Tips when picking up your new ride
 

Go with the sales person if they take it to fill it up with gas.

That complimentary full tank of gas is usually from the closest station and sometimes the wrong octane is accidentally put in.

Good way to avoid "why is my new car pinging and knocking?"

:burnrubber:

or better yet, educate yourself on the common symptoms of pinging and knocking, and just run through the tank and fill up later on the right fuel.

i ran a tank of 87 once just to see what happened. it doesn't make the car unusable, especially during the break-in period.

Point is the dealer shouldn’t be putting the wrong octane in a car they’re delivering. I’ve refused the free tank of gas when a sales person told me ‘they don’t let us put 91 in the cars’.

Just don't have them fill it up period if you don't want to chance it. I picked mine up on fumes and drove it to a gas station right away haha.

Other tips: tell them explicitly to NOT drill holes for the front license plate if you're not 1000% sure you want to run one. If you plan to ceramic coat it or PPF it, talk with your detailer - they might want you to leave the shipping protection on so that they can remove it themselves. And if you are planning either of these things, make an appointment with them in advance so you can drive it straight there. Either way, probably also best to also skip out on pre-purchase wash as well so that they don't swirl up the paint right away.

Don't let the young sales guy ask you to teach him how to drive a manual in your new ride.

Big shit there's knock detection it won't harm the car. It will hold back power a bit so the car might get faster after the next fill.

I read people's advice on taking delivery of a new car and here's what I see:

Don't drill front bumper for license plate bracket (if required for gen 2).
Don't remove protective wrap on body (go to pro detailer for exterior prep).
Don't do anything not required for the PDI.
Put car in enclosed area when arrives so people can't open, touch, see.
Etc etc

I've never given a dealer special instructions. But then again I did some of the pdi prep work at a VW Audi dealer p/t over 33 years ago.

Audi Fox (remember those?) made in Brazil ones, not the good ones, had stuff on the window glass that was so difficult to remove, like whitewash or something. Whatever happened to those cars? They had Golf drivetrains but the body more resembled Lada for quality.

My late ex father-in-law owned a Lada dealership in the 80's. Glad I didn't know him then. lol

The 19 year old go-fer at the dealer where I picked up my Honda S2000 went with me to the gas station for my complimentary first tankful, and he put 87 octane in, told me that's what it took... I got home and read the owners' manual and :bonk: And just before that while he did some/all of the
"prep"...

... While the car had color-matched two plugs over captive nuts for the front plate, when I got home the plate was hanging loose, and I found he had used self-tapping screws into the bumper cover 1/4' below where those plugs were! :brokenheart:

So, yeah, watch the dealer like a hawk.

Canada might have been different, but in the US the Brazilian Fox's were sold as VW's, my brother worked for the importer VWoA at the time. I rather liked the looks of the 2-door wagon but those were saddled with a 4-speed manual, while the sedans got 5-speeds. Really? And then I heard the quality horror stories.

Actually they were VW here too. I think they were basically a decent drivetrain with a disintegrating body for a cheap price. Not sure why but $7500 CD comes to mind in 88/89.


Ladas and Ponys sold for around $4995 base when they started out here.

We never got Yugos, although I do remember seeing them in FL.

Shittiest car now is the Mitsubishi Mirage. They were advertised starting at $9995 in 2018 or 2019.

Sedan is still built in China (VW Santana) and loved by taxi drivers

This was my main concern when i ordered mine. The stealership actually listened.