New car pickup - visual things to check

[jj77]

When I bought my polo in 2004, it was delivered with a long scratch mark on the driver's side door. It wasn't visible under the showroom light and noticed the scratch the next morning. No wonder the salesperson made me sign a form that the car was in new condition without damages, etc.

I took the car back the day I notice the scratch and they fix the problem by repainting/spraying AND baked my car! for free - obviously they knew about the scratch and felt guilty. Since the repainting and baking my car was never the same - no new car smell, and annoying rubber squeaky noise - tried everything but I couldn't do anything about the annoying noise. I am still driving my car with constant squeaky noise. But will get my new Golf TSI i ordered 2 days ago in May and I will be free from the noise! Yeah!

You MUST check you car under the natural sun light and carefully inspect inside and outside.

[pologti18t]

Since the repainting and baking my car was never the same - no new car smell, and annoying rubber squeaky noise - tried everything but I couldn't do anything about the annoying noise. I

You should be thankful. The "new car" smell is actually harmful to you. They "baked" all the volatiles out of the interior for you.

As for the squeak... my Polo gets that. A rattle in the dash and some sqeaking from the door rubbers.

[trueman]

Anyone that paranoid that they would get a professional to inspect prior to delivery?

[Maverick]

When I bought my polo in 2004, it was delivered with a long scratch mark on the driver's side door. It wasn't visible under the showroom light and noticed the scratch the next morning. No wonder the salesperson made me sign a form that the car was in new condition without damages, etc.

That's a Volkswagen requirement IIRC and it's there to protect the dealer/VW from spurious claims from people claiming damage after delivery. All dealers (at least for new cars) do this AFAIK.

I took the car back the day I notice the scratch and they fix the problem by repainting/spraying AND baked my car! for free - obviously they knew about the scratch and felt guilty.

You don't know that they knew about the scratch and I doubt they would have delivered it to you if they did but would have fixed it up and delayed your delivery by a few days. you should have been grateful that they fixed it for you as not all dealers would have done so.

Since the repainting and baking my car was never the same - no new car smell, and annoying rubber squeaky noise - tried everything but I couldn't do anything about the annoying noise.

Did you take it back to the dealer? Or did you make it worse by applying various products that including nasties like silicone?

I am still driving my car with constant squeaky noise. But will get my new Golf TSI i ordered 2 days ago in May and I will be free from the noise! Yeah!

Unless the dealer scratches it and makes the door squeak

You MUST check you car under the natural sun light and carefully inspect inside and outside.

Checking under sun light is not easy, checking in their delivery area is the best place to check it for any blemishes. But this is really just common sense 101.

[Corey_R]

You could do with a few smilies there Mav.

On the last point - sunlight vs indoor fluro light. I would say that not all dealership delivery areas are created equally, so your milage will vary. But I would disagree that checking under sunlight is better. As Maverick said, checking under sunlight, particulary in the middle of the day, is not easy, and can hide things which are clearly visible in well lit room. So I'd say, to be safe, look at it twice, once in the delivery area, once out in the natural light

[obiwan]

I have a few little bubbles in the tint on the rear window in my 3 month old GTI. They are the size of "hundreds and thousands", so quite small, but I'm worried they'll get bigger over time. Do you think it's too anal to point that out to the dealer?

[Axis]

How many is a few?

[Transporter]

Also remember to check that all the car keys are working and you're able to start the car with them. If you find it later that the key is not working you could be told that: you took it for a swim, your wife put it in the washing machine and similar.

[MurphyTheElf]

A few things I've noticed with my GTI - wondering if others would take the car back to the dealer to have them fixed:

1. Imperfection in the left rear door near the handle. Looks like a grain of sand baked under the paint. Clearly there on delivery.

2. Imperfections in the rear bumper paint under the boot lid (can't see with the boot down) - two spots look like fat pin pricks in the paint. Black in the middle with raised paint all around. No idea how I could've done it, not sure if it was there on delivery.

3. Imperfection in drivers window dealer fit tint. Area the size of a 10c piece has tiny bubbles near the edge of the window. Barely noticeable unless you're cleaning the windows.

[nau]

3. Imperfection in drivers window dealer fit tint. Area the size of a 10c piece has tiny bubbles near the edge of the window. Barely noticeable unless you're cleaning the windows.

ok from my experience... that will grow bigger