How to avoid joy rides selling a high hp used car?

[killramos]

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What does driving a different car at a dealer tell you about the condition of a particular used car you are looking at?

What does driving a car around the block tell you about the condition of the car? It starts? It doesn’t make a weird noise? You don’t need to drive the car to figure that out.

Get a third party inspection if that’s your goal.

[you&me]

Yeah, I have bought and sold a fair number of cars and I could count the number of test drives with my dick. Either you know what you want and what it drives like, or you don't. I don't pretend - and neither should *you* - to know to identify any faults by driving it better than an inspection at a qualified shop, which is a great way to qualify a buyer... If they don't want to spend a few bucks on an inspection, they're probably not that serious.

Selling something like a modded STI sounds like a fucking nightmare.

[Mitsu3000gt]

Just make sure the car you're trying to sell is the best sample out there for the price and you don't have to worry about any of this. If you have to turn someone down who is dead set on driving it themselves, it doesn't matter because the next guy who shows up likely won't care. A 5 min drive around the neighborhood isn't going to reveal anything an inspection won't find anyway. I've never had an issue with this with any of my vehicle sales with regards to test drives, and to date the first person to actually show up (the hardest part in my experience) has always ended up buying the car.

[heavyD]

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What does driving a car around the block tell you about the condition of the car? It starts? It doesn’t make a weird noise? You don’t need to drive the car to figure that out.

Get a third party inspection if that’s your goal.

There are plenty of things I will test. If it's FWD I'm going to take a few tight low speed turns to see how the CV joints are. If it's a manual I'm going to get a feel for clutch wear and the transmission synchros. I'm going to make sure the steering wheel isn't pulling in a direction. I'm going to test the brakes for warped rotors. Plenty of things could arise on the drive that may indicate something.

[heavyD]

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Selling something like a modded STI sounds like a fucking nightmare.

It wasn't bad. Just a lot of kids that want it but can't afford it and the ones that can't get over the possible voiding of the warranty. It's the only car I have sold where there were multiple test pilots but I was asking more for than used STI's on the market so I didn't want to limit buyers and if you are selling modded I would think any smart buyer would want to drive it and make sure the vehicle wasn't ruined by the mods. All my other vehicles usually sell to the first person that looks but I always let them drive if they request. I always assume if you won't let me test drive it's possible you are hiding something. I just don't see how any STI, Civic, 3 series, A4, etc is so special that I can't test drive it.

[Darell_n]

Really, you can probably tell more about a vehicle's issues by following it closely while the owner drives it hard, versus you driving a vehicle for the first time. Puffs of smoke the owner probably doesn't even know about, weird suspension movements, tracking problems, odd noises / smells.

[Mitsu3000gt]

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Really, you can probably tell more about a vehicle's issues by following it closely while the owner drives it hard, versus you driving a vehicle for the first time. Puffs of smoke the owner probably doesn't even know about, weird suspension movements, tracking problems, odd noises / smells.

Another thing is looking at the owner's garage, property, other belongings that are visible to you while you're there. You can usually get a sense for how it's been treated regardless of how well it's been cleaned up for sale (amazing how many people don't even both with this either). If everything else he owns is a nightmare, it's pretty unlikely the car you're looking at was treated any differently. If the guy's garage is immaculate, any other cars he owns look like they are in great condition, etc. then chances are he doesn't treat the car you're trying to buy any differently. Obviously not a sure thing but I would never buy a vehicle from someone who clearly doesn't look after anything else they own.

[ThePenIsMightier]

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There are plenty of things I will test. If it's FWD I'm going to take a few tight low speed turns to see how the CV joints are. If it's a manual I'm going to get a feel for clutch wear and the transmission synchros. I'm going to make sure the steering wheel isn't pulling in a direction. I'm going to test the brakes for warped rotors. Plenty of things could arise on the drive that may indicate something.

Agree. Bad rotors, CV's and delaminated tires are probably a $2,500 fix and you can find it within a block.

[rage2]

Maybe I’ve been lucky, but never had an issue with letting people test drive my cars. I let them go first, then I will drive it and show what it can do. That sealed the deal with both the M3 and the RCF.

[Mitsu3000gt]

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Agree. Bad rotors, CV's and delaminated tires are probably a $2,500 fix and you can find it within a block.

How would an inspection not catch those things though?

[ThePenIsMightier]

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How would an inspection not catch those things though?

It would, and now I don't need to blow $200 and an entire afternoon to find that out.

[Mitsu3000gt]

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It would, and now I don't need to blow $200 and an entire afternoon to find that out.

The seller would be responsible for taking to car to the inspection so you wouldn't be out any time. I guess you could save the $200 if you trusted yourself more than a mechanic and if the seller allowed a test drive, but $200 on a high value vehicle would be a completely insignificant price to pay to get an inspection rather than gambling that you can notice the full extent of any hypothetical issues driving around the block. I dunno, maybe I'm just looking at it differently. It's certainly not wrong to want a test drive, I would if the seller would let me, but I would also understand if they didn't because it's impossible for them to know that I'm not just there for a joy ride.

[dirtsniffer]

inspections are bullshit anyways. No car is coming out of one without the vehicle 'needing' several thousand in repairs.

[killramos]

It’s a miracle any used car transaction goes through I guess.

[zechs]

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How would an inspection not catch those things though?

Guess how you tell a lot of these things?

By DRIVING THE CAR. Which the mechanic may do.

I can assure you, no mechanic takes apart a cv axle, takes measurements, and determines if they are out of spec with a micrometer. "Oh, your cv axle has 32.6% of its life left according to specs". Like no. Just no.

What is this weird idea people have that mechanics are magic? They have special tricks that tell them things?

No, you pay them $200, they put the car on the hoist, wiggle shit and visually inspect things I don't give a crap about. They can't magically tell you the engine is worn unless it's compression is way fucked, or it is clearly burning oil.

At a shop rate of $145/hour, a proper full on inspection that was worth anything would be a full days work or about $1k.

How does a mechanic tell you a transmission is screwed or severely worn? Unless it's already acting fucky, which a TEST DRIVE would tell you, they won't be able to give you anymore info.

Killramos sounds like one of those people that is afraid to take an engine over 4k rpm. "Oh no, somebody bagged my car for 5 seconds before I squealed like a bitch they were hurting it". Really?

[Mitsu3000gt]

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inspections are bullshit anyways. No car is coming out of one without the vehicle 'needing' several thousand in repairs.

While I can't speak for the quality or accuracy of the inspection itself, every car I have had inspected for a buyer has not needed anything or resulted in me having to lower the price. The worst were a few "keep an eye on this over the next couple years" type items and generally that isn't something the buyer can reasonably ask for a discount for on a used vehicle.

The inspections I really don't trust are dealership inspections on their own cars. I have literally been in "certified" cars that couldn't even shift into reverse

[ThePenIsMightier]

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The seller would be responsible for taking to car to the inspection so you wouldn't be out any time. I guess you could save the $200 if you trusted yourself more than a mechanic and if the seller allowed a test drive, but $200 on a high value vehicle would be a completely insignificant price to pay to get an inspection rather than gambling that you can notice the full extent of any hypothetical issues driving around the block. I dunno, maybe I'm just looking at it differently. It's certainly not wrong to want a test drive, I would if the seller would let me, but I would also understand if they didn't because it's impossible for them to know that I'm not just there for a joy ride.

I never said it was test drive or inspection.

[killramos]

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Guess how you tell a lot of these things?

By DRIVING THE CAR. Which the mechanic may do.

I can assure you, no mechanic takes apart a cv axle, takes measurements, and determines if they are out of spec with a micrometer. "Oh, your cv axle has 32.6% of its life left according to specs". Like no. Just no.

What is this weird idea people have that mechanics are magic? They have special tricks that tell them things?

No, you pay them $200, they put the car on the hoist, wiggle shit and visually inspect things I don't give a crap about. They can't magically tell you the engine is worn unless it's compression is way fucked, or it is clearly burning oil.

At a shop rate of $145/hour, a proper full on inspection that was worth anything would be a full days work or about $1k.

How does a mechanic tell you a transmission is screwed or severely worn? Unless it's already acting fucky, which a TEST DRIVE would tell you, they won't be able to give you anymore info.

Killramos sounds like one of those people that is afraid to take an engine over 4k rpm. "Oh no, somebody bagged my car for 5 seconds before I squealed like a bitch they were hurting it". Really?

Spotted the loser bagging on peoples cars with no intention or means of buying.

No one needs a buyer like you.

[ragu]

I’m surprised this has made it to p2 and gathered some debate. Sooo why would anyone buy private when dealer can work with my schedule, let me test drive workout a hassle and price is competitive with private sellers?

[killramos]

Because price isn’t competitive.

If it is, buy it.