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Defending Delivery Day Damages

4K views 20 replies 16 participants last post by  Slideways206 
#1 ·
I know by the time the car is loaded to the boat / truck and by the time its at the dealer we can expect some dudes having a go at it. May be not.

But one thing i know we can take precaution is to prevent folks at the dealership having a "fun cruise" with it. I know most dealership are professional still its a possibility. Heard horrible stories of folks having trouble from those harsh rev happy driving even before delivery.

so question is - how do you plan to prevent or minimize such hazards?

I am a soft spoken shy guy and people usually dont take me seriously cause i dont evoke the fear of gods wrath in my words or tone. :D so even if i tell them NOT TO, it aint gonna work.

Second step i plan is taking off and going there early morning on the day of delivery (if at all i can get an idea) and wait till the car is in my hand, but i understand there might be quite a lot of delay as they usually end up sort of cleaning and detailing the cars.

any other ideas on people who have done this before ? this will be my first new new car
 
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#2 ·
Contact your sales guy, be very straight forward and request that the car not be driven after it is taken off the truck.

I've been dealing with the GM at my dealership for the entire process (this guy couldn't make me more comfortable), I asked him not to prep the car. He is a car guy and told me he wouldn't do anything but check fluids and move it inside and wait for me to get there.
 
#3 ·
That's gonna be my method. I'll tell them as soon as my car is built and they know the ETA to the dealership. I'll also remind them for the umpteenth time NOT to put the front plate on.

So far they've treated me well and helped me in the process as much as they can so I do have faith.
 
#8 ·
My dealer told me that NO ONE will be taking the car out etc. He wants me to take him for a ride! When I told him he could just take it for a ride, he refused.

Actually some dealers really respect their customers and this is a guy who sold me an 04 Exploder which generated an inch thick warranty file. No fault of his but I have gotten lemons from all of the "big three" over the years. My '84 Fiero wore the plate "A LEMON" sitting in view of the showroom in a stealership for over a month waiting for it's second engine. GM had a run of bad blocks, I got two of them.
 
#10 ·
I made my dealership owner, salesman and his manager sign an assumption of liability and waiver. Basically if anything happens to the car, the between the time they receive it and I take delivery, it's on them. Statute and common law already cover that, but I'm not taking chances and they were more than understanding signing it.
 
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#12 ·
Neck and hand tattoo's. You have plenty of time to toughen up ;) My sleeves usually convey the business lol

In all seriousness I plan on taking a couple days off, one for the delivery and one to tint/clear bra the car. Also have in my purchase contract not to drill the bumper for a font plate. I plan on being at the dealership the morning of delivery and just to stay there until my keys are in my hand.
 
#15 ·
Most cars and especially performance models will be ran hard once they've left the assembly line on the local test course located at the factory. They will driven on harsh surfaces to be sure there are no odd sounds. Hence why most cars have 5-50 miles when they arrive at the dealer.

Once they get to the dealer however, it's really a gamble if the car will be gently moved from the lot to the shop for PDI (pre delivery inspection) where they take all the protective plastics off, check the safety features, and attach front splitters, spoilers etc. Then the car is fueled up, generally by a lot attendant or detailer then detailed for delivery.

I would suggest telling your salesman to only allow for the PDI since it won't give anyone a chance to take the car off the lot or for much room to get it out of 1st gear. Do the detail yourself if and only if there are no significant damages, scratches, scuffs from transport.
 
#16 ·
They're going to load it onto a truck in Saarlouis.

That truck's going to drive it to Zeebrugge (or maybe Bremerhaven).

Someone's going to drive it off of the truck and park it in a giant parking lot.

Someone's going to drive it onto the On/Off Car Freighter.

Someone's going to drive it off of the On/Off Car Freighter and park it in a giant parking lot.

Someone's going to drive it onto a train hauler or a truck.

Someone's going to drive it off of that train hauler or truck.

Seems like such a small piece to worry about when it gets to the dealership?
 
#17 ·
All this can't be helped. But the handling companies are bonded against damage so there shouldnt be any major issues. Will it get beat for about 3 miles? Prolly, but thats nothing to really damge the car. However, what we can control is how the car is treated once it is in the hands of the dealer. Nobody wants their brand new, $35k+, limited edition, performance car to be thrashed in the hands of some 17 year old lot porter who just got his license 6 months ago and this job was the first time he's even seen a manual transmission.
 
#18 ·
Would be really nice if they had a one use power/rev limiting key installed under the dash near the OBD2 port that was illegal to remove except by owner (like the tags on mattresses). They can test at full power at factory, before shipping install key that puts control modules in restrictive mode (60MPH, 25-30% throttle, 0lbs boost, 3k rpm, normal mode only, soft dampers, ESC forced on). Once it is removed if reinserting it will not function to limit power/revs anymore so that you can see that it was removed. Orders for stock are owned by the dealer until sold, so they could remove them there if they wanted, only of use if someone wanted to test drive without restrictions.

Could be thought of like a dead man switch. Insert key to arm it while signalling restrictive mode to car's control modules. When removed it blows a fuse so that if reinserted it does not function. Blown fuse could be soldered into a control module making resetting it not practical.
 
#20 ·
#DeadManSwitch aquired.
Firearm Gun Trigger Starting pistol Airsoft gun


Easy.... Just kidding! :topsy_turvy: I think I'm just gonna pitch a tent in service at the local stealership and follow the car around like a lost dog when it shows up.
 
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