My $1,900 Test Drive

[wjones14]

Everybody curbs their rims at least once!

On a test drive?!

It ain't like you do it on purpose when you ain't on a test drive .

My point was that most people would be extra careful on a test drive, especially with a brand new car.

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[JoeySD]

Everybody curbs their rims at least once!

Wow really I have never heard this before lol. I'm always very aware of when I come close to a curb, and jeez call me crazy but....if I was on a test drive in a brand new 15 Mustang, I would be overly cautious.

 

[thaext]

Wow really I have never heard this before lol. I'm always very aware of when I come close to a curb, and jeez call me crazy but....if I was on a test drive in a brand new 15 Mustang, I would be overly cautious.

I know! My heart goes out to him, but unfortunately shit happens :/

 

[FStephenMasek]

The dealership shoulders the risk of allowing people to test drive the vehicles.

 

[RisingForce]

The dealership shoulders the risk of allowing people to test drive the vehicles.

It's this kind of attitude that will eventually lead to dealers requiring bunch of signatures and copy of insurance card before the let you test drive.

If you borrow something from a friend and you break it, do you blame your friend for taking a risk and letting you borrow it?

 

[thaext]

I wonder what would happen, if you get someone that doesn't have an valid license, no insurance, test drives a car and does slight damage...

We all know those people are out there, and everybody might know someone that has been in the unfortunate situation of dealing with it.

 

[Turrizm]

Dealerships in ohio require copies of license and insurance cards for test drives. Not sure about all of them but all of those that I have visited.

Sure the customer is at fault but a dealership should be prepared to cover minor stuff like this or at least not mark up the price. I run a business and have all types of expenses and I would gladly deal with something like this such that my reputation with customers stays intact. The cost of parts is the most the customer would pay and I would knock that off the price of the next car he would buy with my company. Or whatever.

 

[aardvark]

It's this kind of attitude that will eventually lead to dealers requiring bunch of signatures and copy of insurance card before the let you test drive.

If you borrow something from a friend and you break it, do you blame your friend for taking a risk and letting you borrow it?

Test-driving a car is not analogous to borrowing something from a friend.

Lending a lawn mower to a friend is a purely benevolent act. There's no quid pro quo.

The car dealer is not the test-driver's friend. The dealer is trying to sell a car to the test-driver. The dealer is encouraging the customer to test-drive the vehicle in hopes that he will buy it or a similar vehicle. The dealer is taking certain risks in hopes of making a profitable sale.

Suppose that someone were in the business of selling sweaters, and he said, 'Here, try this sweater on and see how you like it.' And suppose that you did try it on and it snagged on something and you accidentally tore a little hole in it. Should you have to pay to repair it? Hell, no. The sweater seller took a risk (i.e., that potential benefit of you buying a sweater outweighed the wear-and-tear on the sweater of you trying it on).

The automobile test-drive is analogous to you trying on a sweater at the behest of a sweater salesman. All test-drives involve SOME wear-and-tear. Every mile reduces the life of the tires, etc.

 

[TechnoBabble28]

I wash my hand of this thread, lol. I have been in the insurance business for 11 years and provided my input several pages back but it seems to have fallen on deaf ears.

98% of what RisingForce has said in all of his posts has been valid. I'm not sure why this is such a hard concept to grasp.

The dealership shoulders the risk of allowing people to test drive the vehicles.

:doh: :shrug: No. Just...No. If you take a Porsche 911 GT3 out for a test drive and wrap it around a tree do you really think the dealership is just going to say "it's cool, we have insurance"? Absolutely not. YOU would be filing a claim with YOUR insurance company because YOU wrecked the vehicle. The amount of damage makes no difference, the principle is the same.

God help us all
/thread

 

[RisingForce]

I wash my hand of this thread, lol. I have been in the insurance business for 11 years and provided my input several pages back but it seems to have fallen on deaf ears.

98% of what RisingForce has said in all of his posts has been valid. I'm not sure why this is such a hard concept to grasp.



:doh: :shrug: No. Just...No. If you take a Porsche 911 GT3 out for a test drive and wrap it around a tree do you really think the dealership is just going to say "it's cool, we have insurance"? Absolutely not. YOU would be filing a claim with YOUR insurance company because YOU wrecked the vehicle. The amount of damage makes no difference, the principle is the same.

God help us all
/thread

Words of wisdom.
( I'll work on my 2% ;) )

/thread indeed.

 

[TechnoBabble28]

Test-driving a car is not analogous to borrowing something from a friend.

Lending a lawn mower to a friend is a purely benevolent act. There's no quid pro quo.

The car dealer is not the test-driver's friend. The dealer is trying to sell a car to the test-driver. The dealer is encouraging the customer to test-drive the vehicle in hopes that he will buy it or a similar vehicle. The dealer is taking certain risks in hopes of making a profitable sale.

Suppose that someone were in the business of selling sweaters, and he said, 'Here, try this sweater on and see how you like it.' And suppose that you did try it on and it snagged on something and you accidentally tore a little hole in it. Should you have to pay to repair it? Hell, no. The sweater seller took a risk (i.e., that potential benefit of you buying a sweater outweighed the wear-and-tear on the sweater of you trying it on).

The automobile test-drive is analogous to you trying on a sweater at the behest of a sweater salesman. All test-drives involve SOME wear-and-tear. Every mile reduces the life of the tires, etc.

While I understand your analogy, inflicting damage to an item, in this case a wheel/tire, can not be deemed "wear and tear". Wear and tear by legal definition is the depreciation of an item during normal and reasonable use. In this instance the OP struck a curb, albeit by accident, one could argue that this was a careless act and thus not reasonable use.

 

[Wblv17]

personal accountability, that's all i got to say about this thread

 

[MustangCollector]

I wont even bother reading the entire thread but i guess the OP age pissed the dealer off. Last month i test drove a cadillac ctsv sport, the v6 turbo sedan that nobody knows about or even bought. On my test of this one particular car the car pulled very badly to the right. I told the sales girl something seemed wrong. I didn't have confidence pushing the car. I knew this car well as i tracked it and drove others many times but not this exact one, I pushed car hard and bam smacked the right rim hard into a curb cracked the wheel and tire. Guess what, it cost me zero.

Shop foreman told me the electric assist was off centered and needed calibration since the car was sitting on the lot for a year, nobody bought these cars which is why GM bought all these back from dealers inventory. Dealers lost money paying interest on cars they could not sell. Oh well.

Not sure what your recourse is but dealers have insurance and it is the risk they take with every test driver so they should not stick you with the bill. I would fight this or take this viral through the net, im sure the dealer would not want this trust me.

 

[Jimdohc]

Don't sign anything or give them anymore personal information. Don't talk about lawyers or anything. Just be a nice person. But don't give them unnecessary ammunition. Stay in contact with them. But don't talk over the phone about situation. If you need to speak to them. Just visit the dealership and speak with the manager outside. Stop by when dealership looks busy. They will be more willing to settle quickly so they can get back to selling cars.

Tell them you're willing to work with them. Ask if they can please give you the parts at cost and discount labor. It's only mounting the rim & tire. Respectfully verbally offer them $950 (half). You should pay, but try not to pay full $1,900. Don't make it easy for them if they're going to insist retail prices.

I know the dealers in my area would not have asked full price. They might have mentioned full price but immediately verbally offered some deep discount. They should be making money selling cars, not on legitimate accidents during test drives.

 

[USPSALIMITED]

There's no freakin' way I'd give the dealer $1,900 of my hard-earned money for the circumstances you describe.

You might check out this article:
http://www.autoinsurancequotes.com/news/insurance-for-crash-during-test-drive

In case anyone missed this the first time around.

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