Test drive is by far the most important part while purchasing a used car. You can easily come to know major problem areas in the car quickly and if you are able to do good testing during your drive you can come to know about the overall upkeep of the car.
1. Go with an open mind: This is by far the most important part. You need to test drive the car with an open mind without earlier prejudice. If you see a great sports car with a nice price tag on it you might become very inclined to purchase the car. During your test drive you might be overlooking many problems in the car because of your earlier favorable report of the car. You might end up with a very bad piece because of these earlier bias of yours.
2. Have a benchmark: You can set your own benchmark of the used cars you are going to purchase. Once you test drive 4-5 models you will get a pretty good idea of the performance of a car in a particular price range. You can then look upon other cars keeping these benchmarks and then try to find the best one.
3. Do a Pre-test inspection: Before going for a test drive check under the hood and see if you can find any major trouble signs. If the car has a bad odor it is a big problem. Check the transmission fluid. Check the oil cap- if there are dark, sludgy deposits it shows that the regular oil change has not been done. Check hoses, tires etc. If you think that the car has been in a wreck take a magnet with you and move around the sides of the car. If the magnet does not stick that shows that there may be a lot of body filler used.
4. Take your own notes: Take a checklist with you where the major areas like the steering, tires, seat comfort, sound system, handling, ride, noise etc are to be graded. You can grade them from A to F giving you a concise picture of the overall health of the car after your test drive.
5. Take enough time: If you are serious about the car and have not found any major issues in the car take a few more minutes to judge the car. However be considerate of the other persons time. He would have shown the car to few other buyers and still not got a deal and could be a bit impatient. If you are really serious you can offer him $20 for another 15-20 min.
6. Be consistent while testing: It is a good practice to follow a routine. You might check a few other cars and set a routine of testing the car and various features. Go at 35mph at city roads and if possible 60mph at freeways and test the steering if it performs nicely. Go over the bumps and see how the car reacts. Look for any response which would indicate worn shocks or any mismatched tire.
7. Drive with the radio off: Test drive should always be made with the radio off unless when you are testing the sound system. Although it might be difficult to separate normal noise from that caused because of engine, tires or other car problems. However paying close attention to the noise you will be able to differentiate really abnormal noise coming from engine or other places. You can change speed to isolate the noise.
8. Stick to reasonable speeds: Most of the testing is done while keeping into consideration the normal traffic rules. Drive the car as you would normally ride however pay more attention to what the car is doing. If you are looking for a sports car try to go on the freeway with a bit aggressive driving.
9. Check the CV joints: Generally used front and all wheel drive cars might have some problem with CV joints(they give power to the wheels while they are steering). Take the car to an empty parking place or some plain open space and turn the steering fully and open your windows. Make tight circles and see if you hear some clicking or abnormal noise. It will show if the CV joints need to be replaced.
10. Try to get another opinion: If at the end of your test drive and overall inspection if you are still not satisfied do not hesitate to get another opinion from a mechanic or a friend who might know a bit more about cars. These few extra dollars spent would be worth it.
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