Dealer test drives

[Kilian22]

Hi All,

I am looking at the PHEV vs an A6 estate as a company car. I think the PHEV is winning but when I went for a test drive I was only able to drive it for 20 mins which did not really give me long enough to get a full opinion. Is this the same for all on here? Audi offered me the car for the weekend!

Cheers

 

[Hypermiler]

Hi
We bought it after about 20 minutes (and lots of research!). I would have thought if you tell the dealer the position - that you need to decide re the Audi and you have been given a much better test, that they would see what they could do. I think the PHEV is in such demand that they may struggle to have one available for a whole weekend, but with all these ships arriving/en route perhaps I am out of date...
cheers
H

 

[maddogsetc]

Your experience reflects mine. To be fair I was the first test drive in the dealer's first demo, so I wasn't expecting to get much time in it given the advance interest. Actually, we didn't get much longer in the A3 when we bought SWMBO's Audi in May either. But I'm more used to the relaxed attitude you describe from most of the 'premium' brands.

 

[aitchjaybee]

I was looking at the A6 avant SE ultra or PHEV for my company car. Likewise A6 was available for long test but the outlander wasn't in the UK, so totally unavailble to test before I wanted to put the order in. (My company lease provider is sooo slow due to their approvals and order process) so I tested a diesel and took a leap of faith to avoid a huge wait. The A6 is a better car imo but they are nowhere near the same price bracket. BIK alone was £2k more for the A6 before lease cost factored in. Oh, and fuel!

What would you achieve in a longer test? The PHEV is attracting many EV newbies (me included) and it is a big leap. But I'm so pleased I did, it's a fab car and I'm a more relaxed driver behind the wheel.

Not sure I've answered your question, but hope it helps a bit.

 

[user 258]

Hi,
I had a 60 minute accompanied test drive. This wasn't sufficient so I got a further 3 hour solo drive and then a further 2 hour solo test drive. UK dealer.
Kind regards,
Mark

 

[DrSlackBladder]

My company car order had to be in before my company could organise a PHEV test drive for me. So I arranged a 60 min accompanied test drive with my local Mitsubishi dealer, and decided to place the order the next day. About a month or so later, my company had organised for me to have a PHEV demo for the weekend......a little worrying as I'd already placed the order, there was no retracting it! But I took the demo car for the weekend, did 300 miles round trip with fully loaded car, wife, dog, child, etc. Fortunately all was good, the demo just convinced me that I'd made the right choice. I'm also moving away from BMWs, Audis, Mercs....the usual fleet car choices!

 

[maby]

Hi,
I had a 60 minute accompanied test drive. This wasn't sufficient so I got a further 3 hour solo drive and then a further 2 hour solo test drive. UK dealer.
Kind regards,
Mark

I actually haven't sat behind the steering wheel yet - my wife drove on the test drive. She likes it and I'm confident it will be OK for me!

 

[DavidEJM]

There are a fair number of people buying this car and coming from the 'premium' German brands. I wonder if Mitsubishi saw that coming! I bet the motoring press didn't, though I appreciate a lot is to do with the company car benefit advantages.

 

[DrSlackBladder]

There are a fair number of people buying this car and coming from the 'premium' German brands. I wonder if Mitsubishi saw that coming! I bet the motoring press didn't, though I appreciate a lot is to do with the company car benefit advantages.

Absolutely; the BIK is everything to us company car drivers making the switch......I honestly wouldn't have considered moving away from BMW if it wasn't for huge (nearly 80%) tax savings each month. I considered other alternates lower in tax than the BMW (eg. Merc E300 hybrid), but nothing of any decent size got close to the Outlander PHEV with its 5% BIK.

 

[gobiman]

In all honesty, how long do you need?
I ordered mine back in April and the first test drive I had was when it turned up at the dealer. It does everything I expected and the drive is precisely what I thought it would be.
The more pertinent issue is that the Audi is optimised for longer/motorway driving whilst the PHEV's USP is short drives but requires access to charging points (preferably overnight). I'd say that is the key driver and you need to work out your own costs. They are different horses for different courses.
There's plenty of research out there now on sites such as this to help you.
I used to have an Audi A6 4.2. Great car and the Audi will drive better but that's not really the point.
Good luck

 

[Eggtastico]

I would tell the dealer its down to a straight shootout & Audi have offered you a car for the weekend.

Ive looked at other vehicles & the BIK is to attractive to pass up for me.

 

[Kilian22]

Thanks for all the replies. The main reason I want another test drive is that the 20 or so minutes I spent in the car I could not get the seat comfy.

Cheerds