate is up and your palms are sweaty as you start the engine.
You’re test driving the vehicle of your dreams, the one you lusted after at the Chicago Auto Show. It has that new-car smell, just eight miles on the odometer and not a scratch on it as you ease out of the dealership’s driveway. A smiling car salesman rides shotgun.
Carefully avoiding potholes and puddles, you gingerly steer through four right-hand turns during your test drive, never exceeding 35 m.p.h. A gentle foot on the brake pedal brings the five-minute test to an end back at the showroom.
“Great car,” you tell the salesman, relieved that it is over.
Wimp.
Any vehicle can ace that easy a test. The only way to find out whether this is the right vehicle for you is to drive it the same way you drive the one you have now. Just because a salesman is riding with you, watching your every move, doesn’t mean you can’t fully test a vehicle to see whether it suits your needs and driving style before you buy it.
Do you bang over rippled pavement and railroad tracks without slowing? Well, then do the same thing with the vehicle you’re test driving. Do you chirp the tires with jackrabbit starts on your way to work? Try it with the vehicle you’re testing. Do you zip around corners so fast the tires squeal and your spouse yells that you should slow down? Though your spouse is right, find out how your test vehicle performs.
How fast should you go? Drive as fast as you normally would, letting safety and sense prevail.
It is better to make a car salesman cringe than buy a vehicle that doesn’t meet your standards.
A few minutes at parking-lot speeds is hardly enough to judge a vehicle’s performance. Twenty minutes at a variety of speeds on different roads is much better, and 30 minutes is better still. The salesman may get antsy the longer you drive, but whose money will pay for it, yours or his?
The more time you spend behind the wheel and poking around the interior of a candidate for your driveway, the more likely you’ll pick the right vehicle.
Before taking a vehicle out for a test, insist on a thorough walk-around presentation in the showroom that demonstrates key features of the vehicle and explains optional equipment. Even if you think you already know it all, you probably will learn something. If the salespeople don’t know a camshaft from a cupholder and can’t answer your questions, you’ve learned you’re in the wrong dealership, and it’s time to move on. Once you get behind the wheel, take it easy until you get the feel of the vehicle, and then look for the worst road you can find.
Any vehicle will feel comfortable on smooth pavement. A road with potholes, tar strips, pockmarks and rough rail crossings is a much harder test. Notice whether the suspension absorbs bumps or passes them on to the vehicle’s body, which will transfer them to yours. Are there any squeaks and rattles? Even if there aren’t, a stiff-riding vehicle is a strong candidate to get them later.
Given the rough condition of most heavily traveled roads in the Chicago area, a pockmarked road should give you a good idea of how this vehicle will feel daily.
Listen to how much bumping comes from the suspension and tires. Excessive noise from under the vehicle makes long-distance travel more tiring and can drown out the radio. Why spend $1,000 on a high-end sound system if you can’t enjoy it?
Don’t test one model and buy another with larger tires or a stiffer suspension. Larger tires typically used on sporty cars and four-wheel-drive vehicles often increase ride harshness and road noise. The same goes for stiffer suspensions on performance cars.
If you plan to buy a 4WD vehicle, test drive it with the 4WD hardware. 4WD adds weight, increases ride height and usually includes a firmer suspension, all of which can make the ride and handling different than a two-wheel-drive version.
Some 4WD systems are permanently engaged and require no driver input. Others allow engaging 4WD at any road speed, but a handful can be engaged only at 25 m.p.h. or less and require backing up a few feet to disengage 4WD. Ask for an explanation and a demonstration, and try it.
Driving in a straight line lets you assess ride quality. You have to make turns to judge the steering and handling. Take some corners fast enough to feel whether the steering is too light or stiff. Note how much the body leans and how well the tires grip the pavement (tires squeal when they start to lose grip). Brake suddenly and observe how much the front end dips in hard stops and whether the anti-lock system (if so equipped) helps maintain control.
There are no absolutes about what constitutes an “A” and what constitutes an “F.” It is your judgment whether a vehicle is easy to control and responsive.
While your goal should not be to try to make a vehicle fail the test, push it a little, simulating evasive maneuvers and panic stops to see how it reacts in emergencies. If you aren’t comfortable with the performance, try a different model for comparison.
You can give the engine and transmission a good workout without abusing them. After the engine is fully warm, look for an open stretch of road where you can accelerate briskly, or an expressway entrance ramp where you can safely floor the throttle for a short spell. See whether the vehicle accelerates quickly enough for your driving style and listen to the engine and transmission. Some engines don’t like to work hard and will express their displeasure with a loud, coarse growl. Hard acceleration also reveals how smoothly an engine runs at higher speeds.
If you like to squirt through small gaps in traffic with quick bursts of speed, try this during your test drive. Slow down, then hit the gas to see how quickly an automatic transmission shifts to a lower gear and how smoothly. A transmission that is slow to react will spoil your passing opportunities. If you prefer a manual, see how easily the shift goes up and down the gears and how much effort the clutch pedal requires. A heavy clutch will wear out your left leg in stop-and-go driving.
A driver’s physique is a major factor in how he or she fits behind the wheel.
Some people are just too large to be comfortable in some vehicles, whether it’s too little head or shoulder room or space to stretch their legs. The pedals in some vehicles are positioned so short drivers have to sit on top of the steering wheel to reach them. This is a serious concern because safety experts advise drivers to be at least 10 inches from the steering wheel to avoid being injured or killed by a deploying air bag.
Some drivers can decide in a minute or two in the showroom whether they fit in a vehicle; others may require time on the road.
Climbing into the driver’s seat of a new vehicle after driving the same car or truck for years is bound to feel different, so give it time (another good reason to extend the test drive). A manual seat may not have as many adjustments as an extra-cost power seat, so ask to try both.
Passengers have more latitude than drivers in how they can sit. An uncomfortable driver will be unhappy, so don’t buy a vehicle that will make you unhappy.
While in the showroom or stopped at a traffic light, test the dashboard and controls. Are the gauges easy to read and major controls easy to reach and operate? Nighttime is a more severe test than daylight, because some controls may be harder to find or work in the dark.
Most drivers adjust the stereo more often than the climate system, so it can be beneficial for the radio to be mounted higher on the dashboard. Fewer buttons and ones large enough to be operated while wearing gloves are preferable to a dashboard littered with dozens of tiny buttons. Groping for the right switch while driving can lead to an accident.
No road test is complete without an assessment of the view from the driver’s seat. If you can’t tell where the front or rear of the vehicle ends, you will to have to park by the seat of your pants, inching forward or backward until you make contact.
Also check the mirrors, the view out the side windows, over both shoulders and directly back while driving. Large roof pillars, the size and shape of windows, even headrests can make changing lanes or merging a high-risk adventure. Though seat height adjustments can solve some visibility problems, there is nothing you can do about massive roof pillars or a rear window so narrow it looks like a gun slit.
Don’t judge vehicles only from the driver’s standpoint. Bring along the family members who will be passengers, including toddlers and infants, to see how well they fit. You don’t have to seek your 3-year-old’s approval before you sign a contract. You should, however, see how hard it is for Mom and Dad to buckle and unbuckle toddlers and infants from the rear seats. Though the kids may fit, you might pull a muscle trying to reach them.
Getting in and out of some vehicles can also cause muscle strain, whether it is a low-slung sports car or high-riding SUV. Try getting in and out of the rear seats as well as the front, keeping in mind who will probably use them. You wouldn’t want Grandpa to bang his knee on Thanksgiving Day, would you?
The higher ground clearance on most four-wheel-drive SUVs and trucks makes getting in or out more of a chore for everyone, and can be particularly awkward for a woman wearing a dress. And, on some vehicles, it is hard to enter or exit without brushing a pant leg or coat against a lower body panel, where snow, salt and assorted road crud collects.
Most adult men can easily close a liftgate on a mini-van or SUV, but small women and pre-teens might have to use all their strength–and jump up to reach it–a problem sure to make the offending vehicle unpopular.
BEHIND THE WHEEL
The National Automobile Dealers Association in McLean, Va., offers these tips for a test-drive:
– Before you begin, buckle your seat belt and adjust rear- and side-view mirrors. Familiarize yourself with the basic vehicle controls such as turn signals, headlights and wipers.
– Test the specific model you are considering, as well as comparable models.
– Drive the vehicle on different types of roads because different attributes are apparent on highway, rural and urban conditions.
– The test should last long enough to provide a feel for acceleration, braking, steering and overall stability.
– Check the radio for sound quality but not while driving, so you can listen to the engine and wind and road noises.
