How To Do PDI Of New Car? | Self PDI done | PDI check list

How to do PDI of new car is an important question because after buying a car we can not afford to see any fault in mere running of our new car. We even take car of like a family member. So always it is better to check your car before buying it. Here we have come with some important tips for doing PDI so that we can be satisfied about our car we get from the company.

What is PDI of a car?

PDI stands for Pre-Delivery Inspection. It is a practice of checking your car before getting the delivery at the dealership level or at the showroom where we are buying the car. Usually this is done by the manufacturer after the car gets assembled and before coming to showrooms. The PDI at that level gives a quality check clearance to the car. That means at the manufacturing level the car is all ok.

But after the car coming from the manufacturing plant to the stockyard and then to the showroom is a lengthy process. There are distances which the car has to travel and these are in the transit. Here we have to check that nothing has gone bad in the transit of the cars before reaching to the showrooms. So at our level this PDI is done to check weather the car safely reached to its destination. We have to check no repair has been done after the car reached the showrooms.

How to get PDI done for new car

Going for the PDI we have to divide the vehicle into different sections of the car.

Exterior PDI

• Try to go for the PDI where proper lighting is available. Direct sunlight is very good for PDI. It can help in checking the paint quality and also proper marking.
• First of all check the details from the company dealer that which car has been allotted to you. The Vehicle can be identified by its VIN.
• The VIN stands for Vehicle Identification Number and it is a 17 digit long number which contains alphanumeric code and which uniquely identifies a vehicle.
• Do sections wise checking of the car.
• Check the outer body first. this include the paint, dent, damage, repaint, major or minor scratch, recheck and verify.
• Chassis paint should be done only once. Check for any reflection on the paint.
• If any difference in reflection occurs then check the paint thickness using a thickness meter.
• Now Match all the 4 tyres. Check for its size and manufacturing by a 4 digit number on the tyre. First 2 digits shows the week of the year and last 2 shows the year of manufacturing.
• First go to the Engine Bay and check its parts. Engine is the main important part of a car.
• Check for every connectors and joints. There should be no scratch marks.
• If there is any problem the car then needs rework that means the marking will not meet on the place or there will be different marking at the same place.

• Inspect if there is any kind of sign showing the reassembling of nuts and bolts.
• These joints have marking on them so check proper marking done on the nuts.
• Check the battery of the car. It should look newer. Check for its size and its connections.
• There are marking on the connectors of the battery.There should not be any mis matching of the marking on the main points.
• Check mainly the front bumper from inside the engine bay because this part is more prone to any mishappening. Check its connections nuts and bolts there must not be any scratch mark on it. Also check the fitment of it with the body.

Also Read: Maintain Engine Life Of A Car

• Check every marking on the nuts and joints. No part of the engine should be removed or dismantled after manufacturing or assembling.
• Check marking on the engine mounts on the body and chassis mount also. Check shocker mounting and the marking on it. The joints should not have any scratch mark on it.
• check the engine oil condition, it should be in light color not dark, check the engine oil level in the car also,
• Check break oil level, coolant level but do not open the radiator valve if the car is running or in hot condition. Only check the coolant when the car is cool.
• Check gear lever, Gear Shifter and Gear Selector. Also check selector by moving up and down in the neutral condition. If the movement is not smooth that means gear shifting is not ok.

Interior PDI

Now after the satisfaction done from the outside PDI. We have to move for the interior checking.

• Inspect the doors and side fenders from inside.
• There is a sealant on the doors so no color difference should appear.
• There should not be any paint mark on inside the doors.
• Check the rubber beading on the door panels. The fitting should be exact. There should not be any painting mark on it.
• Check the interior buttons of the window and up and down all four power windows. No noise should come.
• Check all the electronics inside the cabin. The buttons working fine or not.
• See the meter reading how much a car has run. It should not be more than 30kms. Ask for the reason if the car shows more than that.

• Inspect the interior with open eyes, check all the fittings, the seats fabric also.
• Try to start the car and leave at idle condition. Notice the RPM going high. It can go up to 1000 to 1500 but not go above 2000. it a maximum limit.
• After the car become warm then the RPM should come back to normal means below 1000.
• If there is any disturbance in this condition means something is not good with the engine.
• Check the steering wheel by moving it. The movement should be smooth. And there should be no noise.
• Now with the engine on inspect the engine sound by going out. There should be minimum sound from the engine bay.
• Also notice any kind of vibration on the idle condition. If the car is 4 cylinder than vibration is not a good sign. It is acceptable for a 3 cylinder car.

How To Do Self PDI Of Car

The self PDI can be done by following the above points as we have discussed earlier. To do the self PDI we do not have to understand the technicalities. Only observing mind can do the PDI. Just keep little points in mind. Check the small components of the Engine which is important. Try to check for any body rework like denting and painting. Check for car running reading in meter. Tyre’s manufacturing should not be very old. Exterior should be checked for any damage and interior should be checked for any problem in the engine and interior part.

Car PDI Charges

If it is seems difficult for you to do the PDI then some companies are giving PDI services too. On your behalf they do the inspection and give the final report. If it is all clear then the vehicle passes the PDI test. For doing this the companies charge some amount. The charges can be between 1500 to 4000 rupees depending on the car and all the analysis points. For a mid level car inspection the cost is approx. 1000 rupees. It also depends on the company if it is a big brand then it they can charge up to 5000 rupee but not more than that.