FORT MYERS, FL (August 13, 2026) - For the shopper who would rather get a root canal than walk onto a car lot, Test Drive To Go (TDTG) was built with one goal: remove the parts of car buying people actually dread. The AI-powered platform lets consumers schedule their own test drive online, on their own schedule, without ever picking up the phone or fending off a salesperson before they're ready to talk.
The timing reflects what buyers have been saying for years. According to CDK Global's 2026 Friction Points Study, more than three-quarters of car shoppers say the test drive itself is what ultimately sold them on the vehicle — yet over half report having to wait for one. The same research found that 58% of buyers ran into a problem somewhere in the dealership experience in 2025, up from 47% the year before, and that roughly 1 in 4 buyers who start the process online are forced to start over once they reach the store, a repetition 41% describe as “frustrating” or “annoying.”
The frustration goes deeper than logistics. A national consumer survey found that car buying now ranks as more stressful than buying a home — 52% of respondents reported higher anxiety shopping for a car than a house, and 61% said they felt rushed during the process, compared to just 39% who felt rushed buying a home. The top-cited stressors were aggressive sales tactics (65%), a lack of price transparency (58%), and pressure to make a quick decision (54%) — all pain points tied to the in-person sales process rather than the vehicle itself.
The test drive, notably, isn't the problem. Separate research from Autotrader found that 81% of buyers rated the test-drive experience itself an 8 out of 10 or higher — but that satisfaction dropped to 67% once F&I and paperwork entered the picture. In other words, the part of car buying people actually enjoy is getting buried under the parts they dread.
TDTG's founders say that gap — between the moment that actually sells a car and the friction required to get there — is exactly what the platform was designed to close.
"Nobody dreads the test drive. They dread everything around it — the hold times, the back-and-forth, the pressure to commit to a conversation before they’re ready," said Khalida Cook, co-founder and COO of Test Drive To Go. "We built TDTG for the person who wants to pick a car, pick a time, and show up — without talking to a single human being until they’re actually standing in front of the vehicle. That’s not a small convenience. For a lot of people, it’s the difference between buying a car and putting it off for another six months."
How It Works for the Shopper
Shoppers pick the vehicle they want, then choose a date, time, and location for their test drive directly from the dealership's website — no call required. Confirmation emails and reminders keep them updated automatically, and after the test drive, a single follow-up email offers a direct link to continue the purchase online for that exact vehicle. The dealership, meanwhile, receives the appointment details ahead of time so the car is staged and the team is ready — meaning shoppers are met with a prepared, low-pressure experience from the moment they arrive rather than a scramble to find the right vehicle and a free salesperson.
The approach appears to be working: dealerships using TDTG report a 23% average close rate on scheduled test drives, rising to 33% among tech-forward dealers, according to the company's 2025 data. TDTG's founders point to a simple explanation — buyers who initiate the process themselves, on their own terms, arrive at the dealership more relaxed and further along in their decision than those who feel pushed into a visit.
"The post-COVID car buyer changed for good — they want to do everything else in their life on their own terms and their own schedule, and car buying got left behind," Cook said. "We’re not trying to replace the salesperson. We’re trying to make sure the only person a shopper has to talk to is the one they’re ready to talk to — on the day they’re ready to talk to them."
TDTG is currently available through participating dealerships nationwide, including a growing number accessible through its integration with Cox Automotive's Dealer.com platform. Shoppers can look for the option to schedule a test drive directly on a participating dealership's website.
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About Test Drive To Go
Founded in 2021 and fully trademarked by the USPTO, Test Drive To Go is a Fort Myers, Florida-based automotive technology company built to strip friction out of the test-drive process for dealers and shoppers alike. A subsidiary of Digital Diagnosis Marketing, the automotive advertising agency also founded by Taylor and Khalida Cook, TDTG partners with dealerships and automotive vendors nationwide to streamline the consumer test-drive experience while lowering dealership overhead. Co-founders Khalida and Taylor Cook bring a combined 25+ years of experience across the automotive and technology sectors, including hands-on work inside dealerships, automotive agencies, and Google. Learn more at www.mytestdrivetogo.com.
