Dealer wants to drive 10 miles on my First86 FRS

[eikond]

Originally Posted by luxmn

Just talked to the Dealer manager where my new FRS will be delivered, they agree to not drill the front bumper but saying that they will have to drive the car at least 10 miles, not for demo purpose but as a "check out drive".

Obviously that didn't go well with me so I called corporate and they have made a case to ask the Service manager to answer to the regional office and me that it is indeed a legitimate requirement either because of Texas law or something else.

10 miles over my dead body

Anybody has experienced this before? Is it reasonable to expect 0 (or maximum 1 mile) on a brand new "custom" car?

At least you realized later that you made a knee-jerk reaction. Calm down.. take a deep breath.. it's ok!

Most cars arrive at the dealership with approx 2-3 miles on them. This is the initial test at the factory to check the engine, the drive from the end of the line to the parking lot, the drive from the parking lot onto the truck or directly onto the cargo ship, then drive off the ship to the parking lot, the drive onto the truck, and then finally to the dealership.

Now.. once they arrive at the dealership, they are required to go through the PDI process. "prelmiinary dealership inspection" perhaps.. I'm not exactly sure what the acronym stands for.. but something like that. The service department is required to pull it into the shop and do an inspection. They remove the wheel covers, plastic on the body panels, plastic and cardboard inside the cabin, etc.. They check and adjust tire pressures, check fluid levels, and general maintenance, then they do a roadtest to make sure it runs properly. So they are listening to the engine, suspension, tires, any noticable squeeks and rattles, etc.. Then they also run to a gas station to fill the tank for you.

The number of miles on your brand new car will depend on the dealership staff and location. Are they required to do the PDI test up to a certain speed? If so, they might have to go a couple more miles to get to a highway.. depending on location? How far are they from a gas station? How quick and or how thorough is the maintenance tech who does the PDI drive?

It is quite possible that your new car will have 10+ miles on it as a mandatory part of the delivery and sales process.


The trouble you had is that the dealership manager didn't give enough energy to explain the situation to you properly.

[Dadhawk]

Originally Posted by Dave-ROR

...
So yeah, none of us will be close to the first person driving our new cars...

I guess its probably too late to expect a surprise email saying they are flying us to Japan to drive it off the line at this point

[Dave-ROR]

Originally Posted by russv

We'll be getting a whore....

You say that like it's a bad thing :P

[Dave-ROR]

Originally Posted by eikond

PDI process. "prelmiinary dealership inspection" perhaps.. I'm not exactly sure what the acronym stands for.. but something like that.

Pre-Delivery Inspection. on the rest.

[luxmn]

They didn't really ask me if it's okay, they only told me that's what they were gonna have to do once I asked them about it.

Really I maybe a bit delusional watching youtube video where they hand roll the greddy frs from truck to track without even starting up the car so I maybe unreasonable.

However, this is my critical thinking as an engineer, laptop sent from manufacture to retailer will get plugged into to testing instruments to make sure memmory bios ... working have most up to date firmware ... then they will power it on let it run for a bit and call it good. Nobody goes through the initial setup unless that's what the customer wants.

For the car I'm happy if they plug it in to test, turn the engine on make sure everything runs well, but drive it? why? is it so that it won't burst into flame? suspension and gear shift can be tested stationary I'd think. Plus do they test every single car on the lot? I doubt it. I have seen car with 2 miles on so I don't think 10 is reasonable, I may give in to 5.

[Dave-ROR]

Originally Posted by luxmn

They didn't really ask me if it's okay, they only told me that's what they were gonna have to do once I asked them about it.

Really I maybe a bit delusional watching youtube video where they hand roll the greddy frs from truck to track without even starting up the car so I maybe unreasonable.

However, this is my critical thinking as an engineer, laptop sent from manufacture to retailer will get plugged into to testing instruments to make sure memmory bios ... working have most up to date firmware ... then they will power it on let it run for a bit and call it good. Nobody goes through the initial setup unless that's what the customer wants.

For the car I'm happy if they plug it in to test, turn the engine on make sure everything runs well, but drive it? why? is it so that it won't burst into flame? suspension and gear shift can be tested stationary I'd think. Plus do they test every single car on the lot? I doubt it. I have seen car with 2 miles on so I don't think 10 is reasonable, I may give in to 5.

Yes, they PDI every single vehicle. You get the checklist and signoff when you buy the car (at least I have with every car I've purchased new).

They do so to check for vibrations, running issues that weren't detected or didn't occur at the factory, make sure nothing is clunking/loose, etc.

It makes sense when you think about it logically instead of emotionally. They don't want you coming back with a problem with 12 miles on the car when they could have detected it and fixed it instead of having an upset customer, not to mention the he said/she said game. Imagine if a dock worker destroyed the 3rd gear synchro really quickly, the dealer doesn't PDI and you claim it was already bad.. that can lead to a lot of hassle and negative feelings from you to that dealer, even though it wasn't their fault. Now let's say the same happened, the PDI showed the problem, it was fixed and you got a 100% working vehicle at the cost of a few testing miles. Does that really upset you that much?

For your computer example, QA/QC does occur, just not at the retailer level. Automobiles can have more things happen to them between the factories control and the dealerships control (all that shipping involved in between). These are not products sealed in a cardboard box but products used by third parties between the factory and dealership.

[Dadhawk]

Originally Posted by luxmn

Really I maybe a bit delusional watching youtube video where they hand roll the greddy frs from truck to track without even starting up the car so I maybe unreasonable..

Even hand rolling the car spins the odometer, you just don't notice it because its an insignificant distance. Not sure on the electronic ones, but on the old mechanical ones, they would also roll backwards when the car was in reverse, again insignificant unless you drove a long distance, or put an electric drill on it to roll back the miles.

[chate]

PDI should have some guidelines, tell dealer to show you what it involves. I still doubt 10 miles is part of it. My Rav4 had 8 miles on it at purchase, and had been test driven by me already, so toyota def doesnt require an explicit 10 miles.

[whitejdm]

A Pre delivery inspection ALWAYS includes a test drive, I wouldn't pick up my car any other way. The car is rolled onto a diagnostics bench at the factory and tested, then rolled onto a dyno and redlined, then sent out into the parking area. Alot can happen from the factory to the dealership and a technician taking the car out for a test drive is part of protecting the dealership and the customer. I would only be suspicious of anything over 20kms (12 or so miles).

[eikond]

Originally Posted by Dave-ROR

Pre-Delivery Inspection. on the rest.

Oops. . Yep that's it! Memory fail. It's been a while since I worked at the dealership.


luxmn. If you asked nicely and don't make it confrontational, I bet you could talk them into doing a very short PDI drive.. but they are not allowed to skip it. You could probably also ask them about the gas fill run.. maybe they will cut you a check for $50 instead of putting it into your tank directly..that might save another mile or two. Try asking nicely.. you never know.. it might work.


In the end though.. does it really matter that much? You're going to put tons of miles on the car.. will your enjoyment of it be any less because you didn't drive it for miles 3-9 of 100,000?

[Sasquachulator]

So you gonna do the PDI yourself then?

[chate]

here is a pre delivery checklist for 2006 rav4 i was able to google search to

http://rav4world.com/pdf/2006/PreDel...eCheckList.pdf

you do NOT need 10 miles to do that shit

[Rampage]

Years ago, I bought a brand new Mazda MX6 with 7 miles on the clock. Once I got it home I saw something peeking out from under the passenger seat. I tugged on it and found a crumbled up McDonalds bag. Closer inspection revealed a loose french fry too. Guess the DPI included lunch! I never bought anything else from that dealer.

[yayforaddison]

I do PDI's now at my current job (National Enterprise rent-a-car. Its part of the airport AND all the new cars come to us) and each car is a little different. Its a huge checklist and requires some driving. I can't say to much, but I may be able to get a PDI checklist for Toyotas. It can't be much different if at all from Scion.