Pre-orders starting in June! See OFFICIAL confirmation from Slate Auto

[Luxrage]

Me too. I test drive everything before I buy it, with one very recent exception, the BMW motorcycle I bought in December.

When I have been shopping for the cars I am going to rely on as daily, I always have test drove them. Most of the experiences have been good, I have yet to find a car that really turned me off. I still have some regrets of not getting the Regal Tour X I test drove many years ago. The only two cars I never test drove were my '89 Squire and my Geo which were both side projects. The Squire was halfway across the country at a Ford dealer and the Geo I, admittedly, bought without knowing how to drive a stick shift LOL. Had a friend drive that one home for me.

Edit: I'll add when ~I~ wanted to test drive a two - door Bronco they wouldn't let me. They probably had me marked as a tire kicker.

 

[phidauex]

So for me there is hope I will like the Slate, but I still need to see one and drive it before I pull the order trigger.

It actually sounds like the test drive is a bad idea, because in both of your examples you disliked the vehicle at first, and then grew to love it later. Just skip the uncertainty and go straight to the loving it part.

 

[Tom Sawyer]

It's hard to overcome confirmation bias with expensive purchases. I fully expect this forum will be swamped with gushing, overwhelmingly positive reviews when (if?) the trucks finally deliver.

 

[E90400K]

It actually sounds like the test drive is a bad idea, because in both of your examples you disliked the vehicle at first, and then grew to love it later. Just skip the uncertainty and go straight to the loving it part.

Well, both Ford and BMW are 100-year old manufacturers of trucks and motorcycles respectively. I have extensive ownership track records with both. Slate is a fresh-out manufacturer with which I have zero experience.

Uncertainty with Slate is a serious concern. It being an EV makes it worse because of the EV steep depreciation curve. The Bronco back in 2022 had an appreciation curve rather than a depreciation curve, so it was low risk. With the Beemer, I bought a new leftover 2024 model that was deeply discounted, which significantly reduced the financial risk of depreciation if I did not like it.

Slate has to prove to me it knows what it is doing. Some of what they are trying I see as marketing gimmickry.

I had the same reservations about Tesla back a decade ago. I've been in an early model Model 3 (2018), which is just a horrendous automobile when it comes to refinement.