It’s been a long time since I sold a used car to a stranger. I tend to keep vehicles for a long time, and my last two used vehicles I sold to a nephew and a friend, respectively. My wife asked me “do we let people take a test drive on their own or insist on going with them?” I said I’m not actually sure. We bought a used car for one of our sons a year or so ago, and the owners of that car let us take it out for a drive by ourselves. But it seems weird or wrong to do so. Not that I think they’re going to steal it, necessarily, but maybe they’ll drive it in a crazy manner and beat the heck out of it if one of us does not go along.
So, is there a “best practice” for the test drive?
I’d insist on a nominal ‘nonrefundable’ amount of money (like $200) and a copy/photo of their DL and proof of insurance. The money is just to filter dumbfucks.
I buy almost nothing but used cars. I’ve always asked to do a test drive, and offered to have the owner come along.
The point of that would be if there’s a funny noise or a quirk, I can ask “What’s that?”… so, owner, have an immediate answer, and an analysis of how serious/costly it is.
I’m buying a car based on how well it’s been taken care of, so the owner saying “That shimmy? Yeah, that’s the right front wheel, it’ll be about fifty bucks to get it balanced.” MUCH better answer than “What shimmy? I never noticed.” Or the worst answer: “Oh, don’t worry about it, that’s normal…”
Twice I’ve left my driver’s license with the owner and taken it to my Car Guy, who does a complete diagnostic and a quick drive of his own in twenty minutes. He’s great at saying “It’s going to need A, B, and C before you drive it any distance; and X, Y, and maybe Z in the next year.”
One time he said I’d be putting $800 bucks into a 1st gen Insight (“But I know you, digs, you’re going to buy this car.”)
So I went back (with photos of the issues) and offered $800 less, in cash. Owner said he appreciated the research I’d put in on what it needed, and I drove away in the first hybrid ever made.
May your sales be adventures ending in everyone being as happy as he and I were.
When I went with my son to buy his car, the owner photographed our licenses and stayed home. It probably helped that my (nicer) car was left behind for the test drive.
They might prefer to do the test drive alone, but it’s fine to go with them. I’ve bought cars from individuals many times. Sometimes they come along and sometimes they don’t. There’s no fixed set of standards on how to sell your car. Whatever you feel comfortable with is fine. Even at the dealer I’ve seen it both ways. Sometimes they come with you, sometimes they don’t. Personally, I might guess that it’s better for the sale to go with them. That gives you a greater opportunity to be in sales mode and talk up the car.
One point of consideration might be how expensive your car is. If it’s an expensive, luxury car, there might be more scammers and crooks looking at it. But if it’s an everyday car, then most likely the people coming to take a look are regular people looking to buy.
I’ve done both from both sides of the ledger.
I’d say it would depend on what sort of vibes you get and the value of the car.
There’s nothing wrong with going for a ride-a-long with the prospective buyer.
It does help a lot if they leave their keys behind, or their car is parked in your driveway.
I would say, that if someone asked for a deposit - it ain’t happening (unless there’s something special about the car)
I forgot the finish: And then hand them the keys and let them take it to their mechanic and/or test drive for a reasonable length of time, 48 hours?, whateve before we finish our deal, bill of sale, title, etc.
48 hours? Maybe if this was a luxury vehicle we were selling, but it’s just a 2012 Ford Fusion. We did recently take it to a mechanic and put over a grand into it to fix a cam sensor and a heating and cooling issue, among a couple other things, and we have a thick file of regular maintenance and repairs on it over the years. So I’m thinking short test drive, they will have to take our word for it on the mechanical soundness, and one of us goes along.
In terms of etiquette, whatever your personal comfort level is is fine. You’re trying to establish trust in a very short amount of time with a complete stranger, and generally speaking everyone in that situation is fairly accommodating.
Personally, I toss people the keys and tell them to have fun. Selling cars is very time consuming, and anything I can do to make the sale I’m going to do. For me, that means getting out of the way and letting the car sell itself. Plus, the last thing I want to do is drive around with a bunch of tire kickers who never planned on buying it in the first place.
But that’s me, and I sell cheap cars below book value just to make them gone. I don’t begrudge anyone who wants to be more cautious.
Is there a Carmax near you? If so, plug the car info into their webpage and see how much you like what it tells you. If you think you can get a significantly better price, go for it. Otherwise, avoid the hassle. They briefly check out the car to make sure that you’ve accurately described it, do all of the paperwork and cut you a check.
I would not ever buy a car from somebody who wouldn’t let me take it to my mechanic first.
And I certainly wouldn’t pay anybody $200 for the privilege.
Photo of the DL and proof of insurance would be fine. So would leaving the car I drove there in the seller’s driveway during the test drive, which I pretty much have to do anyway. So I suppose would be their coming with me.
Just wanted to say “Amen!” to this, from both sides of the transaction. And, if you don’t have a “car guy”, get one.
Aside: I’m amazed at how many people don’t have a “guy”. No car guy, no dog-walking guy, no snowblower guy, no check-on-the-house-because-we’re-out-of-town-during-a-big-storm guy… One friend of mine can’t leave town because “Who’d feed the dog?” “Umm, a neighbor?” “I don’t know anyone in my town…” (that he’s lived in for ten years). Sigh.
I don’t need proof of insurance because it’s my insurance. If my insurance doesn’t cover an uninsured driver I’m not giving anyone permission to drive my car.
You think people are going to pay you $200 in order to test drive your car? How do I know it’s not an absolute junker in some fashion not visible before driving, and you’ve decided to make money charging people $200 to get to drive it long enough to figure that out?
I have bought used cars, multiple times; sometimes from individuals and sometimes from dealers. I have never had anybody charge me a non-refundable fee, or even a refundable one, for taking a test drive. I haven’t had anybody tell me I couldn’t take the car to a mechanic, either.
Maybe for a late model, upper-end vehicle, but again, we’re talking a 2012 Ford Fusion we’re just hoping to get a few K return from. I would think that’s more of a ‘what you see is what you get’ situation. And like I said, we did put over a grand into it recently to get it sale-worthy, plus we have a thick file of regular repair and maintenance work over the years.
I suppose I’ll stay flexible if the potential customer is insisting on taking it to a mechanic, but I’m hoping for a quick sale at a reasonable price.
I personally would not let the car be taken to a mechanic. I wouldn’t want to have the car off the market for however many days it spent at the mechanic. Also, I wouldn’t want to worry about anything the mechanic shop messes up while they have it. I’m fine with a mobile mechanic coming out since I won’t lose time trying to sell it and I can watch what the mechanic is doing. If I lose the sale because I won’t agree to let them take it to a mechanic, oh well. I’m sure someone else will come along who will buy it eventually.
That was based on the car being away while at the mechanic (and I posted an incomplete reply, later added to) but sure. Or $50, it’s arbitrary. By that stage in the selling process, they’re going to buy the car pending mechanic’s approval (which itself costs a few bucks) and I want some earnest money to take it off the market. Of course, that money down comes off the purchase price.
But, really, I need to make sure to scare off lookieloos who would test drive 49 cars but never tell the sellers they don’t get paid till New Years or can only follow through after they sell their own impounded beater, etc. And, I could be talked out of the deposit if there was a reasonable story behind it.
If a buyer comes ready to purchase and wants a 10 min test, sure, we can do that before we sign the papers.
I have always made the appointment first. It took them maybe an hour; plus the time spent driving there and back. There’s no reason whatsoever the car should spend days there; at least unless it turns out to be too unsafe to go back on the road.
If you’re seriously worried that the mechanic will screw up something, then choose a mechanic you both agree on. But demanding that you be the only one to do the choosing would be as big a red flag for me as refusing to let me take it to a mechanic.
A car that’s selling for a few K is going to interest people for whom $200 is a significant amount of money. They’re not going to spend it just to get a test drive.
In the other direction, if you had something truly rare and unusual, maybe some purchasers would be willing to shell out just in order to get to drive it. Why should anybody do that for a 2012 Ford Fusion?
Again, we’re not talking about days. We’re talking about probably a couple of hours; less if the mechanic is close by. If you’re getting that many customers who actually show up, have them all stand there at once and bid against each other.