Planet 9

I was informed by my salesman that the car had arrived at the port and was in the "last stage of inspection". I was wondering what items are inspected at the port and what items are inspected by the dealer. When I pick up the car I'd like to feel secure that all items had been inspected by someone and, if not, I'd like to check them out for myself if possible. Thanks.

The inspection at the port is related to any possible damage that could have occurred during transport.

Your dealer inspection prior to delivery looks for damage which may have occurred between the port and the dealership, then runs through a list of functional items to ensure that a) suspension blocks, packing materials, parts installed only after delivery, etc. are in place and b) that the car is fully functional. There more details of the dealer inspection in the files section.

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The Exocet - Cayman R - Black/Silver Contrast, Sport Bucket Seats, Full Leather/Alcantara, PCM, XM, SP+, Park Assist, Xenons, PDK, Sport Chrono+, Auto A/C, Auto Dimming Mirrors, Rain Sensor, Alcantara Sport Design Wheel, Silver hood emblem, "Copeland" Mesh, Carnewal GT Exhaust mod.

I wouldn't sweat the inspections. The main purpose of the inspections is to determine if any damage occurred during the shipment from the factory to the port. THe dealer performs the final inspection and removes the film and other protective items from the paint, wheels and interior. I asked my dealer not to polish the paint and limit the PDI to washing and removing cosmoline, they held on their promise.

If there is a delay from port to dealer or a delay at the dealer I would be worried, otherwise just wait for them to finish what they have to do.

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Afshin

2011 Spyder - Basalt Black, Black Full Leather, 6MT, Sport Buckets, PSE

...and then the damage is corrected with repair, replacement or repainting before it gets to the dealer.

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The best way to feel secure -- as you can -- that all items have been inspected by someone is to do an inspection yourself *before* you accept the car.

While you can't do a complete inspection you can certainly make sure the car is as you ordered. Right paint color, interior color, materials, tire/wheel sizes, options, mats and so on.

Make sure there are no dents/dings.

Be sure all manuals and other things are present like the tool kit, wheel lock and so on.

How much feature/option functionality checking you want to do is up to you. You might treat the car like a used car and go over the lights, windows, heater/AC, wiper, radio/stereo and other options just to make sure they all work.

Have the dealership run how to check vital fluids by you. Have the TPMS demo'd.

When I bought my new 08 Cayman S the radio didn't work quite right. After a week or so it had to be replaced. Sure it was replaced under warranty but I had to visit the selling dealer once which did a reset of the radio which lasted just a short time. Then I took the car to another dealer one located closer to me and the same reset was done but this time the tech waited a bit and the radio started acting up and a new radio was ordered. A few days later I had to take the car in once again to have the radio replaced.

But it might have taken less time out of my schedule to leave the car and have this done before I took possession of the car.

In another case, a new 01 Camaro Z28, it wasn't until some time after I had bought the car and had been driving it that it slowly dawned on me the intake air temp reading seemed a bit high. (I had been monitoring this with an OBD2 code reader/data viewer.) When I looked into this I found the engine air intake was not bolted together quite right and the engine's air intake system had been inhaling engine compartment air instead of cooler air from out side the car. I fixed this myself, but my point is the GM dealer's new car 'prep' failed to spot this obvious problem.

It is up to you have thorough you want to inspect the car. Be aware that if you accept the car and find something later it becomes harder to get the something addressed. For instance, say you spot a ding. (Cars are moved about and while the people moving the cars are careful mistakes happen.) If you spot it before you take possession of the car, that's one thing. If you come back a few days later... that's something entirely different.

Sincerely,

Rockster.