kick the tires

kick the tires
Also found in: Financial.

To inspect or test something or someone to ensure that he, she, or it meets the required or expected standard of quality. Primarily heard in US, Canada.
You should always kick the tires of anything you plan to buy from someone online, or else you might end up buying a piece of junk!
The boss always assigns difficult projects as a way of kicking the tires of new employees.
We should hire a few interns to kick the tires on this app before we release it to the public.
See also: kick, tire
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2022 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
kick the ;tyres (British English) (American English kick the ;tires) (especially American English) test the quality of something; see if something is suitable for you: We now spend longer kicking the tyres before investing in new companies. ; ;tyrekicker (British English) (American English ;tirekicker) noun a possible customer who asks a lot of questions about a product but never buys anything: Your sales team can waste a huge amount of time on tyrekickers.
See also: kick, tyre
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
See also:
kick the tyres
kick the wheels