Evaluating trucks before purchase

After narrowing your choices down to a few models and dealers, it’s time for the hands-on evaluation: set up a test-drive of each of the trucks you’re considering. Work with the dealer in advance so you put the truck through all its paces.

A test-drive should be much more than a spin around the block. No matter what your usual type of driving is, you’ll want to see how the truck performs in a wide variety of situations.

Take out each rig for at least a couple of hours and put it though a range of situations: city and highway driving, low speed and high speed, flats and up- and downgrades. Make sure you do the test-drive while hauling a load similar to your typical job, to see how the truck handles.

What to look for on a test-drive
Whatever the truck’s specs say, the real-world results are the most important. Start with your overall impression of the truck’s performance: acceleration, handling, and braking. Does the truck respond to your input quickly? Is it predictable and controlled? Is gear shifting responsive and smooth?

Some specific areas to evaluate while on your test-drive include:

• Maneuverability – Back up to a loading dock. Take tight turns in the city. How well does the truck respond? You may want to do some maneuvering in empty parking lots first to become familiar with the truck’s handling characteristics.
• Visibility – Note to what degree you can see straight ahead and through the side windows. Also check the mirrors for blind spot coverage, and be sure that the dials and gauges are visible and easy to read.
• Comfort – One reason to go for longer test-drives is to judge the comfort and support of the driver’s seat. Try to hit both bumpy roads and well-paved highways, and compare your comfort. Look at the amount of room in the cabin, and see if all the controls are easy to reach and operate and if the noise level in the cabin allows normal conversation.
• Dumping performance – Make sure hydraulics work smoothly and that bed performs as you expect.

Take notes if you want – if you’re test-driving four or five trucks, the details can get blurred. If you can, take each truck you test-drive to the same areas so you can draw accurate comparisons.