Used/New Car Evaluation

[Rtrorkt]

A question for the Pelican brain trust.

With the apparent increase in on line car purchases, I am wondering how, if you are buying this way, you evaluate the car in question. I guess you can go to a dealer and have test drives. Or maybe there are those that are content to buy either by price, looks or reputation.

Since my Range Rover was in the shop (go figure, eh) I was given a loaner Honda Pilot. A friend of my wife has one and my wife decided maybe that it the car for her. Seems she is not as enamored with our Macan, her daily driver, as I am. We almost pulled the trigger on getting one.

Since I worked the LVGP and drove from the Phoenix metro to Vegas I had lots of time in that car. Normally when buying a car from a dealer you get a short test drive. Maybe 10 -20 miles. On my way to Vegas I could begin to understand this car, its quirks and options. I don’t think you could figure out what I did in a short drive. For example, the lane keep tech kept moving the steering just slightly on straight roads enough to give a sense of being in a boat. It took 50 - 100 miles for me to realize what was happening. Just never used it again

The steering was light and imprecise and while that was not necessarily apparent on a short drive, it really shows up after the miles click by. While you might feel that on a short run, after many miles it made the car feel of less quality.

While the driver’s seat was comfortable, after a time there were not enough adjustments to change position slightly to shift my weight. The gas pedal placement was really annoying on long runs where the cruise could not be used. Got my ankle in a cramp and there is little you can do about that in traffic. And it was noisy compared to my Range Rover.

All in all, i might have purchased one since it is a good size, Honda has a good maintenance rep, price is somewhat right and you can get most of the bells and whistles that come with a new car.

Got me thinking of how I will try to evaluate my next auto purchase.

[pwd72s]

If newish, maybe rent prospects for a few weeks? But that would probably eliminate all but appliance cars.

[masraum]

I've heard of folks buying cars directly over the Internet, not even having seen the thing in person. I've also heard of folks (here on the board) buying a particular car without a test drive. I've never done either. And most of my test drives are short, but once I'm almost definitely buying a vehicle, I take it on a longish test drive (but still probably only 20-50 miles). I can generally tell what I think about a vehicle in that time, although as you discovered, some things you are likely to only notice once familiarity has set in.

When we test drove the wife's Outback, we probably had the car for 2-4 hours. I think I went and drove it a bit. Then they let me leave with it and go take the wife on a drive. I think I took it back a few hours later.

I haven't ever done it, but I have heard of folks test driving a car for 24-48 hours. I even know someone that once test drove a car for a week (more than once at multiple dealers). I don't know if you could get away with that these days or if it takes a special person to get away with it.

[pwd72s]

The opening post did make a good point. It takes time to decide whether or not you like or dislike a car. You can read (In today's world, watch) the various reviews, etc. That helps narrow the search. But even a test drive isn't really enough.

[oldE]

When I bought my '16 Jetta, I test drove it and a similarly equipped Golf back to back over a 20 km route, then went back the next day and drove them again in reverse order over a slightly different course. I went in intending to buy the Golf, but the Jetta suited me better. You have to put some seat time into the process.

Best
Les