Buying a new car - advice if possible

gilbert_and_sullivan

[QUOTE=Lulu58;31157671

Interesting point from celtic sprite. Has anyone tried (and succeeded!) in getting a long test drive on different roads etc? I called several dealers and different manufacturers and got absolutely nowhere. I was offered an 'extended' drive by one which meant instead of 10 minutes round the block on a set route, I got 15 minutes round the block on a set round. In my experience, this applies whether discussing low end or high end vehicles.

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We short listed Nissan and Toyota 4x4's and i told them both we wanted to test the vehicles on our own circuitous route of about 15 miles, both were quite happy with this as i was up front that the round the block shuffle was of no use.
Both tests accompanied.
This included a very uneven and pot holed country road, series' of bends, various surfaces etc and a short dual carriageway run to see if the vehicles would be comfortable and driveable enough, my good wife did the manouevering and mirror visibility tests and most of the run, she drives it mostly anyway.
Traffic wouldn't be of any problem as proper auto's were the only choices.
Unfortunately the Nissan didn't like a full power take off at the lights and went into limp mode needing a restart and my wife didn't like how it drove, we bought the Toyota and it's been as expected, competent and reliable.

Maybe you might do better going to an old established family owned garage who treat their customers properly and get long term relationships with them...these garages do exist but take a bit of finding.

It's not all the garages fault though, i wonder how many people just go out and test drive a selection of vehicles, spend hours picking the brains of the dealer and then go and buy the vehicle cheaper from an internet source that has no overheads ...like sales staff and test cars, the dealers you have tried have no way of knowing what new customers are like..;)

hethmar

When we went to test drive a VW Golf Plus last summer, we were given the keys and told to go drive for a couple of hours. We actually used it for an hour, trying through towns, motorways and b roads. (Feel really guilty actually as we then bought through a different dealer via a broker).