Ever killed a car on a test drive?

[Eric]

I was just thinking about some of the shitters I have taken for test drives from garages in the past.

Two of them stand out.

A fiat coupe 20v Turbo.
Got onto the dual carrageway and said "Lets see how this thing goes" and the clutch promptly died.
Only just managed to nurse the car back to the garage.
Not really my fault the salesman admitted the clutch had a "slight" leak.

Another was a Rover 620.
Again, dual carriageway (different one from the Coupe) gave it beans and it seemed a bit sluggish.
As I got to a roundabout I backed off and saw a huge billowing cloud of white smoke in the rearview and the unmistakable smell of coolant.
That would be the Rover Head gasket then

So I didn't really kill them but just helped them on their way

Anyone else?

[Welly]

I've not had this problem but I know one thing for sure..........

You, Eric, are NEVER borrowing my car - right!

[Eric]

I've not had this problem but I know one thing for sure..........

You, Eric, are NEVER borrowing my car - right!

Thats ok mate, I've got the same car myself that I can break whenever I want.
Don't need to break yours

Anyway you could argue they were already broken before I drove them...
Or about to break....

[Welly]

You can't break a HDi engine like this - you will get bored long before the engine does

Just goes to show you though that you need to "open the taps" on a test drive. Eric saved the next poor guy a fortune when he blew up that rover

You never really get a "proper" test drive do you - and you're expected to part with thousands based on a quick looky and a "spin" around the block I went to see a 406 LX before mine and the dealer blokey came with me on the test and it was crap him being there. I never bought it

The next 2 places I've bought cars from have been the car Supermarket types and they send you off on your own with trader plates I was gone for a good 45 minutes with the 406 checking everything etc before I bought it.

[puggy]

very true welly except this last time when i bought my 406.I travelled to coventry
to look at it,small dealership mostly fords,was pointed towards car and told have a look
around it then the guy comes out with the trade plates jumps in the passenger seat
and says lets go but much to my surprise (i didn't know my way around coventry )he first
directed me to a dual carrigeway said open it up see how it goes then he took me into
town which was bumper to bumper with the words now you can see if it overheats or the
clutch slips when hot then he had me take him to a garage where they had servicing
done followed by a blast along the motorway was in it for well over an hour
couldn't fault the guy

[steve_earwig]

You never really get a "proper" test drive do you - and you're expected to part with thousands based on a quick looky and a "spin" around the block

Sounds like my "test drive" in the Ni$$an, he knew if I took it on anything other than a smooth road I'd realise what a bone shaker it was.

I took a TDM900 for a test ride once, he said be back in 20 minutes but I kind of lost track of time, when I appeared almost an hour later it didn't seem to bother him in the least, nor did it when I tried to batter him down loads and walked out without buying it.

While I was looking for my 2nd 16 Valve I took one out but when I decided it was too rough for me I gave it another kind of test drive - I didn't manage to blow it up but I did leave half the tyres on the road.

[Eric]

I've had a mixture of good and bad salesman.
One garage that I really like just chuck you the keys and off you go, I bought a car from them and would highly recommend them.
I also went there and had a test drive of a Coupe 20vT and was within an inch of buying it when I tried an MR2 Turbo and got that instead.

I test drove a Clio 182 at a garage and saw the disapproving stares from the salesman next to me.
He didn't seem to like the fact that the car wasn't even run in yet and I was bouncing it off the limiter and scoffed at me saying they run better if you don't run them in (it's true)
Didn't buy one.

Test drove a 172 and loved it, the salesman was really encouraging me to give it death so I did, the more I gave it the more he was loving it.
I liked him but my wife was looking a bit pale and wanted to leave

Drove an MR2 turbo and obviously I was being a wuss, part way through the drive he told me to shift over and he'd show me what it'll do.
f*ck me... How he didn't kill us I don't know - I was about to tell him to stop and I'll get out and walk
Didn't buy that one - if he does that to cars on test drives then I didn't really want a car he'd ever driven.

When I bought a Saxo from the dealers the salesman was in the car with me and was complimenting my driving, but judging by the look on his face as he was being thrown from one side to the other in the back of the car, he was lying
I did buy that car though and loved it!

So a real mix and match.

One thing I don't do is generally test drive private cars unless I'm 99% sure I'll be driving it home.
If a car can't survive me giving it death for a few minutes on a test drive then it's life would be very short with me as my own car.
I don't like doing that to people's private cars, their pride and joy.
That's what garages are for

[Cookies]

I know a guy who reversed a brand new Subaru Impreza side on into a concrete bollard while on a test drive. He didn't buy the car, although the sales folk tried to say that he had to!!!

[darrenwall]

a few years ago me and my mate went to a small garage to look at a 309 gti ( i was only 18 at the time ) and the salesman was out on lunch so the only mechanic there who didnt give a f*ck by the sound on it told us to test what we wanted , i took the 309 and my mate took an xr3i and i can tell u the 309 is MUCH quicker . i never did buy it tho
another time i went to devon to look at an Mi16 and it looked all ok but the temp gauge wasnt working but the seller said it wasnt overheating or anything so i took it out on my own and test drove the sh*t out of it pulling back into the blokes drive he asked why there was oil and water pissing out from the back of the engine ooooopppsss never bought that one either

[neildavies]

Back in 1996, I took a 405 diesel for a test drive. As it goes DaiRees, Mrs DaiRees and Mrs Neil was in the back and the salesman was in the passenger seat. It broke down twice in the space of about a mile, and I ended up free-wheeling it back into the garage.

And the saleman actually seemed miffed when I said I wasn't going to buy it!!

[puggy]

Ahh the curse of the Valley's i know it well

[STALLED]

Fiesta XR4 - Got told off for "testing" out the ESP! I would of bought that car if I had the $$$ - Such an awesome car to drive!

206 GTI 180 - The salesman commented on how I was a good driver and liked my double clutching skills. I don't know If I could live with one on a every day proposition with that weird driving position!

Best ever was the Renault Laguna V6 which I was genuinely interested in! The dude gave me the card and I started it up - span the steering wheel a few times and the belt was slipping really badly! Then ontop of that, I gave it a bit of a rev and the coil packs were shagged - misfiring BIGTIME! Told the salesman what was wrong with it and insisted it was fine to be taken on a drive...What a joke!

[ianst28]

wasn't quite a test drive but
hired a van from a reputable star trek named hire company for work to close a shop unfortunatly they only had a vaux combo van instead of the transit i asked for so i agreed to take it on the condition they filled it with fuel
drove the van the 400 meters to the shop from the hire place no problems
when i was loaded up (not exessivley) took the van 2 miles down the road then felt a sudden loss of power seeing as i was only 3 miles from where i was going i decided to carry on untill i noticed behind me a cloud of pale white smoke so i stoped total distance so far 2.5 miles
after making a phone call to my boss i agreed to turn round and edge my way back slowly and the boss would meet me and follow me back to the shop this would have worked if after a further mile and meeting the boss the pale white cloud hadn't turned into an impenetrable fog of choaking smoke being me and not really caring too much about a hire van i carried on when i made it back to the shop the bosses car was covered in oil the oil was leaking out of the exhaust and the van looked like it was on fire
i called the hire firm and they arranged for the aa to pick it up and take it to a dealer that was the last we saw of it
after a few weeks i saw a mate who worked in the hire firm and spoke to him about it apparently the total bill was over 5k and vauxhall wouldnt pay out on warrenty

oh and it was a 3 week old van with 1000 miles on it

[mjb]

The worst car I've driven came from Enterprise. Supposed to be a Golf TDI but they delivered a Rover 75 with (I think) a 2 litre petrol engine. Glad it was slow as buggery because it handled like an absolute barge, the power steering rarely worked, and the brakes had no servo assistance. Yes, if you wanted to stop you had to stamp BLOODY HARD. No wonder the seat adjustments didn't work...

So I got it changed for a Golf TDI. One that looked a lot like a Vauxhall Astravan. Wasn't too bad except the seat put me in agony (dodgy back) after about 5 minutes. Finally they delivered the TDI which I proceeded to drive "with gusto". Great car. Bloody boot decided it didn't want to open though, after I was in the middle of nowhere with some large and bloody heavy stuff to fit in there...

Think the moral here is never rent from Enterprise!