Garry & Warren Smith Mazda

Loading Vehicle Picker...
Initialising Vehicle Picker...

Garry & Warren Smith Mazda

We have no association with Garry & Warren Smith Mazda selling Mazda in Mulgrave and in no way represent them.

Address: 715 Springvale Road Mulgrave VIC 3170

Phone: 0395604444

Click here to get the lowest price on a Mazda.

Looking to finance your next Mazda purchase? Click here and see how much we can save you on time and money!

Test Drive Tips

Your new vehicle will be one of the biggest purchases you will make and you would be very unhappy if the car turns out to have unforeseen shortfalls. A thorough test drive can certainly minimize disappointing little surprises.
There are 2 main headaches involved in the test drive/car buying process. They are:

  • Headache 1: Test driving a car means giving your name and number to a sales person. Their job is now to 'ring you out' of the market. It is not unusual to have 4 or 6 sales people from different dealerships all chasing the same buyer. This happens when you look at several makes, or you have been to several dealers trying to get pricing.
    • Solution: Let Carbroker.com.au arrange the test drive for you. Because you become our client, dealers will not hound you. Instead, we (and only we) provide the help you need to test drive and select the right car for you. Just fill in the form above and we will get started!

       

  • Headache 2: You cannot get the dealer's best price unless you are buying the car. Once you have Dealer A's best price, you cannot go and see what Dealer B will offer as his best price. So - you cannot get the dealers to go head-to-head to get to the lowest price.
    • Solution: We have developed a system where we set the dealers against each other, going head-to-head against each other to win your business. We help private buyers, small business, and some of Australia's largest companies buy cars every day! We help buy thousands of cars every year. Our dealer network is constantly growing, and numbers more than 1100 dealerships.

Boot space considerations

Make sure you can fit your stuff! Do you regularly carry golf bag(s) and/or buggies? What about a pram or a stroller? It's not good having a boot that is too small!

Safety

Your car's safety performance in a crash could mean the difference between life and death for you, your passengers and other roads users. How Safe Is Your Car is a website where you can find information of how most cars rate in crash tests. It also explains ESC. ESC is short for Electronic Stability Control, a new safety technology that helps drivers to avoid crashes by reducing the danger of skidding.

Driving and handling

See how the car handles when you push it a little around corners. Oversteer or understeer is usually the result (unless it comes with Electronic Stability Control). It’s better to know how it handles before you buy – especially if you are used to a car that reacts in a certain way and you feel comfortable handling it.
Does the front end dip excessively under a hard stop? Try a couple of times.
If the vehicle has ABS you will feel some pulsing. Brake hard while turning, and the system will kick in. If the pulsing is pronounced the ABS system may not be quite as good as it should be.

Sounds

Wind and road noise can impact on your ability to hear others in the car during conversations. Switch off the radio when you get into the vehicle. Around suburban streets, most cars will sound quiet, but what is the engine and wind noise like on the highway or freeway? The best way for most people to check this is by way of comparing different cars. Have a conversation at freeway speed and compare it to your existing car, or a competing make or model to the car you are testing.

Remember to turn the radio on again at some point before end of the drive to check the quality of the sound. A lot of people like to bring their favourite CD and hear how it sounds in different cars.

Pushy salesmen

You can skip this section if you are arranging the test drive via our service as you will bypass these issues.

Dealer sales people are human (contrary to popular opinion). It is therefore best to treat them as humans when you are test driving, and make it abundantly clear whether you are buying the car today. All sales people know how to throw a low-ball at you, and many will. For more info regarding the sales strategies and tactics used in many dealerships, see our page on Dealer Tricks and Tactics.

If you let the salesperson know that you are not buying the car - only test driving, there is at least the possibility that you can have a peaceful and uninterrupted test drive. The professional sales person will instead focus on the fact that he already has your name and phone number, and will 'ring you out' (which means to constantly ring you until you are off the market. Many people end up buying just to get the dealers to stop ringing). But he needs to be 110% confident that you are not buying today. Otherwise, he will roll out the usual strategies and tactics.

If you ask for a price, he will not give you his best price, since you are not buying. He will either give an estimate, making it clear this is a high price, and tell you he can beat it, or underquote (up to several thousand dollars) and say something like 'we should be able to do that price. (Read more about low balling here).

Testimonials