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Comment by arduinomancer | Hacker News Reader

Test drives?

I don’t get how people buy a car without trying it

Tesla doesn't have dealerships in the traditional sense (aka third party places where you can buy the cars), and you can totally test drive their cars. You just show up to their storefront or gallery, express interest, and they let you test drive them.

I think the GP here means test drive the particular vehicle you're buying, not just some other vehicle of the same make & model (and possibly, but possibly not, trim level).

With Tesla, the most you can do is refuse delivery, but you won't get to drive it before you do that...

GP's not wrong, but as someone who only started driving frequently well into my 30s, I've personally never had the "I must kick the tires" mentality -- and Tesla's at-the-time "7-day return policy" helped a lot with concerns about a lemon.

Most states (maybe all?) have a common 3-day "regret" clause for many types of transactions, including car buying, mortgages, etc. So you can, in many cases, still 'take delivery' and then if you change your mind in 72 hours, you can return it. Again, I forget if all states have a similar set of laws for this or only a subset.

The same way people buy a phone without trying it. Electric cars will be appliances. Some will pay premium for Tesla like for Apple, and others will find that Hyundai's are a good bang for buck too.

I bought my past 2 cars without test drives, relied solely on internet research and reviews.

Haven't been disappointed yet. But then, I drive a car for transportation, not for a driving experience.

I figure the car companies would provide enough pictures and dimensions to make a test drive unnecessary, at least for me. The seats are adjustable, and I never have a problem fitting into the various rental cars that I've driven.

I just want to know if it will fit a double bass.

Because of the reputation. I've bought two cars without driving them first.

Various companies offer very easy returns or various other forms of testing directly.

carvana, carmax and tesla all give you an option to return in a certain timeframe no questions asked. on paper anyway.

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