Vehicle delivery checklist

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poser999

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I'm taking delivery of a 2018 soon and want to make sure that I check for all known potential issues before I sign the papers. Hate to feel a weird vibration or shifting pattern on the drive home.

Does such a checklist exist?
 

jaz13

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I'm taking delivery of a 2018 soon and want to make sure that I check for all known potential issues before I sign the papers. Hate to feel a weird vibration or shifting pattern on the drive home.

Does such a checklist exist?

There is a thread on here where someone compiled a list of all the problems reported by members. Use the search, or dig several pages deep in the post list.
 

smurfslayer

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Ideally, you will get there early. Tell the dealer you would like to start the truck cold, not started in the last 4 hours. No paperwork gets signed until you’re done with pre-flight, thorough test drive and post flight.

pre-flight
Check the outside, front to back. Bring a 2nd and trusted set of eyes and a couple of super bright flashlights. Inspect the paint top to bottom, front to back, looking for scrapes, scratches or signs of repair. Eyeball the body panels.

check the seams for being true. Dial calipers are useful for this - BE CAREFUL not to muck up the paint with calipers! check the hood, doors and tailgate.

inspect the bumpers, make sure they’re straight, undamaged.

If you don’t like getting dirty, hopefully the buddy you bring along doesn’t.
Crawl up under the truck, from the front. Inspect anything that you can see - boots, axles, exposed hoses, visible gaskets. check for any harnesses that may be loose, unsecured or that could potentially rub while driving.

Some have pointed out surface rust on some of the hard parts - Ford will not cover this under warranty once you buy it. If you want parts cleaned up, point it out to the dealer before you leave.

check for loose bolts / joints. work your way back look for bends, creases, or damage. You can check the drive shaft, look for suspension issues - loose bolts or out of alignment.

Photograph anything that looks suspicious or that you want the dealer to address.

Move to the inside. Inspect the floor, seats, under seats, behind seats, trim, fitment and the like. Video this. If you find something post delivery, you have evidence it was there all along.

Once you have the visual inspection complete, it’s time to be a real first class alpha hotel.

turn the truck on. actuate the windows, locks, moon roof, sliding window, fire up the radio and adjust balance / fade and physically verify every speaker works. confirm the basic functions of the display, but not so much that the dealer doesn’t have to school you on the tech. Adjust seats, mirrors, pedals, steering wheel, ambient light, inside lights, dimmer, etc. This should take 20-30 minutes.

Pop the hood, verify you have fluids ( you never know ).

Once you’re satisfied with inside function, fire it up. video this. if there are any weird noises, you want them noted.

pop the hood and listen. You should hear some rattling at the waste gates, but that should go away immediately after start up. Let the truck warm for a little longer than you might usually, jaw with sales staff, wonder what the peasants are doing about this time.

now, it’s time for the test drive. budget an hour. It will be nice if you have a chosen route, but if they do, tell them you want to have this out at least half an hour minimum. and by half an hour I mean one way. Before beginning, tell the dealer staff bluntly, you will be testing the truck’s capabilities.

drive in normal mode for a while, give the sales staff a chance to familiarize you with the bells and whistles - this alone could take as long as 45 minutes if you have an 802A truck. Make sure you test 4a, sport mode, baja 4x2 mode (because 510 foot pounds of torque, that’s why), do some highway cruising, back road driving and bonus points if you can get her into the dirt!

when you return from the test drive, time to get dirty again, because you need to be crawling up under the truck. check for any hint of fluid leaks, gasket seepage, dripping fluid not including the AC condenser.

If everything looks good, get at least pictures of all angles of the truck, video may be more helpful but pics work too. Make sure you have no visible indications of trouble, head inside and get ready to be underwhelmed by the dealer :)
 

cardude99

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this is a great list, thank you for posting. I will keep this in mind when i got to Louisiana, last thing i want is to miss something 1800 miles from home. out of curiosity, if i find something there, will an Arizona dealer fix it as i wont really have time to wait around in another state? any thoughts are appreciated.
 

smurfslayer

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yeah, you can feel free to buy a truck or other vehicle you’ve never even sat in sight unseen or even just a short drive around the dealer, but I’m about to drop a house down payment on a vehicle, they’re lucky i’m not taking it home for the weekend to think about it. I had a boss who did that.

You won’t get symptoms to reveal themselves on a 10 minute ride. Based on what others encountered here, due diligence is called for because while Ford may eventually make it right after the fact, if you raise it as a concern at delivery and secure an agreement to right it, you’re on much more solid ground.

I was almost 4 hours at the dealer, including the 45 minute + test drive but you know what? I wasn’t crying about taking home a truck with an oil, trans, diff or coolant leak, body damage or mucked up paint.

@ssj4sadie I’ll get right on that punch list for you. i’ll pm you my PayPal info :biggrin::biggrin:
 

Grey03

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I had the dealer put mine up on a drive on lift and was able to walk around under it with a flash light to check out everything.
 

Maha

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Holy cow.. are you buying a new or used truck?? LOL..

Ideally, you will get there early. Tell the dealer you would like to start the truck cold, not started in the last 4 hours. No paperwork gets signed until you’re done with pre-flight, thorough test drive and post flight.

pre-flight
Check the outside, front to back. Bring a 2nd and trusted set of eyes and a couple of super bright flashlights. Inspect the paint top to bottom, front to back, looking for scrapes, scratches or signs of repair. Eyeball the body panels.

check the seams for being true. Dial calipers are useful for this - BE CAREFUL not to muck up the paint with calipers! check the hood, doors and tailgate.

inspect the bumpers, make sure they’re straight, undamaged.

If you don’t like getting dirty, hopefully the buddy you bring along doesn’t.
Crawl up under the truck, from the front. Inspect anything that you can see - boots, axles, exposed hoses, visible gaskets. check for any harnesses that may be loose, unsecured or that could potentially rub while driving.

Some have pointed out surface rust on some of the hard parts - Ford will not cover this under warranty once you buy it. If you want parts cleaned up, point it out to the dealer before you leave.

check for loose bolts / joints. work your way back look for bends, creases, or damage. You can check the drive shaft, look for suspension issues - loose bolts or out of alignment.

Photograph anything that looks suspicious or that you want the dealer to address.

Move to the inside. Inspect the floor, seats, under seats, behind seats, trim, fitment and the like. Video this. If you find something post delivery, you have evidence it was there all along.

Once you have the visual inspection complete, it’s time to be a real first class alpha hotel.

turn the truck on. actuate the windows, locks, moon roof, sliding window, fire up the radio and adjust balance / fade and physically verify every speaker works. confirm the basic functions of the display, but not so much that the dealer doesn’t have to school you on the tech. Adjust seats, mirrors, pedals, steering wheel, ambient light, inside lights, dimmer, etc. This should take 20-30 minutes.

Pop the hood, verify you have fluids ( you never know ).

Once you’re satisfied with inside function, fire it up. video this. if there are any weird noises, you want them noted.

pop the hood and listen. You should hear some rattling at the waste gates, but that should go away immediately after start up. Let the truck warm for a little longer than you might usually, jaw with sales staff, wonder what the peasants are doing about this time.

now, it’s time for the test drive. budget an hour. It will be nice if you have a chosen route, but if they do, tell them you want to have this out at least half an hour minimum. and by half an hour I mean one way. Before beginning, tell the dealer staff bluntly, you will be testing the truck’s capabilities.

drive in normal mode for a while, give the sales staff a chance to familiarize you with the bells and whistles - this alone could take as long as 45 minutes if you have an 802A truck. Make sure you test 4a, sport mode, baja 4x2 mode (because 510 foot pounds of torque, that’s why), do some highway cruising, back road driving and bonus points if you can get her into the dirt!

when you return from the test drive, time to get dirty again, because you need to be crawling up under the truck. check for any hint of fluid leaks, gasket seepage, dripping fluid not including the AC condenser.

If everything looks good, get at least pictures of all angles of the truck, video may be more helpful but pics work too. Make sure you have no visible indications of trouble, head inside and get ready to be underwhelmed by the dealer :)
 

Lionheart

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I think a lot of advice depends on where you live.

Here in Atlanta, these trucks sell out in 5 days or less right now. No dealer in their right mind is going to let you do all that unless it's the last day of the month and it rained every day for the last two weeks straight.

Now, if you're someplace where these vehicles don't sell often, you may have more time and leverage.

Not saying you shouldn't inspect the vehicle before accepting delivery, but smurfslayer's process seems extreme to me for a new vehicle...
 
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