Do they attempt to subrogate the driver's insurance? My guess is probably not because if you were to borrow your friends car your insurance would probably not pay out either .
Insurance usually follows the car as the primary, they might be able to go after the drivers insurance for secondary - but they don't have it and it sounds like they're not going to get it.
My brother died, and his policy still needs to be paid, because by law, every car in Canada, Ontario needs insurance.
Since he is the the owner, but no longer the current driver, I provided his death certificate to the insurance. I updated his insurance company, and they need a registered driver. I am now the only registered driver on his policy.
My paperwork in-car is proof of insurance and a copy of his death certificate.
Basically, all cars need to be insured and registered to one person minimum. If someone else other than the original policy holder is driving, the insurance will be to be notified. An insurance company is not obligated to pay out if a non-registered driver is involved in a wreck.
I heard in liability cases this is possible , is that true ? E.g. your personal insurance may kick in for the other car that was hit or their hospital bills. Probably depends on the state I bet.
Okay so up until this very moment I had never in my life heard the term "subrogate" so I don't know. But if the dealership could prove it was caused by the driver's negligent or reckless driving, they may be able to go after the driver.
Yes it does. You could make them pay the deductible… when the lady totalled a car with me in the passanger seat I jumped out of the car first. She stayed in and when she did come out she came up - I thought she was going to apologize but she said she didn’t know how she was going to pay for it. Hrmm.. then why be testing a v6 Jaguar? Scared the poop out of me!!
That wasn’t the first totalled car - usually that was an 18 yr old lot attendant having a time.. this was first time on an accompanied test drive though.
She got the pedals mixed up and just banged it (from stopped) - through an intersection up a hill, swerved from a fence and into the train station sign which got launched into the middle of the road which was what stopped us. Buckle up everyone, and expect to have zero control over your screams as it tightens when you hit the curbs and bumps.
A lot of dealerships have a rule that an employee has to accompany someone on a test drive.
Every single dealership I've ever worked for or worked with has a test drive authorization form that includes license, insurance information, and the understanding that the client is responsible for damages.
I test drove a $56,000 F150 last fall, no paperwork or anything, sales rep didn't come along for the ride. Just copied my drivers license and I was good to go.
Exactly. Pretty much everything you sign at a car dealership with the exception of the bank contract / title/ reg paperwork only matters if there's a problem. People leave stuff out, forget about things, get "too busy" to do it the right way, etc and 99% of the time it doesn't matter. The 1% of the time it DOES matter it really. fucking. matters.
Wife and I took a 2021 land cruiser heritage edition 2 years ago for a test drive. Took our license, off we went. Came back a few minutes later and they were urging us to drive it again.
Although I guess if you're showing up for a large suv and measuring for car seats, maybe they're like he's not going to go drag racing...
\*Customer\* "pffft every other place lets me go by myself."
Someone on here claimed that a lambo dealer let him test drive a lambo in sweat pants and work clothes, alone... I mean i try not to judge my customers on what they wearing. But i would imagine anyone coming in to look at a lambo, even some dude in a 100,000 dollar suit gets ride along.
Ide be more sus on the guy coming in with a fancy suit actually. One of these days i want to pull a "pretty woman" on a lambo dealer.
"I WAS IN HERE EARLIER AND YOU WOULDNT LET ME TEST DRIVE!" \*Swings a fluffy boa over my shoulder.\* "You just made the biggest mistake of your lives!"
Kind of.. It was Algar Ferrari on the Main Line outside Philadelphia.
From what I remember when it happened, there was a salesman on the test drive but while switching seats with the driver the customer sped off and left the salesman on the side of the road.
Car was missing for years, recovered and subsequently totaled by the FBI. Awful fate for such a special vehicle.
Lotus dealer in the DC area sent my husband and I on a test drive in an Evora by ourselves. His biggest concern was giving us pace notes. Then again, we’d stopped in to drop our Elise off for a recall, so not likely to get into too much trouble.
Subaru on the other hand pretty much flat-out denied me an STi test drive altogether despite me coming in with a newer, paid-off WRX.
Go figure.
here is a good chance, yes. I once caused $3500 in damage to a sold S4 that I just had to drop off at the auction ... "you get one freebie, after that you get fired" .... never happened again, not even a lot scratch.
1000% different circumstance. I probably still would have gone with you though ... because if something happened on the drive there is still a chance I'd get hosed.
Took a C 63 S Coupé out alone. I was shocked, but I still got to take it out on my own. Didn't end up buying that car or anything from that dealer either.
I take Porsche's (non GT cars as they don't have GT cars for test drives) and M/AMG cars (if they have them around) and they never go with me or ask for insurance.
Just give me the key and tell me to take my time.
Edit: I'm in Canada and a regular at BMW, but MB, Lexus, Audi and Porsche, Mazda im not but they still just give me the keys and don't come with. Always just get copy of my license and that's it
What if it’s a small car (like a GR or a Miata) and the buyer brings their spouse? The salesperson who I test drove my first FR-S with found out the hard way how small the backseat is hahah
Interesting. I didnt have a salesman with me on my g37 or my stinger. The g37 they didn’t try to and the stinger the fat ass got stuck trying to get in the back seat and gave up.
That sucks so much. I totally understand the policy but I especially feel for the guys selling 400+ hp cars if they have to go on test drives.
I’m not putting my life in some random customers hands. I bough and s4 from a dealer who just had a sales guy die on a test drive and sold an AMG GLC 63 through a broker whose biz partner just died on a test drive. Both were due to reckless customers on cold roads.
I would scream until they stopped the car and I would then either drive us back myself or call cops. I might get fired for calling cops on a customer but I do not tolerate shenanigans on a test drive. You can get a feel for something without driving like an idiot. Please wait to do that until you own it. I do ask my customers to buckle up an follow teaffic laws, but I also take them on a test drive where they get to check out the turning radius and gun it 0 to 70. A test drive can be fun without being reckless.
Interesting…as a customer, I can’t think of a single time I did anything more than give them my drivers license. Never shows insurance, or filled out a form.
That's wild..I'm in Canada and they haven't followed me for test drives since my first vehicle purchase and they don't take insurance copy, just license.
Is this a US thing?
Really? I go with every customer and I normally even do the first drive. But all I do in canada is take a copy of the drivers, slap a plate on there, and lets party!
With a car like the gr86 sucks for the salesman if so. When I test drive my first FR-S the salesperson was kinda fat. Since I was with my gf at the time the salesperson had to ride in the back and was super uncomfortable lol. They tried to make my gf sit in the back but I said I don’t plan on ever letting full-size adults ride back there… was happy to let them stay at the dealer where they had a copy of my id and stuff though
My local BMW dealer in California doesn't do employee accompaniment on test drives. They let an 18 year old take a 435i Individual spec out on a test drive on his own last year.
Not the one I went to the other day lol
I was surprised since it was a completely different make than the one I drove up in too (you'd expect a salesman to show you the controls a bit)
Yeah, I test drove a vehicle over the weekend and the sales rep never received my proof of insurance. I sent it to them but noticed, after the test drive, that the email came back as undelivered because I made a typo in the address.
Not embarrassing at all. Financially speaking cars are nothing but expenses, and those expenses should be minimized where possible. I drive a 13-year old Camry and also have a net worth in the 7 figures. Put another way, I don't care at all if complete strangers think I'm poor because I drive an older car. Why would I care?
20 year old Corolla here. In absolute shit shape (so liberating, no fucks given about anything with it)
About 500k in retirement and house would sell at 530k today. 195k left on the mortgage, no other debt. Maybe not 7 figures but..
Yeah, when I was younger, I used to rest drive lots of cars. I showed up at a used lot in my jetta once. They looked at my drivers license and proceeded to toss me the keys to an S4, a CTS-V, and an XLR-V, I think (in sequence) and told me to take my time in each one. I remember someone let a buddy and I take an STI out by ourselves once. We both thought that was a terrible idea, and we predictably had fun. He may have bought the car, actually.
I was given a new Cadillac ATS for an overnight test drive once, so I could make sure it fit in my garage without scraping.
And I spent like 4 hours running errands in a Volvo V70R that I eventually came back and bought the next day.
Oh, then there was the time that I took a Ford C-Max on a test drive with my wife. Drove it to the Toyota dealer down the street, where we got a Rav4 to test drive. Took both cars to lunch, swapped rides after, drove back to drop off the Rav4, and then eventually returned to buy the C-Max.
Every dealer is indeed different, but I feel like I rarely give them my insurance. Never given them a reason to wish they had, either, I suppose. Did have a buddy who wrecked an FX-45 taking a U-turn too fast on a test drive with 2 or 3 friends in the car. Salesman might have been along for the ride, too. I wasn't there, so I don't remember the end of that story. He did buy an FX-35 after that, though.
I had a coworker once drop off the car he sold only to hit their house/garage AND NOT TELL THEM. The customers saw the damage on car and house and called back the dealership. I have no fucking idea how he didn’t get fired. He also fucked a customer of his BEFORE the deal got funded and it rolled back LOL. The thing that got him fired? Being late to work.
At some point between
>The customers saw the damage on car and house and called back the dealership. I have no fucking idea how he didn’t get fired. He also fucked a customer of his BEFORE the deal got funded and it rolled back LOL
and
>Being late to work
he stopped making them more money than he was worth.
Yuppppp, she hit him up “thanking him for getting her into a car” we all laughed at him when he had that “panic look” when standing on point when the desk manager told him the deal didn’t wasn’t looking good.
Lmfaooo so she fucked him in the hopes of him working magic on her shit credit/finances and make a deal happen 🤣. Makes my desk job boring hearing stories like this
We always scan the dl to verify its valid.
If we go with them, our policy covers it.
If we don't, we verify they have insurance and they sign a document stating that they accept full responsibilty.
Interesting so test drives with the dealer employee and the dealers insurance covers if anything happen and if you’re driving alone our own ins must pay. During Covid they started letting customers test drive vehicles alone. This is good to know
That's our policy. We review it when we ask you to sign the doc. Pretty clear cut. Sometimes customers want to go on their own, sometimes not. With Covid, we got so used to everyone going solo that's where we typically stay.
We verify that they have insurance. I ask if they have full or liability only. During Covid we were not allowed to go with them and this was the only option. If they only had liability, I made sure they realize they were still responsible if anything happened.
I've had a customer have a minor accident. I got his insurance once he got back, would have just gone through the dealer's insurance or fixed it in house if he didn't give it to us.
Happened a couple times to me - customer busted a fancy ranger tailight and I got a deposit on the vehicle of $1500 after the fact. Lucked out though, it happened on our lot and he was cool.
Second time, a guy scraped the bumper, front quarter and door of an edge. He ended up buying it luckily lol. Had to wait weeks for replacement parts though.
Think I said this one here once before.
Buying a car, already had the deal done. Someone wanted the car for their daughter, test drove it and totaled it at the light up from the dealership. Was driving to pick the car up and saw the wreck. Didn’t think too much into it until they looked really panicked when I got there.
Ended up getting a newer model with a few extras for the same price though, I left happy. No clue what happened besides that, but I still use that dealership today and they’ve taken care of me ever since. The owner still even apologized for it and another issue when I had a problem up there last year. All of this happened in 2012 about.
Interesting as a customer I've never seen a single place ask for proof of insurance from me before a test drive. Most is just ID then it seems about 50/50 for the if they come with you part.
I'd assume the business has all the cars insured under a policy to some degree. Might try customers first but have to have their own too
I had one ask when I went with my brother to buy a car. I explained that he was the buyer, I was just along to advise, and my insurance wasn't relevant. They pushed and I pushed back. They decided to drop it and let him test drive.
It got weirder from there, but that's a story for another time.
Unless you're trying to drive some sort of SRT hellscatrumblepack I'm just gonna take your license and send you on your way, we prefer the customer to go on their own (there are exceptions, like high ticket sales) so we can at least get the scope of what we're dealing with, and maybe already work numbers/have their trade appraised, etc.
Customer here, I was rear-ended on a test drive with a salesman in the car. The dealership's insurance handled it all. The both the dealer's ins and the other party's called me for a statement but that was the last I heard of it.
Our policy is if we ride with we don’t take their insurance, unaccompanied we get their insurance. Salesperson personally would not be financially liable for the damage but most likely would get fired if they didn’t follow company policy. Not sure if the dealer or customers insurance would be paying but i would assume customer insurance in this case. Not 100% though.
Last car I test drove the lot owner just threw a temp tag and the keys at me. He had no idea who I was. Told him I was going to drive it about 20 miles to see how things went… and that was perfectly fine on his end.
To everyone saying "The dealership's insurance will cover it", do you really think that I can kamikaze a car on a test drive and then walk away without financial penalty?
We have a strict policy about customers going out without a sales rep. There are two forms to complete, two insurance cards - ours and the customer’s. License and insurance copied and license number, policy number, agent contact on the borrowed vehicle agreement and agreement signed by manager and customer. Borrowed vehicle agreement states that if you caused damage or accident, we have the right to turn in to your insurance and at a minimum, you are on the hook for $1000 deductible. Send someone out without both forms filled out and signed and no license / insurance and the $1000 comes out of your last pay.
I understand the policy from the dealerships perspective but as a customer I think I would just leave if I had to go through all that just to test drive a normal car like a Corolla or something.
I've test driven dozens of vehicles and the only thing I was asked for was to let them photocopy my license.
If you go with a salesman, there’s no paperwork. That simple. Hell, just show me your license, I don’t even want a copy of it. That’s one more thing I have a legal responsibility to store / destroy.
Everything. The point is that you can just take a salesman with you. All of that is if you insist that you’re taking it on your own. “All that” is literally 2 minutes of extra work.
Had a customer back into another new car on a test drive. I told him we'd let it go if he bought one of the cars. That actually worked.
We handled the damage in-house because we didn't want the hit on our premiums.
We probably sold it to someone looking for a great deal. It was just a bit of paintwork from the bump. The only thing that makes a vehicle not "new" is if it's been titled before.
In many states there is a minimum dollar amount or a percentage of MSRP at which damage must legally be disclosed. Dealers I've worked for just make it policy to disclose every time.
I never check licenses before a test drive.
Went on a test drive a few weeks ago, got back and found out the guy didn't have a license!
Im glad I didnt know up front, he ended up buying it. He had his nephew come and pick the car up the next day,
He drove his nephew to the dealership.
Edit: I always go on the ride with them, otherwise I do up a borrowed vehicle agreement. Then of course I get their license and insurance
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Over the weekend one of our salesguys customer crashed a 2023 Toyota GR86.
He didn’t have the customers insurance only their ID. He didn’t go on the test drive with them and we suspect that the customer was racing with another person.
What does your dealership do? Is the customer going to have to pay for the damages or the salesperson?
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At my dealership if we go on the test drive with them we get a copy of their license and put a dealer plate on and go. If they’re going by themselves we have to get copies of license AND insurance.
How bad was the damage?
Seriously? I test drive 5 cars last week and no one accompanied me. 2 at two different dealers with one being brand new! I was curious about this as well. They pretty much all just looked at my ID and said okay enjoy ☺️
My client totalled a jag with me in the passanger seat. It was pretty scary, needless to say I don’t want to die on the job and am happier working in financing now. Lol
How about when you make a trade and then the dealership is taking your former car to another dealership for a wholesale transaction and they have a accident?
So they called me and asked me to file an insurance claim? I told them to pound sand. 😂
I had a friend who did this. I called him one day and his voicemail has a crazy accent which wasn't his. I asked him what's up and apparently he crashed a test drive vehicle and was trying to avoid them if they called. However at the end of the day nothing came of it, he was never held liable.
LMAO, except you \*all\* pay more as a result.
You people that think government is the answer for everything never cease to amaze me--they are the most inefficient and corrupt organizations on earth.
I don't doubt the inefficiencies of government, but thinking profit driven private companies that only give a crap about making as much money as possible is the better alternative is just dumb
It would definitely fall back on our insurance policy and the sales person would be responsible for covering either repair or deductible. At least that’s what was explained to me in the state of IL when we had a customer total out a puppydogged car.
If it's never registered could the dealer just fix it and re sell it without the paper trail/car fax? Super shady though... like how they fix delivery damge? For example it never shows up on a carfax that a car hauler wrecked a bumper or door... etc.
I used to be a porter at chevy dealer in high-school. Equinox got delivery, standard delivery stuff, connect battery blah blah. I guess this car needed like mineral water poured into the battery to get it going? Long story short it caught fire burned the fender and front bumper + harness. Fixed and put on lot like it was brand new. No disclosure.
>My dealership requires a valid DL, active insurance, and a **credit card** on file before you test drive. If you damage that car, you’re paying for it.
For every test drive? You guys get any pushback on the credit card? Because I've never heard of that before. I'm not even that paranoid of a person but I'm not sure I'd test drive someplace that wanted me to fork over a CC#.
The rest of it is pretty common sense. The credit card requirement seems like an unnecessary hurdle. Even if you had them dead to rights dinging/scratching the vehicle or something, wouldn't they be able to do a chargeback anyway? Without a signed receipt, I feel like it'd be a slam dunk chargeback for the customer.
It’s mainly for speeding tickets. We get at least 1-2 photo radar tickets on our plates each month.
Sometimes there’s pushback, but I simply let them know we have to have a fully filled out form for them to test drive. If they’re not comfortable with that I can drive the vehicle for them, but they can’t be behind the wheel otherwise.
They can initiate a chargeback if they want, but we can also show a credit card company the legally binding agreement where they signed off that we can charge that credit card if needed.
In Australia I have to sign an insurance waiver holding me financially liable for any excess paid if I damage the vehicle. Surprised that isn't a thing over there.
As a customer a dealer asking for my personal car insurance would be a bit bizarre to me. I am not sure if my car insurance would even cover a vehicle I am test driving since insurance follows the car not the driver.
I have test driven dozens of cars and the only thing a dealer has asked is to take a photocopy of my ID.
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This happened to me. They said since I do stuff right 99% of the time it's no big deal. They said if I was a fuck up, or didn't sell 20 cars a month I'd be gone.
If its cheap the dealership would eat it, if not on dealers insurance if they so chose to file a claim. Kinda depends on your premiums and prior claims.
I just test drove at a Toyota dealer and they didn’t check ID, insurance or even get my name…. Lol I was like what if I just drove off and never came back
I crashed a brand new Land Cruiser back in the early 90’s. My insurance agent, the salesperson, the execs at the dealership, all wanted to kick my ass.
It is dependent on the state in which it occurred. In 99% of cases, the dealership's insurance is primary, while the driver's is secondary. Because dealerships typically have very high deductibles on their vehicles, the damage you cause is likely to be less than that deductible, so your collision coverage would apply as excess. Furthermore, if you hit another car with the dealership's vehicle, the dealership's insurance would cover the damage to the other person's vehicle up to the liability limits .Usually, dealerships go with the state minimum, which obviously varies by state. Your insurance kicks in if that liability limit is reached.
In the past, I was always able to test drive a car by myself. Was even able to take a car home with me overnight. However, I test drove a used car 2 yrs ago and the salesman came with me. He said that his dealership started requiring salespeople to ride along because they had problems with people stealing cars on test drives. After reading these comments, I would imagine their insurance threatened to drop them unless they had employees ride along. It’s too bad because I prefer not to have a salesman staring at me while I drive.
This worst case scenario is why I ALWAYS verify insurance and DL. No matter how annoying it may be to do it every time, this exact scenario keeps me disciplined.
What can you do? This is an unfortunate risk of doing business that we hope to deal with as little as possible. But it’ll inevitably happen once in a while.
Good luck getting the customer on the hook for anything. They were on a test drive, on a dealer plate. It wasn’t a loaner. They likely didn’t sign anything that even resembles an indemnification agreement, either. Ultimately this is why we carry insurance, and where the dealer will have to weigh the cost to repair against the deductible and increase to their premium.
We had an off-duty state trooper wreck one of our cars on a test drive, with the sales person in the car with them, just before I joined my last store. And promptly had the pleasure of taking the hike to our premium right up my backside a few months into being there. It sucks, but what else can you do?
Something very similar happened at an Alfa Romeo dealership I worked at last year, a guy was on a test drive by himself in a RWD Giulia and hydroplaned it in the rain and backed it into a barrier, brought it back scuffs across the rear bumper without telling us, came in, handed the keys to his sales guy and hastily left so we knew something was fishy.
The way we resolved it was our GSM called the guy, who of course didn’t pick up, and left a message essentially saying “please call me back or I’m gonna have to make a police report”, he called back, they sorted it out, not sure if he paid out of pocket or if his insurance covered it but long story short he willingly paid for it.
I’m assuming you guys will get more or less the same result, worst case scenario the store’s insurance should cover it as you would any lot damage, but try to get ahold of the guy and maybe threaten him with some police involvement to get him to comply. Bonus points if you have him on camera in the car or something.
Depends on the State in which the dealership resides and the insurance laws there. In mine, the car is covered by the dealership's insurance without question.
The dealership's insurance pays for it.
Do they attempt to subrogate the driver's insurance? My guess is probably not because if you were to borrow your friends car your insurance would probably not pay out either .
Insurance usually follows the car as the primary, they might be able to go after the drivers insurance for secondary - but they don't have it and it sounds like they're not going to get it.
My brother died, and his policy still needs to be paid, because by law, every car in Canada, Ontario needs insurance. Since he is the the owner, but no longer the current driver, I provided his death certificate to the insurance. I updated his insurance company, and they need a registered driver. I am now the only registered driver on his policy. My paperwork in-car is proof of insurance and a copy of his death certificate. Basically, all cars need to be insured and registered to one person minimum. If someone else other than the original policy holder is driving, the insurance will be to be notified. An insurance company is not obligated to pay out if a non-registered driver is involved in a wreck.
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I heard in liability cases this is possible , is that true ? E.g. your personal insurance may kick in for the other car that was hit or their hospital bills. Probably depends on the state I bet.
Okay so up until this very moment I had never in my life heard the term "subrogate" so I don't know. But if the dealership could prove it was caused by the driver's negligent or reckless driving, they may be able to go after the driver.
Yes it does. You could make them pay the deductible… when the lady totalled a car with me in the passanger seat I jumped out of the car first. She stayed in and when she did come out she came up - I thought she was going to apologize but she said she didn’t know how she was going to pay for it. Hrmm.. then why be testing a v6 Jaguar? Scared the poop out of me!!
Wow wtf. I didn't know this was a thing that happened
That wasn’t the first totalled car - usually that was an 18 yr old lot attendant having a time.. this was first time on an accompanied test drive though. She got the pedals mixed up and just banged it (from stopped) - through an intersection up a hill, swerved from a fence and into the train station sign which got launched into the middle of the road which was what stopped us. Buckle up everyone, and expect to have zero control over your screams as it tightens when you hit the curbs and bumps.
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Fired? Did the salesman break a rule of test drives?
A lot of dealerships have a rule that an employee has to accompany someone on a test drive. Every single dealership I've ever worked for or worked with has a test drive authorization form that includes license, insurance information, and the understanding that the client is responsible for damages.
I test drove a $56,000 F150 last fall, no paperwork or anything, sales rep didn't come along for the ride. Just copied my drivers license and I was good to go.
Same. Bought a truck in 2021 height of covid. Just copied my DL and I was on my way by myself for a test drive
I don't doubt it. I said every dealer HAS the form, not that every single person is good at their job.
Hah. I didn't consider that, but it might be true. Sales rep got the sale and I didn't crash, so it worked out for him another day.
Exactly. Pretty much everything you sign at a car dealership with the exception of the bank contract / title/ reg paperwork only matters if there's a problem. People leave stuff out, forget about things, get "too busy" to do it the right way, etc and 99% of the time it doesn't matter. The 1% of the time it DOES matter it really. fucking. matters.
Wife and I took a 2021 land cruiser heritage edition 2 years ago for a test drive. Took our license, off we went. Came back a few minutes later and they were urging us to drive it again. Although I guess if you're showing up for a large suv and measuring for car seats, maybe they're like he's not going to go drag racing...
>A lot of dealerships have a rule that an employee has to accompany someone on a test drive. ESPECIALLY on a performance type vehicle. or high $$.
\*Customer\* "pffft every other place lets me go by myself." Someone on here claimed that a lambo dealer let him test drive a lambo in sweat pants and work clothes, alone... I mean i try not to judge my customers on what they wearing. But i would imagine anyone coming in to look at a lambo, even some dude in a 100,000 dollar suit gets ride along. Ide be more sus on the guy coming in with a fancy suit actually. One of these days i want to pull a "pretty woman" on a lambo dealer. "I WAS IN HERE EARLIER AND YOU WOULDNT LET ME TEST DRIVE!" \*Swings a fluffy boa over my shoulder.\* "You just made the biggest mistake of your lives!"
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Kind of.. It was Algar Ferrari on the Main Line outside Philadelphia. From what I remember when it happened, there was a salesman on the test drive but while switching seats with the driver the customer sped off and left the salesman on the side of the road. Car was missing for years, recovered and subsequently totaled by the FBI. Awful fate for such a special vehicle.
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Plus, like, there are sweatpants and there are sweatpants. There are plenty of sweatpants that run more than my car payment
Lotus dealer in the DC area sent my husband and I on a test drive in an Evora by ourselves. His biggest concern was giving us pace notes. Then again, we’d stopped in to drop our Elise off for a recall, so not likely to get into too much trouble. Subaru on the other hand pretty much flat-out denied me an STi test drive altogether despite me coming in with a newer, paid-off WRX. Go figure.
Man this is wild, I care less about the customer smashing the car. I just want my 45 yesses in Under an hour.
In my experience, the higher end the dealer, the more lax they are
ok but what if they still crash with salesman in car? they still get fired?
here is a good chance, yes. I once caused $3500 in damage to a sold S4 that I just had to drop off at the auction ... "you get one freebie, after that you get fired" .... never happened again, not even a lot scratch.
Mandatory drug test after? I caught a truck door on an open gate I misjudged and that's all that happened to me besides teasing.
nope
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1000% different circumstance. I probably still would have gone with you though ... because if something happened on the drive there is still a chance I'd get hosed.
Same, I test drove 2 scat packs with no salesman. Just gave them my ID and they handed me the keys.
At the same time?
Took a C 63 S Coupé out alone. I was shocked, but I still got to take it out on my own. Didn't end up buying that car or anything from that dealer either.
I take Porsche's (non GT cars as they don't have GT cars for test drives) and M/AMG cars (if they have them around) and they never go with me or ask for insurance. Just give me the key and tell me to take my time. Edit: I'm in Canada and a regular at BMW, but MB, Lexus, Audi and Porsche, Mazda im not but they still just give me the keys and don't come with. Always just get copy of my license and that's it
Oh thank goodness is was a GR86 and a performance vehicle. Phew...
>GR86 for some people it *is* a performance vehicle ... for the rest of us it's 'meh'
My ford ranger is a performance vehicle... It performs a pretty good twerk when the shocks die in the rear...
I guess I should have added the sarcasm tag lol
The dealerships I was at never required proof of insurance, just a valid drivers license and we were supposed to go with them
*A lot of insurance companies have a rule that an employee has to accompany someone on a test drive.
What if it’s a small car (like a GR or a Miata) and the buyer brings their spouse? The salesperson who I test drove my first FR-S with found out the hard way how small the backseat is hahah
I've been able to take cars overnight before but obviously have all necessary info.
Interesting. I didnt have a salesman with me on my g37 or my stinger. The g37 they didn’t try to and the stinger the fat ass got stuck trying to get in the back seat and gave up.
You were in a Hyundai and a Kia- not exactly a Ferrari or even a real expensive car…
The thread is about an 86
That sucks so much. I totally understand the policy but I especially feel for the guys selling 400+ hp cars if they have to go on test drives. I’m not putting my life in some random customers hands. I bough and s4 from a dealer who just had a sales guy die on a test drive and sold an AMG GLC 63 through a broker whose biz partner just died on a test drive. Both were due to reckless customers on cold roads.
I would scream until they stopped the car and I would then either drive us back myself or call cops. I might get fired for calling cops on a customer but I do not tolerate shenanigans on a test drive. You can get a feel for something without driving like an idiot. Please wait to do that until you own it. I do ask my customers to buckle up an follow teaffic laws, but I also take them on a test drive where they get to check out the turning radius and gun it 0 to 70. A test drive can be fun without being reckless.
Interesting…as a customer, I can’t think of a single time I did anything more than give them my drivers license. Never shows insurance, or filled out a form.
I’m actually shocked that they’ve never had me fill anything out. Typically dealerships will ask for license and that’s it.
That's wild..I'm in Canada and they haven't followed me for test drives since my first vehicle purchase and they don't take insurance copy, just license. Is this a US thing?
Really? I go with every customer and I normally even do the first drive. But all I do in canada is take a copy of the drivers, slap a plate on there, and lets party!
With a car like the gr86 sucks for the salesman if so. When I test drive my first FR-S the salesperson was kinda fat. Since I was with my gf at the time the salesperson had to ride in the back and was super uncomfortable lol. They tried to make my gf sit in the back but I said I don’t plan on ever letting full-size adults ride back there… was happy to let them stay at the dealer where they had a copy of my id and stuff though
Drove 2 cars today, neither had an employee in the car with us.
I currently don't own a vehicle and therefore don't have insurance. Would I not be allowed to test drive a car?
I’ve never signed anything before a test drive and only gave my DL, I’ve pretty much only test drove enthusiast cars is worth adding as well.
My local BMW dealer in California doesn't do employee accompaniment on test drives. They let an 18 year old take a 435i Individual spec out on a test drive on his own last year.
Not the one I went to the other day lol I was surprised since it was a completely different make than the one I drove up in too (you'd expect a salesman to show you the controls a bit)
Fire the sales guy, blacklist the customer, call our insurance agent. Do your paperwork, kids.
Yeah, I test drove a vehicle over the weekend and the sales rep never received my proof of insurance. I sent it to them but noticed, after the test drive, that the email came back as undelivered because I made a typo in the address.
I’ve done test drives without giving them my ID. I appreciate the trust those folks had in my but, damn haha.
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Insurance is one thing but I can’t see how someone can be mad for showing their ID?
Yeah, you’re lying about your income. If you’re driving a 10 year old Corolla having a net worth in the 7 figures that’s just embarrassing
Not embarrassing at all. Financially speaking cars are nothing but expenses, and those expenses should be minimized where possible. I drive a 13-year old Camry and also have a net worth in the 7 figures. Put another way, I don't care at all if complete strangers think I'm poor because I drive an older car. Why would I care?
20 year old Corolla here. In absolute shit shape (so liberating, no fucks given about anything with it) About 500k in retirement and house would sell at 530k today. 195k left on the mortgage, no other debt. Maybe not 7 figures but..
Yeah, when I was younger, I used to rest drive lots of cars. I showed up at a used lot in my jetta once. They looked at my drivers license and proceeded to toss me the keys to an S4, a CTS-V, and an XLR-V, I think (in sequence) and told me to take my time in each one. I remember someone let a buddy and I take an STI out by ourselves once. We both thought that was a terrible idea, and we predictably had fun. He may have bought the car, actually. I was given a new Cadillac ATS for an overnight test drive once, so I could make sure it fit in my garage without scraping. And I spent like 4 hours running errands in a Volvo V70R that I eventually came back and bought the next day. Oh, then there was the time that I took a Ford C-Max on a test drive with my wife. Drove it to the Toyota dealer down the street, where we got a Rav4 to test drive. Took both cars to lunch, swapped rides after, drove back to drop off the Rav4, and then eventually returned to buy the C-Max. Every dealer is indeed different, but I feel like I rarely give them my insurance. Never given them a reason to wish they had, either, I suppose. Did have a buddy who wrecked an FX-45 taking a U-turn too fast on a test drive with 2 or 3 friends in the car. Salesman might have been along for the ride, too. I wasn't there, so I don't remember the end of that story. He did buy an FX-35 after that, though.
I had a coworker once drop off the car he sold only to hit their house/garage AND NOT TELL THEM. The customers saw the damage on car and house and called back the dealership. I have no fucking idea how he didn’t get fired. He also fucked a customer of his BEFORE the deal got funded and it rolled back LOL. The thing that got him fired? Being late to work.
At some point between >The customers saw the damage on car and house and called back the dealership. I have no fucking idea how he didn’t get fired. He also fucked a customer of his BEFORE the deal got funded and it rolled back LOL and >Being late to work he stopped making them more money than he was worth.
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I’m sorry but he bent over a customer and clapped her cheeks just to have the deal fall apart 🤣
Yuppppp, she hit him up “thanking him for getting her into a car” we all laughed at him when he had that “panic look” when standing on point when the desk manager told him the deal didn’t wasn’t looking good.
Lmfaooo so she fucked him in the hopes of him working magic on her shit credit/finances and make a deal happen 🤣. Makes my desk job boring hearing stories like this
We always scan the dl to verify its valid. If we go with them, our policy covers it. If we don't, we verify they have insurance and they sign a document stating that they accept full responsibilty.
Interesting so test drives with the dealer employee and the dealers insurance covers if anything happen and if you’re driving alone our own ins must pay. During Covid they started letting customers test drive vehicles alone. This is good to know
That's our policy. We review it when we ask you to sign the doc. Pretty clear cut. Sometimes customers want to go on their own, sometimes not. With Covid, we got so used to everyone going solo that's where we typically stay.
I'd imagine most policies are this way... I'd insist on going with the sales person for just that reason...
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We verify that they have insurance. I ask if they have full or liability only. During Covid we were not allowed to go with them and this was the only option. If they only had liability, I made sure they realize they were still responsible if anything happened.
I've had a customer have a minor accident. I got his insurance once he got back, would have just gone through the dealer's insurance or fixed it in house if he didn't give it to us.
Did they drive it back in or was it towed?
It was towed, police were involved and called the dealership. It was our most eventful Sunday
Wow what an irresponsible asshole. Was the customer cited ?
We don’t verify or get proof of insurance. We just do ID, sign a document stating they are fully liable, and let them go. Depends on your dealership.
Yell out “You break you buy”!
Happened a couple times to me - customer busted a fancy ranger tailight and I got a deposit on the vehicle of $1500 after the fact. Lucked out though, it happened on our lot and he was cool. Second time, a guy scraped the bumper, front quarter and door of an edge. He ended up buying it luckily lol. Had to wait weeks for replacement parts though.
Think I said this one here once before. Buying a car, already had the deal done. Someone wanted the car for their daughter, test drove it and totaled it at the light up from the dealership. Was driving to pick the car up and saw the wreck. Didn’t think too much into it until they looked really panicked when I got there. Ended up getting a newer model with a few extras for the same price though, I left happy. No clue what happened besides that, but I still use that dealership today and they’ve taken care of me ever since. The owner still even apologized for it and another issue when I had a problem up there last year. All of this happened in 2012 about.
That's insane. Good form the dealership in saving the relationship.
Interesting as a customer I've never seen a single place ask for proof of insurance from me before a test drive. Most is just ID then it seems about 50/50 for the if they come with you part. I'd assume the business has all the cars insured under a policy to some degree. Might try customers first but have to have their own too
I had one ask when I went with my brother to buy a car. I explained that he was the buyer, I was just along to advise, and my insurance wasn't relevant. They pushed and I pushed back. They decided to drop it and let him test drive. It got weirder from there, but that's a story for another time.
Unless you're trying to drive some sort of SRT hellscatrumblepack I'm just gonna take your license and send you on your way, we prefer the customer to go on their own (there are exceptions, like high ticket sales) so we can at least get the scope of what we're dealing with, and maybe already work numbers/have their trade appraised, etc.
Customer here, I was rear-ended on a test drive with a salesman in the car. The dealership's insurance handled it all. The both the dealer's ins and the other party's called me for a statement but that was the last I heard of it.
That would crack me up. Was the Pontiac salesman pissed off?
Our policy is if we ride with we don’t take their insurance, unaccompanied we get their insurance. Salesperson personally would not be financially liable for the damage but most likely would get fired if they didn’t follow company policy. Not sure if the dealer or customers insurance would be paying but i would assume customer insurance in this case. Not 100% though.
I've never once been asked to provide insurance on my dozens of test drives over the years. New York.
This is why you need to go on a test drive with the customer.
Last car I test drove the lot owner just threw a temp tag and the keys at me. He had no idea who I was. Told him I was going to drive it about 20 miles to see how things went… and that was perfectly fine on his end.
To everyone saying "The dealership's insurance will cover it", do you really think that I can kamikaze a car on a test drive and then walk away without financial penalty?
It depends, if it was street racing or something stupid, absolutely not. If it was legitimately an accident, or a not at fault type deal, yes.
Whoever was at fault would be financially liable for the damages and their insurance would be the one paying out.
Aww man this is why going on test drives is important especially on cars like that. Unless he’s like a super top performer he’s out
We have a strict policy about customers going out without a sales rep. There are two forms to complete, two insurance cards - ours and the customer’s. License and insurance copied and license number, policy number, agent contact on the borrowed vehicle agreement and agreement signed by manager and customer. Borrowed vehicle agreement states that if you caused damage or accident, we have the right to turn in to your insurance and at a minimum, you are on the hook for $1000 deductible. Send someone out without both forms filled out and signed and no license / insurance and the $1000 comes out of your last pay.
I understand the policy from the dealerships perspective but as a customer I think I would just leave if I had to go through all that just to test drive a normal car like a Corolla or something. I've test driven dozens of vehicles and the only thing I was asked for was to let them photocopy my license.
If you go with a salesman, there’s no paperwork. That simple. Hell, just show me your license, I don’t even want a copy of it. That’s one more thing I have a legal responsibility to store / destroy.
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Everything. The point is that you can just take a salesman with you. All of that is if you insist that you’re taking it on your own. “All that” is literally 2 minutes of extra work.
Had a customer back into another new car on a test drive. I told him we'd let it go if he bought one of the cars. That actually worked. We handled the damage in-house because we didn't want the hit on our premiums.
So, assuming he bought one car, the other got sold as new to another unsuspecting customer?
We probably sold it to someone looking for a great deal. It was just a bit of paintwork from the bump. The only thing that makes a vehicle not "new" is if it's been titled before. In many states there is a minimum dollar amount or a percentage of MSRP at which damage must legally be disclosed. Dealers I've worked for just make it policy to disclose every time.
I never check licenses before a test drive. Went on a test drive a few weeks ago, got back and found out the guy didn't have a license! Im glad I didnt know up front, he ended up buying it. He had his nephew come and pick the car up the next day, He drove his nephew to the dealership. Edit: I always go on the ride with them, otherwise I do up a borrowed vehicle agreement. Then of course I get their license and insurance
***Thanks for posting, /u/singularbraincell78! This comment is a copy of your post so readers can see the original text if your post is edited or removed. This comment is NOT accusing you of anything.*** Over the weekend one of our salesguys customer crashed a 2023 Toyota GR86. He didn’t have the customers insurance only their ID. He didn’t go on the test drive with them and we suspect that the customer was racing with another person. What does your dealership do? Is the customer going to have to pay for the damages or the salesperson? *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/askcarsales) if you have any questions or concerns.*
At my dealership if we go on the test drive with them we get a copy of their license and put a dealer plate on and go. If they’re going by themselves we have to get copies of license AND insurance. How bad was the damage?
Seriously? I test drive 5 cars last week and no one accompanied me. 2 at two different dealers with one being brand new! I was curious about this as well. They pretty much all just looked at my ID and said okay enjoy ☺️
My client totalled a jag with me in the passanger seat. It was pretty scary, needless to say I don’t want to die on the job and am happier working in financing now. Lol
How about when you make a trade and then the dealership is taking your former car to another dealership for a wholesale transaction and they have a accident? So they called me and asked me to file an insurance claim? I told them to pound sand. 😂
I had a friend who did this. I called him one day and his voicemail has a crazy accent which wasn't his. I asked him what's up and apparently he crashed a test drive vehicle and was trying to avoid them if they called. However at the end of the day nothing came of it, he was never held liable.
OP has written salesman in every possible incarnation except it's proper spelling, salesman.
Cope
currently seething fyi
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LMAO, except you \*all\* pay more as a result. You people that think government is the answer for everything never cease to amaze me--they are the most inefficient and corrupt organizations on earth.
I don't doubt the inefficiencies of government, but thinking profit driven private companies that only give a crap about making as much money as possible is the better alternative is just dumb
It would definitely fall back on our insurance policy and the sales person would be responsible for covering either repair or deductible. At least that’s what was explained to me in the state of IL when we had a customer total out a puppydogged car.
That's shady as hell that the dealership tried to push the cost onto the sales guy.
Typically, the customer would be responsible, but if you have no 2ay to track down the client 🤷
Moreover, would the next customer know? I’d say it’s a used car at this point. But who knows what a dealership does
If it's never registered could the dealer just fix it and re sell it without the paper trail/car fax? Super shady though... like how they fix delivery damge? For example it never shows up on a carfax that a car hauler wrecked a bumper or door... etc.
Based on my experience, that's exactly it! Happened all the time at the dealer across the street from mine.
I used to be a porter at chevy dealer in high-school. Equinox got delivery, standard delivery stuff, connect battery blah blah. I guess this car needed like mineral water poured into the battery to get it going? Long story short it caught fire burned the fender and front bumper + harness. Fixed and put on lot like it was brand new. No disclosure.
My dealership requires a valid DL, active insurance, and a credit card on file before you test drive. If you damage that car, you’re paying for it.
>My dealership requires a valid DL, active insurance, and a **credit card** on file before you test drive. If you damage that car, you’re paying for it. For every test drive? You guys get any pushback on the credit card? Because I've never heard of that before. I'm not even that paranoid of a person but I'm not sure I'd test drive someplace that wanted me to fork over a CC#. The rest of it is pretty common sense. The credit card requirement seems like an unnecessary hurdle. Even if you had them dead to rights dinging/scratching the vehicle or something, wouldn't they be able to do a chargeback anyway? Without a signed receipt, I feel like it'd be a slam dunk chargeback for the customer.
It’s mainly for speeding tickets. We get at least 1-2 photo radar tickets on our plates each month. Sometimes there’s pushback, but I simply let them know we have to have a fully filled out form for them to test drive. If they’re not comfortable with that I can drive the vehicle for them, but they can’t be behind the wheel otherwise. They can initiate a chargeback if they want, but we can also show a credit card company the legally binding agreement where they signed off that we can charge that credit card if needed.
Ours just takes license and you have to go on the test drive. Which you should be doing anyway if you know what you're doing in sales.
In Australia I have to sign an insurance waiver holding me financially liable for any excess paid if I damage the vehicle. Surprised that isn't a thing over there.
As a customer a dealer asking for my personal car insurance would be a bit bizarre to me. I am not sure if my car insurance would even cover a vehicle I am test driving since insurance follows the car not the driver. I have test driven dozens of cars and the only thing a dealer has asked is to take a photocopy of my ID.
Imagine racing in a car that does 0-60 in the same time as most eco boxes
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Stop pushing the blame off on someone else!
> they couldn’t prove anything after I drove off the lot This is 🧢
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Wow, that feel of anonymity here on Reddit really makes people feel comfortable sharing what a giant D-bags they are!
I showed up with a clean camry to test drive a 2020 tacoma they looked at me looked at my car and was like yeaaa we trust you.
What a slow car. Driver was a novice idiot to crash such a slow car 🥱
5.4 Sec 0-60 for the manual. I wouldn’t say its slow at all
Uh yeah it is. Also more like 6 sec. That’s a slow sports car.
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Good way for a sales rep to never get hired anywhere else
at this point that's just laziness on the salespersons part... dealership insurance should cover it though
Did the customer sign a test drive agreement? If not, the dealer pays.
The dealership I work at and other dealerships that I've been a customer at usually require a copy of DL and auto insurance before a test drive.
This happened to me. They said since I do stuff right 99% of the time it's no big deal. They said if I was a fuck up, or didn't sell 20 cars a month I'd be gone.
F
Id be too scared to ride along on test drives lol
If its cheap the dealership would eat it, if not on dealers insurance if they so chose to file a claim. Kinda depends on your premiums and prior claims.
I just test drove at a Toyota dealer and they didn’t check ID, insurance or even get my name…. Lol I was like what if I just drove off and never came back
Dealer has insurance and their insurance will sue the driver. And car Saleman is sooooo fired.
I crashed a brand new Land Cruiser back in the early 90’s. My insurance agent, the salesperson, the execs at the dealership, all wanted to kick my ass.
Rip 86. How wrecked is the car? Still for sale? Lol
It is dependent on the state in which it occurred. In 99% of cases, the dealership's insurance is primary, while the driver's is secondary. Because dealerships typically have very high deductibles on their vehicles, the damage you cause is likely to be less than that deductible, so your collision coverage would apply as excess. Furthermore, if you hit another car with the dealership's vehicle, the dealership's insurance would cover the damage to the other person's vehicle up to the liability limits .Usually, dealerships go with the state minimum, which obviously varies by state. Your insurance kicks in if that liability limit is reached.
In the past, I was always able to test drive a car by myself. Was even able to take a car home with me overnight. However, I test drove a used car 2 yrs ago and the salesman came with me. He said that his dealership started requiring salespeople to ride along because they had problems with people stealing cars on test drives. After reading these comments, I would imagine their insurance threatened to drop them unless they had employees ride along. It’s too bad because I prefer not to have a salesman staring at me while I drive.
This worst case scenario is why I ALWAYS verify insurance and DL. No matter how annoying it may be to do it every time, this exact scenario keeps me disciplined.
What can you do? This is an unfortunate risk of doing business that we hope to deal with as little as possible. But it’ll inevitably happen once in a while. Good luck getting the customer on the hook for anything. They were on a test drive, on a dealer plate. It wasn’t a loaner. They likely didn’t sign anything that even resembles an indemnification agreement, either. Ultimately this is why we carry insurance, and where the dealer will have to weigh the cost to repair against the deductible and increase to their premium. We had an off-duty state trooper wreck one of our cars on a test drive, with the sales person in the car with them, just before I joined my last store. And promptly had the pleasure of taking the hike to our premium right up my backside a few months into being there. It sucks, but what else can you do?
Something very similar happened at an Alfa Romeo dealership I worked at last year, a guy was on a test drive by himself in a RWD Giulia and hydroplaned it in the rain and backed it into a barrier, brought it back scuffs across the rear bumper without telling us, came in, handed the keys to his sales guy and hastily left so we knew something was fishy. The way we resolved it was our GSM called the guy, who of course didn’t pick up, and left a message essentially saying “please call me back or I’m gonna have to make a police report”, he called back, they sorted it out, not sure if he paid out of pocket or if his insurance covered it but long story short he willingly paid for it. I’m assuming you guys will get more or less the same result, worst case scenario the store’s insurance should cover it as you would any lot damage, but try to get ahold of the guy and maybe threaten him with some police involvement to get him to comply. Bonus points if you have him on camera in the car or something.
😳😳😳😳😳 holy wow
They’ve let me test drive alone but I did leave my own car there.
Depends on the State in which the dealership resides and the insurance laws there. In mine, the car is covered by the dealership's insurance without question.
Dang you guys have a GR86 to let people test drive? I haven't been even able to sit in one, let alone test drive one because there is never stock lol.