New Car Inspection ChecklistWhat to check on collection day

What a PDI covers, and what it leaves to you

PDI stands for pre-delivery inspection. It is the check a dealer's workshop carries out on a new car between its arrival from the factory and the day it is handed over. The list is set by each brand, but it typically covers fluid levels, tyre pressures, lights and electrical functions, the removal of transport protection and a final wash.

A PDI checklist is the dealer's document, written to confirm that the car works as designed. The buyer's own check on collection day is shorter and more visual. It looks at what a careful owner would notice in the first week: the paint, the panels and the cabin.

The law treats those details as part of the car's quality. Singapore's Sale of Goods Act names appearance and finish and freedom from minor defects among the aspects of quality a buyer is entitled to expect. It also says that when goods are delivered, the seller must, on request, give the buyer a reasonable opportunity to examine them.

The Consumers Association of Singapore received 1,090 complaints about motorcars in 2025, new and used together, and 29.7 percent of them concerned cars that were defective or did not conform to the contract. For a cosmetic defect, collection day is the simplest moment to have it settled.

The paint: four things to look for

Walk around the car twice: once from a few steps back to judge colour and lines, once close up, panel by panel, starting from the roof and working down.

Fine scratches from the delivery wash

New cars are usually washed before handover, and that wash is the most common source of swirl marks: fine, circular scratches left by a dirty mitt, a brush or a drying towel. They show as a web of fine lines around the reflection of a light and are easiest to see on dark colours. Light swirls sit in the top of the clear coat. How car polishing removes swirl marks and light scratches explains how they are levelled and how much clear coat that takes.

Transport film residue

Many cars travel from the factory with a white adhesive film over the bonnet, roof and boot lid, removed during the PDI. Run a fingertip along the edges where the film sat, then look along the panel at an angle. Leftover adhesive feels tacky and catches dust, and a film that stayed on too long can leave a faint outline on the paint.

Touch-ups and colour mismatch

Small chips from transport or storage are sometimes repaired before delivery. A brush touch-up shows as a slightly raised blob of paint. A resprayed panel can differ in shade or texture, or in the way metallic flakes catch the light, and may leave overspray on rubber seals or a hard masking line at its edge. Look along each side of the car from the front and rear corners. A faint difference between a plastic bumper and the metal wing beside it can come from the factory, where the parts are often painted separately. A clear difference on one metal panel is worth asking about.

Panel gaps

The gaps around the doors, bonnet and boot lid should be even along their whole length and match the same gap on the other side of the car. Open and close every door, the bonnet and the boot: each should shut cleanly without being forced, and the edges should show no rub marks.

Why the light matters more than the eye

Showrooms and delivery bays are lit by many soft sources from above. That flattering light fills in fine scratches and makes every panel look perfect. A defect only shows when a single, hard light reaches the surface at a shallow angle, so that the edges of a scratch or the rim of a touch-up throw a reflection or a shadow.

• Daylight first. If the handover area is dim, ask to see the car outside or in a well-lit bay before signing.
• A torch at a low angle. A phone torch held close to the panel and almost parallel to it, moved slowly, shows swirls and touch-ups.
• A clean, dry car. Dust and water marks hide defects, so the inspection is best done after the final wash has dried.
• Time. A careful walk-around of the paint takes longer than the paperwork. It is reasonable to ask for it.

A car that waited outside after a shower may show dried water marks. They usually wipe away, but a mark that stays after cleaning may be etched into the clear coat. Is Singapore rain acidic? explains how to tell the two apart.

The cabin: marks and protective plastics

New cabins arrive with plastic over the seats, floor mats, door sills and sometimes the steering wheel and screens. These covers protect the car during transport and storage, and they also hide what is underneath. Agree with the sales consultant whether they come off before the inspection, then check the surfaces they covered.

• Seats. Creases, scuffs or stitching marks on leather, especially on the outer bolster of the driver's seat.
• Door cards and sills. Shoe scuffs on the lower door trim and scratches on sill plates, where people step in and out.
• Headlining and pillars. Finger marks or smudges on light-coloured fabric.
• Screens and gloss trim. Fine scratches on piano-black panels and displays, which mark easily.
• Carpets and boot. Stains or dirt from the workshop, and the floor of the boot under the mat.

When you find a defect

A defect found on collection day is not a reason for a dispute. Dealers handle these issues routinely, and most cosmetic ones are put right in their own workshop. What matters is that the issue is recorded before acceptance.

1. Note it on the delivery form

   Write down each defect, its location and its size on the delivery or acceptance form before signing, and keep a copy.

2. Photograph it

   Take one wide photo that shows where the defect is on the car, then a close-up with the torch on it. The phone records the date and time.

3. Agree the fix before acceptance

   Agree in writing what will be done and when. For a defect that needs a respray, a new collection date is often simpler than signing now and returning later.

What the law says after acceptance

Under the Sale of Goods Act, a buyer who has not yet examined the car is not deemed to have accepted it until given a reasonable opportunity to do so, and a consumer cannot give up that right by agreement.

The Lemon Law, in Part 3 of the Consumer Protection (Fair Trading) Act, adds a safety net. A defect that appears within six months of delivery is presumed to have existed at delivery. The buyer can first ask for a repair or a replacement, then for a price reduction or to rescind the contract if neither is possible or done within a reasonable time. The presumption does not apply where it is incompatible with the nature of the defect. A scratch could have happened at any time after the car left the delivery centre, which is exactly why it is best recorded before signing.

Light swirls noticed only later can still be polished out by a car detailing service in Singapore. If the car is to be coated, the coating goes on after any correction, since it preserves the finish it covers: how a ceramic coating bonds to the clear coat explains why.

The delivery form is the one document both sides sign on the day. A defect written on it is far easier to resolve than one reported a week later.

Sources

1. Sale of Goods Act 1979 (2020 Revised Edition), sections 14(2B), 34 and 35. Singapore Statutes Online
2. Consumer Protection (Fair Trading) Act 2003 (2020 Revised Edition), Part 3, sections 13 to 16. Singapore Statutes Online
3. Consumers Association of Singapore. 76.2 per cent surge in beauty complaints in 2025, media release, 9 February 2026.