Take your new car for a test drive – alone

BUYING a car will be a little different when showrooms reopen on Monday.

In order to abide by strict social distancing rules, some dealers will be sending customers on test drives without the sales patter of an employee to keep them company.

Vertu Motors, which has more than 130 dealerships across the UK, said measures it has put in place include ‘one-way systems’ in the showrooms, hand sanitisers, perspex screens and staff wearing masks.

But there is little you can do to enforce social distancing in a car, so those wanting to test drive a new motor will do so alone.

Robert Forrester, the company’s chief executive, told BBC Breakfast: ‘When you actually go for a test drive, you will be the only person in the car. We trust the vast majority of our customers to do the right thing.’

This will not be the case in all dealerships. Vauxhall said salesmen will accompany customers on test drives, but will sit in the back on the opposite side – as far away as possible.