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Buyer wants to test-drive my used car?

I

ironk

Senior member
How does this work? Say i am selling my car (private seller), and a potential buyer comes over my house to see the car. Whats the proper procedure if they wanted to test drive the car?

Questions that come up to me:

1) How the heck do you trust em?
2) Should they go on a highway if they want to?
3) Should i go with them (is this even safe)? Can they drive alone if they ask me to (i mean if they leave behind something of value to them)?
4) What about insurance? What if he/she hits someone or someone hits them during the test drive?
5) What documents should the driver have with them?
6) Any state specific laws concerning this? I am in Boston, MA.

I could probably think of more...but thats it for now.

Thanks, any advice is appreciated.
 
You're thinking about this WAY too much.

Hand them the key, climb into the passenger's seat, and away you go.

A lot of times people will just let you take it, I've been on both sides of this without any incidents (save for the time I lost a glass top at 60 mph in a Z that I had taken from a dealer... Whoops.).

Viper GTS
 
yeap like viper said.

though i get the drivers license and make a copy. other then that no big deal.
 
well, i haven't sold a car before privately, so i thought i would ask anyways.

Mind you, the car isn't something expensive (hyudai, probably around $4000), but still, i want to do it right.
 
The question is how badly do you want to sell your car? I bought all my cars from private sellers. I wouldn't consider buying a car w/o a test drive. Yes, I want to take it on a highway where I can see how it performs at speed. Basically I want to drive it at speed, drive it in traffic, listen to the engine at different speeds, listen for clunks in the steering, etc.

I've always sold my cars to private buyers as well. Only one buyer didn't want to test drive one which I thought was wierd.

Anyway, your insurance is in effect while your car is being test driven so you definitely want to ride along. Riding along also gives you an opportunity to explain all the strange noises and any issues with the car so that the buyer is fully informed about the purchase.
 
Originally posted by: ironk
lol, i am seeing a lot of "hand them the key, get in the passenger seat."
Click to expand...
Well that would be the solution for anybody with the slightest inkling of common sense.

 
Don't get your car stolen like that one video online.. the guy gave the keys to the test-driver and walked around to get in the passenger seat. Before he could get in, the guy sped off.
 
Ride shotgun FTW!
Or make them leave their car, keys, & registration as security if you don't wanna go in the car with them.
 
Originally posted by: Viper GTS
You're thinking about this WAY too much.

Hand them the key, climb into the passenger's seat, and away you go.

A lot of times people will just let you take it, I've been on both sides of this without any incidents (save for the time I lost a glass top at 60 mph in a Z that I had taken from a dealer... Whoops.).

Viper GTS
Click to expand...
Now come on, you can't say something like that without elaborating on the story a bit. What did the dealership do?
 
Originally posted by: MrBond
Originally posted by: Viper GTS
You're thinking about this WAY too much.

Hand them the key, climb into the passenger's seat, and away you go.

A lot of times people will just let you take it, I've been on both sides of this without any incidents (save for the time I lost a glass top at 60 mph in a Z that I had taken from a dealer... Whoops.).

Viper GTS
Click to expand...
Now come on, you can't say something like that without elaborating on the story a bit. What did the dealership do?
Click to expand...

Dealer: Hey WTF did you do?

Viper: There's pieces missing; let's talk price🙂
 
Originally posted by: MrBond

Now come on, you can't say something like that without elaborating on the story a bit. What did the dealership do?
Click to expand...

This was 3-4 years ago now. Noticed a small dealer had a late 80's 300ZX on their lot that looked to be in pretty nice shape. I wanted a cheap, relatively fun car so I stopped in. They photocopied my license & handed me the keys. No ride along, so I was on my own.

Took it out in the country (only a couple miles from the dealer), got stuck behind a tractor doing like 15 mph. Finally got a chance to leave him behind, was accelerating through 60 mph when the glass top came flying off. I watched it bounce on the pavement a few times in the rear view mirror, said a few choice curse words, & then ran back to get it.

Thankfully it didn't even crack, but the leather trim on the inside got scuffed up a bit on the pavement + a little dirt from the ditch. When I put it back on I discovered it wouldn't even latch properly (they of course had neglected to tell me that). I drove it back VERY slowly, parked it where they had it & said "it's not for me." Then I got the hell out of there before they decided to go inspect it.

Never heard a word about it.

🙂

Viper GTS
 
Originally posted by: joshsquall
Don't get your car stolen like that one video online.. the guy gave the keys to the test-driver and walked around to get in the passenger seat. Before he could get in, the guy sped off.
Click to expand...


+10 points for making the OP feel better! 😀
 
Just a little bit of security:

1. I aways set up the meet by calling THEM back. Though they could have a disposable number etc. (that's a lot of trouble to go through to steal a crappy used car), I have a seemingly good phone number.
2. I meet them in a public place. Not at my house. (probably useless since they can look at the registration, but it makes me feel better.)
3. Note their licence plate number and/or ask to see their drivers license.
4. Give them the key and let them drive off. If they steal the car, then you will probably get more from insurance than you will by selling it. 😉

MotionMan
 
4. Give them the key and let them drive off. If they steal the car, then you will probably get more from insurance than you will by selling it.
Click to expand...

I was thinking about that too...its probably better.

when someone buys it, make sure you don't take a personal check!
Click to expand...

Now, THAT, i do know. Ofcourse, cashiers check or even cash could be fake..(once again, am thinking too much).

Everyone here is probably going, "oh geez...".
 
Originally posted by: Red Dawn
Originally posted by: ironk
lol, i am seeing a lot of "hand them the key, get in the passenger seat."
Click to expand...
Well that would be the solution for anybody with the slightest inkling of common sense.
Click to expand...

No, common sense would be get in the car first, then hand them the key😉
 
When accepting cashiers checks from a local private buyer, you just go to the bank that issued the check, have them verify funds on the spot, and have them cash the check or issue you a new cashiers check in your name to take to your bank.

Insurance BTW covers the car, not just the driver, so a test driver should be covered under your policy. Typically, only people who live in the same residence as you or who otherwise might have access to drive the car on a regular basis are excluded.
 
Most of the cars I've bought have been with ridealongs, but a couple people have just taken a copy of the license and let me go.
 
The last car I purchased, the seller just made a copy of my license and let me take the car for the night! Full tank of gas too. I was able to drive it for hours and get a complete check up. I ended up choosing it over others which were better deals essentially because of that - I knew I could trust the guy and the car. Not that I would ever do that if I was selling a car, but it was a very good experience.

Also, I was looking at an A4 a couple years back from a dealer, and he just gave me the keys said go. Didn't buy it because the car had some problems, but that was a fun two hour joyride 😛
 
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