Test drive advice?
Posted by: Paul Hutchings on 30 January 2005
OK, so tomorrow I have a test drive of a 1999 BMW 323Ci booked.
It's Topaz Blue, auto, leather, air-con, boot cd-changer, 1 owner IIRC, 43k miles and is at a BMW dealers as a BMW used approved car for £12k.
I took a look at the car today, it's in the compound and has not been prepped for sale as of yet.
Bodywork looks fine, alloys are mint - it may seem a small point but I don't want a car with scuzzy wheels.
There are some scratches that I noticed and I did say to the salesman that if I was interested in buying the car I would want to be very clear on what would be taken care of versus what would be considered "expected for the age".
The interior looks very good, it's light grey and coming from a car with a black interior it seems very "bright", but I didn't see anything that looked badly marked/scratched.
Engine started first time, usual dealer thing of 1l of fuel in the tank but the engine was very quiet and under the bonnet looks immaculate.
How should I handle the test drive tomorrow?
The salesman said the way he usually does them is that he'll drive first as it gives me chance to experience the car without having to concentrate on driving it, also he explained that as salesmen test drive cars all day it's a way of seeing if it's doing anything he wouldn't expect it to do. Then it's over to me, he did say the test drive can be as long/short as I want within reason.
Really I'm after suggestions on how to deal with it as it's all to easy to walk away forgetting everything of any importance.
Would it be considered bad form to bring a digital camera and ask if I could take some pictures of the car?
cheers,
Paul
It's Topaz Blue, auto, leather, air-con, boot cd-changer, 1 owner IIRC, 43k miles and is at a BMW dealers as a BMW used approved car for £12k.
I took a look at the car today, it's in the compound and has not been prepped for sale as of yet.
Bodywork looks fine, alloys are mint - it may seem a small point but I don't want a car with scuzzy wheels.
There are some scratches that I noticed and I did say to the salesman that if I was interested in buying the car I would want to be very clear on what would be taken care of versus what would be considered "expected for the age".
The interior looks very good, it's light grey and coming from a car with a black interior it seems very "bright", but I didn't see anything that looked badly marked/scratched.
Engine started first time, usual dealer thing of 1l of fuel in the tank but the engine was very quiet and under the bonnet looks immaculate.
How should I handle the test drive tomorrow?
The salesman said the way he usually does them is that he'll drive first as it gives me chance to experience the car without having to concentrate on driving it, also he explained that as salesmen test drive cars all day it's a way of seeing if it's doing anything he wouldn't expect it to do. Then it's over to me, he did say the test drive can be as long/short as I want within reason.
Really I'm after suggestions on how to deal with it as it's all to easy to walk away forgetting everything of any importance.
Would it be considered bad form to bring a digital camera and ask if I could take some pictures of the car?
cheers,
Paul
Sound advice that man, spoken like a really good agg, and a Scotch one at that, innit.
Fritz Von As our Mat always say's, knowing something and understanding something are seprerate entities entirely
Fritz Von As our Mat always say's, knowing something and understanding something are seprerate entities entirely
No such thing as a "nice rover" IMHO
Thank you all for your advice so far, it's appreciated.
I'd like to think I have my head screwed on and, as others have said, there will be other cars tomorrow if this one seems to have gremlins.
It'll be interesting to see how it drives and how the power feels, to me a 2.5l 180bhp car sounds a lot compared to "only" a 75bhp 1.4 Golf!
I suspect I'm getting hung up on things like scratches in paintwork but I would assume that, so long as the dealer is willing, pretty much anything can be taken care of so that they aren't visible when the car has been prepped?
At the moment, AIUI it's in that stage where it arrived at the dealers and go put in their holding compound - given the area this dealers is in I have a feeling they put the pricer stuff out first.
So far as body language, like to think I'm fairly good at the mind games, though I do tend to prefer being straight with people which can be a hinderence more than a help.
Interesting on the new Coupe - I knew there was a new 3-series on the way but didn't know how far off the coupe would be, but I do think I recall the salesman mentioning at least a year.
It seems I'm not over too many barrels, don't need finance, cash is in the bank so there's no "I'm doing you a favour" card that the salesman can try and play.
Keep the tips coming!
cheers,
Paul
Thank you all for your advice so far, it's appreciated.
I'd like to think I have my head screwed on and, as others have said, there will be other cars tomorrow if this one seems to have gremlins.
It'll be interesting to see how it drives and how the power feels, to me a 2.5l 180bhp car sounds a lot compared to "only" a 75bhp 1.4 Golf!
I suspect I'm getting hung up on things like scratches in paintwork but I would assume that, so long as the dealer is willing, pretty much anything can be taken care of so that they aren't visible when the car has been prepped?
At the moment, AIUI it's in that stage where it arrived at the dealers and go put in their holding compound - given the area this dealers is in I have a feeling they put the pricer stuff out first.
So far as body language, like to think I'm fairly good at the mind games, though I do tend to prefer being straight with people which can be a hinderence more than a help.
Interesting on the new Coupe - I knew there was a new 3-series on the way but didn't know how far off the coupe would be, but I do think I recall the salesman mentioning at least a year.
It seems I'm not over too many barrels, don't need finance, cash is in the bank so there's no "I'm doing you a favour" card that the salesman can try and play.
Keep the tips coming!
cheers,
Paul
Just got back.
I think the short answer is that I like 3-Series Coupes, just not that specific car.
As a driving experience it was "interesting", started first time, quiet running, smooth, no smoke, roughness etc.. this probably says more about what I've driven but I've never driven anything so bloody quick, you plant your foot on the A-Roads and it just goes, yet it just pootles around the town centre. This one had an "adaptive" auto box with a sequential shift (forget the exact name) option if you flick the lever to the left.
The problem was the condition of the car, too many scratches on the paint, bit tatty basically.
I like to think I'm a fairly good judge of character and the chap I was dealing with seemed honest enough and didn't put an ounce of pressue on me.
After the test drive he asked me what I thought and I told him I liked the car but not that car because of the condition, he said he's been there since October and has a problem with the vehicle preparation at that dealers as it tends not to happen until the vehicle is either sold or going on the main forcourt - they have a compound out the back where the new and , I think, cheaper used BMWs.
As I said to him, how can you decide whether or not to buy a car when you can't see it anything near the condition you would expect it to be in? I suggested to him they probably concentrate on the more expensive cars as there's more money in them and he said it shouldn't really work that way but did sort of grin when I said "yeh but it's economics that a dealer will put more effort into a car that makes them more money". Oddly he then got his briefcase from under his desk and got out a flowchart he'd been working on which is how he wants the "a new used car arrives" to "customer drives off" process to work.
I then started enquiring what other cars there were in that sort of price/model range. They have a 1999 V plate, one owner 318Ci with 17k on the clock for similar money, pretty standard spec plus metallic paint/wood trim, boot CD changer.
Looks in very good shape but I said I'd go do some homework before deciding if I wanted a test drive as I don't know if it would be a bit underpowered for quite a large car.
All in all seems a bit chicken and egg, need to drive a range of cars to see which one fits the bill.
Weird really, just not at all what I expected from a BMW used car salesman, quite refreshing, hard to sum it all up but I'm still trying to work out if he's a bloody good actor or on the level
Thoughts on the 318Ci appreciated
Paul
I think the short answer is that I like 3-Series Coupes, just not that specific car.
As a driving experience it was "interesting", started first time, quiet running, smooth, no smoke, roughness etc.. this probably says more about what I've driven but I've never driven anything so bloody quick, you plant your foot on the A-Roads and it just goes, yet it just pootles around the town centre. This one had an "adaptive" auto box with a sequential shift (forget the exact name) option if you flick the lever to the left.
The problem was the condition of the car, too many scratches on the paint, bit tatty basically.
I like to think I'm a fairly good judge of character and the chap I was dealing with seemed honest enough and didn't put an ounce of pressue on me.
After the test drive he asked me what I thought and I told him I liked the car but not that car because of the condition, he said he's been there since October and has a problem with the vehicle preparation at that dealers as it tends not to happen until the vehicle is either sold or going on the main forcourt - they have a compound out the back where the new and , I think, cheaper used BMWs.
As I said to him, how can you decide whether or not to buy a car when you can't see it anything near the condition you would expect it to be in? I suggested to him they probably concentrate on the more expensive cars as there's more money in them and he said it shouldn't really work that way but did sort of grin when I said "yeh but it's economics that a dealer will put more effort into a car that makes them more money". Oddly he then got his briefcase from under his desk and got out a flowchart he'd been working on which is how he wants the "a new used car arrives" to "customer drives off" process to work.
I then started enquiring what other cars there were in that sort of price/model range. They have a 1999 V plate, one owner 318Ci with 17k on the clock for similar money, pretty standard spec plus metallic paint/wood trim, boot CD changer.
Looks in very good shape but I said I'd go do some homework before deciding if I wanted a test drive as I don't know if it would be a bit underpowered for quite a large car.
All in all seems a bit chicken and egg, need to drive a range of cars to see which one fits the bill.
Weird really, just not at all what I expected from a BMW used car salesman, quite refreshing, hard to sum it all up but I'm still trying to work out if he's a bloody good actor or on the level
Thoughts on the 318Ci appreciated
Paul