Going for a Test Drive, Input Please.
 

I found a dealer that has a few FR-S's on the lot and I'm going to test drive one or the other.
Anything I should look for in the used units and how did you handle your test drive?

once you test drive, you're going to end up buying the car.

that's what happened to me lol.

Shift at 7000 rpms. That's the fun zone.

Try and get the tac to 9.

Don't simply drive it around a block or two. Try to find some fun curvy roads, or at least roads with little traffic.

After that, drive around the worst roads in the nearby area. If the feeling of the road isn't a negative to you in the area you drive frequently, then I would think your decision will be easy..

I can at least say that the sales guy that I dealt with was cool as shit. He took me to an empty parking lot to thrash the demo around. Safe to say that's all it took for me to sign the papers to have an ultramarine in my driveway since June of 2013.

There is NOTHING that handles as good as this car for the money and practicality.

If you're looking for horsepower, this is the wrong car.

Whether or not you go for this car, get to know your sales person. Don't base your buying decision on the sales person's lack of knowledge or rigid personality. You can always ask for another sales person that will be compatible with you.

Listen and feel for weird noises. Crickets are normal; tapping coming from a valve cover is not.

Put it in 5th when you would normally go to 2nd, feed it throttle, and see if the RPM rises without the car moving accordingly. Make sure the previous owner didn't abuse the clutch excessively. Shift smoothly with little to medium pressure on the stick and see if you feel grinding in the transmission. 1st to 2nd is usually a little sticky, so don't base your judgement on that alone.

Drive over a bumpy road and listen for the suspension to click or creak. Look at obvious bolt heads in the engine bay (top hats, strut bars, etc...) and see if they've been wrenched on.

Drive it for a couple miles on the freeway. See if you can handle the bumpy ride and the noise. If so... buy it!

Ask to drive it 15min. One local dealer even let me keep car for 4hrs!!!

Ask the age of the previous owner, and if the car is stock or not.

I went in to just look and maybe test drive it. Had my heart set on a Fiesta ST, especially since I could get some incentives through work.

Yeah...I was signing papers 10 minutes after driving it.

Don't crash it!

This is so damn true!

I booked an fr-s , and a fiesta ST for a test drive the same day.

The Fr-s was scheduled first. The guy at the dealership directed me down towards a really nice twisting road and told me to get it into third and to not brake.

In that 10-20 seconds of driving down the road my decision was made.

After the test drive, I cancelled my fiesta ST test drive, and by the end of the day I had bought an fr-s.

I drove one for a long time before I actually bought one. That was in GT5.


Test drove a real one and it was way more awesome. So I bought it.

I test drove a brand new 2013 frs that was at a lot down the street from me to see if it would give me the motivation to go into financial turmoil just to own it and I must say.. It was not actually that fun. I knew more about the car than the sales person and the entire drive was full of "oh's" and "Hmmm i didnt know that". I also didnt get to test out any of the cars potential but alas I knew I wanted a new car. After that I found a used 2013 that was about 300 miles away and decided to go for it. Negotiated the price over the phone. Had my bank cut me a check. I convinced my poor mother to drive me all the way over there to buy it (she hates road trips lol). When I got there I asked to go for a test drive and the sales guy was like "go nuts!" threw me the keys and I proceeded to finally stretch out the legs the best I could on the freeway there and tried to fly around a few corners (my mother was not pleased..). It was satisfactory at the time. By the time I was done there I wasnt even happy with my purchase.. It wasnt until the next day (we stayed at a hotel and then drove home) that I starting realizing what I had done.. We took an odd route home that led through some nice twisty back roads and zomg.. My poor mother was getting irritated because I would lose her at every corner because it was irresistibly fun. That whole ride home is what convinced me that I made the right decision :D

At the end of the day, the things I looked for were
1. Previous body damage (the underside of the front bumper of my car was all scraped up from the stupid previous owner not realizing how low the car is)

2. Good service history (I really shouldnt have bought my car since the sales guy couldnt tell me anything about it.. It had a clean carfax with only 16K miles so I figured hell what would go wrong.. lol)

3. I am actually out of things to check for.. I feel like this is one of those cars that once you experience it you have to buy it. Unless you're a wierdo or a horsepower nut.

Anyways I would just try to have fun with the car on the test drive and try to find some fun places to test it out in. Also if you find you dont like the clutch pedal have no fear! it is fixable lol If you find it to be to light with no feedback there is a helper spring that can be removed to make to behave more like a normal clutch.

The one I test drove was a recent trade in and I didn't beat up on it too bad! Good thing as it was bought by somebody on here (forget who now).

I bought mine from a local Chrysler dealer (9K miles). As we were returning from the testdrive, the sales guy directed me to pull into the local Toyota dealership. He had the service dep't pull up the service history, and confirm that the warranty was full intact. They even gave me a printout of the service history.

I'm going to be the one here to say that I bought my car blind. Didn't sit in one and didn't drive one. Bought it without completely feeling what it was gonna be like.

However, I had been doing research and immediately knew that this was gonna be my car. Love at first sight.

I bought my '97 Miata (used) sight-unseen, based on e-mailed pics and a downloaded CarFax. Was not disappointed.


Bought my (new) 350Z over the internet from a dealership 200 miles away. Had never actually been in one. Again, no problems.

find a hill, put it in 5th or 6th and try to climb from a stop (hint, the car should stall). if not, the car is due for a clutch.

That is pretty neat. I wish the shysty chevy dealership I got mine from would have done that..

This is officially my buyer beware/avoid at all costs Blade Chevorlet in Mt Vernon Washington.

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED :thumbsup:

If he hadn't done it, I would have. I would not have even considered buying it without confirming that the warranty was valid.

Well, while we are at it -- stay away from Magic Toyota in Lynwood WA, or any other location.

Toyota of Kirkland or nothing.. Ask for Roger and tell 'em koa sent you

he'll know. Oh, he'll fuckin' know.

OP might end up with a Matrix instead.

if he's smart :happyanim:

I didn't even test drive one i just put a down payment on it lol. I love these chassis.

I drove one.
Had the sales guy with me sooo.
I had no issue with the power. Yes can use more (25-50 RWHp), but it would be faster than any car I've owned.
Brakes are good too.
Suspension is nice too. Didn't seem to harsh and felt like it had lots of potential. I did hustle it through a back road but did not push it.
Driving position was nice. Seemed like I could get it better but I was comfortable.
All controls were right where you want them.

I still would like to drive one again and for a bit more time.
I like and it is what I want, cheap and fun.

So are you getting a silver one or a blue one?

I want an FR-S RS1.0.
The color and the mods work for me.

I sat in the one I bought 6 times (it was in the dealer show room for 2 years) and test drove two others, one standard (loved it) and Auto (bought it) and I could not find the standard in Hot Lava. If you drive it again, don't be afraid to be aggressive, with all the safety features the car will help keep you on the road (as I have found out after I bought it) example: drive about 20 mph and saw the steering wheel hard (turn it left and right), you will fell the break assist on the front wheel that is starting to slip, it will grab (its really strange at first but it auto corrects so you done over steer and slide). Put the car in SPORT and take it on the highway an exit or two (watch for Police) I have owner the car for 6 weeks and I am still finding new limits, it is fun.

Good Luck