2.6: Still Looking Good? Time for a Drive Test

If you’re still looking at the car at this point it’s time to go for a test drive. The only instances where you won’t take a test drive are if the car doesn’t run, if the car is too far away to see in person — but even then, ideally you’re proxy and the mechanic who dos your PPI will drive it, or if you’re buying a brand new car that hasn’t been delivered to the dealership yet. In all other cases, you definitely want to take the car for a test drive, and if the seller won’t let you, walk away from the deal. Assuming you’re a sincere buyer, ready to complete the transaction if everything else looks good, there is no rationale reason a seller wouldn’t let you drive the car yourself before you buy it.

Time for a test drive!

None.

I have had sellers tell me “I’ll let you drive the car after we complete the transaction”, “it’s a super high horsepower car and if you crash it I don’t want it on my insurance”, and “trust me, the car handles just fine.” Amazingly I didn’t buy any of those cars. Not letting a legitimate buyer test drive a car is like not letting an interested buyer view the inside of a house before signing loan documents; it makes no sense whatsoever. I do understand that sellers of fancy and exotic cars don’t want to just let any yahoo drive their cars, but it is also pretty easy to differentiate between a yahoo and a legitimate potential buyer in my experience. Not necessarily by age or how they look — there are some awfully young and awfully strangely dressed people dropping big money on cars these days — but how they talk about the car and the work they have done that has led them to the seller.

So let’s assume you’re a legitimate buyer and have found what looks like the perfect car with a reasonably clean CARFAX and good documentation, before you line up a pre-purchase inspection it’s time for a drive test. The test drive is actually far more important than most people thing, and in all honesty, where I have made the largest number of mistakes during my years of car collecting. There is a lot to consider so I’ll break this list into “before you start the car” and “after you start the car”.

Before you start the car:

1. Take a friend, a flashlight, and a camera with you. Having a second set of eyes on the car while you inspect and drive it is helpful if you can swing it. You don’t need them to be a mechanic — of course that doesn’t hurt — but bringing someone who can objectively look at the car and help you make sure lights and blinkers do what they should, that everything sounds right, and that the car feels like it should on a drive is ideal.
   
   The flashlight and camera are also nice to have, with the former so that you can inspect the engine bay and areas underneath the car and the latter so you can take photos of stuff that doesn’t look quite right or, conversely, stuff that looks great. Especially if you’re looking at a few different cars, having photos to refer back to is helpful;
2. Keep your seller nearby. You don’t want your seller to be showing you things and talking non-stop about the car when you’re doing your drive test, but it helps to have them nearby to explain how some of the systems work if you’re not familiar with the car. Stuff that can be difficult to discover sometimes includes how to adjust the steering column, locations for odd buttons like heated steering wheel and any integrated radar detectors or aftermarket systems, and the like. Again, this is your drive test and if they talk continually you can ask them politely to allow you to go over the car; if they don’t and just keep talking, sometimes that is a red flag and they are actually trying to distract you so keep that in mind;
3. Inspect the outside of car. Take a look around the car before you get in and start it. Make sure windows are all intact and don’t have cracks. Have a quick look at the windshield wipers and make sure the rubber is still soft and pliable. Open and close all the doors to make sure they open cleanly and close firmly then check the door gaps looking for alignment issues. Open the gas flap and open and close the gas tank. Open the engine compartment and trunk and close those, again looking for alignment and latching issues. At this point you just want to make sure that everything looks right outside of the car;
4. Inspect underneath the car. Ideally the engine is cold and the car is sitting on pavement so that you can have a look under the car for fluid leaks. Use your flashlight to get as good a look as you can at the ground underneath the car, looking for fluid stains. If you see any, look up at the engine above the stain and see if there is evidence of fluid on the engine or transmission and if you find it, take a photo. You don’t need to do an exhaustive search for fluids at this point, the pre-purchase inspection will get that if you get that far, but it’s good to look before you start the car since you’ll be looking again after the drive;
5. Inspect the inside of the car. Have a seat in the driver’s seat. Move the seat forward and back, and up and down if the car allows it, and then find a comfortable driving position for the seat. Take some time on this to make sure you’re comfortable, thinking about the angle of the bottom and back and any bolsters if the car has them. Adjust the rear view mirror and check for a manual “flip” for night driving. Adjust the side mirrors to make sure that you can select both mirrors if they are automatic and that they adjust in the directions you’d expect. Adjust the steering wheel if that’s an option, making sure it adjusts and, more importantly, that you can find a comfortable position.
   
   Turn the key to the car’s first position, keeping in mind that in some sports cars this is just a single press on a “start” button sometimes, so that the car’s systems come online. Turn on the lights and high beams and have your friend confirm the lights are all on and that blinkers blink front and back as expected. Turn on the hazard lights and make sure they blink. Press the brakes to make sure they light up in the back. Turn on fog lights and parking lights if the car has them. Turn on the radio and make sure the speakers sound good without crackle or distortion; don’t crank them all the way up to 100% and warn everyone before you turn them up at all. Make sure any buttons for the radio do what they should, but beyond that I wouldn’t spend a ton of time on the radio other than to make note about whether it appears original or is aftermarket.
   
   Turn on the air conditioner and make sure it blows cold. Turn it to hot and make sure hot air comes out. Turn the fan up and down and make sure the air changes as expected and that you don’t hear any odd whistling noises. Smell the vents and make sure you don’t get any odd odors that could be indicative of mold or decay in the system; warm air should smell warm, cool air cool. Change the direction the vents and make sure air moves where it should. If there are heated and cooled seats make sure they switch on and that you can feel the change in temperature in whatever seats are switched. If the car has a sun or moon roof make sure that works. If the car has some type of garage door system like HomeLink, make sure the buttons light up when pressed.
   
   Have your friend climb into the back seat for you if there is one and confirm that the seats seem okay, that seatbelts work, and that if there are any controls in the back that they work as designed. Make sure to check windows, and if there is a “parent lockout” in the driver’s console that it works as well.
6. Think about the infotainment system if there is one. My OCD is such that I obsess on infotainment systems. Most of them are horrible to be honest, but there are varying degrees of horrible and so you want to be sure you know how bad a system you’ll have to deal with before you commit to a car. It sounds silly, I know, but car manufacturers increasingly put these massive screens in a car that do little more than the dials and knobs they have that already exist, thusly creating multiple redundant ways to complete the simplest task which just makes the car look cluttered.
   
   Spend a little time looking through the system during your test drive, not trying to figure out how everything works — there will be time for that if you buy the car — but rather making sure it’s a system you can live with. Without asking the seller, navigate to the system that lets you adjust the bass in the stereo. Again, without asking, open the navigation system and set a destination of your nearest AutoZone or favorite BBQ joint. Then see what it takes to determine tire pressure if the car has TMPS, how you’d answer a phone call through the car, and how you reset the trip odometer.
   
   If, after trying these common tasks you’re frustrated, or if you failed any of the tasks other than the tire pressure test, then you may not really like the car’s infotainment system. Mind you, this is not a reason to not purchase the car, and I say that with emphasis because it’s important — you can definitely learn even the worst system, and nearly all modern infotainment systems have the ability to turn them off. But if you think you will be doing any amount of real driving in the car, which you should be thinking, it’s worth keeping in mind that you will need to deal with this system from time to time;
7. Think about your seating position and whether you are really comfortable. This is a biggie. It is super easy to get wrapped up in how fun it is to buy cars and the excitement associated with test driving something you’re thinking about buying … and forget to make sure the car will be something you will actually want to drive. This isn’t an issue for everyone; if you’re 5’10” or less and in good shape physically you will probably be comfortable in almost anything — and I hate you. But if you’re tall, short, wide, have a long torso, or are in any way not shaped like a racecar driver, there is a good chance you won’t comfortably fit in the driver’s seat on a long drive. This can be exacerbated by older cars with less modern seats, cars that have offset pedals or where the dead pedal is given way to the wheel well or other body components, or in modern cars that have “sport design” seats designed to look amazing and save weight, usually at the expense of padding, adjustability, or both.
   
   Beyond the seats themselves, think about the relationship between your right foot and the gas pedal. As we age our muscles and tendons have a tendency to come less flexible and, as a result, there are a few angles with which our feet and ankles can sit comfortably for long periods of time … and an awful lot of angles where they cannot. Allow your foot to rest flat on the gas pedal and let it sit there for a bit. Press the pedal just a little — you don’t want to flood the engine — to make sure the press feels natural and that your foot can rest comfortably both when you’re on the throttle and when you’re not. Do the same for the clutch if the car has one, making sure you can press it all the way in comfortably without having to extend your foot and press with your toes, and then put your left foot on the dead pedal to the left of the clutch to confirm you can rest your left foot comfortably.
   
   Pedal position isn’t a deal breaker for a car, but as much as the infotainment system, it’s something that buyers often fail to really consider and come back to regret later. Plus, unlike with a crappy infotainment interface which you can set and forget, you will need the pedals a lot to enjoy the car, and so if you find yourself thinking “hmm, this isn’t really that comfortable a position” before you have even turned on the ignition, this is important.
   
   Trust me on all of this; the list of cars I have collected that I have to force myself to drive because I get uncomfortable driving them fairly quickly … is not a short list. I still drive them, but I get fidgety quickly and find that I need to take more stops and spend as much time thinking about how my back or legs or feet feel as I spend thinking about the road ahead and the joyous driving experience I should be having. And yes, some part of it is because I am 6’1” and have a beer belly, but again unless you are a perfect physical specimen and have a plan to stay that way forever, you may find yourself in my shoes someday.

Okay, assuming you’re still thinking about buying the car at this point it’s time to fire up the engine and go for a drive. Ideally the engine is cold and the car hasn’t been run recently so that you can see what it takes to get the car started.

Here’s what I recommend:

1. With the driver’s side door open, start the car and listen. Ideally the engine fires right up and the various systems all come back online. Pay attention to the dash and look for any engine or warning lights — yellow and red usually but on newer cars they can be text as well, and if you see any that persist for more than a few seconds make note or take a photo. Listen to the engine and sounds of the car, the engine should sound relatively smooth so pay attention to hiccups, hesitation, and other odd sounds that could be indicative of issues. Don’t touch the gas pedal and just listen to what the engine does for the first thirty seconds or so;
2. Open the engine bay and have a look at the engine. You may have to ask the seller where the engine latch is, but pop that and have them show you how to open the engine bay while the car is running. Have a look at the engine to the extent you’re able — and keep in mind on more modern cars you really can’t see much. Listen for odd sounds, make sure belts are rotating smoothly, and look for any evidence of fluid leaks. You’re not trying to diagnose engine issues at all, just making sure everything looks right before you go for a drive;
3. Hop back in the car, get comfortable, and buckle up for the drive. I like to take the seller with me, and usually private sellers want to go anyways, but take your friend as well if you can. In terms of routes, I like to test drive cars over three general types of roads if I can: highway, city, and some level of winding road. Don’t plan a long drive since that’s not what the seller likely has in mind and, if the car is obviously not something you want, you don’t want to be stuck on a long, pointless drive. If you know the area, explain to the seller where you’re thinking about going, and if you don’t, ask the seller where you could find those types of roads. Make sure to set your mirrors and set off on the drive;
4. Test the brakes first. Again, on newer cars it’s not an issue, but in older cars and cars you aren’t familiar with it’s worth testing the brakes before you need them. Slow down normally and make sure you understand where they bite and how they react to pressure and then, after warning everyone, slow down a little more quickly by applying more pressure. Do not slam on the brakes, just test that they behave properly and that you have a sense of how much pressure they need to do their job. Especially in older cars without anti-lock brakes (ABS) this can be more than you’d think;
5. Put the windows down if you can and drive city streets. On city streets I like to check visibility in the car. Are the “A” and “B” pillars so huge that they block the view? Do the mirrors give a good view beside and behind the car? Does the car accelerate smoothly from a stop and behave predictably at low speeds? Does the car stop smoothly? If the car is a manual transmission does the clutch go in and out smoothly and allow the car to go into gear easily? After a few minutes of low speed driving are you hearing noise from the brakes?
   
   The city street test is your chance to make sure everything seems and feels right before you add the element of speed. Make sure you feel comfortable in the car and that you have good visibility via windows and mirrors before you go out on the highway;
6. Put up the windows and head onto the highway. The highway test is really just an opportunity to see how the car accelerates, brakes, and feels as you add more speed into the equation. Do not accelerate like a madman onto the highway, and do not speed during your test drive. Trust me, your seller won’t appreciate it at all, and getting a ticket on a test drive is embarrassing. At first drive the car like your grandmother is with you, accelerate smoothly up to highway speeds and listen to the car. As you shift up in gear does everything sound right? Does the throttle respond quickly and predictably? Listen inside the car for odd whistling noises or sounds that could indicate poor seals or body parts that are coming loose.
   
   If the car is an automatic but has any kind of manual paddles this is a good time to make sure the paddles behave properly. Ask the seller how to get into “manual” mode if it’s not obvious and give it a try. If you pull for an upshift, does the car shift up quickly? If you pull for a downshift, does the car rev-match and downshift quickly? Don’t get too caught up in shifting but make sure the paddles work as expected, and given my lesson about Lamborghini’s E-gear that I related previously, give some thought to how quickly the paddles respond — you’re looking for “pull shift” not “pull … wait … shift” which, trust me, becomes maddening over time.
   
   If you have the opportunity to make a pass and see what the car can do if you really get on the gas, do that. Let the seller know what you’re planning and do it carefully, but when you pass think about how quickly you get acceleration. Is it immediate? Or is there lag? Fight the temptation to drive like a madman here too, just pass and return safely to whatever lane you were in and start heading to the winding roads;
7. On the “twisties test” you’re exploring the cars suspension and weight balance, not trying to win at Monaco. If you’re any level of car enthusiast you likely see winding roads the same way I do: as one of the greatest pleasures known to humankind. The vast majority of why people love cars is because of how much fun it is to drive them, top down if you can swing it, on the millions of miles of back-roads that cross the globe, regardless of where you live.
   
   This is not the time to experience that glory, or at least not fully.
   
   On the winding road test you want to make sure that the car is fun to drive but also make sure that the suspension and weight transfer behave as expected. Depending on the car you’re driving it may be super flat through the turns, it may have some side to side sway, or it may drive like a motor boat in the water. It doesn’t matter how the car behaves as long as it behaves “as expected” and in a way that you’re going to be comfortable driving if you buy the car. This is the exact test I didn’t do on that Ford Boss 302 Mustang I mentioned earlier in this part of the book, and had I done it, I almost certainly would have passed on the Mustang since despite Ford promising that the Boss had an advanced suspension, what they were really selling was a boat for land.
   
   Drive the car through the turns and think about weight transfer. Does the car turn in sharply when you apply some brakes before the turn? Or is the front end sloppy? Can you get on the gas fairly quickly out of a turn? Or is there hesitation? Does the car automatically shift up and down as you go in and out of the curves as expected or does it feel clunky? And if the car is a manual how does your clutch foot feel after shifting frequently? Is your left leg getting tired quickly? Does your left foot feel strained? Or are you having the time of your life?
8. As you head back, think about your body. Again, as an old guy this is the point where I have let myself down a few times. I got so caught up in the thrill of the chase and finding that seemingly perfect car I didn’t really think about what it would be like to drive the car 500 miles in a sitting? Don’t make my mistake; think about your legs and feet, your lower back, your arms, and your neck? You should have probably been driving for around a half-hour at this point. Do you feel fine? Or do you feel sore in places? Make note of that since it’s something you may be able to correct by modifying your seating position, but it might just be the car. If it’s the car, then it is what it is and you’ll have to live with it, but during my interviews I talked to as many collectors who admitted they didn’t drive cars because they could never really get comfortable as not;
9. When you get back and park, look under the car again. When an engine is warm and the car has been run it’s a good time to look under the car again for fluid leaks. Ideally you won’t see anything, but if you do take a photo of what you see to share with the mechanic who does the PPI. Make sure to look under the engine and, if you can, at the transmission. Pop the engine compartment again and have a look at the engine; it should look and smell just like a warmer version of the engine you looked at before you drove. If there are any fluids, take a photo, and if there are odd smells have your friend take a sniff so you can both compare notes on what it might be;
10. Before you go, take lots of photos. If you enjoyed the test drive and all went well, you’re wise to take a lot of photos of the car to use in your decision process. I can’t even count the number of times early on where I would get home and be describing the car to my wife and realize that, damn, if I would have taken a photo it would be easier. And since nobody shoots film anymore, if you don’t buy the car you can just delete the photos, but if you do buy the car you have your earliest pictures of ownership for your records.

So you’ve gotten this far: the car has passed the CARFAX test, you’ve reviewed whatever paperwork the seller has for the car, and you found the car was fun to drive and that you were able to drive it comfortably. At this point you might be tempted to just negotiate the price and buy the car, which is honestly reasonable assuming the car is new and seems to be unlikely to have mechanical issues. If you’re going to do that, make sure you’ve read ahead to the chapter on “Deciding How Much to Pay for a Car” and know what you’re willing to pay, factoring in whatever you may have learned on the test drive.

But I don’t recommend you do this.

Even if the car is brand new, and even if the test drive was perfect, I still recommend that you take a little time to cool off and think about the car before you commit. Obviously if you need a pre-purchase inspection you’ll need to arrange that and so that will buy you time, but even if not and the car is mechanically sound “sleeping on it” will allow the adrenaline in your veins to subside and give you a chance to be clear-headed about the decision. Now, your seller may be disappointed that you aren’t going to complete the transaction, and they will probably will tell you they have a lot of other people interested in the car — which may or may not be true — but if you’re going to be a good car collector you need to train yourself to be thoughtful and methodical about buying and this is part of it.

The Ford Mustang Boss 302 … that I didn’t think enough about before I bought.

Tell your seller the truth — if you love the car, say so, and if you don’t, tell them you have reservations — and if you love the car, let them know you will be back in touch in some reasonable amount of time with your decision and offer. At that point they either accept your decision and thank you for your time, or they don’t which also raises a red flag. If the car is a good car offered at a fair price they know they will sell it, if not to you then to someone else, and so your taking a few hours to do a little more research is your risk, not theirs.

If you do take my advice and buy yourself a little time to make your decision, be sure to be thoughtful about that time. You’re going to want to review your notes on the car, conduct a little more pricing research on the car, call your mechanic and discuss any problems that you found during the test drive to explore what it might cost to get them fixed, and generally be proactive about making your decision. Nothing is more annoying to a seller to think they have a car sold, only to get ghosted by the buyer. If you think you want the car, make a decision to move forward as quickly as possible; if you aren’t sure, let the buyer know so they can continue to try and find a buyer.

Should You Offer a Deposit? Maybe!

If you really love the car but need time to think, or know you want to arrange a pre-purchase inspection, you might want to consider offering the seller a deposit to hold onto the car for you. The best deposits are a reasonable amount relative to the asking price for the car, are fully refundable upon inspection, and usually offered after you and the seller have agreed on a price. They always come with a short but clearly written contract that spells out the terms and timing of the final decision to buy the car.

For example:

Example deposit contract, easily found on the Internet.

The goal of the deposit is to demonstrate to the seller that you’re a serious buyer as long as the car passes an inspection. Ideally the deposit agreement leaves the door open to renegotiate the price of the car if the inspection finds issues — similar to my purchase of the 1972 Porsche 911T that was going to need an engine rebuild. The seller didn’t require a deposit in that case, but if they had we would have ended up in the same place — renegotiating on price once the inspection yielded engine problems.

In my personal experience, often times if you offer a deposit the seller will decline simply because it’s not worth the trouble. You’ll either be back the next day to complete the transaction or plan for a PPI, or you won’t, and they will be on to the next potential buyer. Still, it’s nice to offer one if you’re serious about the car, and it can prevent the rare occurrence where a car gets sold out from under you. But if you do offer a deposit, make sure to have a written contract that details exactly when you expect to make your decision about the car, based on which criteria, and in which case you would forfeit said deposit. Also, if at all possible, keep the deposit amount low enough that if you lose it you’re okay with that but not so low that the seller won’t take it seriously. In my purchases $500 USD to $1,000 USD has always worked, although sometimes with dealers they ask for more money but the risk is lower when you’re working with a business. Also, pay by check, not cash, for any deposit you pay since if the seller does something that violates the contract and keeps your money you’ll at least have your bank’s help if it comes to that.

Regardless of whether you give the seller a deposit, if you’re serious about the car and it’s more than just a few years old, your next step is to arrange a pre-purchase inspection.