Going down to your local dealership to test drive the car you've got your eye on is always an exciting moment. With so much on offer in new vehicles, it's easy to get a bit bewildered by all the features, which can make it hard to evaluate whether the vehicle is right for you. To help you stay focused, here are our top ten tips for making the most out of your test drive.

Drive on Roads You Know

This gives you some feeling for noise, vibration and harshness levels. You want to assess the car, right? So, it’s not ideal if you’re also assessing the road. If you drive on roads you are used to, you’ll know how the car performs relative to those surfaces. Think about ride quality, road and wind noise.

Compare New with New

There’s no point in comparing your old car with a new one. Let’s face it, a seven-year-old (or whatever) car with 100,000km on the clock will make just about any new car feel beyond excellent. The point is: compare new cars against other new cars, not against the one you’re getting rid of. The aim is to buy the best one available - so take a day out of your busy schedule and drive your top three or four contenders back to back.

Drive for at Least 30 Minutes

If you’re not used to driving dozens of different cars, it takes a while to get used to them. It also takes a while to play with all the gizmos. And then you need to assess it for comfort. You cannot do all that in five minutes around the block at the dealership. Tell the dealer you’re a serious buyer - but you need to know the car is right, so you’ll need to drive it for at least half an hour.

Size Matters

You need to ensure the car fits your domestic arrangements. It’s not going to be fun if it’s just too big for the garage, or if it scrapes every day on your driveway from hell. Take it home if there’s any doubt, and make sure it fits.

Space Invaders

Make sure your car fits your lifestyle it's not fun if you’re a pair of dead-keen golfers and it only accommodates one golf bag. Whatever you’re into - pushbikes, dogs, kids, kayaks, golf, DIY or towing - make sure the gear fits in the new car. Physically put the stuff in the car if there’s any doubt. And, in the case of towing, make sure the new car can accommodate the total weight of what you normally tow, including the download weight.

Use the Widgets

Connect your phone to the car’s Bluetooth; make a couple of calls. Confirm the voice quality is OK. Stream some music. Use the cruise control. Play with the nav system. Reverse-park the car. Use the reversing camera (if fitted). Make sure you like all this stuff - and identify anything you hate.

Passenger

Take a ride in the passenger’s seat, and sit in the back as well. See how comfortable or otherwise all the seating positions are (especially important for parents of strapping young teenagers).

Re-set the Trip-Meter

If you reset the trip meter you’ll get an indication of the likely fuel consumption in the real world. It could be worse than the official label. So, drive like you normally drive, and at the end of the test-drive the trip computer will help you figure out what the actual fuel consumption was.

Don't Fall In Love

You think the test drive is about evaluation; the salesman knows it’s about you falling in love with the car and signing on the dotted line because you’ve become infatuated. Stick to your plan. Drive all three (or four) shortlisted cars. Sleep on it. Then decide.

Specificity

Make sure the car you test drive is the car you intend to buy. Don’t fall into the trap of going for a test drive in the fully loaded model variant - the leather, the grunty engine, the low-profile tyres, all the bells and whistles - and then sign off on the base model. The difference between the top of the range and the base model is often chalk and cheese, and the price difference can be considerable. so drive the one you intend to buy - otherwise you could find yourself being disappointed with what you bought.