Topic: Selling -Test Drive Protocol?

[PlanB]

Now that we have officially got the new vehicle home,  one vehicle has to go.

It's actually been about 8 years now that I've bought/sold a used car.

What's the standard protocol with letting someone drive your car?   Copy drivers license,  go with them, meet at a public place, let'em take it on their own....what are you folks doing out there to protect yourselves from potential scammers and so forth?

Thanks for your feedback.

[Cord]

I think I would prefer them just to go on their own once I had recorded sufficient ID, perhaps held onto their own keys and registration, taken their photo, etc. And of course, I would pay attention to any bad vibes I got and be ready to cancel the whole thing. It's not worth it to take a ride with a lunatic. And I would certainly never go with more than one person in the car with me. Meeting at a public place may be a good idea - something like a police station or bank parking lot. If not, I would meet them on my driveway with the garage door closed and never let them into the house.

That may sound extreme but I've known a lot of people who are very poor judges of character and have a poorly developed intuition for reading people.

[rrocket]

It's not worth it to take a ride with a lunatic.

In this case, who is the lunatic?   You or the potential buyer?   

[Cord]

^^ Hey man, my car, my rules. Or GTFO! 

[rrocket]

^^ Hey man, my car, my rules. Or GTFO! 

Or Gas, Grass or Ass?   

[safristi]

always bring a foaming mouthed Rotweiler....and U Drive ALONE.... ...Only I person allowed on drive along WTF!!! spouse is ignored......

[ArticSteve]

Much depends on the value and type of vehicle you're selling which determines the type of buyer.

If it's a POS, tell ppl that.  Tell them what's wrong with it so it doesn't come back at you later.

If they drive it, it's your insurance record that takes the hit if there is an incident.

Don't respond via email.  Telephone only!

[tortoise]

I have only sold two cars.

1) An 8 year old Mazda B2500.  A father and son showed up so I let them take it alone.

2) A 12 year old Jeep Grand Cherokee with 300,000 km.  They didn't even both test driving it, but liked the leather (and I mentioned the lack of A/C wasn't an issue for most months).

While the Tim Bosma incident was obviously an extremely rare event, by going for the test drive you are putting yourself at some level of increased risk - even if it's just from their shitty driving.

[Solstice2006]

When I sold the Odyssey.  Father and son showed up (with an older Odyssey).  We exchanged keys, and they took it for 10 min.  Sold it to them a couple of days later.  Similar with other cars that I sold. 

Agree with phone calls and texts only.  I got more feedback from Kijiji. 

[tooscoops]

Just let them drive it alone.  If it gets stolen, the good news is that you just sold the vehicle to your insurance company.

ha! just wanted to say i liked this answer best.

just do your due diligence and they can't deny the claim!

[pi314]

Much depends on the value and type of vehicle you're selling which determines the type of buyer.

If it's a POS, tell ppl that.  Tell them what's wrong with it so it doesn't come back at you later.

If they drive it, it's your insurance record that takes the hit if there is an incident.

Don't respond via email.  Telephone only!

In this case, your insurance record hit would be the claim, and not the driving history, no? So other than the "claims free" bonus you don't stand to lose anything

[ArticSteve]

FWIW;  In Ontario,   ANY   at-fault accident is a disaster.  Not all drivers are eligible for the accident waiver.  Even if you have the accident waiver and apply it, it takes 9 YEARS to gain back eligibility (INTACT -largest auto insurer in Ontario).

If the "buyer" test driving the "for sale" vehicle is of the age/or has a driving history that makes them ineligible for the "accident waiver", then by default the wavier cannot be applied to the insured vehicle.  The "waivers" are applied only to the "named" drivers on the policy.  For example, when my son was an early driver and listed on my policy and if he racked up of my insured vehicles, my waiver did not apply.

These are things to consider when doing the math on the risk/reward for the sale.

[tortoise]

Does any of that change if you're in the car?

[5 Wheel Drive]

Anytime I've sold  car, it's only been 1 person who showed up to look and test drive.  I went with them.  When they bought the car, we went to the license bureau together to complete the exchange.

[ArticSteve]

Does any of that change if you're in the car?

NO.  It's a risk/reward equation.  99.9% of the time the risk is miniscule.  A much greater risk is just signing over the ownership, Bill Of Sale notwithstanding, and letting the buyer slap a ghost set of plates on the car and drive away.  That occurs very frequently.  Idiotic on the part of the seller.

[PlanB]

Thanks for the feedback everyone.

Buyer called.   We met in parking lot,  he kicked tires,  I answered anything I could to the best of my ability,  he actually asked me to come with him on the test drive which went fine.

Car is now sold?