In the event that it is raining when you collect the car, ask for it to be wiped over so you can inspect the paint for damage/scratches etc. They will no doubt throw the onus back on you if you bring the car back after taking delivery. Also make sure you go in daylight hours and you could also take a friend with you.

My view is pretty much as per Mike, although I want to add that you would not know where the car had come from if it were NOT the one in the showroom.

Has it come direct from the factory via, as Mike says, all of the handling processes detailed above, or has it been sat in a compound for a number of months, exposed to the hail, snow, ice etc etc we have just experienced or has it been sat in another dealer's showroom for a couple of months.

Check your new car with a fine toothcomb in the dry, it's a NEW car irrespective of the above & should be in pristine condition. Look down both sides of the vehicle from behind (it's easier to spot small dents than face on). Check all of the tools etc as these are sometimes "borrowed" to give to other cars where they are missing.

Enjoy your new car

Unless the salesperson was a bit thick or devious (or maybe even both..) it's surprising that their 'looking on the system' didn't reveal that the car was the very one in the showroom

However.. I wouldn't worry too much about the car - with the proviso, of course, you give it a through check around (& under!) at pick-up time. Do check all 'buttons' & functions as well.

Maybe even be pleased that the car sitting the showroom will have been throughly looked at & pawed over for a while - it would certainly reveal any original build problems in the interior & controls etc - regard its stay in the showroom as a 'super-PDI' if you like!

The only thing I'd regret is that new-car-smell may have slighlty dissipated.. you just can't bottle that stuff! (I may be stood corrected on that though...)

An update. Picked the car up today (a Renault Twingo), gave it a good looking over, no marks on the bodywork apart from a tiny paint chip that the salesman pointed out to me before I even noticed it and they will get it booked in to repair asap......fine I said and off I went....thinking I had got off lightly compared to my initial fears, however.....

Got home and decided to have another look. Got down on my knees to have a good peek at the underside. Like most cars it has a metal strip (or seam) running along the length of either side of the car, only visible when you crouch down for a look. In all the other cars I have owned the bottom edge of this strip has been well sealed and smooth to the touch, but on this car it is very ragged with seemingly bits of loose paint/metal moveable with the touch of my finger.

Obviously I am going back to the dealer with this asap but I have a feeling he will say "They are all like that sir". Surely this is a fault and a future corrosion problem waiting to happen? I know they are built in Slovakia but my previous Clio was as well and it certainly did not have this problem!

It will certainly be interesting to see what the dealers take on this is.......