RP-350Z

I have had nothing but good experiences with my sales guy; he is knowledgeable, friendly, and young. He also shares the same interest in cars as I do. However that's the part I'm worried about. He says that he is as excited as I am, awaiting the arrival of my Z to the dealership. Because he gets to drive it a quarter of a mile or so down the road to fill it up for gas. (Doh! 1/4 of a mile) I'm sure you all see what I'm getting at here. I am going to baby my car until it's broken in properly and I'm worried that my sales guy is going to let loose when he's going to get gas and back and I would have this uneasy feeling wondering if he treated her right. I have told him to take it easy on the car, b/c it's a new engine and I want to break it in properly, but you just never know. I would feel SO much better if I was at the dealership WHEN my Z arrives, and then I let him drive it to the station WITH me in the car.

Is anyone else worried that their sales guy/gal won't take your ride for a little spirited "test drive" to the gas station?

droideka

Does he look like Vin Diesel? Has he ever said, "I live my life a quarter-mile at a time."?

I'd be worried...

BullishZ

I've got an easy solution to your problem!

Tell the guy (if you don't wanna hurt his feelings) that you DO NOT want him to fill up. Tell him some excuse... whatever you come up with. I've told my dealer that I do not want ANYONE at all to drive the car, and I am let him know that I want to be there when it rolls off the truck. I will take the day off (say I'm sick) and go to the dealer and wait for my baby.

No grubby hand of any dealer or service person better not touch that car!!!

PistolPete

Many dealers are open to you being around while your vehicle is being unloaded and prepped. I did this with my truck, I watched them unload it from the truck, run through the inspection sheet, and then run to the gas station for a tank of gas. They were very pleasant. I imagine they will be less likely to abuse your vehicle if you are present.

It can't hurt to ask to ride along when they perform their driving test. I plan on doing just that.

350zpower

My dealer has in-dealer gas tanks, so there is no driving a 1/4 of a mile. but i am worried abotu the same thing.

3rdpower

I'm banking my dealer won't screw the process up. He is to contact me as soon as it's rumored to be on the ship. I want to be there at every way and every segment of it's trip to the lot. I live in a port town so I expect nothing but kid gloves with my car. Those first miles mean so much to the car...

Intrepid

You new Z will see many drivers before it reaches it's new owner.

It will be driven onto an auto trailer, then off onto a ship; It will be driven off the ship and back on the trailer; It will likely be transferred onto another trailer; and finally it will reach your dealer.

I believe the cars can be loaded and unloaded without starting the engine, but I'm uncertain whether this is done as a practice.

Anyone?

Thunderbolt

OK I will have to let the mask down a little. I was the PDI (pre delivery inspection) manager at a local Saturn dealership here in middle Tennessee a couple of years back. Before that I worked for a Ford dealership as a Drivability Tech who also did PDI when things got slow. Did new cars get run hard? Sometimes. Abused? Never! If a tech damaged a car in any way the repairs could come out of the techs pocket. At Saturn the first minor damaged done to a car was on me. The second minor damage was on the tech, and the third was out the door. The performance cars (Saleen and Cobra Mustangs, SHO Taurus, and Lighting Pickups) did get run harder because of what they are, performance cars. You want to find the weak link before the new owner does. It is a lot easer to repair a car before it is sold than after. Also I found very few new performance car buyers treating their cars with kid gloves. They bought them to run hard. The buyers who wanted to keep their car cherry called ahead and stated that they wanted to be there when the car arrived and do the PDI with the tech. This was never a problem with us. Call your sales person and tell them what you want. They should be happy to help. After all they don't want you complaining to ten other potential customers. They want you to direct new customers their way. I really would not worry about the breaking in of a new motor. The quality of the machine work that is put into a Nissan motor is so precise; there should not be any metal shavings or flakes in anyone?s first oil change. If you see metal in the used oil with the naked eye it's too late! If you still feel that you need to follow some routine to break in the new motor that is fine. All I believe you are doing is reprogramming the adaptive strategies of the computer to your driving style. I have run every Nissan that I have bought new on the hard side (I like driving a car to its limit) and never had a oil burner. I did buy a used 280Z with 40k miles and at 150k miles it started using oil due to a broken ring in one cylinder. The main thing is to talk to your dealer and sales person and tell them what you want. I do not want any thing put on my car. No front license plate, no dealer sticker, nothing.

dvlad

thanks for the insight. But next time, for my eyes sake, please break up the paragraph.

barnicleboy

I had a bad story with a 93 Rx-7 TT. Had to bring it in for work cause there was a bad vacuum leak in the turbo. So this big Italian guy with slick hair, (a salesman) said "well the rx-7 guy is not here, but let me take it around the block to see what I can gather for him when he returns." The guy took off, redlining it all over the place, I even hurd the tires screech from a break he had to make. He didnt come back for about 5 full minutes. When he did come back, he just stepped out and went back to his business. All i was prepared to do was call Mazda NA and complain about this. Dont know where it went from there.

marcZZZ

3rdpower, my dealer said all of the cars will arrive in a port in LA, then railed to portland, than trucked to the dealers from there. He told me the regional rep said no cars would arrive at any port in or near seatlle. If the longshoremen strike we will be waiting for cars sitting on a boat in LA...I too want to be there when my car comes in, also the rep said there would be an inspection of the car in LA before it was railed to portland

jz350

iTrader: (4)

my girlfriends father works for chevy dealership, he does the car prep. i must say i have hung out with him when he has got new shipments, he does his job, he keeps them clean & looks for damage, if there is damage he tells the customer & its their choice if they want the car or not. if they don't want the car its the dealers responseability to get another car a.s.a.p.

Dr Bonz

iTrader: (1)

Only problem with that is that Chevies are a dime a dozen and you'd be able to get another one ASAP (perhaps a week or two). With the Z, ASAP may mean 3 or 4 months!

joeandcarol2

Politely but firmly tell your salesman and service manager what you want and dont want done. Tell them they will lose their sale if they refuse. Be there when you car arrives and KEEP telling them what you want.. If you have to raise your voice.