Not to test drive cars without bringing along a MMA-afficionado friend with a strong Russian accent.

wow, the most ive ever run into is repeated incidents with people who come to look at cars saying they can drive a stick and cannot. Several incidents I made them get out and switch, and one incident I had some sharp words for a kid who had the gall to claim there were clutch issues after trying to put it in gear without depressing the clutch.

Though mostly I ride with them unless its some ratty old truck im getting rid of that not much can go wrong that hasn't already.

.............not to get into verbal altercations with unknown persons with uncertain weapons.............

trivial?

if you are buying a used car, im usually pretty gentle on a test drive. Just because the car was designed for something doesn't mean it can do it. I favor a gentler treatment as nearly as much info can be collected about the car.

As a similar trivial example, I once went to look at an early 90s escort GT (the one with the mazda engine and 5-speed, pretty fun) and the seller said "look what it can do" as he initially drove it out of the drive way, and redlined it trying to burn rubber. well somehow in his violent stick handling, he managed to kiss the reverse gear at about 4k, and blew 4 holes in the transmission.

I still bought it, but for about 300 bucks then. replaced the tranny and drove it for a couple years, very nice little coupe. The guy screwed himself by pounding on it in the test drive, making the car worthless.

^^ better him blowing it up testing it than you. I tend to like to do the testing for others, unless they seem very trustworthy. Even then, I am riding shotgun.

If it's got bad syncros (like my Jetta has), I don't want it handed back to me worse if they don't buy it.

You mean to say: Their "collateral" was A 2012 Jeep in our driveway...."

You have no way of knowing who owns it or if it is mostly bank owned, etc, etc.

If you want to test drive a car, go ahead. If you want to beat the car, buy it first. NFW would I lest you flog on my car before I get paid. If the thing blows up, you'd walk away and I own a glorified boat anchor. So kudos to him for standing up to a jerk.

If wishes came true, 90% of the people I know would be on the other end of a meat grinder so it is just words.

Miatas have certain known coil/ignitor problems that tend to only show at higher RPMs. If it can't run at 80-90% of redline for all of a few seconds, I don't want it, because it won't stand up under my driving. Freely admitted, I have a lead foot and make no apologies for it.

I've seen a returned computer at Best Buy. It wasn't working because someone took out the CPU and returned it.

You give me a signed statement that I provide that says that there are no warranties expressed or implied.

Happened to someone who sold an ATV to a minor. Father came back later and said the contract of no warranty was null and void because the kid was too young. Sell to an adult and have them sign a "No warranties expressed or implied". I don't think a minor's signature is legally binding.

The parents would. I'm not sure if a minor could be held to understand such a contract.

And if you break something or crash the car, who pays? Would you offer to fix it? I'd be fine if you want to bring it to a shop for a full test. In fact, to all my buyers, I suggest it. After you agree and money changes hands, I am not entertaining ANY returns or arguments.

THAT is fair enough. If he doesn't give permission, you either take it as is and bargain from there or walk. Crooks were EXACTLY why the dealership in town where I lived refused to work on cars and only for commercial trucks.

Guy comes in, flogs the car on the dyno, it breaks and he blames the shop for reckless handling.

I'm not paying for a mechanic to "run tests" on a car that I can do myself. I've been on mechanic test drives, and they do the same thing: run the car through the lower gears at a brisk RPM short of redline.

There was no danger of crashing (I got up to all of 55 mph merging onto a 4-lane) or breaking anything (not as if I held it anywhere near redline for any length of time), assuming the car was well maintained as the owner attested it was. If I broke it, I had enough in the bank to buy about 20 cars of that price :)