Proper seating
This is absolutely crucial if you are going to live with the car for the next few years. First, adopt the correct driving position, making sure your elbows are slightly bent when gripping the wheel at the 10 and 12 o'clock positions. Ensure that your back is not arched when you stretch to grip the top part of your steering wheel (the furthest point). Likewise, your knees should be slightly bent with your feet fully depressing the pedals. Safety is paramount and a proper driving position makes it much easier for you to steer out of trouble when the situation warrants it.
Once you have adjusted to the preferred driving position, the next thing to do is to take note of the adjustments available on the seat (height, tilt) as well as the steering wheel. It is important to ensure that the seats offer proper back support and side bolstering in relation to the driving controls in different models. Make sure that the steering column does not block your vision. Adjust rear view and side mirrors to ensure that you have a clear view of traffic around you. Remember to take your time and don't be rushed by the sales person.
On the road
Once seated and strapped in, decide on a route to take as the engine warms up. Choose a mix of towns and highways (preferably one you are familiar with). Don't be perturbed if you run into a traffic jam in the hot afternoon sun, as it will give you a notion of how well the air conditioning works and if the radio is of decent quality. However, this doesn't mean that you have the radio or air conditioning on at full blast as this will mask the noise generated by the car. Pot holes on urban roads come in handy in showing the refinement of the vehicle. Does it absorb irregularities of the road, or does it make the ride bumpier?
If you are testing an automatic model, pay attention to gear changes; does the car jerk noticeably during upshifts? A well-designed modern automatic vehicle transmission is usually smooth, with the only indication of gear swapping heard in the engine revs. Stimulate an overtaking maneuver by stepping hard on the accelerator and note the responsiveness of the engine and eagerness of the transmission to drop a gear (in order to pick up speed). When coming to a halt, judge the effectiveness of the brakes and pedal feel: How fast does the car shed speed and is it easy to modulate breaking? For manual transmissions, a smooth clutch engagement is desired, as is the ease of slotting into all gears.
If you read enthusiasts-centric car review magazines, you might think that outright handling is the most important. This might be the case of course, if you are driving a BMW M3 or a Lotus Elise. Things to look out for in a test drive is how responsive the car is to steering changes- whether it turns smoothly and tidily through a corner, and how the resulting leaning motion (body roll) in mid-corner affects your confidence. For ride comfort purposes, passenger cars will always have a larger degree of body roll compared to race cars. At high speeds such as on the highways, observe how well the car stays in its chosen path- when it "pushes" wide as its speed increases, how well does it respond to more steering inputs? Most cars are tuned to understeer when they run out of grip for the sole reason that it is easier for most drivers to regain control just by backing off the throttle.
Build quality
Now that you have completed the drive, check on the nitty-gritty bits back in the showroom. Walk around the vehicle, observe panel gaps and paint quality- particularly its consistency. Modern assembly plants have come a long way but don't expect perfection as many parts of a car are still manually put together. This is where you should conduct the closing and opening of bonnets, doors and trunks. If there is a similar model in the showroom, compare its fit against your test car.
Check the interior of the car: apart from its features, build quality is what you should be looking for. Undecided what furnishings to use? Plastic is not a bad choice as long as it is good quality; even "wood" finishing found in many cars these days are actually plastic. Exposed to hot tropical climates, lightweight, shiny and hard plastic will inevitably harden and turn brittle. Don't forget the switchgear: The air-conditioning controls, power windows, wiper functions and so on should feel solid, positive to touch and within easy reach. An inexpensive car should not be an excuse for frail poor quality plastics.
Practicality
Clever packaging means that even "small" cars these days have sufficient space for four or five adults. Since you are the driver of the car, always set your driving position first before judging the room at the back. If your knee room is tight, check to see if the front seats are designed to allow rear passengers to slot their feet under. For contoured hatchback models, pay attention to the cramped headroom at the back that is caused by the lower roofline. Boot space is usually wasted on many owners but if you are an avid golfer, for example, you might want to check the width and shape of the trunk to see if it can fit your partners' bags as well.
Considering that a car usually comes second in line of property purchases (after residential property), it is quite alarming how many consumers actually surrender huge amounts of money without going through a test drive. No matter how brief, an actual test drive is best, and will yield many clues to how well a car will serve you over the years, so make sure you have one before signing on the dotted line. Find a dealership with test drive vehicles, and if all else fails, find a friend generous enough to grant you a test drive of that particular model.
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