I recently bought a brand new car and the dealer didn’t give any PDI (pre-delivery inspection) certificate showing the areas inspected in a checklist kind of format.
Can recent owners share their experience if they received anything like above with their new car purchase and who was the manufacturer? I recall used car dealers give a vehicle health record against some 30 to 50 parameters at the time of collection to show that the car is in reasonable state. Isn’t something similar not given for new cars? Even if a car is new it can’t be just assumed that it is all fine. There could be manufacturing defects. Who is responsible to identify and address them before so that the customer doesn’t get impacted later?
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I've had them on used cars, not sure I have on a new one.
They're just a bit of theatre; they don't really check anything, they just tick the boxes. Any faults are dealt with under warranty and the ease of that depends on the manufacturer and individual dealer.
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They have final inspection at the factory, just like everything else you buy (washing machine/phones etc). The dealer just takes off the ’packaging’, gives it a clean, and a few other minor things.
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Colleague bought a new car and I was giving them a hand to fit something in it. Lifted the carpet and found a jagged hole in the floor you could fit most of your hand through. The edges were undersealed and painted body colour. We reckoned something had been in the press when the floor pan was pressed and the car had then gone through the rest of production with the hole either being not noticed or ignored,
PDI - pah!
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They have final inspection at the factory,
Some imported cars are inspected in the UK - at least that used to be the case with (IIRC) Fiats and Peugeots. Anyway a list of box-ticks is just that, so it may have little value unless something happens which the new owner might hope to prove was an original fault ?
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Seems then PDI is for namesake only. I have a Renault Clio hybrid. I wasn’t given any PDI certificate. I am experiencing some issues making the car not drive as smoothly as one would expect from a new car. But no warning lights or breakdowns yet. The dealer technician went on a demo ride with me once and didn’t find anything unusual from test drive only. But I am not satisfied and now want the car to be seen properly in workshop. The dealer is offering to see the car but there is a diagnostic fees which is waived if any defects found but charged to me if no defects found. What are my options? I don’t want to pay any fees as the engine scanner may not pick up any fault codes if the problem is more of mechanical/structural nature like suspension, bearings, lack of lubrication etc which cannot be sensed electronically. The car is bought on financing on two year lease. I am raising the concerns so that I am not charged for any wear and tear which could have been prevented by timely addressing of these problems.
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What are the issues you're experiencing?
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Yes-“a bit of theatre”.
The ticks are always totally uniform across a whole page. They are exactly the same size and the same pen shade.
If a mechanic was doing a 50 point check one by one from the customers list or another-he should tick each job done as he/she completes it. I thus reckon the ticks would more likely than not be all very slightly different.
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Worry not about a piece of paper.
Every new car goes through multiple quality control checks as it comes off the production line, and I believe the OP’s car is a Renault. I’ve stood and watched the PDI process at Portbury as the come off the ships. It’s very quick, as you’d expect it to be if you’re doing a lot of cars each day, but I’d expect that if you’re seeing 999 ‘perfect’ cars then 1 with an issue will stick out like a sore thumb.
Have a look here. The images showing cars on a conveyor belt are of the PDI bay -
www.hcd.co.uk/projects/bca-renault
Edited by mcb100 on 07/02/2024 at 10:07
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So the dealer wants to charge you for testing a possible issue on a new car ? How does that work? Sounds like a gearbox fault. Don’t think I’d want to be owning this vehicle. Send it back as not fit for purpose.
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So the dealer wants to charge you for testing a possible issue on a new car ? How does that work? Sounds like a gearbox fault. Don’t think I’d want to be owning this vehicle. Send it back as not fit for purpose.
I suspect the dealer believes there is no fault with the car and they would be wasting their time running diagnostics. Without knowing what the problem is, it's impossible to judge but given the OP appears to be suspecting a whole range of unrelated causes, I think it might be a case of either the crashy ride that the Clio is reputed to have or the slightly unusual gearbox, which has polarised opinions.
As well as knowing what the problem is, I'd like to know whether this car differs from the test-drive one.
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@mcb100
Yes mine is a Renault Clio hybrid. I have also added a further reply in this thread regarding my situation. Any views?
Do you work with Renault since you mentioned you have watched PDI process happening at Port of Entry? Agreed that PDI is done at port of entry but I think dealers do their own PDI before handing over to a customer. A vehicle could be sat at port of entry for several months and transit across country in lorry so there is a possibility some damage could happen during this time.
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‘ Do you work with Renault since you mentioned you have watched PDI process happening at Port of Entry? Agreed that PDI is done at port of entry but I think dealers do their own PDI before handing over to a customer. A vehicle could be sat at port of entry for several months and transit across country in lorry so there is a possibility some damage could happen during this time.’
I work on a freelance, ad hoc basis for Renault, as well as other manufacturers.
I have used the same transmission as your Clio, albeit with a different engine in an Austral. It was generally pretty smooth, but could get caught out occasionally if it suddenly had to find a lower gear, maybe for getting onto a roundabout.
The PDI process, as I’ve observed it, doesn’t really cover major mechanical items - it’s there to ensure that the car is equipped with, for example, a compressor for inflating tyres, all the lights and wipers work, it had wheel trims/bolt caps fitted.
It doesn’t include a road test to seek out engine/gearbox issues. That’s down to quality control at the engine plant.
As I’ve said on another post, drive another one and compare with yours. If you still think you have a problem, contact whoever you’re paying for the car.
Also just thought - I don’t know how many miles you’ve done, but modern gearbox electronics do learn driving styles and adapt gear change patterns to suit. Is it possible yours is still in ‘default’ mode and needs to get a few miles under its belt?
Edited by mcb100 on 07/02/2024 at 12:06
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@mcb100
May I ask if you are a master technician or an engineer with car manufacturers? It’s good to have someone like you in this forum and get your feedback.
You mentioned some things which I wasn’t aware of. I used to think PDI includes road test. But it seems it is mostly a visual inspection.
The car’s behaviour is a bit fickle. Some days it’s smooth as if it’s all well and then sometimes it’s a bit struggling. I have done 250 miles so far. So do modern gearboxes have some sort of AI based programming systems since you mentioned that they do learn driving styles and adapt gear patterns to suit? Sounds complex for a supermini. If it would be a Tesla I would have understood.
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Nope, not a technician of any description.
Most, if not all, modern gearboxes have some form of learning onboard. The take readings from all sorts of parameters. The Renault system is pretty new, so I’d expect it to do the same.
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Every new car goes through multiple quality control checks as it comes off the production line, and I believe the OP’s car is a Renault. I’ve stood and watched the PDI process at Portbury as the come off the ships. It’s very quick, as you’d expect it to be if you’re doing a lot of cars each day, ...
Thinking about it logically, when a shipment of cars arrives, it makes sense to assume that the factory checks were passed, and a second inspection will be like the return of a rental car - visible damage only ? Probability of a running fault is small, so wait for it to show up later ? :-)
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Go test drive the dealer’s demonstrator.
If that’s smoother than yours, then you’ve a fault.
If it’s the same then it’s either a characteristic of the car or you need a bit more time to adapt your driving style to suit it.
If you’re still concerned, contact whoever is providing finance - after all, it’s their car.
Edited by mcb100 on 07/02/2024 at 11:19
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I test drove 3 times the demo car before placing the order. I can feel the difference. Don’t feel the same smoothness in my car. Feel it to be a bit struggling when switching from EV to engine as if not well greased machinery or the transmission is not programmed fast to sense the engine load and then do the needful. Also some brake/steering noise when turning in start-stop traffic. But no warning lights or breakdown yet which makes the dealer feel I guess that I have just new owner paranoia…lol
I have not contacted financing yet as trying to sort out with Renault UK and the dealer first
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Considering most car sales people know almost nothing of the cars they are selling in my experience, I would not expect them to be capable of inspecting it. But as I have been told on here before, knowledge is apparently unnecessary for sales!
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But as I have been told on here before, knowledge is apparently unnecessary for sales!
Easy to sell without knowing what you are selling...most people buy without needing advice anyway.
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