Car breakdown and courtesy car - reasonable?
Discussion
I bought a car recently which has had to back to the supplying dealer for a bit of work. Hopefully nothing major and shouldnt be there overly long, but I was a bit annoyed that they expected me to take out insurance on their courtesy car? Is this normal?
They are only a small dealer, and have been very good with me so far, but equally I paid in full, in cash, and didnt haggle on the deal. Its only a 5 grand car - so not megabucks, but shelling out another £60 for 7 days temporary insurance on a crap Nissan Micra wasnt what I expected. Would you expect them to pick up the cost for this?
They are only a small dealer, and have been very good with me so far, but equally I paid in full, in cash, and didnt haggle on the deal. Its only a 5 grand car - so not megabucks, but shelling out another £60 for 7 days temporary insurance on a crap Nissan Micra wasnt what I expected. Would you expect them to pick up the cost for this?
Amused2death said:
Do you have fully comp? If so can you use the "Drive other vehicles" option on your own cover? Surely under the continuous insurance rules the other vehicle must already be insured?
Read your policy wording carefully! Mine says that it cannot be used on cars I own or are hired to me. This would be considered a hire car wouldn't it?Amused2death said:
Do you have fully comp? If so can you use the "Drive other vehicles" option on your own cover? Surely under the continuous insurance rules the other vehicle must already be insured?
I was 24 when I took the policy out, and Driving Other Cars only starts at 25 on my policy...Annoying really, as when I had changed cars I could have started a new policy (inc driving other vehicles) but I didnt want to loose 6 months NCB.
gamefreaks said:
Read your policy wording carefully! Mine says that it cannot be used on cars I own or are hired to me. This would be considered a hire car wouldn't it?
It hasn't been hired, as that would imply you've paid to have the use of it.This is a 'courtesy' car which is/should be free.
Check your insurance documents to see whether you're covered on a the dealer's car - also check to see if that cover is 3rd party only, or fully comp, as if it's 3rd party only then any damage you do to the car will not be covered.
gamefreaks said:
Amused2death said:
Do you have fully comp? If so can you use the "Drive other vehicles" option on your own cover? Surely under the continuous insurance rules the other vehicle must already be insured?
Read your policy wording carefully! Mine says that it cannot be used on cars I own or are hired to me. This would be considered a hire car wouldn't it?£60 does seem a bit steep though, can you not get the insurance on your own car transferred over to the loan car?
The car is free, the costs involved in borrowing said car aren't included usually. When I was with a dealer, if the customer's insurance didn't cover them or they wouldn't add it on temporarily for free or a small fee then they had the option to be added to the dealers policy for around £7 a day. Some dealers may waive this is it's a return to dealer for repairs or as a goodwill.
Worth asking
Worth asking
Condi said:
I bought a car recently which has had to back to the supplying dealer for a bit of work. Hopefully nothing major and shouldnt be there overly long, but I was a bit annoyed that they expected me to take out insurance on their courtesy car? Is this normal?
They are only a small dealer, and have been very good with me so far, but equally I paid in full, in cash, and didnt haggle on the deal. Its only a 5 grand car - so not megabucks, but shelling out another £60 for 7 days temporary insurance on a crap Nissan Micra wasnt what I expected. Would you expect them to pick up the cost for this?
I just called up my insurance company and they charged an admin fee, but only covered me for a maximum of 7 days, that was a volvo main dealer! Mind you I was 19 at the time so their insurance wouldn't touch me!! They are only a small dealer, and have been very good with me so far, but equally I paid in full, in cash, and didnt haggle on the deal. Its only a 5 grand car - so not megabucks, but shelling out another £60 for 7 days temporary insurance on a crap Nissan Micra wasnt what I expected. Would you expect them to pick up the cost for this?
Condi said:
I bought a car recently which has had to back to the supplying dealer for a bit of work. Hopefully nothing major and shouldnt be there overly long, but I was a bit annoyed that they expected me to take out insurance on their courtesy car? Is this normal?
They are only a small dealer, and have been very good with me so far, but equally I paid in full, in cash, and didnt haggle on the deal. Its only a 5 grand car - so not megabucks, but shelling out another £60 for 7 days temporary insurance on a crap Nissan Micra wasnt what I expected. Would you expect them to pick up the cost for this?
No.They are only a small dealer, and have been very good with me so far, but equally I paid in full, in cash, and didnt haggle on the deal. Its only a 5 grand car - so not megabucks, but shelling out another £60 for 7 days temporary insurance on a crap Nissan Micra wasnt what I expected. Would you expect them to pick up the cost for this?
Condi said:
I bought a car recently which has had to back to the supplying dealer for a bit of work. Hopefully nothing major and shouldnt be there overly long, but I was a bit annoyed that they expected me to take out insurance on their courtesy car? Is this normal?
They are only a small dealer, and have been very good with me so far, but equally I paid in full, in cash, and didnt haggle on the deal. Its only a 5 grand car - so not megabucks, but shelling out another £60 for 7 days temporary insurance on a crap Nissan Micra wasnt what I expected. Would you expect them to pick up the cost for this?
I've only ever had a 'free' courtesy car when mine was in for servicing. Whenever my car is being repaired I've had to cover the insurance.They are only a small dealer, and have been very good with me so far, but equally I paid in full, in cash, and didnt haggle on the deal. Its only a 5 grand car - so not megabucks, but shelling out another £60 for 7 days temporary insurance on a crap Nissan Micra wasnt what I expected. Would you expect them to pick up the cost for this?
Not sure this is any use to you, and I'm not sure why this distinction seems to exist, but you're not being 'had' in my experience.
Courtesy car insurance is a mixed bag, I have never actually been charged by a dealer but normally the smaller non franchised or servicing garages will ask you to sort your own insurance.
With the temporary insurance is that via your own insurance company? or the online guys? If not the former, try them. They insured an additional 3.0 litre BMW for a month at around £40 for the period, far cheaper than through an alternative short term agreement.
With the temporary insurance is that via your own insurance company? or the online guys? If not the former, try them. They insured an additional 3.0 litre BMW for a month at around £40 for the period, far cheaper than through an alternative short term agreement.
DickHerpes said:
I've only ever had a 'free' courtesy car when mine was in for servicing. Whenever my car is being repaired I've had to cover the insurance.
Not sure this is any use to you, and I'm not sure why this distinction seems to exist, but you're not being 'had' in my experience.
It's a 'new' car bought from the dealer which is faulty. I've never had to pay for a loan car in those circumstances, even when I wrote of the 3 series I got one time as a loaner nobody was bothered. Not sure this is any use to you, and I'm not sure why this distinction seems to exist, but you're not being 'had' in my experience.
JM said:
DickHerpes said:
I've only ever had a 'free' courtesy car when mine was in for servicing. Whenever my car is being repaired I've had to cover the insurance.
Not sure this is any use to you, and I'm not sure why this distinction seems to exist, but you're not being 'had' in my experience.
It's a 'new' car bought from the dealer which is faulty. I've never had to pay for a loan car in those circumstances, even when I wrote of the 3 series I got one time as a loaner nobody was bothered. Not sure this is any use to you, and I'm not sure why this distinction seems to exist, but you're not being 'had' in my experience.
If thats the way things are usually done then so be it, but he said that he couldnt afford to have everyone insured on his courtesy cars and their standard agreement says that it is up to the user (ie me) to sort out insurance. Maybe I'll kick up a bit of a fuss, its nothing to them but leaves a bad taste in the mouth for me.
Condi said:
This was my thinking.... it wasnt in for a service, it was in to fix a problem! I dont expect to pay for car insurance on a 2nd car, when the one Ive just bought is back in for repairs. Especially not after not even trying to knock the dealer down on the deal in the first place.
If thats the way things are usually done then so be it, but he said that he couldnt afford to have everyone insured on his courtesy cars and their standard agreement says that it is up to the user (ie me) to sort out insurance. Maybe I'll kick up a bit of a fuss, its nothing to them but leaves a bad taste in the mouth for me.
Fair play, it does seem a bit off. Any idea how long the car is likely to be in for? If thats the way things are usually done then so be it, but he said that he couldnt afford to have everyone insured on his courtesy cars and their standard agreement says that it is up to the user (ie me) to sort out insurance. Maybe I'll kick up a bit of a fuss, its nothing to them but leaves a bad taste in the mouth for me.
I get a different scenario depending on which dealership group I go to.
IIRC, Williams/Halliwell Jones charge £15/day admin/insurance and limit you to about 35 miles per day. Knights/Batemans/Lloyds charge nothing, and Knights don't mine if you put 500 miles on the car.
So you have the choice of paying (for example) £140/hour at Williams & Halliwell Jones and then paying for a courtesy car - assuming they remember that you booked one 6 weeks ago - or paying £120 an hour at Knights and getting the car for free!
IIRC, Williams/Halliwell Jones charge £15/day admin/insurance and limit you to about 35 miles per day. Knights/Batemans/Lloyds charge nothing, and Knights don't mine if you put 500 miles on the car.
So you have the choice of paying (for example) £140/hour at Williams & Halliwell Jones and then paying for a courtesy car - assuming they remember that you booked one 6 weeks ago - or paying £120 an hour at Knights and getting the car for free!
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff