I Cannot Believe It ! ! ! !

J

janderson

New member
Ok, I am supposed to pick up my new car on Wednesday, which is very exciting. I can hardly contain myself. I went to the dealership yesterday, and saw that my car had already arrived. So now I have GTI on the brain.



Well, long story short, the salesman who sold me my first car was there, and came over to talk with me. He wanted to know when I was to get my car (I have been working with VW of North America). I told him that I was to pick it up on Wednesday.



I told the VW rep from the headquarter office that I did not want the protective covering taken off of the car, and that I did not want the car washed, waxed, etc. The salesman was super persistent that I get the car waxed, and that they needed to take care of the car the "right way," and that it was a part of the presentation.



I looked at this fella in the eyes and told him, "DON'T TOUCH THE CAR!" He could not get this concept through his head. I told him that if he touched the car, that it would be against my wishes. I just called my point of contact at VW to let them know what happened, and that if I came next week to pick up my car, and the plastic covers were taken off, I would not be happy.



Man, some people are just wierd. If someone told me to leave THEIR stuff alone, I would. I just don't get it. I had to vent, and I knew that you all would understand. I don't want any scratches, swirl marks, etc. I know how to detail a car, and I don't want Joe Schmoe wiping my car with some drop cloth.



Thanks for listening.



MarylandVW
 
If your car is already at the dealership, why couldn't you just take delivery now of it?? I mean, if the dealer is not prepping the car at all, it should in theory be ready for delivery now. Just seems dumb to make you wait when you could already have your car right now.



my $.02 ;)







personally, when someone in my family gets a new car they come to me to help them because I'm good at dealing with dealerships. If they order a new car, I request that as soon as the truck is seen pulling in to drop the car off, I get a phone call. I get down there, watch the car from as close to the moment it comes off the truck as possible. That way, nobody can do anything I tell them not to. I make sure to get copies of EVERY piece of paperwork that came from the factory with the car, and keep all of the stickers and cover sheets folded neatly in a box (just good to have incase...)



Usually, I don't leave the car until after its bought and I've detailed it. Once the person purchasing the car arrives, I go out with the salesman, and I PERSONALLY pull the covers/stickers off and inspect everything to my satisfaction, let the salesman look but dont touch so to speak, give his little interior orientation to the owner(s) and I, and off we go. I package all of the paperwork together in a box that the person can store in their garage/etc., detail the car initially (usually just a quick clay/glaze/wax for most of these people with a run of 303 fab-protect and dressing on the inside.) and off they go.





Just giving you ideas on how to be super-anal about being sure nothing happens to your ride.



Even on used vehicles, like when I bought my blazer, the salesman gave me no hassles about putting on the order sheet "NO PDI (Pre Delivery Inspection)" Just wanting to be safe.
 
Next time, when buying put the "not over 20 miles, still has white plastic, not waxed, blah blah blah" IN THE CONTRACT... it can be done (contracts are surprisingly flexible) that way if they screw it up, they haven't gotten the contract fullfilled and you have the upper hand getting it the way you want it.
 
You can't unfortunately just take the car home when it comes off the truck. Setting have to be checked, hub caps or center caps have to be installed, tire pressure checked, lights checked, check for scratches and scrapes underneath the car, etc. At the toyota place I work at every single car on the lot HAS to go through this. They don't even allow the car to be test driven if it hasnt gone through the PDI, due to liability and such.
 
Good luck MarylandVW getting them to deliver the car as requested. When I got my GTI last month it still had the plastic on it. I got the double-take…â€�are you sure, it’s free?!?â€� when I told them to pull the plastic, remove residual adhesive residue and lightly wash it (so at least I could inspect the paint etc). I explained that I was a detailing enthusiast and the salesman had them skip over that part of the PDI, was not a problem at all.



On sad note my GTI just got towed up to the dealership this morning. Went to pull out of my carport and the car started buckin’ n jumpin’ like a bronco and then the tranny light flashed. 31 days and 923 miles old. Now I get to see if the big “Please DO NOT wash� sign I taped to the windshield will do any good.



Adam
 
I am sorry to hear that you were having problems. Let me know what it turns out to be. You have the new VR6? I am surprised that you had your little mishap.



Best regards.
 
WHEN you buy a new car from the dealership there is more to PREP work then waxing the car.Every dealership goes through al sorts of programming and fixing not to mention checking tire pressure adding air fluids gas checking tranny and programming the computer (some even put in the additional radio or CD player)they dont think they just do washing and getting the customer a clean car is all in there minds. maybe 1 out of 1000 ask not to wash there car but these people are not rocket sciencetists.
 
I did PDI's for 7 years (1990 - 1997) at a very large Ford dealership...



Cars absolutely must be PDI'd by the dealership - it's the law. They are supposed to follow a checklist where they test the battery, the lights, the brakes, the fluid levels, etc. There is no programming that takes place, unless there's a trouble code or something like that. And dealers do have DAO's (Dealer Add-On's) like CD changers, tint, pinstripes, etc.



Typically, the techs drive the car around the block, put on the license plate brackets, pound on the hubcaps, screw on the antenna, and that's about it. They usually don't set the tire pressures (we received all Taurus' with about 50psi in the tires - talk about a rough ride, so we reset them to 30psi); the reason most techs skip this step is because it's time consuming, and when you're getting paid one-half hour for a PDI, it's not fiscally advantageous to spend 45 minutes on the PDI - you lose 15 minutes of pay.



The plastic is usually removed to inspect for dents (think hail damage and door dings), and check for paint defects. I took a chance on my 337 GTI and requested the plastic be left on -> upon getting it home, I found a ding in the passenger side door...



Just my $0.02...not advocating they detail it, but rather, trying to help clarify some of the statements above.
 
MarylandVW said:
I am sorry to hear that you were having problems. Let me know what it turns out to be. You have the new VR6? I am surprised that you had your little mishap.



Best regards.
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I have the 1.8T..they said it may be as simple as an electronic control module..dunno feels mechanical :nixweiss



Best of luck to you with the VR6, hope you get a peach.



Adam
 
They program the travel computer. Each travel computer has to be programmed from the dealer.They set the electronic digital clock,They program the compass variance and SET the variance map. I watched this done on cars bought for my wife father brother and myself It all depends on the car and dealership, I seen times when friends bought a car and very little has been done but other times plenty has been done
 
geekysteve said:
It's probably the MAF (Mass Air Flow) Sensor -- they're notoriously bad on 00 - 02 1.8T's



-Steve
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Just got a call from my tech and he says it’s misfiring. So hopefully it’s something simple like a coil-pack. Another infamous dubya part…right up there with the MAF and window regulator.



P.S. Didn't mean to hijack the thread MarylandVW..saw your post on the 'tex..glad your happy with the new ride :xyxthumbs





Adam
 
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