I'm curious what those of you with ES' did to prepare for your new vehicle?

My delivery date is coming up this month (finally), and I want to make sure I'm ready to make the most of it. It may sound a bit corny, but I want to make it memorable.

I have bought a few DTS/DVD-Audio cd's for the ride home, and as well I'm going to pick up a new Lexus ball cap from the dealer.

Depending on the weather when I pick it up, there may be an extended cruise on the highway as well...and then a cruise by a few friends and relatives to show off my new ride!

Am I the odd-ball my wife thinks I am, or did you do something similar?

 

I can tell you this: Be sure and cold start it and drive it from cold start before you accept it to be sure it is absent the dreaded deisel knocking tapping or present only to sewing machine level not cannery works, if present, wait for another without it, and also get it up to at least 55 mph to check for wind noise.

As for prepping for the ride home and stopping by a few places to have it seen....why not....sounds like a great idea. I'd do it myself and did to a degree with my second ES350.

 

Put on a clean pair of underwear

Seriously, you can keep a mental checklist of everything you want to test, but if you are going to be as excited as I was back in July - as soon as you see your car, you will forget about everything and will be counting minutes until your sales person will shut up with all the required walkthrough instructions so you can get in a drive it!!! The level of emotions and adrenaline is too high to pay close attention to possible problems, its a normal human nature, unless you change your new cars every year and its not a big deal for you.

You absolutely have to be aware of all the problems, and unless something is obviously rattling or acting out weirdly, give it a week of break in time to see what is going on. The most important thing is that you are visiting this forum and aware of possible problems. Otherwise, some problems could be accepted as normal and you will not even know about it...

 

LOL...Twister is so right...you are going to be like a deer frozen in headlights with the headlights being the lure of getting at that beautiful new car.

A written list to check is a good idea or else you will overlook issues check and you don't want to do that trust me.

For me both the sales explanation of features and even worse, signing all the documents, was an exercise in patience and no fault of the people handling those things at all. I couldn't wait!!!

If you check eninge noise and wind noise it takes less than 4 minutes to do those things, after that go ahead and get glazed over with new car enthusiasm.

Heck, get the wife to videotape the whole process.

 

Gotta' agree with ES350Bob - make a written checklist beforehand. Then you won't forget what to look for when you're ethered by that new car smell.

I had to keep slowing myself down as I checked over my car because like twister said, I wanted to forget the inspection and just get in and DRIVE.

Especially important (other than cold engine noises) are scratches, dents, chips, and the like. Once you sign off that the car is as it should be, that bumper scratch you didn't see becomes something that you did after driving home.

If your dealer is serious about customer service you should be able to get the dealership to correct even these small items found after delivery. It's just much easier for them to admit and correct the problem if you point it out and get it in writing before leaving the lot.

Anyway, after that, enjoy! Drive and show off all you'd like. This is your happy time. The car will be brand spanking new only this once. Just remember to pay as much attention to the road as to fooling around with all those new controls and features. It would sure be a shame to damage your baby before you even got it home!

 

definitely the excitement will make you more careless. My salesman told me to examine the car really carefully, and I did a quick glance through because i was so jumpy. Thank goodness no blemishes in the end. I didnt even test drive the car or even started it from cold. They showed me all the gizmos and i was done. Thank goodness no issues *knock on wood*. A lot of luck is in play here.

I think you should throw a party and let everyone take turns riding in back seat. It is a really important event...

 

In addition to what the others have said:

1. Look at it in the sun. Check for defects in the finish and scratches.
2. Get down on your hands and knees and check the panels below the doors and the front skirt to make sure nobody has whacked the front of the car taking it off the truck.
3. Look at the exhaust pipes and make sure they are not dangling well below the car.
4. Check the tire pressure.
5. Be sure they give you a full tank of gas.
6. Make them give you the baseball cap.
7. Carefully listen to each speaker at moderate volume to assure they are all working.
8. Drive it over some speed bumps with the salesperson ro make sure the dash doesn’t rattle.
9. Check all dash components for fit and finish.
10. Rub your fingers over the steering wheel to make sure it is smooth.
11. Assure that you have the cargo net, floor mats, and leather key fob cases.

 

These are great tips so far..keep them coming!

I can't wait! The hardest part is keeping myself from grabbing the keys and driving away...4 months has been a long wait.

 

LOL. I mean no disrespect Kaius, but that's the understatement of the century. As I recall, you didn't even notice that your car had a lip spoiler!!!!

Sorry, I just couldn't resist.

e

 

lol that's true.

Check the seats for imperfections. Our Camry's leather seat had this weird crease underneath the leather (must be the sewing).

Wind down the all the windows and check for chips (one of our vehicles had a chip that was hidden when the window was up)

 

Totally man...Im such a newbie car-buyer. That elusive lip spoiler was subtle enuff to escape my noticing. I'm glad i have it tho..... I was concentrating too much on the deal and on my losses.... It was an emotional time. Thank goodness everything turned out ok.... I mean the big man upstairs must have decided to have pity on poor old me.

 

In addition to psp's comments,

Test everything by turning it on or briefly using it - wipers, washers, a/c, heater, lights, turn signals, trunk release, gas cap door release, hood release, rear shade, backup camera, all audio modes, visor lights, seat movement, seat heaters & fans, mirror movement, all doors including ashtray and glove box, window operation, doorlock operation, some basic nav functions, climate & nav voice commands, horn, sun roof, parking brake, etc. This is just a check to see if anything is obviously broken.

Look under the hood and in and under (spare tire & tool set) the trunk. Note anything suspicious looking. Ask questions if you have any.

Driving: check noises especially, guage operation, cruise control, braking ability, smoothness of turns, compass & nav accuracy.

It would be a good thing to sit inside with a knowledgeable salesperson and go over features like how to set the climate controls or choose a nav location or reset display options. That is, if by this point you aren't jumping out of your skin wanting to just take off for home in your ruby red dream machine!

 

I didn't get no baseball cap...not that I'd want one anyways; heaven knows how many different baseball caps I have in my home collecting dust...

 

Vandam, are you planing to pick it up one of those Extra Care Protection?
Will it work as the extended warranty?

Good luck on Thursday!

Discoverer

 

I *was* planning on buying the extended warranty. Now, I'm not too sure. The price to extend it to 7 years is roughly $1800 Canadian. Not chump change for sure. I'm kind of waffling back and forth, as I really don't know if I need it.

I'd appreciate hearing from some of you that have faced this same decision. Did you or didn't you?

Oh, while I think about it, what about the paint protection package..is this worth the investment as well?