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Plan the route before you turn the key

Most test drives follow the same predictable loop: out of the forecourt, along a smooth stretch of dual carriageway, round a roundabout, and back again. It's a nice drive, but it tells you almost nothing about how the car will behave on the school run, on a steep hill, or on the potholed road outside your house.

Before you set off, ask for a proper drive. Thirty to forty minutes is a reasonable request at an independent dealership, and many will happily agree if you book ahead and turn up when they're not rushed off their feet. If you can, ask that the car hasn't been warmed up before you arrive — a cold engine reveals noises, rough idling and gearbox quirks that disappear once everything is up to temperature. Take a passenger with you, both to listen from the back seats and to keep notes while you concentrate on driving.

Confirm you're insured for the drive and that the car has enough fuel or charge. There's nothing more frustrating than a fifteen-minute spin that ends early because the tank is nearly empty.

Start on the roads you know best

Begin with the sort of driving you do most. Town traffic is genuinely useful: it exposes how the clutch bites, how an automatic creeps in a queue, and whether the steering feels light enough for tight car parks. Use a few junctions and roundabouts to check visibility — look past the windscreen pillars, glance over your shoulder where you'd normally check a blind spot, and adjust the mirrors properly rather than leaving them as the last driver set them.

Stop-start traffic also shows up hesitation in an automatic gearbox, a jerky throttle, or an engine that feels strained at low speed. If the car has a stop-start system, notice whether it restarts smoothly or shudders into life.

Finish this section with a manoeuvre. Reverse into a bay, use the parking sensors and camera, and see whether the view out of the back window is genuinely useable or just a letterbox.

Find a hill, then a faster road

Hills are where engine and clutch weaknesses hide. Find a decent incline and do a hill start. Does the car pull away cleanly or does it bog down and need a fistful of revs? If it's an automatic with hill hold, check it releases smoothly rather than lurching. A steep climb will also tell you whether the engine has enough torque for a fully loaded car.

Then head for a dual carriageway or motorway. Use the slip road to build speed and merge with confidence — this is where a small petrol engine can feel breathless and where you'll notice whether the gearbox hunts between ratios. At 60 to 70mph, turn the radio off and listen. Wind noise around the door mirrors, tyre roar on coarse tarmac and a droning engine at cruising revs all become obvious at speed, and these are the things that will tire you out on a long journey.

If the car has cruise control or adaptive cruise, try it briefly. Check the brakes from motorway speed too — the car should pull up straight without vibration through the pedal.

Listen for rattles, knocks and other clues

Turn everything off and let the car talk to you. Aim for a stretch of rough tarmac, a speed bump or two and a few drain covers. Rattles from the dashboard, door cards or parcel shelf are usually fixable but annoying. Knocks and clunks over bumps are more serious — they often point to worn suspension or bushes, which can get expensive.

• Brake squeal, grinding or a shudder through the pedal at low speed
• A clutch that slips, judders or bites very high up the pedal travel
• Steering that pulls to one side or vibrates at a particular speed
• Any warning light that stays on after the engine starts
• Unusual smells — hot coolant, burning oil or a sweet scent that suggests a leak

Test the air conditioning properly by running it cold, then hot. Check the heated seats, the demisters, the wipers and every switch you'd use in a normal week.

Get the driving position right

You'll spend thousands of hours here, so spend five minutes getting it right. Adjust the seat for height, reach and backrest angle, then set the steering wheel for reach and rake so your arms are relaxed and your wrists rest on the top of the rim. Check the pedals are spaced comfortably and that your left foot has somewhere sensible to rest.

Comfort matters as much as spec. Can you see the instruments clearly? Are the mirrors big enough? Do the heating and radio controls fall naturally to hand, or would you need to take your eyes off the road? A car that feels slightly awkward on a test drive often becomes irritating after a month.

Afterwards, before you decide

Park up and let the engine idle for a minute while you listen for any final noises. Walk around the car and check the tyres for uneven wear, kerbed alloys and mismatched brands — small clues often point to how well it's been looked after. Ask about service history and any recent work.

Write your impressions down while they're fresh, especially if you're driving two or three cars in the same week. Compare them back to back on the same route, and don't talk yourself into a car that felt wrong just because the colour was right. If something nags at you, walk away — there's always another car, and a good test drive is the cheapest inspection you'll ever do.