What to tell dealer pre-delivery?

So my Tacoma is almost here and I am wondering what special instructions you give the dealer to do or not do to your truck? For example I already told them not to put their dumb dealer vinyl or badge on it. Anything else?

 

If you care about the trucks finish, tell them to do not wash it.

 

Not to drill the front bumper for your front plate. Since you're changing the bumper anyway, your cover will be flawless to sell.

 

Oh yesss!! I absolutely hate it when they do that.

 

In KY we don't require front plates so I wouldn't expect the to drill it. I am going to replace the front bumper though.

 

Are they that bad about it?

 

yes, they haul new trucks on the rail roads and get fine metal all over them then do not take their time washing them and scratch them.

 

Whatever you do, put your requests/requirements in an email or otherwise have it confirmed in some way. I requested my front bumper not be drilled. They drilled it. I ended up getting a free bed extender out of it but I would rather have had the bumper not drilled. That way if they screw up you have a written record of them acknowledging what you requested. I also asked them not to set up the vehicle. They said they had to do some basic set-up items as they were safety items. I had them leave the plastic on where they could and told them not to touch the outside of the truck for washing, etc. Then I spend 8 hours cleaning a brand new truck! In my defense, it is a black truck. The unexpected benefit of doing the first cleaning and prep work myself was that I did a VERY detailed vehicle inspection and picked up a few flaws in the truck I probably never would have seen otherwise. They were not significant enough to need to be corrected but I knew they were there and I would have found something if it was more significant.

 

Thanks! I just requested then not wash it.

Thanks for all that info. I hadn't thought about some of that. I plan on washing and waxing it as soon as I get it home. All my communication has been through text so I have a record. Good call on that.

 

One other thing. Often there is a disconnect between sales, service and vehicle prep/reconditioning. The service department is responsible for setting up and inspecting a new vehicle and vehicle reconditioning(used cars)/vehicle clean-up are often their own department as well so there can easily be a disconnect between the two. Often the sales person, especially if new(and many of them are new) don't know enough to request the right things from the right people so your requests do not get passed along, especially if they are unusual, as would be the case if you were asking for a vehicle not to be cleaned. I would request to be notified when the truck arrived so you could see it before it was cleaned up and then find your salesperson and emphasis what you do or do not want to have done. If in person is not possible then a call reminding them right before they actually do the work can be helpful.