Car test drive accidents

CHrisP86

On a car test drive recently, embarrassingly, I managed to curb one of the alloys in the demo car.  Nothing drastic, a couple of marks around the edge of the alloy.

Salesman made a joke about it at the time.  Back at the dealership I was promptly handed an invoice for £100 to cover the alloy wheel repair by a particularly unpleasant branch manager. Apparently their insurance policy has a £500 excess.

At no point was I asked to sign anything agreeing to the terms of the insurance and I wasn’t informed verbally about it either before the test drive.

I accept that I did damage the wheel but is this normal industry practice? Anyone else had a similar issue?

On a car used as a demonstrator model, I would have thought paint chips and alloy scuffs are unavoidable.  Just seems harsh to treat a potential customer like that.

Foster

Tell them to do one, you were not made aware at the time, did not sign anything and did not agree to anything. If they kick up a stink then demand the inspection report and photographs of the vehicle before you took the test drive to ensure the damage they are claiming for is the damage you caused - you're in doubt as if you caused all the damage or if some was there previously.

ICBM

CHrisP86 said:

Apparently their insurance policy has a £500 excess.

Their problem not yours.

thermionic

I can’t see there’s any possibility of them ever enforcing this. The excess on the insurance is their responsibility and theirs only.

Hattigol

Ask yourself this. If you were part-exing a car to them and they took yours for a spin and did the same, would you expect them to pay up (if the deal fell through)?

If so, what's the difference?

blobb

Who's insurance covered you on the test drive?

If you have your own policy that, say, gives you third party cover so long as you had permission from the owner, then they should have asked to see your policy, and you would be the one making the claim. If not, then their policy covers it and likewise you should have checked their docs to assure yourself that it covered you.

Sounds like you were driving under their cover. Should they have to make you sign for liability? Tough one, it's the drivers responsibility to make sure they are covered before going on the road.

digitalscream

When we were on holiday when I was a kid, the clutch went in my dad's car. He promptly headed off to a garage to see what he could get (the car was a beater), and fancied test-driving a Fiat 132 that he had no intention of buying (this was in the early 80s).

He drove it through the low car park wall on attempting to leave the lot.

I believe they gave him a choice - pay for the repairs to the car and the wall, or buy the car....so he ended up buying the car and spent the next three or four years swearing every time he had to try to fit his band gear into it.

CHrisP86

In the end I paid it because, for me, the thought of being harassed by them for money and the debt enforcement they might use wasn’t worth it.

As noted above there is an element that I am responsible whilst driving the car and that I wouldn’t have been pleased if they had done that to my car.

I just think it’s a rough way to treat people when you invite them to test drive a car.  It wasn’t even the car we originally asked to look at. Very money grabbing when surely they have to expect some wear and tear on the demo cars. 

CHRISB50

My friend took a Nissan Skyline for a test drive and spun it 180, but luckily didn't hit anything.

The garage put the Saturday kid in the car with him, so my friend was a bit less intimidated about giving it some.

The lad from the garage turned white as a sheet and agreed with my mate that it was probably best if neither of them mentioned anything about it when they took the car back.

Moe_Zambeek

In the motorbike world, when test riding you’ll be given a form that outlines who you are, what you are test riding, and the fact that the excess on their insurance for test rides is £2500 or thereabouts. You have to sign the form to get the bike. Some shops will send someone out alongside you on another bike and some require passports and / or NI number.

I can’t say I’ve ever had a car dealer do the same, but then I haven’t used a big national chain type dealer for a long time.

richardhomer

The dealer will ultimately sell the car on - which will require the damage to be made good. Tbh, I don’t really see what the problem is - in those circumstances I’d expect to be charged. 

EricTheWeary

We went to a place in Evesham that deals in vintage cars and posh motorhomes. Nothing on the shop floor under £50k. We had a test drive and at no point did they ask for my driving licence, any ID, sign anything,etc. 
It’s on their insurance but I wonder if had I turned out to have no licence they would have been covered. 

Hattigol

This could lead on to a much MUCH worse discussion....

i.e. what would be the situation if you were borrowing someone's guitar and it got damaged whilst you had it? Horrible thought.

Bridgehouse

Hattigol said:

This could lead on to a much MUCH worse discussion....

i.e. what would be the situation if you were borrowing someone's guitar and it got damaged whilst you had it? Horrible thought.

If I borrowed anyone’s gear and it got damaged whilst under my care I wouldn’t even hesitate to make good - either paying for repairs or whatever. 

Snags

Hattigol said:

This could lead on to a much MUCH worse discussion....

i.e. what would be the situation if you were borrowing someone's guitar and it got damaged whilst you had it? Horrible thought.

That's easy - any borrowed kit is always on a "you bend it you mend it" basis. Amongst mates that shouldn't even need to be said.

menamestom

CHrisP86 said:

I just think it’s a rough way to treat people when you invite them to test drive a car.  It wasn’t even the car we originally asked to look at. Very money grabbing when surely they have to expect some wear and tear on the demo cars. 

I think they are at fault for not explaining the liabilities beforehand.  They will do anything to get people in cars to try and sell them but what they should be doing is taking 5 minutes to explain the formalities.

I'm not saying it is 100% them, as you caused the damage, but they should have explained the potential costs beforehand.

As soon as you are not interested in buying the car they show their true colours (not so much the charge but the attitude)


Personally I'd leave a review on Google or autotrader or something.  Not 1 star or anything completely damaging (since you don't have the experience of buying a car from them), but something that details the risks of test driving a car with them.  

People should be warned of the potential costs so you should make them aware.  It may save a few bills for some people, it may hinder them selling the odd car.  But ultimately they should be explaining the rules.

usedtobe

Anyone bought a car without a test drive?

heavyrocker

Snags said:

Hattigol said:

This could lead on to a much MUCH worse discussion....

i.e. what would be the situation if you were borrowing someone's guitar and it got damaged whilst you had it? Horrible thought.

That's easy - any borrowed kit is always on a "you bend it you mend it" basis. Amongst mates that shouldn't even need to be said.

Exactly but when it’s a business “lending” you the item (as in a car test drive) my expectation would be that they have insurance to cover for any damages (which is inevitably going to happen at some point).

If they don’t have insurance, or if there’s an excess, they should make that clear to you beforehand. Of course they don’t make it clear beforehand because that would potentially put off customers.

So I think in this instance the car dealer is taking the piss and I wouldn’t have paid it. They aren’t going to pursue you for £100 and it would be down to them to prove you caused the damage.

Hattigol

Bridgehouse said:

Hattigol said:

This could lead on to a much MUCH worse discussion....

i.e. what would be the situation if you were borrowing someone's guitar and it got damaged whilst you had it? Horrible thought.

If I borrowed anyone’s gear and it got damaged whilst under my care I wouldn’t even hesitate to make good - either paying for repairs or whatever. 

Easily said. Even if it was an inherent issue with the guitar?

It's a '57 Strat. You take it out of the case, strum a C chord and the headstock snaps off.

You still pay?

guitarfishbay

usedtobe said:

Anyone bought a car without a test drive?

Yeah my colleague did this. They’d only ever driven one other car and thought all similar size cars all drove the same. Fortunately they did like their new car, but I thought it was crazy they bought it based on sitting in it in the showroom 

axisus

A pal of mine years ago bought a car, did it up, resprayed it himself and put it up far sale. A young woman that we all knew came for a test drive. She lost control reversing off of his drive and crashed into the wall of the neighbours garden opposite, crunched the car and knocked the corner of the wall down. She went off in tears all upset. He was left to fix the dent in the car, respray it and rebuild the wall! She didn't offer him any money to help!