SALE!!! £1.76 per litre for petrol @ BMW dealer
Discussion
Took my car into a BM dealer today for a service and had a loan car. They advised me that the loan car had 8 litres of fuel in it and took a swipe of my card to cover the cost of petrol, if I didn't return it back to them with 8 litres in it. I did 25 miles today and took the car back without topping it up, so I asked how much fuel I had used, and how much I would be charged. 5 litres @ £1.76 per litre!!!
I'm not going to split hairs over the amount used although 5 litres for 25 miles in a 116i seems a little heavy, but charging for fuel at that rate is taking the pi$$ as far as I'm concerned. Apparently it's stated in the small print of one of the documents I signed when picking up the loan car.
They said it's to cover the cost of having somebody go and top up their 6 courtesy cars every night, but with a range of about 500 miles per tank, they'd probably only have to fill each car up once a week on average if they brimmed them on fill up. Hardly seems like a huge amount of admin for a main dealer.
Is this common place or is this dealer taking the pi$$??
I'm not going to split hairs over the amount used although 5 litres for 25 miles in a 116i seems a little heavy, but charging for fuel at that rate is taking the pi$$ as far as I'm concerned. Apparently it's stated in the small print of one of the documents I signed when picking up the loan car.
They said it's to cover the cost of having somebody go and top up their 6 courtesy cars every night, but with a range of about 500 miles per tank, they'd probably only have to fill each car up once a week on average if they brimmed them on fill up. Hardly seems like a huge amount of admin for a main dealer.
Is this common place or is this dealer taking the pi$$??
Edited by SimonL on Monday 21st June 20:03
Flippin' eck - When I've been to my local VW dealer, they ask that it be left at a quarter tank which "they are all at sir, we ask our customers to have some courtesy".
Which is fine - except the last time, I got a car that was showing a range of "0" miles - they gave me a voucher for 8 litres for the petrol station up the road. No mention of punative costs either.
I always, always put in the fuel I've used - small print or not - as I would have used that much myself.
Which is fine - except the last time, I got a car that was showing a range of "0" miles - they gave me a voucher for 8 litres for the petrol station up the road. No mention of punative costs either.
I always, always put in the fuel I've used - small print or not - as I would have used that much myself.
£1.76/litre? Pah, that's pennies. This is off the little invoicey thing for my company car:
Edit: should probably clarify. When I first took the car out it was stamped with the current fuel status (it was full). If I return the car with less than a full tank then they'll charge me that much to refill it.
Edit: should probably clarify. When I first took the car out it was stamped with the current fuel status (it was full). If I return the car with less than a full tank then they'll charge me that much to refill it.
Edited by sebhaque on Monday 21st June 20:27
Took my daughter's car to a SEAT dealership and, as they handed me the courtesy car keys, they said, "there's not much petrol in it, so here's a chitty for £10 for the filling station at the end of the road". I must have had dozens of courtesy cars over the years and that's never happened before!
The SEAT was on a service contract so no money for the dealer to make there.
The SEAT was on a service contract so no money for the dealer to make there.
Most vehicle rental companies advertise a "refuelling rate per litre" rather than a fuel rate. Having run a rental depot for a good few years, I know the cost of refuelling is not cheap, especially if you have a tank on site, which cost around £65k to install, along with the annual elfin safety and environmental checks.
There is also the administartion costs such as somebodies wage to fuel it up as well as all the paperwork that goes with fuel dockets and stock checking.
There is one company that I know of that are currently charging £3.50 per litre refuelling, and they also hire tractor units with 600l tanks!
There is also the administartion costs such as somebodies wage to fuel it up as well as all the paperwork that goes with fuel dockets and stock checking.
There is one company that I know of that are currently charging £3.50 per litre refuelling, and they also hire tractor units with 600l tanks!
SimonL said:
I have indeed noticed that, and I'm happy to pay so long as the price is right, but at a 60p per litre premium over pump prices that's £36 they're charging to fill a car up with fuel. That's why they're taking the pi$$.
That is because they don't want to do it. They hope the customer looks at that price and says 'bloody hell, i'll fill it myself'. Them their operation runs much more smoothly and they get better value out of their courtesy cars.And the workshop boys are worth much more than that if they're on billable work, not shuttling to the petrol station.
SimonL said:
They said it's to cover the cost of having somebody go and top up their 6 courtesy cars every night, but with a range of about 500 miles per tank, they'd probably only have to fill each car up once a week on average if they brimmed them on fill up. Hardly seems like a huge amount of admin for a main dealer.
This explains your confusion; they don't fill them up, they leave them with just enough in to get you to a petrol station, so their driver has to keep going to the petrol station to get them back up to 8 litres. It's to encourage you to pay for your own fuel, plus of course with the typical mileage of your average courtesy car, if they filled each car up, then the fuel could become several month's old and still in the tank, which is never a great idea, and who wants to cart round 50kg of ballast everywhere anyway.
You lot all honestly think that they are sending some yts kid to the station every day? Surely they can keep a drum in the workshop and use that? That said, my local Toyota garage charges similar prices, and a mate who is a mechanic there tells me they fill their drum with occasional trips to station with 5 x 20l jerry cans, topped up with fuel that is 'lost' during servicing.
By 'lost', this means fuel filter changes, troubles with tanks etc. It in no way means that they pinch a cheeky fee litres from any of the cars unnecessarily, honest.
By 'lost', this means fuel filter changes, troubles with tanks etc. It in no way means that they pinch a cheeky fee litres from any of the cars unnecessarily, honest.
eltax91 said:
You lot all honestly think that they are sending some yts kid to the station every day? Surely they can keep a drum in the workshop and use that? That said, my local Toyota garage charges similar prices, and a mate who is a mechanic there tells me they fill their drum with occasional trips to station with 5 x 20l jerry cans, topped up with fuel that is 'lost' during servicing.
By 'lost', this means fuel filter changes, troubles with tanks etc. It in no way means that they pinch a cheeky fee litres from any of the cars unnecessarily, honest.
Salvaged/siphoned fuel can only be used for heating or jetwash purposes, there's various regulations around that area that we once fell foul of. By 'lost', this means fuel filter changes, troubles with tanks etc. It in no way means that they pinch a cheeky fee litres from any of the cars unnecessarily, honest.
Likewise, keeping fuel drums is also a very risky business when the H&S Norris comes round.
eltax91 said:
You lot all honestly think that they are sending some yts kid to the station every day? Surely they can keep a drum in the workshop and use that? That said, my local Toyota garage charges similar prices, and a mate who is a mechanic there tells me they fill their drum with occasional trips to station with 5 x 20l jerry cans, topped up with fuel that is 'lost' during servicing.
By 'lost', this means fuel filter changes, troubles with tanks etc. It in no way means that they pinch a cheeky fee litres from any of the cars unnecessarily, honest.
By 'lost', this means fuel filter changes, troubles with tanks etc. It in no way means that they pinch a cheeky fee litres from any of the cars unnecessarily, honest.
When you (illegally) keep a drum of fuel in a busy workshop and something simple goes wrong some people die, and some other people go to jail.
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