JuanPa Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 I have a question about test driving a car if someone could help me. I am in the midst of purchasing a new BMW 320d, so it's a cool 2.9m baht price tag on these. In my opinion it is quite a bit of money to throw around so I was wondering what is considered a resonable test drive before you decide on your purchase. Would the normal 10 minute run around the block at no more than 50km/h be expected to be sufficient? Meaning that I would like to have the car for say 1/2 day or so and properly test drive it, but I do not know if that is reasonable on my behalf. Any advice would be appreciated, thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JAS21 Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 When I bought my 520d from Europa Motors I had a couple of test drives ... half an hour or so ... I drove a 523, 525 and the 520d. You might be disappointed with a 3-Series as they are a bit small ... why not buy my 520d enjoy whatever you do ... I can highly recommend Europa Motors in BK ... the service guy there is really good and the Service Manager is one of the daughters of the Dealer and speaks excellent english. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoonRiverOasis Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 (edited) A 'reasonable' test drive is one that's enough for you, personally, to understand the car's merits and flaws. For some people, 10 minutes might do, for others they might want/need weeks behind the wheel... Then again, for some cars, 30 seconds might be enough to know you'd never buy it A 'reasonable' test drive for a salesperson is the shortest one possible that will get your signature I'm curious - has the dealer you're talking to got the F30 already, or are you looking at an E90? I haven't heard of any F30's hitting Thai showrooms yet... Edited February 20, 2012 by MoonRiverOasis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mogandave Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 It'a a lot of dough, if your serious, why not rent one for a couple days? I saw a new 520d on the road today, black w/ black alloys, dang that was a good looking ride! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richard_smith237 Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 I test drove my car from central Bangkok out to the airport and back - Approximately 45 mins worth of driving.... That was enough for me, I loved the car and only really wanted to find out if there were any howlers to completely put me off... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodsie888 Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 (edited) I test drove my car from central Bangkok out to the airport and back - Approximately 45 mins worth of driving.... That was enough for me, I loved the car and only really wanted to find out if there were any howlers to completely put me off... I agree with you. A moderate drive in an area you are familiar with will let you form an opinion very quickly. Half day or overnight test drives are wasting the the buyer's & Dealer's time. By the time a prospective buyer gets behind the wheel they should be doing so on the basis they are going to buy it, unless they really dislike the driving experience. This is always obvious within the first few kms, even to novices. Edited February 20, 2012 by Woodsie888 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoonRiverOasis Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 (edited) This is always obvious within the first few kms, even to novices. Yep. If you've already weighed up all of the packaging and pricing pro's and cons, the test drive is just about 'validation' - i.e.making sure there's no unexpected surprises, and making sure the car is a good 'fit'. That said though, a test drive should cover a range of typical driving scenarios, surfaces and speeds - being stuck in traffic with a max. speed of 50km/hr doesn't qualify as reasonable IMHO. One this topic... It feels like such a long time ago now, but I still remember back in 2009 being somewhat certain I was going to buy the wife a 4WD Pajero Sport GT - but after taking her to test drive it, and seeing her driver's chair acting like some type of 'vibration torture test' as the 4WD selector lever rattled her (all the way forward) seat to pieces was an unexpected surprise... So she ended up with the 2WD instead.... (now replaced, after much deliberation and several test drives, with an Evoque). Edited February 20, 2012 by MoonRiverOasis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodsie888 Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 (edited) This is always obvious within the first few kms, even to novices. Yep. If you've already weighed up all of the packaging and pricing pro's and cons, the test drive is just about 'validation' - i.e.making sure there's no unexpected surprises, and making sure the car is a good 'fit'. That said though, a test drive should cover a range of typical driving scenarios, surfaces and speeds - being stuck in traffic with a max. speed of 50km/hr doesn't qualify as reasonable IMHO. One this topic... It feels like such a long time ago now, but I still remember back in 2009 being somewhat certain I was going to buy the wife a 4WD Pajero Sport GT - but after taking her to test drive it, and seeing her driver's chair acting like some type of 'vibration torture test' as the 4WD selector lever rattled her (all the way forward) seat to pieces was an unexpected surprise... So she ended up with the 2WD instead.... (now replaced, after much deliberation and several test drives, with an Evoque). Hehehehe, but she was in love with the Evoque before you both even sat in it !!! They do look great! PS SD4? Edited February 20, 2012 by Woodsie888 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katabeachbum Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 any point in a test drive, it must be taken up to ordinary crusingspeed 160-180kmh for a while, prefereably with load. As the sales rep usually wants to join in TH, I ask them to buckle up as we are going for a fast ride. Only 2 cars in Th have I test driven without buying them bmw520d and volvo s60. I shouldnt have tested any of them, as I was not a genuine buyer, but as they offered, how could I resist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richard_smith237 Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 On my test drive I gunned the car straight up to 180 kph as soon as the expressway cleared. One of my concerns was the heavy Range Rover being a tad sluggish, it was far from that and I was impressed with the V8 response. MRO, now I'm very jealous, I'm trying to offload my RangeRover MKIII as I want the Evoque (2.0 petrol 4 door SI4). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JuanPa Posted February 21, 2012 Author Share Posted February 21, 2012 Great feedback and opinions thanks. I think I agree that perhaps driving the car for 30 to 45 minutes would be sufficient, as one has already done the homework in picking a car you would want to buy. Make sure you take the car to high speeds to see how it feels on the highway is also good. I think I will definitely do that. When I bought my 520d from Europa Motors I had a couple of test drives ... half an hour or so ... I drove a 523, 525 and the 520d. You might be disappointed with a 3-Series as they are a bit small ... why not buy my 520d enjoy whatever you do ... I can highly recommend Europa Motors in BK ... the service guy there is really good and the Service Manager is one of the daughters of the Dealer and speaks excellent english. Thanks JAS21, the 520d is getting further up there in price and I am not after something so big yet, I'm single (divorced, no kids) and relatively young at 32 (so I say to myself anyway) so would like something more sporty than comfortable, although I will be lugging my road bike around with me to ride outside BKK, but enough space in the 3 series for that. I am buying it from an American fellow bike rider that owns a BMW dealership in Chonburi, we are both based in BKK though. I'm curious - has the dealer you're talking to got the F30 already, or are you looking at an E90? I haven't heard of any F30's hitting Thai showrooms yet... MoonRiverOasis, it is the E90, the F30 not available yet. I saw a new 520d on the road today, black w/ black alloys, dang that was a good looking ride! mogandave I will also be hopefully purchasing the black one with the same thing in mind, will get the wheels powdercoated in black to match. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoonRiverOasis Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 Hehehehe, but she was in love with the Evoque before you both even sat in it !!! They do look great! PS SD4? Yep, 5-door SD4. The first part of the deliberations was me capitulating into buying her a car costing 2x what I originally had in mind, the 2nd part was deciding betwen gasoline and diesel And somewhat on-topic again, it was the test drive that helped sway the decision in favor of the oil burner in the end Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoonRiverOasis Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 MoonRiverOasis, it is the E90, the F30 not available yet. That's actually good news in way.. Have been toying with the idea of buying the last ever V8 powered M3 Cabrio Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoonRiverOasis Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 MRO, now I'm very jealous, I'm trying to offload my RangeRover MKIII as I want the Evoque (2.0 petrol 4 door SI4). Me too, but not enough to have buyer's remorse with the Cayenne yet, heh. The 2013 Audi Q7 will probably be the one to do that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JuanPa Posted March 5, 2012 Author Share Posted March 5, 2012 For completion purposes. I ended up buying the car. I took it for a test drive of about 45 mins. Normal roads, highway, etc. it was sufficient to know that there was nothing that didn't feel totally uncomfortable with the car and myself. JAS21 you are right. Inside it is a little smaller than you imagine, but as I said I'm still single and do not mind something smaller and nippier to drive. Thanks for all helpful replies! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoonRiverOasis Posted March 6, 2012 Share Posted March 6, 2012 For completion purposes. I ended up buying the car. I took it for a test drive of about 45 mins. Normal roads, highway, etc. it was sufficient to know that there was nothing that didn't feel totally uncomfortable with the car and myself. JAS21 you are right. Inside it is a little smaller than you imagine, but as I said I'm still single and do not mind something smaller and nippier to drive. Thanks for all helpful replies! Congrats on the new car JuanPa! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mogandave Posted March 6, 2012 Share Posted March 6, 2012 Nothing else like it.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JuanPa Posted March 6, 2012 Author Share Posted March 6, 2012 Yeah great new car feeling! Loving it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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