But let's face it, you could go and buy a PA28 of your own and nobody but your conscience would force you to do a check ride!
Nobody except your conscience and your insurance company. When I bought my Beech Sundowner, the insurance company insisted on a check ride with a qualified instructor.
Interestingly I let a friend fly it and he's named on the insurance. They required a check ride for him from a qualified instructor, but since he had no Sundowner experience, I had to check the instructor first, even though I was not required to do so. He didn't feel he could check out another pilot not knowing the machine himself.
Another friend also is on the insurance (I also fly his C150); he also required a check ride, but he did it at the same time as I did, and as the bird belonged to a flying school before I bought it, we were both checked out by the chief instructor as I flew him back to his home field.
Beech