What do you do to every new car first thing?

So instead of doing the maintenance to get the wife's Forester current we instead bought a new Rav4. Already this morning I've ordered the trailer hitch and a proclip dash mount for her phone, and I'm about to order the color matched side protection strips, mudflaps, and seat heaters off e-vil-bay. Later today after we come to a consensus on color I'll be ordering the all-weather floor mats and mounting the Yakima roof rack cross bars that were on the Forester. This is all the same stuff I went through this time last year when I bought the Mirage.

What do you guys order up or install in every car you get right away?

Vacuum. A lot. Because most of my new cars are used and cheap.

If it's really new I drive for long periods of time to make the break in period go by fast.

Fart in it. What? Like I'm the only one?

But seriously, trailer hitch for the bike rack. Otherwise it depends greatly on the car and how it's optioned from the factory.

Fart and buy a second set of wheels for snow tires.

when i get a new car, i go on a scavenger hunt/archaeological dig thru the interior to see what i can learn about the previous owner and maybe get rid of anything "incriminating" (you know, "tobacco pipes" and what not) that might cause issues if 5.0 finds it..

usually tear it into pieces and hope it goes back together.

Turn the stereo all the way up and see if I blow the speakers. And then fart. Check the ash fray for change. Maybe dig through the trunk. Jump start it and proceed to.drive 800 miles untested on alternator power only.

Depending on the vehicle, either Cocomats or Weathertech Floorliners.

Remove the dealership's advertising. The deal I negotiated has no terms where they pay me to have their name on my car and potentially cause paint discoloration if left on for years...

I took "new" in the title to mean brand new, not just new to me. If new to me thorough cleaning inside & out to defunk and see how it actually looks.

Fart in it.

Then all new fluids unless I have proof they were done recently.

Usually with the ones I bought brand damn new change everything to synthetic fluids if it does not already have them.

secretariata wrote: Remove the dealership's advertising. The deal I negotiated has no terms where they pay me to have their name on my car and potentially cause paint discoloration if left on for years... I took "new" in the title to mean brand new, not just new to me. If new to me thorough cleaning inside & out to defunk and see how it actually looks.

This. I've refused delivery until they remove that stuff.

I've had to swap bumpers at the dealership because a swap-in had the plate already installed leaving holes when removed. Don't miss that one bit. Nope, nope.

Check the spare, jack, lug wrench, and then properly torque the lug nuts.
I was cought out by this once. That sucked.

Every new-to-me car gets an oil change, ASAP. One of the first cars I ever got was a Chevy Monza. Went out for a quick trip around the block, but didn't make it back. Did wind up with a huge hole in the block because someone couldn't change the oil and filter. Usually, if I plan on keeping the car for any length of time, I find a place to mount a real oil pressure and water temp guage. Keep these two things under control and you'd be amazed how long an engine will survive.

I've been surprised too many times on cars I've bought, and it's never happening again. First priority from now on is always to change the engine and cabin air filters.

Then the vacuum comes out.

The first thing that I do on every used car that I buy is change the wiper blades. I wouldn't buy a car with a bad windshield, and I'd hate to ruin a good one the first time I bump the wiper stalk.

Vacuum, remove any stickers (unless PO had a grm sticker ). Wipers, oil change, coolant flush, good tires. Mudflaps!

Spill my coffee

Air the tires up, shake the suspension down, inspect brakes, delete the DRLs, check all the fluids and change any I suspect to have been neglected, clean interior if dirty.

Edit, almost forgot, ADD A FIRE EXTINGUISHER.

ssswitch wrote: I've been surprised too many times on cars I've bought, and it's never happening again. First priority from now on is always to change the engine and cabin air filters. Then the vacuum comes out.

i've never had a car with a cabin air filter... but if i did, i'd probably shake all the crap out of it before either putting it back in or just tossing it...

usually fix whatever was broke that allowed me too buy it soo cheap.. then new fluids and filters and 75% of the time tires. Ive never purchased brand new and never will.

novaderrik wrote:

ssswitch wrote: I've been surprised too many times on cars I've bought, and it's never happening again. First priority from now on is always to change the engine and cabin air filters. Then the vacuum comes out.

i've never had a car with a cabin air filter... but if i did, i'd probably shake all the crap out of it before either putting it back in or just tossing it...

I like cabin air filters. They are effective mouse fences.

First thing I do with any BRAND NEW car I buy: Take my key, and put a little nick in the paint someplace (usually on a plastic part like bumper cover). Then I don't have to worry about the paint being perfect, since it's going to get nicked and dented anyhow and I can be less upset about that, lol..

With a used car, depends. Air in the tires and all fluids changed, probably.

I've only ever bought two brand-new vehicles in my life. Since I'm cheap, neither came with an antenna, radio, or speakers. So that's what I did first!