New Car PDI Checklist for India — 30 Pre-Delivery Checks Before You Sign the Invoice

Walk around the car slowly, twice, in daylight. First pass: stand three metres away and just look. Second pass: at arm's length, run your hand along panels and look at reflections.

The specific exterior checks: (1) Paint match — bonnet, front bumper, front fenders, doors, rear quarters, tailgate and rear bumper should all be the same shade under the same light. Pay particular attention to bumper-to-panel interfaces; aftermarket paint work often shows a slight shade shift. (2) Panel gaps — gap between bonnet and fenders, between doors and body, between tailgate and quarters should be even and symmetric. A gap that is tighter on one side than the other suggests a panel replacement. (3) Clearcoat finish — no orange peel in unusual spots, no sanding marks, no fisheyes or solvent pops. (4) Glass — windscreen, all doors, tailgate and rear quarter glass should show the same manufacturer etching and should be free of chips or cracks. (5) Badging — correct model and variant badges, no badge-shadow marks from a removed previous badge.

Continuing: (6) Windscreen wipers — both blades should be fresh, in neutral position, with the wiper-fluid jet nozzles aimed correctly. (7) Door rubber seals — no nicks or tears; wiggle each one gently with a finger; they should feel firm and continuous. (8) Number plate area — the rear number plate mount and the third brake light cluster should be factory-fit and symmetric.

Tyres are date-coded. Every passenger-car tyre sold in India (and globally) carries a four-digit DOT code on the sidewall — the last four digits of the DOT marking. The first two digits are the week number, the last two are the year. A code of 1625 means the tyre was manufactured in the 16th week of 2025 (late April 2025).

Rule of thumb: on a brand-new car, all four tyres plus the spare should show a manufacture date within the last six months. An eight-to-twelve-month-old tyre on a new car is acceptable but unusual; a tyre older than twelve months should prompt a replacement request. Tyres past 18 months on a new car indicate the vehicle has been in stockyard far longer than you were told.

The 5th tyre — the spare — is the most commonly overlooked. Many Indian dealers move tyres between vehicles from the stockyard; the spare is the most convenient donor. Check it has its own DOT date and that it is inflated to the specification on the owner's manual.

The odometer at delivery should be under 50 kilometres — the reading from factory to ship to rail to dealer to your handover should be minimal. Most Indian dealers hand over cars between 15 km and 35 km. Anything over 50 km deserves a specific explanation — typically it is a car that was test-driven as a demo unit or moved between cities on its own wheels, either of which reduces the status from factory-fresh and should attract a price adjustment or a replacement offer.

Plastic wraps and protective films are a visible sign that the car is in its factory-fresh state. Check that the plastic seat covers (driver and passenger) are still in place, the door-sill protective films are intact, the steering wheel wrap (if fitted in transport) is still on, and the infotainment screen protective film is still applied.

Factory seals on small components are worth spotting too. Engine oil fill cap should have a paint mark or seal indicating it has not been opened outside factory. Air filter housing clips should be secured without wear signs. Brake fluid and coolant reservoir caps should show their factory seal.

An odometer over 100 km on a brand-new car is a discussion point. The car has been driven somewhere — either as a demo, as a dealership-to-customer transport, or as a stockyard-to-dealer movement. None of these are necessarily a deal-breaker but they should be disclosed before delivery, not discovered by you at the handover.

Inside the car, sit in the driver's seat and systematically work through every switch, button, knob and touch-screen menu. This is tedious but it is the single best way to catch production-line escapes.

Specific interior checks: (1) Ignition or start-stop button — starts the car without lag or warning lights that do not clear. (2) Infotainment — boots up cleanly, touch response is uniform across the screen, Bluetooth pairs to your phone, rear camera displays with parking lines aligned. (3) HVAC — full cold air, full hot air, all vents direct air, defogger works on front and rear. (4) All four power windows — full up, full down, auto function on driver's side. (5) Electric wing mirrors — fold and unfold, adjust in all directions. (6) Sunroof (if fitted) — full open, tilt, close, no obstruction alert errors. (7) Steering-wheel switches — audio, phone, cruise control, voice assist, all functional.

Continuing inside: (8) Instrument cluster — all warning lights illuminate at key-on and extinguish at engine-start; mileage and fuel readings look sensible; trip meters reset. (9) Seat adjustments — fore-aft, recline, lumbar, ventilation and heating (if fitted) all working. (10) Seat belts — all belts retract smoothly; buckle latches with a click. (11) ISOFIX anchors — accessible, not painted over. (12) Interior lights — dome, reading, boot, vanity mirror lights all functional. (13) Horn — both pads or steering-wheel horn button work.

Finally: (14) Plastic panel quality — no scratches on the dashboard, no glue marks, no misaligned trim pieces. Seats — no stains, stitching uniform, headrests adjust. Boot — interior light works, parcel shelf clips in, tool kit and spare tyre present.

Ask the dealer to put the car on a ramp briefly or lend you a torch for the underbody walk. You are not doing a mechanic-level inspection; you are looking for obvious issues.

Underbody checks: (1) No fluid drips on the floor under the engine bay or transmission. (2) Exhaust system is complete, neatly routed, free of dents or scrapes. (3) Undertray fasteners are all present and tight. (4) Suspension control arms and bushes are clean and free of damage marks.

Engine bay checks — open the bonnet: (1) Engine oil dipstick — pull, wipe, reinsert, pull again; oil level between min and max marks, oil colour honey-brown (not black). (2) Coolant reservoir — between min and max, correct colour for the specification (pink, green or blue depending on the brand). (3) Brake fluid reservoir — between min and max. (4) Battery — clamp tight, terminals clean, no leaks; critically, check the manufacture date sticker on top or side of the battery. A battery made more than 3-4 months before delivery has been sitting; a battery older than 6 months should be replaced.

The Vehicle Identification Number (chassis number) is the single most important identifier on a new car in India. It must appear identically in four places, and it is your job at handover to confirm this.

The four places: (1) The VIN plate on the chassis, typically visible through the windscreen on the dashboard near the A-pillar or on the door B-pillar sticker. (2) The Form 21 Sale Certificate issued by the dealer. (3) The Form 22 Road-worthiness Certificate. (4) The tax invoice. The engine number should similarly match between the engine block, the Form 21 and the RC.

Why this matters. If any of these four copies of the VIN disagree, the RC (Registration Certificate) processing will stall, the insurance policy will have a mismatched chassis number, and you will spend weeks at the RTO fixing a dealer error that is much easier to catch and correct at the delivery counter.

Ask the dealer to physically show you the VIN on the chassis while holding the Form 21 next to it. Photograph both together with timestamp on. Do the same for the engine number. This single 90-second check avoids the most common new-car paperwork problem in India.

For the complete RC and ownership paperwork workflow post-delivery, see our HSRP guide and our hypothecation guide, both of which cover what happens after the VIN is confirmed.

Indian new-car invoices frequently include accessories — mudflaps, floor mats, seat covers, door visors, reverse parking sensors on lower trims, dash-cams, tyre-pressure monitoring, chrome trims. Every item listed on the invoice must be fitted to the car at the time you drive it away. This is the most commonly skipped PDI area in Indian dealerships.

Work through the invoice line by line. Mudflaps — present, all four corners. Floor mats — present, all seating rows. Seat covers — fitted, matching the invoice description. Door visors — fitted, no adhesive bleed. Reverse sensors — test, confirm audible warning. Dash-cam — test, confirm recording to the memory card.

Factory-fitted electronics deserve a separate check. ADAS features (lane keep, adaptive cruise, auto emergency brake) — test each on a short drive. 360-degree camera — test the top-down view. Wireless charger — phone placed on the pad should charge; confirm with your own phone, not the dealer's demo phone. Connected car app — pair the app on your phone, confirm remote lock/unlock, remote start, and vehicle status reporting all work before you leave.

Any missing accessory should be either fitted before you sign, or explicitly logged with a written delivery commitment for a specific date, backed by a refund of the invoiced amount if not delivered. Never leave the dealership with a verbal 'we will install it next week' — it rarely happens.

A short post-PDI test drive with the sales advisor reveals any drivetrain or driving-aid issue that cannot be seen static. Five to ten minutes is enough.

Specific test-drive checks: (1) Idle — engine should idle smoothly, no unusual vibration, no warning lights. (2) First-gear engagement (manual) or drive-mode engagement (AT) — smooth, no clunk. (3) Clutch engagement point (manual) — consistent, not too high or too low. (4) Brake pedal — firm, no sponginess, ABS engages cleanly on a short deliberate hard brake. (5) Steering — self-centres cleanly; no pull to either side on a flat road. (6) Suspension — no knocking or rattling over speed breakers. (7) ADAS features — lane keep activates on marked lanes; adaptive cruise holds the set speed and distance; AEB brake warning does not trigger falsely.

Any anomaly on the test drive should be logged and resolved before you drive the car home. Most are fixable in a half-day at the dealer workshop. A few — a warning light that will not clear, a pull in the steering, an unusual engine vibration — warrant a replacement request, not a repair.

Under CMVR 1989 Rule 113, the dealer is required to provide a road-worthy vehicle; issues that compromise road-worthiness are dealer-side obligations to fix before handover, not yours to accept and take in for warranty later. Hold the line on this distinction. For the full roster of checks that carry over into the first-month of ownership, see our first-car checklist.

The final PDI phase is the paperwork handover. The complete document set for an Indian new car at delivery should include: Form 21 (Sale Certificate), Form 22 (Road-worthiness Certificate), Tax Invoice (with CGST/SGST/IGST correctly split), Extended Warranty documentation (if purchased), Insurance policy (first-year, originals or digitally accessible), Owner's Manual, Service Book (with the first service coupon attached and PDI checklist attached), Road-Side Assistance contact details, Extended Service Pack documentation (if purchased), Fuel card or fuel slip for the 2-5 litres of fuel the dealer provided for you to reach the nearest pump, and the key set (typically two smart keys or one smart plus one mechanical backup).

Photograph every document front and back with timestamp on. Email the full set to yourself from the dealership — do not wait to get home.

Check that the service book has been stamped with the delivery date and the PDI sign-off. Check that any extended warranty or service-pack documents you paid for are in your name and registered to the VIN. Check that the insurance policy is in your name as the registered owner.

The handover sequence should end with you taking physical possession of all the documents, the keys, the accessory bag and the pharmaceutical-first-aid kit (mandatory on Indian new cars under CMVR) before the invoice is signed. If any document is promised for later, note it in writing on the invoice with a specific delivery date.