luxury1

Since many of us still are waiting to pick up our cars, I did a little research on what to look for. Here is what I found from autoadvisor.

Look for Shipping Damage
Check for shipping damage during the initial examination of your new car. Damage from shipping is common. The damage can be minor or severe enough to ruin your car. Slowly walk around your car and pay specific attention to the area below the belt line. The belt line starts at the bottom of the door windows and theoretically extends to the full length of the car.

Pay particular attention to the very front and the back of the car looking for broken lights, lenses and chipped or broken plastic. Closely examine the four corners. Stand at each corner and sight down the side of the car. Do the body panels fit flush? Is the spacing around the panels even? Examine the painted surfaces: is the color uniform? Is the gloss even? Look for any scratches, dents or chips.

Look carefully at the part of the car that rolls under, specifically the area around the "running board." This area is prone to strike low objects during shipping. Again, look for dents and chips.

If you find any physical damage to your car during inspection be sure to show it to your salesperson so it is noted and can be repaired by the dealership under warranty. Warning: if you drive off the dealer lot and later spot damage it's likely the dealer won't fix it under the warranty. There's no way to determine when (or by who) the damage occurred.

Plan Ahead
Pick up your new car on a sunny and clear day. After dark is not the right time, even if the dealership is well lighted. Avoid picking it up in the rain or snow. Also, make certain you allow yourself plenty of time for the pickup. It is your responsibility to be certain your options are correct and acceptable. First start by examining, then by driving your new car. Don't sign paperwork until after you have looked over the car (see below for more on paperwork).


It also said test the equipment but we all know that this is not necessary with Lexus
http://www.autoadvisor.com/features/pickup.php3

dfiorito

My little story had a happy ending.

My orginal car was Mercury Metallic and it was damaged at Port. Luckily they had a smokey granite to replace it with.
Now that I have the smokey granite, I am glad I did not get the Mercury Metallic. The granite is so rich looking. The silver just looks good where the granite looks spectacular..............

luxury1

I picked up my Mercedes at night and thus had to take delivery out of their garage that was only mildly lit. At the time of pick up I didn't notice that the side mirror was scratched during transit and had to live with it for the past couple of years (one of those small things that just bothers you). I definitely won't let it happen again.

jjbodean

lexus does a great job notifying the dealers about damage to the vehicles. if you were to pick up your new car and found damage on it, chances are that it happened at the dealership and not during the trip to the dealer.

luxury1

Not necessarily. There is a strong possibility that it did not happen at the dealer. When 6500 units need to be Rolled On or Rolled Off quickly at port there is always a risk especially considering how tightly the ships are packed. The cars are on top of eachother and the lanes are tight. If the car does make it without damage to the port there is the whole next part of the journey involving the carrier which is just as risky. A guy who is not used to this large car on a slick carrier...

Logistics is an exact business. As far as I am concerned shipping only ends when I drive away. It is definitely worth it to do the inspection.

jjbodean

well, i guess we can agree to disagree. its my personal experience that lexus does an exceptional job transporting their cars to the port off the boat. extremely minute repairs are disclosed to dealers and if its over $1200 lexus will not send the unit to the dealer, its considered a "class 2" vehicle. the centurion drivers that bring me my cars are also very very careful, as any damage comes out of their personal pay. im not saying it doesnt happen by the factory or the transporter, its just normally the dealer in about 95% of the cases i have personally seen.

brt3

One thing the article fails to mention is to check the rear edges of the doors -- the part that whacks into something if a careless driver slings the door open into a post. That is an easily damaged area that many people don't check. I don't know what type of car transporter Lexus uses between the port and the dealer, but the old-fashioned style make it hard for the driver to get in and out of the car (for loading/unloading) without whacking the doors.

IMHO, the very best way to inspect a car at delivery would be to tell the dealer you want to hand wash it yourself. However, I have yet to request this lest my dealer think I'm certifiably insane.

If I ever take delivery of a spanking new GT3-RS, however, I think I'll have to risk it... http://www.rsportscars.com/eng/cars/911_gt3rs.asp

I do try to visually go over the car up close with the idea in mind that I'm washing it. Good lighting is important. For the sides, it's important to stand behind the car, kneel down, and sight the sides. Do this again from the front. Any side dings are more visible this way. If you see anything questionable go over it with your fingers.

Our new LS460L had paint at delivery that was very close to perfect. I could only find two tiny spots where somthing got into the paint and made a tiny "zit". These were both in the corners or edges of panels, which indicates to me that they are protecting the panel edges during the color-sanding process...