[jkrishnakj]

My first 800 - straight up after securing a liscence and was very confident of being it home that was 14 km away. I just had to sit inside to feel super nervous. Thankfully, it was a weekday afternoon and I could manage to get home.

My Esteem - Driving around for 5 years does got some confidence. Took the esteem and boy, was it wide for the Bangalore roads. Somehow came home safe, but got a rear lamp broken while reversing into my parking location in the apartment. Just couldn’t manage the 800 vs Esteem widths for parking and my M800 muscle
Memory took over I guess.

My first Safari - Having driven for a decade, there is a false sense of pride that crept in. All smiles during delivery, and the moment I sat in the drive seat, had a blank brain. Nothing. Fully blank. So, just did a small 2 metres inside the showroom and requested Prerna motors to deliver home. I went back in an auto and my pride hurt.

Ever since, I have taken a Brio and a Baleno for my wife and I also have the Innova Crysta. Somehow, never felt any signs of nervousness.

I guess, I will feel it all when I manage to lay my hands on my first Merc E that I’m wishing for.

[dhruv45in]

Should also include : how NOT to stand in the way of someone while they are taking delivery

[ZenMaster]

Originally Posted by GTO

Great thread & perfect timing with so many delivery accidents being reported!

IMHO, newbies should not be taking delivery at all. If you are a newbie (all of us were at one point), buy a cheap used car to practice driving, take driving lessons if required, bring your skills up at least to a moderate level and then go buy that new car. When we're new to driving, we will abuse the car. Why not abuse an old car for those initial months? I learnt driving on an old Premier Padmini & used Maruti 800.

Unfortunately a lot of people are pressured into buying a new car.

My friend who is a novice driver (i.e. has a license but no driving experience) is being pressured by his family to purchase a new car because he is about to get married in a few months . It will mostly be a Swift Dzire or a Baleno.

Since he is in Gurgaon, I suggested to consider a more affordable, abusable car like a NEW WagonR/800 as his first car (used car is out of question) which is bound to go through the abuse of a new driver and other older unruly drivers/road users who haven't really learnt much after (or before) getting their license.

His said it would not look premium!

(The funny thing is he is not keen on buying a car immediately at all)

However he is going to join a driving school again to properly learn and practice driving. I am happy and atleast sure that he wants to be good driver.

[swiftnfurious]

Good thread. One of the clear examples where money cant buy skills! Over time, I have seen a lot of people buying expensive cars as their first one. A few years back I had posted on similar tune that it surprises me that people buy powerful cars without having enough experience is a danger. One of the bhpians was quick to ridicule that it was their money and they are free to.

A friend of mine took me along with him to take delivery of his preowned Eeco. Was quite happy to help but I really struggled to drive the car inspite of my 10+ years of driving experience (in 2013).

My dad had a fair driving experience on his Ambassador and when we bought our M800 after 15 years of selling the Amby, my dad went for 5-6 driving sessions (driving school) on an M800 to get familiar and he said it immensely helped as both the cars were very different.

When we got our Wagon R post M800, I took it for a spin and while taking a U-turn, it really caught me off guard how fast and wild did the car turn (due to electronic power steering) Vs the M800. I am thankful that there was no vehicle around.

Dealerships should try and ensure they park vehicles in a good place for deliveries. Its a really sad experience to crash a car on the day of delivery. People like me will just sell off the car if that happens.

PS: When I TD cars the first time, I refuse to push it till I get familiar with the car (during my pre-owned purchases). This when the owners usually encourage me to push so I can test the capabilities. I tell them am not comfortable with it and usually request them to drive with me riding shotgun, if they are keen to show me how good the car is. There is no point in ego in some cases at all.

[noopster]

Am reading the posts on this thread with increasing incredulity. So far I can see these accidents attributed to lack of familiarity with controls, anxiety, overconfidence and ego! What next: bad vaastu? Rahu and Ketu?

The reason is simple and common to all: idiocy. The fact that we even need a thread on this topic on the forum...well, I’ve said enough

[zensure]

Very useful thread. Even today - after 15 years of regular driving in Bangalore and highways and 180K KM later - in the workshop I always ask the staff to take the car out to the safe area for me to drive. Often it feels silly waiting for them to take the car out from their work area. I was feeling bit sheepish about it. After reading this thread, felt that I am not alone Yes, nothing wrong in asking for help in some of these situations, especially the showroom and workshop - to drive out the car to a safer place to drive off.

[silverado]

Sometimes the excitement of the occasion gets to people. I remember buying my first car - TATA Nano and taking its delivery at Worli Concorde. Anyone who has taken delivery there would remember delivery area is at rear with a steep slope and 90 deg right.

My wife wanted to drive it for the first time, i politely refused since she was a rank newbie driver. It was a moment when i had almost said " YES" to her!

So after she had cranked up the car, i took over , and i am glad i did.
Yes and i strongly believe, a second hand is the best way to get your automotive experience before you invest in a brand new car.

[pravarag]

This is really a good topic and very useful as well. I clearly remember, when my father bought our Hyundai Santro Xing (XP) in 2004, by that time he was already driving our older Maruti 800 for almost 4 years but still he asked his colleague to take delivery of our new car. He wasn't confident and a little hesitant in bringing our new car to home but he didn't hesitate in asking for help. Like it's already mentioned in above replies, there is no shame in asking someone to move your car (old or new).

[raunaqv471]

This takes me back. While upgrading to my Civic Automatic, from an i20 and opel astra, the delivery was in a basement. The exit warranted navigating a steep curve and then a nasty slope. Even though I had driven many Civics and Jettas in the past (Manual and automatic) , I requested the delivery guy to drive it out till the open main gate area after which I took over. Thereafter the drive home in bombays traffic was smooth with some extra caution ofcourse. No shame in that. For some. It may not be about driving skills or the lack of the same per se. It's just the rush of emotions at that moment and you tend to become overly conscious which may lead to unwarranted mistakes. In hindsight, seeing the number of deliveries going awry, I feel I made the right call. I have thereafter helped friends and relatives drive and park their new cars many a time. Hope more folks follow this.

[footloose]

This means when I had butterflies in my stomach while taking delivery of a new Wagon R or for that matter taking an automatic Camry from a rental car company, it wasn't a misplaced nervousness. I knew it that something's not right while trying to drive an absolutely different car for the first time. Thank god. Great inciteful info.

[Salnv]

A timely post! Another point to add is , always plan your delivery in the morning to noon time frame and avoid evening deliveries. I have seen that many of the showroom guys take more time to do paper works and it can get to evening or night. A new car has so many things you need to get adjusted to, so night will add more uncertainties to your driving , if it rains it gets even worse!

[RijuC]

Originally Posted by arun_josie

Apart from tricky spots, in my opinion the driving skills of many newbie drivers are bad and that is leading to such kind of incidents too. If not on day 1, they crash sooner than later. People easily get license these days and the standards of driving schools have come down drastically too. This is a worrisome trend.

It is not always true that driving skills of newbie drivers are bad.

I learnt driving 3rd time in this lockdown (after acquiring a DL without even on steering at RTO driving test centre in Kolkata in 2010)! And last 3 days asked the instructor to be with me in my own vehicle. When I bought this Swift 2016, my close friend and colleague accompanied me and happily drove the new car to our house. Till 2020 it was driven by regular/ agency hired driver.

Anyway, nowadays I do commute to office regularly and to some long distances in this manual car. Did a hill drive also.

Now, recently in Feb 2020 I hired a Celerio in Kolkata. Didn't notice while booking the car that it was automatic type. When the delivery executive handed over the key, I noticed something different in gear lever area and oh my god, it was an AMT. I got very scared seeing this gear! Literally, my hands and legs started shaking.

Since I watch YouTube videos and read many posts, articles in this forum, I had some idea about this AMT unit. However, I requested delivery executive to accompany me for a drive, and he explained me the R-N-D and Manual +/- things. First I had to take it little back and then drive forward. Tried the brake and go things, crawling and braking couple of times. Then took a test drive for about 500 meters round with him. I could park it properly. And yes, I developed a friendship with this AMT Celerio. Later I drove it throughout the day in Kolkata roads, and a bumper to bumper nasty traffic jam at the end of the day.

What I mean is one must be very alert, attentive and have a little study, knowledge about the new car, it's gear and braking systems, some reviews etc. Then it becomes easy, perhaps. At least it helped me for this unexpected rental car recently. My parents were scared for the entire day knowing it's a different type of car that day!!

And newbies are not always bad!

[GeeTee TSI]

Going by some (most, actually) of the videos, the driver's poor judgement seems to be exacerbated by the presence of an AT gearbox. Instead of causing the car to unceremoniously stall with a jerk, a novice behind an AT can simply shoot past through obstacles and keep accelerating! I do not think the same errant drivers in these videos could have caused as much damage in a manual car with A-B-C pedals

[Pseud]

This thread is giving me goosebumps. If you get the car delivered to your home on a flatbed, will all the checklist stuff be possible.

Although I am not a noob driver but it will be my first AT, so not sure if the first ride should be in a heavy traffic area.

[nishsingh]

I am going against the tide here - this is from my own experience. I think owners should drive their car, unless they are a complete novice. But yes, they shouldn't hesitate to ask help from friends to act as co-drivers:

My wife was taking delivery of her new Ertiga AT around three years ago. She was at that time taking driving lessons for the 5th or 6th time (she had taken driving lessons numerous times, but somehow never had the confidence to drive on her own). The driving instructor wasn't very confident either.

I was adamant that she should be the one to take delivery of the Ertiga since it's her car and she should feel confident since she has learnt driving - this meant driving down from the busy area from where the dealership is located to our home (which was nearly a 45 mins drive).

She managed to drive down from the dealership at a slow and steady pace to our home in about an hour or so.

The next day, the driving instructor couldnt believe his ears when my wife told him that she had driven our new car all the way home. He didn't turn up after that day saying "Madam, I guess you know everything".