Crashing a test drive - hypothetical

General Questions
#1

What happens if you crash a dealer’s car during a test drive?

This occurred to me while test driving the other day. Say I take a new Maibatsu Monstrosity our for a spin with the dealer. It’s been a while since I’ve driven anything that large. I screw up, and wrap the car around a phone pole. Who is at fault? It’s not MY car after all. Ethically, yes, I should turn my head, cough, and pay for the damage. I’m just curious about the legality.

  1. Would the dealer be able to reach out and touch my insurance?

  2. Would they eat the cost figuring (rightly) that I’m not going to buy a car from someone who just jacked my premiums?

  3. Would they say “You broke it - You bought it,” and sell me the now destroyed car at new car prices.

#2

I would have to assume that their vehicles are insured.

Presumably it’s the same situation as if you were driving your friend’s car with their permission and you had an accident.

#3

The following may depend on what state you live in (& other disclaimers). But:
**1. Would the dealer be able to reach out and touch my insurance? **
They don’t have to, they could just sue you for damaging their property. Typically the test driver will file the claim with his/her own insurance company who will then pay the dealer the market value of the car (less the collision deductible). Your policy, if it has the provision, would classify the car as a “Non-Owned” (read, not owned by the insured) car and handle coverage as though it were your own. This is a fairly common provision. I don’t want to hear any more negative comments about mean old insurance companies: you’ve been paying premium for a 1982 Honda & now they have to pay for a 2005 Maibatsu Monstrosity! How cool is that (for you)?

**2. Would they eat the cost figuring (rightly) that I’m not going to buy a car from someone who just jacked my premiums? ** They didn’t jack your premiums, you did by wrecking the car. In what way is this the dealership’s fault?

3. Would they say “You broke it - You bought it,” and sell me the now destroyed car at new car prices. Yes. Sort of. If your insurance company does not cover “non-owned” cars, or if you do not carry collision on your own policy. Either the dealership will force the sale or, if they have insurance on the car as suggested by Podkayne, their insurance company will pay them for the car and hand you the subrogation bill which you can submit to your insurer or pay your self.

Please note, you don’t have to get your insurance company involved, but it’d be stupid fiscally not to. You are responsible for the accident, you need to step up. (said in a kind & gentle tone).

#4

Crud. Well, there goes my plan to take a brandy new Honda S2000 out and try to reenact moments from the Fast and the Furious.

Although now that I think about it I do have excellent insurance…

#5

So what if you don’t have insurance? You are, after all, buying a new car. This could be your very first car and you therefore had absolutely no reason yet to have auto insurance.

#6

Just one good wreck and your excellent insurance becomes expensive insurance!

#7

But I need NOS! If I had NOS I would be cool! And chicks would dig me, and I wouldn’t need insurance because the guy with NOS never crashes, and it’s true in the movies, so it must be true in real life, right?

#8

:smiley: May as well be. heh we don’t coun’t illegal equipment when we figure the total loss settlement!

One difference between god/bad insurance is not how expensive it gets after they pay out $50,000 on your behalf in exchange for…how much have you paid them? Rather the sign of a good insurer can be: will they keep you insured at ANY price, maybe even forgive the accident (some companies will) or will they toss you out in to the cold cold ocean of…nonstandard risks where the realy ooky brokers swim!

Terminus Est: If you wreck a dealer’s car and you don’t have insurance, or just no collision coverage, the debt doesn’t necessarily go away. You just don’t have anyone to give the bill to. :wink: No fun. At. All.

#9

Since I’ve been test-driving cars today, and actually asked this question of the dealers, I feel eminiently qualified to answer the question, at least as far as England is concerned. In England, if you are with the dealer (as in one case today), you are covered under their insurance; if you are not with a dealer (as in another case today), you are covered under your own insurance, if any - but the dealer is supposed to ensure that you do have insurance and it is a criminal offence to drive without insurance. I simply rang up my insurers and said I wanted to take this particular car for a test drive and they charged me a nominal sum. As I have Comprehensive insurance on my current car, I can drive any other vehicle that I am licensed to drive on a 3rd-party only basis, but why take the risk?

Had an accident occurred when I was with the dealer, it would have been on his insurance; had an accident occurred and I was not with the dealer, then he would have claimed against me and thus my insurers.