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According to my service manager who is a 30 year veteran GM Master Tech, the PDI inspection is required by GM and does require a test drive. Most vehicles that come off the trucks have a mile or two on them. If you've seen the videos and pictures from the Oshawa of employees driving them from the plant to the stocking lots, you know why. There may be more miles on it if there was a problem with it coming off the production line or if it was pulled off for a random inspection which Quality Control does from time to time.
We as a dealer are required to make sure all the systems in the vehicle work and that does require us to drive it. There is no stated parameters set by GM for how far it needs to be driven. We do have to make sure the transmission shifts through all gears and that the cruise control works and that all systems work, so it needs to brought up to operating temperature. That makes it necessary to drive at highway speeds. For any particular dealer the mileage could vary depending on where they are. Not every dealer is 100 yards from the closest highway.
At our dealership, for special cars like the Corvette or Solstice GXP or G8 GXP we don't let the 21 year old quick lube kid do the PDI test drive. A senior mechanic or manager or sales consultant does this. Every new GM vehicle is supposed to be dleivered with a full tank of gas so yes, we do drive it to the gas station. I understand the comments about techs or employees joy-riding in new cars. If you have concerns let your dealer know ahead of time that you will be pissed if they go hot rodding it around town before you even get a chance to sit in it.
For everyone on this website who is purchasing a Camaro, make sure you let your dealer know what your preferences are for delivery. I'm sure they will accomodate you with any special requests as far as this is concerned. Just understand that someone will drive yoru car before you will and that the dealer is responsible for getting the car to you in perfect working condition. If you take the car without having the PDI done, you will be responsible for it's condition, not the dealer!!
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