Truth about PDI (Pre Delivery Inspection)

[pure drive]

Hello,
I am from Winnipeg, MB,Canada. I got my new Rogue 2014 couple week ago. When I asked my dealership they said they did complete PDI (Pre Delivery Inspection) on my car on December 30, 2013. My display screen is displaying -40 degree all the time and MY car's motion detector and Blind spot are not working. I took my car to dealer after 3 days of delivery and technician told me that my car came without temperature gauge and motion detector????
what a s***!!!!They kept my car overnight too figure out what was a problem. I complained to Nissan Canada about this, it's four days since I complained they told me that my issue is under review by seniors of Nissan Canada. Customer service from Nissan Canada told me that they get lot's of complaint so it may take a while to resolve my issue.(worst customer service so far in my life). If you look at their sales report it looks like each customer is complaining about something otherwise they won't get so many complaints. I just noticed yesterday that front passenger side door or glass is making noise on bumpy road. it look's like it's loose! does any one else have the same problem? does any one else have question on quality of Nissan Vehicle??? I am still waiting for outcome from Nissan Canada but Don't know when?? Do they test vehicle once it's assembled???? As per Nissan Canad fuel economy is 6.0 L/100 km (Highway) and 7.9/100km (City*) But so far I drove 500 kms and economy is over 15L/100 km. I owned Altima and it was good so I brought New Rogue but I have decided No more Nisaan. Now I doubt Nissan Quality.

[zachattack_5491]

The dealership doesn't do much during a PDI. You should have been given a checklist of everything that was covered in the PDI when you bought the car. That being said, these things happen very frequently. Lots of connectors unplugged, usually nothing serious but the techs don't go over every single detail. Everything is supposed to be tested by the QA team at the factory, but they appear to be doing a very bad job lately. Hopefully they get your car fixed and make it right. Keep calling Nissan HQ and see what they can do for you.

[ImStricken06]

pdi was done by a $8/hr employee. they make sure it starts, its clean, and has gas in it. thats pretty much it.

[pure drive]

pdi was done by a $8/hr employee. they make sure it starts, its clean, and has gas in it. thats pretty much it.

Yes ImStricken you are right. They don't care about anything else as long as it starts. They know once we buy we can't return it. It looks like they just wants to sell their vehicle. They don't care about customer satisfaction. And for dealers it looks like they wants to keep their service center busy so they make profit both ways buy selling junks and by repairing those junks.

[ImStricken06]

pdi was done by a $8/hr employee. they make sure it starts, its clean, and has gas in it. thats pretty much it.

Yes ImStricken you are right. They don't care about anything else as long as it starts. They know once we buy we can't return it. It looks like they just wants to sell their vehicle. They don't care about customer satisfaction. And for dealers it looks like they wants to keep their service center busy so they make profit both ways buy selling junks and by repairing those junks.

its how every dealership works. some dealerships operate under better conditions, but those are the ones that sell the cars for higher prices. if you want your employees to take more pride, you pay them more. if you pay them more, you gotta charge the customers more. so take the good with the bad!

[Leonard1818]

This isn't a Nissan-exclusive thing. All dealerships are prone to checking the boxes and selling the vehicle. I've bought a car with 3 miles on it before and heard reports of people buying cars with >1 mile on them. How can you accurately "test" a vehicle in less than one mile? Heck, how can you do it in 3 miles? (fortunately, my 3-mile-old vehicle was FLAWLESS).

I have a friend who is a tech at my local Honda and he told me that they take very seriously the USED CAR CERTIFICATION INSPECTION at this particular dealership. Obviously this isn't PDI, but a very similar process. They actually DO the work on the list and replace tires/brakes/etc. if they're worn. In contrast, I went to buy a used Acura RSX once and they had one that was just turned in off of lease. The salesman said "if you want that one, CPO'd, we can have it certified in 30 minutes". How the heck could they have possibly checked all 250 points of inspection in 30 minutes? Answer: They couldn't. I didn't buy that one (and not surprisingly, the CPO'd one I bought was out of alignment and ATE engine oil).

Over on the Toyota forums, people are reporting taking delivery of their Rav4s with over-inflated tires. They over-inflate them for shipping and the dealer is supposed to bring them back down as part of PDI. The Rav we bought had a tire out of round. This could have been from the same type of thing -- or just bad luck/not noticed during PDI.

[RyleyinSTL]

They over-inflate them for shipping and the dealer is supposed to bring them back down as part of PDI.

Funny you should mention that. I test drove a Rogue this afternoon, which had hit the dealers inventory last night, and it was showing 40psi all round!

[Leonard1818]

They over-inflate them for shipping and the dealer is supposed to bring them back down as part of PDI.

Funny you should mention that. I test drove a Rogue this afternoon, which had hit the dealers inventory last night, and it was showing 40psi all round!

it's common practice. It does make the ride much more stiff/harsh than it needs to be. I over-inflate my tires on my Honda Civic that I don't drive in the crappy weather... since it sits so long, I don't want the tires to flat spot or distort.

[TrevorK]

I have a suspicion that the dealer cannot easily have warranty work performed until the car is in the owners name. Either that, or my dealer physically damaged my vehicle and waited until someone bought it so that it was covered under warranty because the damage was noted in my PDI (as I have a molding that was damaged).