How long was your test drive?

[Frimley111R]

I did 30 mins of a pre programmed route in W.London which told me very little.

I spoke to my Guildford dealer who said I am only insured for 30 mins and so that's all the time I'd get. For a 50k car it's stupid. I want to dive one locally on the roads in the area I live in but there seems no chance of that.

Did anyone here get any longer?

[oldmanbm]

Lucky you! I ordered last December and live 110 miles from the nearest dealer! No test drive but lots of research!

[somouk]

You can book a test drive on the Tesla website, you get an hour in the week and 30 minutes at weekends according to the sales guy I spoke to in Brum.

[page3]

About 1 1/2 hours, although we were told to take as long as we needed (that day).

[steveatesh]

Mine was 30 minutes for me and the wife each making it a full hour, mixed roads on a pre defined route. Told me everything I needed to know about the actual driving of the car, test drove the Taycan back to back, disappointed with it as I really though it would be the one to go for and ordered the Tesla M3LR the same day.

Never looked back .

[hajaba123]

steveatesh said:

Mine was 30 minutes for me and the wife each making it a full hour, mixed roads on a pre defined route. Told me everything I needed to know about the actual driving of the car, test drove the Taycan back to back, disappointed with it as I really though it would be the one to go for and ordered the Tesla M3LR the same day.

Never looked back .

Interesting, we had an hour with a M3P the other week and really liked it. What was better than the Taycan (which we've not tried) or was it the value?

[steveatesh]

hajaba123 said:

Interesting, we had an hour with a M3P the other week and really liked it. What was better than the Taycan (which we've not tried) or was it the value?

We drove the “basic” Taycan, it felt heavy on the road, we felt cramped in the cockpit, it didn’t feel as sure footed as the Tesla did and it vibrated - yes it vibrated.

By the time we specced it to the same level as the Tesla (battery, pano roof and some other stuff) there was a x,ear £30k difference but neither of us could see that £30k in extra value in the Taycan. I was very disappointed in it as it was my preferred choice (and the electric car was replacing my wife’s Porsche) but the Tesla thrilled us both, it felt airy and open, it was really quick, it handled really well - it just felt nicer on the road.

Having owned it for 7 month we don’t regret the decision especially planning long journeys with the Tesla network too.

[NDA]

steveatesh said:

We drove the “basic” Taycan, it felt heavy on the road, we felt cramped in the cockpit, it didn’t feel as sure footed as the Tesla did and it vibrated - yes it vibrated.

Interesting. I thought exactly the same when I drove the Taycan. Particularly how heavy it felt.

To the OP - Tesla Winchester said 'take as long as you like' when I test drove a 3.

[TheRainMaker]

Frimley111R said:

I did 30 mins of a pre programmed route in W.London which told me very little.

I spoke to my Guildford dealer who said I am only insured for 30 mins and so that's all the time I'd get. For a 50k car it's stupid. I want to dive one locally on the roads in the area I live in but there seems no chance of that.

Did anyone here get any longer?

I booked my test drives at Guildford, they just said "there is a route in the satnav you don't have to follow it and we have some people booked in an hours time so please be back in time for that"

I booked two test drives in one week with them, first was on a Sunday when chatting to sales rep she said if you book in the week chances are you will be able to take one for a bit longer as not many people book on a work day.

The preset route was from the service centre to the petrol station at Tongham and back.

This was in September so things might have changed, they never mentioned insurance.

[Gullwings]

Test drove exeter, they were very casual with the timings and you can drive wherever you want to a max of 100 miles

They're based there in a pop up for 12 months

[Frimley111R]

Ok, thanks all. Booked 2 x 30min slots at Guildford tomorrow morning, one on my name and one in wifey's name. Let's see how we get on...

Ooops, booked 2 x slots at 10am. Couldn't change one to 10.30 and the dealer doesn't answer the phone so didn't bother going.

Given that I had to drive all the way to the dealership just to ask a question it has left me quite anti-Tesla. All this tech is fine if you buy a car like you buy a tin of baked beans but beyond that they seem to best avoided.

I thought I'd test the Audi Q4 E-tron and went on their website which doesn't even mention test drives. FFS. Dealers haven't changed have they? Still utterly useless.

Edited by Frimley111R on Thursday 20th January 09:13

Edited by Frimley111R on Thursday 20th January 09:53

[drmike37]

Just done a test drive from the Nottingham store. They gave us a route that took about 45 mins. Mix of town, country and dual carriageway. I felt it was plenty even with a driver swap halfway.
They didn’t specify a time limit.

[xskier]

I had a test drive in late April 2019 from Hogarth. Was given an x for 2 days followed by an S for 3 days and finally the p100d overnight. Ended up buying both the x and the performance s. I guess they don’t do that any more, and I probably would not have bought has I not had the time to fully get to know the cars.

[C.A.R.]

Frimley111R said:

Given that I had to drive all the way to the dealership just to ask a question it has left me quite anti-Tesla. All this tech is fine if you buy a car like you buy a tin of baked beans but beyond that they seem to best avoided.

I thought I'd test the Audi Q4 E-tron and went on their website which doesn't even mention test drives. FFS. Dealers haven't changed have they? Still utterly useless.

Edited by Frimley111R on Thursday 20th January 09:13

Edited by Frimley111R on Thursday 20th January 09:53

As per your closing statement, it's all relative isn't it? Main dealer networks are and have been terrible for years, the level of service just isn't there unless you're spending 6 figures (even then, there are horror stories!). I found the experience quite refreshing - booked test drive, arrived 10 minutes late, quick briefing (I had done all my research first... pretty sure they even email you a link to videos to prepare you for the visit?) then a 30 minutes test drive around a pre-determined route, which you could either follow or go off-piste if you so wanted.

I went to the one in Cambridge and it was very slick. A mixture of city centre, B-roads and a short stint on dual carriageway was kind of all I needed to know about the car by that point.

When I turned up without an appointment to ask some technical questions they were less helpful, but accommodated me just as well as any main car dealership would have and I eventually got my answers.

I recommend looking through their FAQ videos as this will likely answer most of your questions before you visit.