Dealer - Courtesy Cars ?

[jamesrose]

Hi All, does anyone know if any dealers offer free courtesy cars ? I have been told by Sytners in Harold Wood that I have to pay Enterprise to hire one ? Also it will cost me £99 if I want them to clean the car...I can remember a time when you actually got proper customer service from a dealer !

[Mattt]

I've had free courtesy cars from Cooper Chelmsford when mine has been in for work.

[The Count]

jamesrose said:

Hi All, does anyone know if any dealers offer free courtesy cars ? I have been told by Sytners in Harold Wood that I have to pay Enterprise to hire one ? Also it will cost me £99 if I want them to clean the car...I can remember a time when you actually got proper customer service from a dealer !

What are you having done James?

Very poor customer service by the sounds of it.

[jezzaaa]

Yeah, sounds appalling. When my Z4M went for it's 1200 mile service, they charged me £10 for a courtesy X3...which was the alternative to me insuring it on my policy. If I had put it on my policy, it would have been free. Either way, having to hire one yourself sounds ste.

[[TW]Fox]

My dealer charges me £18 a day for insurance but if I insure it myself the cars are provided free. Oddly the same dealer groups bodycentre makes no charge for insurnace.

[jamesrose]

Not really having anything major done...rear brake pads and a few bits replaced under warranty.

Im pretty unimpressed with the whole situation so I think I am going to try Coopers Chelmsford instead.

[mmm-five]

Are they charging a reasonably low labour rate to offset the lack of 'customer service' offerings?

I wouldn't mind paying £50/hour if I knew they weren't providing coffee, TV, biscuits, courtesy car, etc. but £120/hour and you still don't get these things is ridiculous.

[jep]

Not sure if it's a tenner or £15 with my preferred dealer. Either way, it's cheaper than their collect and return service, which due to distance is £30.

[bazking69]

BMW dealers vary so wildly. Some are smaller setups who concentrate on immaculate customer service and function on repeat business. These are the sort of places that C&D with a c/car and do a wash and vac FOC for their £100 an hour labour rate. The bigger places ie. in cities, tend to be that busy that their attitude if take it or leave it.
Charging for c/cars is not a new thing, alot of dealers were charging £10-£15 a day for c/cars when I worked for a lease company over 5 years ago.

[mattpullen64]

I'm due to take my car in to Stratstone Derby next week. They offered me a courtesy car for £10 "to cover insurance".

If it was some repair work being done, i wouldnt mind paying. But the car is 6 months old and i resent having to take time out to drop it there / pick it up later, let alone having to pay for the courtesy car. It's not the money, it's the principal - the car shouldn't have gone wrong, it should be down to BMW to cover the associated costs, not me...

[matt3001]

Definately poor service on the dealers part. When I take the cab into either of the Bluebell or Williams garages I get a free courtesy car (just have to have a cover note faxed through from NFU), but even that isn't brilliant, when the A3 goes in I get a free courtesy car and drive it on their insurance!!!

[Andyt25]

I use Cotswald in Gloucester and they privide a free car but you cannot put more than 50 miles on it...which is a bit of a problem as I have a 60 mile round trip.