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-   -   ARTICLE: Pre-delivery Inspection (PDI) & Check List (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/buying-car/68581-article-pre-delivery-inspection-pdi-check-list-21.html)

Token of appreciation for the sales guy?

Any tokens of appreciation ought to be from him to the customer. This is one profession it has never even occurred to me to tip --- and I never will.

Of curse, if there are problems with the car or company later on, and, like a good salesman he continues to take responsibility for the relationship and see things through, that might merit second thoughts, but for the sale... no way.

I gifted a wallet to the sales person. It was not very expensive but showed my appreciation. This is something which again depends on you - just like tipping in a restaurant. There are some people who tip Rs. 50 for a bill of Rs 500 and then there are people who tip Rs. 10 for a bill of Rs 1000. Each to his own.
However please do not put money in an envelope - would not be nice.

@indianv2, Thad E Ginathom, ank1477 thanks for the inputs. I decided to give a nice pen to the sales rep.

Got a few question,

1. Should the PDI be done after paying booking amount or pay booking amount and down payment ?

2. should a customer sign the registration form only after PDI is done at the yard and on the delivery day ? Please advise.

Hi, I had booked a hyundai i20 asta diesel with bluetooth, and the car is arriving on 19th may, should I be doing pre-registration Inspection, or should let them go ahead with registration and do the PDI before the delivery? I am assuming the asta bluetooth being fairly new, it should be manufactured recently.

I can get the VIN details from the dealer once the car is ready in the workshop before the registration.

BHPians, suggest me what has to be done, please.

Unless you pay booking amount, there is no vehicle assigned to you - even if the dealer lets you do a PDI (unlikely in the first place), that vehicle may or may not be the one you'll get.

Check the VIN number during PDI and at the time they ask you to pay the full amount (minus booking).


A customer should pay the balance (i.e. almost all of the money) only after the PDI. Once the money is with the dealer, it will be a big hassle to get it back even if somehow you manage to stop him from registering the vehicle in your name.


Some notes on PDI (from personal experience): If you are planning to go with the checklist on Team-BHP, and you are new to cars (I was), then it is best to do a "mock PDI" on a friend's car to familiarise yourself. Taking a knowledgeable friend with you doesn't work too well because (1) the friend may not have as much knowledge as he claims (happened to me) and (2) their schedules may not allow the inconvenience anyway. If you do a mock PDI on the other hand you'll know most of the things you should know. If you want a good test drive then you might want to take some expert friend with you (who can leave immediately after the test drive).

I would also suggest you to ask the dealer for a test drive at a very inconvenient time (for him) or even ask two or three of your friends to request test drives in different parts of the city at the same time. If the dealer brings anything but the Test drive car you would be happier to avoid that dealer.

Best of luck for your next purchase.

Friends, I need some help and real quickly too.

I bought a Linea MJD in Feb from Concorde Motors, Bangalore. The initial ownership report can be found here -
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-d...r-3000-km.html

This was a Dec 2010 make according to the sales executive and I was fine with that since I was getting 15K worth accessories. I was also told that someone had booked this car and had cancelled the booking. But when I inspected the car before delivery, everything was fine. But within few weeks and few washes I noticed some of the exterior plastic wore slightly faded look and that's when I become suspicious. I decoded the VIN number (I know it was already late) and to my shock I learned that the car was manufactured in May 2010 and not Dec 2010 as told by the dealer.

I immediately called up the executive and asked for an explanation. He didn't respond properly for a week after which I raised a complaint with Tata motors. Now apparently Tata motors have pulled up Concorde motors and today I got a couple of calls from the executive as well as the sales manager. The manager said he will discuss with the executive and get back to me as the executive himself admitted the error on his part. Later the executive called again and said the company expects him to resolve this matter on his own and whatever costs it will have to be from him. Obviously, I don't believe him.

Anyway, he asked me what I wanted him to do. Of course, I am stunned that the car is already 1 year old but I have owned it only for about 3 months. But I do want them to do something about things that are bothering me, which I have tried to list down here:
1. The feeling of being taken for a ride and being dumped an old (though unused) car.
2. When the car came to me, it had already depreciated. The executive is arguing that it won't matter as there won't be much difference in price between a May and Dec manufactured car. But I don't care what he thinks even if he is right
3. Things like the almost faded plastic and minor swirl marks on the bonnet. I am assuming the car must have been in the stockyard for a long time and being cleaned so many times.

I tried to make him come up with an offer but he refuses and put the ball in my court. As of now I am thinking of asking them to get the car detailed (remove swirl marks etc.), replace the faded plastic parts and compensate the depreciation. But don't really know how much. It really depends on when the car gets sold. But is there a norm that deals follow?

Now I need some advice on this. A quick response will be very much appreciated. TIA.

Thats a great tip - especially for first-time buyers. It definitely helps to get familiar with the PDI checklist before going to the yard/showroom to do the actual PDI.:thumbs up

I searched on the thread but didn't find anything.


what are the additions/modifications to the PDI checklist for a used car?

I just published a concise list from BHP checklist on Wikihow. Do check it out here:

How to Inspect a Newly Purchased Vehicle Before Delivery - wikiHow

I am sure this effort of BHPians will benefit many new car buyers :)

@ mods: please move if not appropriate on this thread

what's this rust on the wheel spigot on a newly unloaded Magnum (VIN - June 2011) still in the stock yard?

Err.. it is well rust :)

If the vehicle is assigned to you, have the dealer take off all the wheels and check for the source. Mostly it will be the wheel hub that has caught the rust as the front wheel center looks similar. It should not be anything that cannot be taken care of with WD40 and sandpaper. In case it has spread deep inside the component you can always have them replace it and check it to your satisfaction before handing over the balance amount. DO check all four wheels.

It is not an uncommon problem especially when parts are lying in storage bins prior to assembly especially during the humid season. Further as is commonplace, the vehicle is standing in an open wet yard and that could have contributed to the same too.

Don't worry about that - the hub and the disks will rust like hell, but those parts are castings and it's accepted that they will rust. Leave the car in the rains for a couple of days and thats what you will see.
But ensure that you get the hub caps for the wheels.

At delivery time I encourage one should check battery warranty card is provided or else battery details are entered in service booklet, like battery number, year of manufacture, etc.
In my service booklet for Cedia, the battery number is different than the one installed in car, it was mistake on part of dealer.I realized it only when my battery went bad in 8 months, dealer has agreed to honor warranty but I will say that is pure luck :D

Do we have any PDI Checklist for Scorpio. I have booked the vehicle at India Garage.
I would go for PDI next monday. Hence, I need a good PDI checklist to check the Scorpio details. Please advice.