Sorry to take issue here but nobody has answered my question?

In the starry eyed moment when you get your very first new car, and even later when you are an old hand, its really very very difficult to do all this objectively. To remember all the things unless you make a check list. Plus maybe its the not so obvious things that will in the long term prove to be the real bummer, like a paintwork repair due to lets say it getting damaged at the docks which then fades, does not match, whatever. Or a paintwork repair that has to be done because of something you did not spot at the collection time. As David W says its the very devil to resolve.

I maintain that most people (ie general public) do not know enough about cars to spot some of these things. The manufacturers and dealers are light years better than they were, but how many complaints and problems do HJ and trading standards still get. True some are not immediately detectable, but some clearly are. I just asked the question as to whether people thought that it was worthwhile to have a service where an independant expert can objectively look at your new motor without the rose tinted specs that we all wear on the collection day. It works on new houses, but then all builders are cowboys are they not? There another nice bit of social stereotyping.

All the suggestions to Rebecca above are excellent, including some I would never have thought of in a thousand years, but then maybe I have been lucky.

Yet another example of the damage covered by Autorenews' Cosmetic Repair policy. Look for it in Autoexpress etc.

Try this one on for size.

Local cyclist was training for a race, going for it down a nice straight, car parked at the side of the road (god knows why, it was 6am in the middle of nowhere), visible for at least half a mile. Said cyclist with nose on bar and backend in air doesn't see car until he's sliding across it and along the tarmac the otherside neatly followed by his bike. Gets air-lifted to hospital, can't remember what happened to him but judging by the mess he made of the car it must've been quite serious. It's amazing how he managed to hit it considering the visibility is good and the road is wide enough for 3 busses.

I wonder if the cyclist said, "sorry mate, didn't see ya!".

There is no problem with the parking brakes of four cylinder pre 2000MY Mondeos because they all have rear drums. But in any case The Highway Code tells you to leave the box in gear and anyone with any sense also points the front wheels towards the kerb if parking on an incline.

HJ

There is a complicated adjustment procedure, which, if not followed correctly, will render the auto-adjusting mechanism USELESS. I fear that is what has happened here. There is a hex plug on the rear of the caliper and that should be removed and the piston wound back using the nut behind this plug and NOT using a universal pistion wind-back tool directly on thie piston as usual. Volvo had to make something a little different! Believe me, we have made the same mistake. New calipers (Don't bother with re-con units) are the only answer.

Rgds

David