I always wondered about getting a car with less than 1 mile on it from the dealer. Basically something that had been transferred flatbed instead of being driven. It seems this is impossible, and actually deceiving.

I have a friend who works as a longshoreman that drives cars off the boats. He told me that the Lexus models come "deactiviated" from the docks and don't count miles until they hit the Toyota trucks or the dealers. The deactivated cars only allow the engine to start and the windows to roll down. The odometer, NAV, radio etc do not work. He also told me that a lot of the time the drivers handle them aggressively and zip them around the dock area.

Basically they can be driven forever without the mileage counter starting so you don't know if you're really getting a car with 3 miles on it or not.

This is all from what my dock-worker friend told me so who knows?

 

I question that only because of the legality of "deactivating" the odo. But anything is possible. I mean if I take out the instrument cluster in my SC and drive for a year, I haven't added anything to my odo either.

 

True, but they still seem to last over 300k miles so I'm happy.

 

I don't know if this is possible. I know a Honda guy who told me that every car is sent around a test track after they put it together to test for defects and fit/assembly issues. I don't know how valid this statement is but I've never seen a car with 0 miles on it in a new car lot.

 

From what I heard,
All of our cars that land on our lot have about 5 miles(Give or take a few). I have yet to see a vehicle hit our lot with 0 miles. The lowest I have seen is 3 miles on an 05 ES330(Black Onyx/Cashmere). My Sales Manager tells me the cars gain their first few miles during initial testing, loading and unloading onto/off the ships, and loading and unloading onto/off freight trucks.
Yeah, and those drivers do drive these cars aggressively, sucks but oh well....nothing we can do.

 

Im guessing that this is not true. Probably the same reason there is no way to change your spedo to account for bigger tires. Makes it too easy for odo fraud. But who knows.

 

Saturn used to have a way to get around this nonsense....not sure if they still do. You could order the car from any dealership in the country ( Retailers in Saturnspeak, not dealerships), and, if desired, pick it up personally at the Spring Hill, TN plant....and watch it being assembled. (Since then a second plant has opened at Wilmington, DE for the larger Saturns). I understand you could even drive it off the assembly line and out the door after some gas was put in.

Several European car manufacturers allow you to order from American dealerships and pick up your car in Europe.....either at the plant or company headquarters.....built to U.S. or California specs, of course. It is usually part of a rather expensive vacation, hotel, and touring package where you get your new car, drive around Europe and see the sights, and then have it shipped back to the U.S. with you.

 

I know this is true for the NSX and maybe S2000, but I doubt it for the rest. I used to always see Honda/Acura cars at my dealer with about 17-25 miles on the odo which is about right given the docks are about 10-15 miles from each dealer. The NSX always could come with as high as 200 miles because of they run it at Honda's track before shipment.

 

Interesting post as I have always wondered about these things.

 

well new cars always get PDi'ed (Pre Delivery Inspection). So its basically impossible to get a car with no miles. when the dealer gets the car it usually has less than one mile, but not by much. Usually every new car has about 10 miles on it when you buy it. There is no way that I KNOW of to take delivery with zero to no miles. There would be too much liability on the dealer if they gave you a car that they didnt test drive and then you had a problem. Thats my take on it though... Thats the way it was at our dealership.

 

I took delivery of my 04 IS with 5 miles but I jumped into it with all the plastic with 3 miles on the ODO. Some cars are test driven in japan before it loads onto the docks. Most of the mileage is racked on during PDI at the dealership. Have you ever been to Toyota's oldest/largest port @ Long Beach? That place is HUGE...you can easily rack a mile or two around that huge lot from the ship to the inspection line and back on a truck or train. Just look at the background of where my car is parked below. That's only a small portion of the Toyota port lot at Long Beach.

 

What they CALL a PDI is not always ACTUALLY a properly-done PDI....especially for wheel and tire goofs.
I see MANY new cars that have been through "PDI" ( that I look at or test-drive for various reasons) that have overinflated tires, sometimes grossly (done before loading on the transporters to keep alloy wheels from being damaged by the floor over bumps), shimmies, and vibrations in the steering, usually from poor balance or runout. Hondas, for all their other quality, tend to have shimmy problems more than average when delivered to the dealership. When I tell this to the dealership people, they usually don't believe the tires are over-inflated until I show it to them with a tire gauge (even allowing for thermal air expansion on a hot tire) ...then they turn red-faced (and often apologize). Other common PDI goofs are empty washer reservoirs, body tape/plastic that is not removed completely, and forgetting to take the clear plastic covers off of the wheels ( this, obviously, can block airflow to the brakes ). Occasionally a piece of trim will be missing...but that is becoming rare now.



Just for the record, though......in my experience, Lexus products seem to be about the best when it comes to getting proper PDI's and preparation. My recent Subaru Outback was also PDI'ed and prepared exceptionally well ( the dealership knew who they were dealing with )

 

I work at a port that does a little bit of Ro/Ro cargo (roll on / roll off - its the type of ship that brings over cars...) What I was so surprised by was the fact that 5 out of 10 brand new cars imported to the US have run out of gas before , they can only have about a coke can full of gas before they are loaded at the foriegn port, so at their final port of discharge... alot of times they will zoom around and get the car out to the pads, where it then runs out of gas

 

Agreed 100%. When I was doing a PDI on a new Jetta, it came into the dealership with mismatched tires. 3 were the standard Michelins, and one was a Goodyear. The spare was also a Michelin. We had a checklist of the things we had to do to assure a proper PDI. The first thing on there was to take the air out of the tires. When the dealers take the car, the tires are usually to the max. Not surprisingly, the Beetles always came with something missing. Whether it was the little plastic covers for the lugs, or the front bumper tow hook insert cover. Small stuff, but a big deal considering the dealer can't sell the car until its 100% (or as close as possible). I have other PDI horror story's (especially with the Beetle convert and the New Range Rover) but I need to wrap this up. Long story longer, every car usually needs some sort of work before the driver takes delivery. It really wouldn't be wise to take it without any sort of test drive.

 

Back in late 1997, I purchased a new 98 Honda Accord Coupe EX V6 which had 9 tenths of a mile on the odometer. When I picked it up the next day, it had 1 mile on it. I guess they just rolled it inside the service area to do the pdi and then rolled it back out side when I picked it up.