Safe at the Dealership?
 

First off, I'll mention that this is my first new vehicle purchase. I've been informed that my BRZ will be at the dealership within the next week or so... bad timing as I'll be out of town for the next 3 weeks. Would you guys feel comfortable leaving the vehicle at the dealership or would you have a friend/family member pick it up for you if possible?

They've said that no one will be taking the vehicle for test drives, but I have a feeling they want to keep it on the showroom floor for advertising purposes. Is there much risk of scratching/damage if they keep it on the floor and allow customers to sit in it, drool, etc?

Also, the sales manager mentioned that 50-60km will be put on the vehicle by the time they complete the PDI. Those numbers sound high to me.. is 50km necessary or are they trying to cover up that a few of them will want to take it for a spin?

I took delivery of mine with 6 miles. 50-60km is definitely way excessive.

That's quite a bit high, as people are receiving their cars with less than 20KMs on the odo... sounds like a bad dealer to me if they want to joyride in a customer's car. Also, I would ask someone to pick it up. I don't really know too much about car dealerships and those things so I don't know if the dealer can store it for you or not, but I don't think they have the right to put your car in the showroom as it's your car and not theirs. Showroom cars are usually sold off for cheaper prices, which is because people are sitting in them and not caring for the condition of anything as it isn't their car.

50 km is 31 miles. That's a lot. I haven't bought a car with more than 5 miles on it in a long time.

PDI stands for Pre-Delivery Inspection. Almost all of it is checking fluid levels and tire pressure. They "test drive" the car just to make sure it doesn't blow up or something weird like that, so that they don't get sued. The people who do the PDI are also PDI, that is, Pretty Dumb Idiots. Unless the wheels fall off, they wouldn't know if the car was right or not.

I just wouldn't take a car that had 50 km on it. But I should quickly add that lots of people don't care. They will take a car with 300 mi on it and consider it a "new car." So, it's up to you.

He mentioned it in a brief chat before I left..maybe I misunderstood and he said 5-6km? That would make more sense. I'll look into it.

Definitely look into it. 50-60 km is way too much for a new car off the truck. Mine had 11km (7 miles) when I picked it up. Make sure you tell him that you don't want anyone else driving the car unless the people who work there.

Had 11 KM on mine when I got delivery. Was told they drove it to the closest Chevron and back to fill it with the highest octane fuel available. Which I appreciated.

Correction. Make sure NOBODY drives it, especially the people who work there. The PDI only, then park it.

I'm in the exact same situation as you. My BRZ is currently sitting there at the dealership, locked in the showroom, until I get back to town in a few days. I just made sure to specify that it shouldn't taken on test drives or sat in, but I don't have too much of a problem if it's sitting locked in the showroom. I'll just hope for the best when I come to pick it up and give it a thorough search for any scratches/dents.

i picked up my car with 5-6 miles on it. I test drove one the day before mine came in and it had 65 miles on it and not going to lie i beat on it a little so i assume the other people that drove it the 63 miles beat on it too.

I would just add that, if they are going to demand that you leave a deposit on a car, then it seems fair that you get a car that has not accumulated miles in the hands of drivers other than you. The lazy-*ss sales people might even think about calling you the day before the car comes in, so that you can be there when the truck arrives. But they never do this. That's why I never leave deposits and never "order" a car (for example, from another dealer). I buy what's on the lot. If a car on the lot has 3 mi. on it, then I don't have to worry about this issue. In April 2007, Honda of Hollywood had five black S2000s on the lot, all of them with less than 7 miles on the odometer.

I am actually coming to the US in 5 weeks time for a holiday and to visit family and there is a good chance that my car will arrive in that time. The dealership told me it will be locked away in their storage area and no one will touch the car. I doubt the dealer is going to use your car while you're gone.

My local dealership doesn't allow test drives or people to poke around in a vehicle that a customer has reserved with a deposit. However...when I went to check the odometer reading w/o their permission....the doors were unlocked, but it indeed wasn't test driven because it had 6 miles on it after the pdi.

I hate to lie down in front of anyone's parade here, but have you considered that dealers will tell you anything that they think you want to hear, and then do whatever they want? The buyer has no way of controlling anything, and the dealer is in a position to make up any kind of story ("We have to put 65 PDI mi. on the car for insurance reasons...The scratches on your car didn't happen in the showroom, they all come that way from the mfr....We never said we were going to keep your car in the showroom, we said that we would secure it somewhere on the lot...etc.").

Sorry, sportsfans, but vehicle sales is a tough business.