Pepsi Test Drive with Jeff Gordon

Pepsi’s prank “Test Drive” video in which NASCAR celebrity, Jeff Gordon, takes a car salesman on a test drive that turns into a “hold on for your life”, drift driving ride from hell is probably one of the most successful viral advertising campaigns to date. With it’s over 41 MILLION YouTube views, it definitely rivals even Volvo’s “Epic Split”.

There’s no doubt that Pepsi got a lot of attention from their cute little prank and we think it’s worth revisiting even if you’ve seen it before. The looks on the salesman’s face and his candid comments are priceless.

However, one question begs to be asked; Would a customer of a car dealership really be liable for damages if they wrecked a car they were test driving, as the panicking car salesman suggests?

In all likelihood, the answer would be no. It’s a general standard that car dealers have a special type of insurance coverage in place for the cars they let their customers test drive.

Privately sold cars, however, are another story. You might not actually be covered at all while “taking a spin” in a car you find in the classifieds. This is because, if the seller has already bought another car, they may have already canceled the auto insurance policy on their old car if they aren’t driving it anymore.

In this scenario, you would indeed be left with the tab if you caused an accident. If you hit another car, you would be financially responsible for all of the other driver’s medical and property damage out of your own pocket AND for any damage to the car you were test driving, as well as all medical expenses for any of your passengers.

This is why it’s a good idea to find out before hand if your own car insurance policy covers you when driving an uninsured car. Many policies include something called DOC (Driving Other Cars) that will cover you when driving another car if you have the owner’s permission.

If your insurance policy doesn’t contain this coverage or you don’t have an insurance policy at all, it would be wise to contact an insurer and purchase a short term policy to cover you while you are test driving privately sold cars.
video source:
PimpinBananas25 (Mar 25, 2013) – “Jeff Gordon Test Drive Salesman Prank & PEPSI MAX”