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For me, I do a decent amount of internet research before test driving the car. If all the reviews say the car is a turd, I won't even bother. But if I get some hit and miss reviews, I'll go to the dealership to look first. If I like the way the vehicle looks, then I will ask for a test drive. After a test drive, I will come home to research some more. If I'm still interested in it, then that's when I'll start talking money.
Worked for my last 2 cars.
Both test drives were pretty short, only about 12 miles or so. Quick parking lot drive and then a drive onto a highway to check road noise.
My test drives are short because I've already narrowed the field down significantly. Figure I'm better off spending my time researching than spending it at the dealership.
A buddy bought an Audi A4 AWD without driving it. He told me he'd read reviews and reports, and the numbers told him what he needed to know. He was so clueless about the car for the whole time he owned it. What a waste. He could have bought a Sentra and been just as clueless.
To whoever repped me about this^^ post: life is about judgements. If no one made any judgements, there would be no discussion forums.
My biggest personal mistakes made when buying cars has been not taking future possibilities into consideration before signing.
When I bought my Buick, I didn't think about my friends making fun of my brown grandpa car. I just loved how comfortable it was. it was strong, and drove beautifully. But I was a child, a highschool kid, and it wasn't "cool" enough for my snobby friends. They said it looked like I was borrowing grandpa's car. I still loved it.
When I bought my classic Mustang, I didn't consider that I didn't make a lot of money to keep it's perfection in tact. I ended up going in debt from borrowing to keep that car as perfect as it was in 1965.
When I bought my Firebird, I didn't think about how I wanted to install a loud stereo system. That left me with the options of going smaller with my speakers (much smaller than I had imagined) because the trunk space wasn't big enough, or take up my entire back seat and essentially have a two-seater without enough room for more friends.
When I bought my pickup truck, I didn't consider I might have children soon and there wasn't a backseat.
When I bought my Blazer, I didn't understand that because I traded in my pickup while still upside down on payments that they dealership wrapped in that loan with the new one and it would cost me twice as much to pay it off as the sticker price by the time I owned it. I was also to young to realize just how long a 78 month long loan is, especially in relation to the life of that kind of vehicle. An $18.999.99 vehicle ended up costing more like $38,995 by the time the title was released from lien. That's just the financing, not including repairs and insurance. At the time, making my car and insurance payment was costing more every month than my rent for my apartment.
When I bought my Taurus I didn't think I was going to have anymore kids and I also didn't think squeezing the ones I had at the time into every possible seat would be uncomfortable. But it was. And I did have more kids.
I also couldn't have foreseen that I'd become so disabled that getting in and out of a little, low to the ground car would become so painful and difficult. Or that bending over with my bad back would be so hard to get my babies in and out.
When I bought my Previa, I didn't know that it was not just a mechanics nightmare, but that most of them didn't even know where to look to check the fluids (they're under the driver's seat on those, by the way). I didn't trust any shop with it and over paid for service every time because I would only take it to the Toyota dealership, hoping they wouldn't sabotage my vehicle to make more money.
There's also the off-chance that your purchase could cause relationship problems you never even expected. It's happened to a lot of people too.
For instance, my husband had recently had a fallout with his grandmother about her not caring about our children or making efforts to see them. She has complained she doesn't get to see the children enough. He said that was her fault, not ours. He told her she never asks to take them, watch them, visit with them, etc. Her response wasn't that she'd like to see them more or that she would like us too bring them over more often. Her response was that she lives for the kids and all she wants in life is to spend more time with them and she wants to set up schedules where she gets to have them over regularly and she wants to plan out vacations with them, etc. The next time we saw her was when she came over to show us her new car. She has traded in her car that had enough room to transport the kids for all the excursions she was planning in her head. She bought a sporty little two seater sports car with no safe seats for children or child carseats. It certainly didn't look like the children were considered when making that purchase after claiming that's all she lives for. My husband was furious with her. She had also previously claimed that she was having money problems which affected us, her money problems were either lies or due to the purchase of the new car. We've come to the conclusion she just likes to make drama where there isn't any. She didn't care about seeing the kids she just felt like throwing herself a pity-party that day and picked the wrong subject.
Sometimes there's more to buying a car than the car itself.
Last edited by SioSioDef; 08-24-2013 at 10:04 AM..
It is very hard to figure a car out during a 10-15 minute test drive. My last car I test drove 3 different times very hard and after I bought it problems still started to pop up. Usually it takes about 1 week in all different conditions to figure if a car had problems or if anything was being hidden. I test drove a 12 Impala LT and thought it drove nice then rented a 13 Impala LT and hated the car with a passion, but it was after 300 miles of all different road conditions that I could figure out the car and what I like or what is wrong with it.
So should dealers get upset when you want to test drive a car and tell the dealer you will come back again and test drive it since they usually have a 10-20 minute test drive policy?
Proof, no matter how long you test drive a car anything can still happen and any used car is a gamble.
Saturday I test drove the car 7 miles on the expressway and 5 miles on the back roads and it rode fine, with the exception of slight pulling and vibration, so i figured a $100 alignment and balance would fix that. I purchase the car 4 days later and when I drive it 30 miles home it is fine and the very next morning, "Service Stability Trak" light starts coming on and anytime I make a left turn the light comes on. Just like the G6 I traded in drove fine during 3 different test drives and when I buy it, the Catalytic Converter went out in a few weeks.
Atleast I still have 7K left until the bumper to bumper warranty expires on this car.
Usually never. I order a vehicle, have it sent to the outfitter, then it gets parked until I need it. The first time I drive it will be when I arrive to use it.
Proof, no matter how long you test drive a car anything can still happen and any used car is a gamble.
Saturday I test drove the car 7 miles on the expressway and 5 miles on the back roads and it rode fine, with the exception of slight pulling and vibration, so i figured a $100 alignment and balance would fix that. I purchase the car 4 days later and when I drive it 30 miles home it is fine and the very next morning, "Service Stability Trak" light starts coming on and anytime I make a left turn the light comes on. Just like the G6 I traded in drove fine during 3 different test drives and when I buy it, the Catalytic Converter went out in a few weeks.
Atleast I still have 7K left until the bumper to bumper warranty expires on this car.
Between your posts, I think we know that the problem is. I haven't had those issues with my F150s, oddly enough. No Stabilitrak or any of that stuff to deal with.
Between your posts, I think we know that the problem is. I haven't had those issues with my F150s, oddly enough. No Stabilitrak or any of that stuff to deal with.
I have a 13yr old Taurus w/222k still running. It outlasted my 06 Impala and 09 G6
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I haven't had those issues with my F150s, oddly enough. No Stabilitrak or any of that stuff to deal with.
