Don't Forget: Test Drive the Exact Car You Want to Buy

It took just 10 minutes on the way home from the dealership to realize the seats on the vehicle you just bought are hard as granite, or that the cabin gives off an odor similar to the lion’s cage at the zoo, or that the four-cylinder engine has so little power you got passed by the neighbor kid on his skateboard when you entered your subdivision.

Now you have five years to live with the irritation.

It happens all the time, especially now, when consumers willing to spend 10 months researching every nuance of the vehicle they expect to buy via computer pride themselves in spending as little time as possible actually buying the vehicle at the store. They even refuse to spend 10 minutes test driving it before handing over a check, hopping in and heading home — which is the first time some set foot inside the cabin.

Huge mistake.

If you buy a new car from the dealer’s stock, drive the vehicle first. Does everything work? Does it have the room, comfort, and people- and package-carrying space you need? Does it take off quickly and, even more important, stop quickly as well?

If you order for later delivery because you want it in brown, not blue, take an initial test drive of it in blue to ensure it does all of the above, even if it means visiting other dealers to drive the car in yellow and white in order to check out all the options you ordered, whether it’s the performance of the engine and transmission or the quality of the sound system coming on that brown car.

Then test it again when the cocoa one arrives to ensure it comes with everything you ordered and all of it works. You want to find any surprises at the dealership, not your driveway.

Common problems come from the fact that many cars are offered in base, mid-level and top-of-the-line versions. Dealerships often have the top-of-the-line version on hand, which has all the goodies, to show you the car at its best, but you end up ordering the base version to save money. Only after buying do you learn that the V-6 you tested has ample power, but the four-cylinder in the base you ordered to conserve gas is sadly underpowered, or the suspension in the car tested was cushiony soft, but the Sport suspension the salesman talked you into is pure torture, or the uplevel sound system in the car you tested at the store was like being in the front row of the concert, but the less expensive sound system you bought to save money is like listening from another country.

Whether bought from stock or delivered later, you need to check if the vehicle comes with all the items you ordered and if all those items work — buttons, knobs, dials, levers and lights. Where’s the spare tire and where’s the jack?

Whether you buy off the floor or order for future delivery, you need to test drive the vehicle to learn what, if any, problems exist so they are fixed BEFORE you leave the store, not at your next visit.

A common misconception is that there is a three-day cooling off period in which you can return the vehicle if you’re not happy. Sorry, that only applies if a car salesman comes to your door, not when you go to his.