How to Test Drive a Used Car: What to Look, Listen and Feel For

Before you drive: insurance, papers and a route

Three things need settling before the key turns.

1. Insurance and liability. Bring your driving licence and confirm who covers the drive. ADAC recommends a written test drive agreement. With a private seller's fully comprehensive cover, you would typically pay only the excess and the lost no-claims discount; with a dealer's car, liability is usually limited to gross negligence and intent.
2. Identity of the car. Check that the car matches the advert and that the VIN on the car matches the registration document. If anything differs, stop here and decode the number with our VIN decoder.
3. A companion and a notepad. A second person can watch the exhaust, listen from outside and keep the seller talking. Write down what you notice and run the same checks in the same order on every car, so the notes are comparable later.

A 30-minute route plan

If the seller allows only ten minutes, cut the town section, never the cold start or the fast road. Some franchised dealers offer extended test drives lasting several days, which is the best way to judge a car you will live with for years.

Step 1: The cold start

Touch the bonnet before you open the door. Haynes warns that a warm bonnet or a raised temperature gauge means the car was started before you arrived, and a warm engine can hide problems, especially on diesels.

Then start it and watch:

• Warning lights. All lights should come on briefly and go out. A light still on after about 30 seconds needs an explanation. Engine management, oil pressure and battery warnings matter most.
• Exhaust. A little white steam on a cold day is condensation. Blue or grey smoke means oil is burning. Thick white smoke from a warm engine can mean coolant is entering the cylinders, a sign of a failing head gasket.
• Noise. A rattle that clears within a second or two can be normal on some older engines. Persistent ticking or rattling from the top of the engine can point to timing chain or valve train wear. Look up the engine's known weaknesses on its engine page before the viewing.

Step 2: Town driving: clutch, gearbox and brakes

Low speeds expose the drivetrain.

• Manual gearbox. Gears should engage cleanly, without crunching. A clutch that bites only at the very top of the pedal travel, or revs that rise faster than the speed, suggests a worn clutch.
• Automatic. Shifts should be smooth up and down. Jerks, hesitation or a clunk when selecting Drive or Reverse need investigating. Some dual-clutch gearboxes feel slightly jerky in slow traffic, but the movement should feel controlled, not lurching. Our article on ZF gearboxes explains how torque-converter automatics differ.
• Hill hold. Stop on a slope and check that the handbrake holds the car.
• Visibility. Check the blind spots from the pillars and headrests, and how well the mirrors and camera help when you reverse.

Step 3: Rough roads: suspension and steering

Find speed bumps or a broken surface and switch the audio off. Knocks, bangs, creaks or groans over bumps usually mean worn bushes or other suspension parts. A clunk at full lock in a car park can point to worn CV joints. Some power steering pump noise near full lock is normal; a loud racket is not.

Step 4: The fast road: engine, vibration and noise

On a dual carriageway or motorway the car should feel settled, not bouncy.

• Pull. Accelerate hard at least once where it is safe. The engine should rev cleanly. Hesitation, stuttering or misfiring is a red flag.
• Straight running. On a straight, level road, relax your grip for a moment: the car should track straight. A steering wheel that is off-centre while driving straight can mean the steering has been repaired.
• Vibration. Shake through the wheel or seat at speed can come from wheels, tyres, suspension or steering. Wheel balancing sometimes cures it.
• Hum. A humming noise that changes pitch in bends often comes from a failing wheel bearing.
• Wind noise. Excess noise around one door or window can mean a perished seal, or a door that was refitted after accident repair.
• Brakes. Brake firmly once from around 50 km/h (30 mph) with nothing behind you. Pulsing in the pedal is normal when ABS works. Pulling to one side points to the brakes, suspension or tyre pressures; vibration through the pedal or wheel suggests warped discs.

Step 5: Car park checks: electrics and driver aids

Before you hand the key back, test what is expensive to fix:

• every window switch, both mirror controls, central locking and the heated seats on both sides;
• air conditioning on full cold for a few minutes: it should blow cold;
• infotainment, Bluetooth pairing and phone mirroring, if fitted;
• the reversing camera image and the parking sensors, which should beep faster as you approach an obstacle;
• adaptive cruise control and lane-keeping assistance. Warnings or systems that will not engage can follow radar damage from a front-end impact.

For electric cars and plug-in hybrids, also check the displayed range, the charging port and its flap, the charging cable and how regenerative braking feels. Our electric cars hub has the models' battery and range data.

After the test drive: the hot checks

Park, leave the engine running for a minute and walk round the car:

• look under the engine for fresh drips;
• check the oil level again: a level that has dropped noticeably between the cold and hot checks can mean the engine burns oil;
• switch off and restart while hot, which reveals starting faults that a cold start can mask;
• on a diesel, ask when the particulate filter was last checked, and whether the car has done mostly short trips.

Used car test drive warning signs and what they mean

Not every fault is a deal-breaker. Wear items such as discs, pads and a clutch are negotiating points. Smoke, overheating, gearbox slip and signs of a hidden accident repair are reasons to walk away or to pay for an expert's opinion first. Our guide to the on-board computer explains which warnings the car itself reports.

When a test drive is not enough

A test drive tells you how the car behaves today. It cannot see a corroded underbody, a stored fault code or a gearbox that only slips when hot after an hour. Pay for an independent inspection on a lift when:

• the car is expensive or rare, or has a gearbox or engine with a known weakness;
• you buy privately, so no legal guarantee applies;
• anything on the drive felt wrong but you still want the car.

Our verdict: the test drive is the cheapest check you will ever make. Do it from cold, on a planned route, with notes. If you are still choosing between models, compare running costs first in the cost of ownership calculator, or start from our list of the best used diesel estates for high-mileage family use.