How to inspect your car at delivery, step by step
The delivery inspection is your one chance to record new damage before you sign. A simple routine that takes ten minutes and protects your claim.
When your car arrives, the driver will ask you to sign the delivery receipt. Before you do, inspect the car. Damage you don't note now is much harder to claim later.
Before the driver arrives
- Have your pickup bill of lading and your own photos from pickup ready.
- Charge your phone and grab a flashlight, even in daytime.
The inspection
- Walk all the way around the car with the driver. Compare each panel to the pickup inspection.
- Check low and high: bumpers, rocker panels, the roof and the hood are where transport damage often shows up.
- Look at the glass for new chips or cracks.
- Check the wheels and tires.
- Look underneath the front and rear for scrapes, especially on low cars.
- Open the doors, check the interior, and look at the mileage. Compare it to the pickup reading.
- Start the car and make sure it runs as it did.
If you find new damage
- Write it on the delivery bill of lading before signing: what it is and where.
- Photograph it with the driver present, close up and from a distance.
- Get the driver's name and the carrier's details.
- Sign only after the damage is noted, and keep your copy.
If it's dark or raining
Do your best with a flashlight, and write "subject to inspection in daylight" on the receipt if the driver allows it. Then inspect again first thing and report anything new to the company immediately.
Found damage? Here's what to do next.