Main Dealer - courtesy vehicles

[POORCARDEALER]

And the £75 per hour goes towards the £10M thaT a new showroom costs.

[Ozzie Osmond]

POORCARDEALER said:

....goes towards the £10 million that a new showroom costs.

Careful, you'll frighten the children!

[carmadgaz]

Only had to deal with a courtesy car once. My Swift went in for some work and I was given a brand new demo Swift for the time (even the same colour as mine). Only paid for the petrol I used

[VeeFour]

POORCARDEALER said:

And the £75 per hour goes towards the £10M thaT a new showroom costs.

Remember that next time you notice that one of your regularly bought products at the supermarket has gone up in price.

Only the cost of building one of those can be an order of magnitude bigger.

I'm actually sure most car buyers wouldn't care too much if the showroom cost a fraction of the £10m quoted, if it meant more reasonable maintenance costs.

[insanojackson]

took my scirocco in today for warranty work and was given a 5 door golf, its not badged as a particular model but i recon its a 1.4 twist on a 60 plate. No charges made.

As per my other thread its an ok car, very refined and quiet and doesnt feel that slow for its (i think) 80 hp,

[XDA]

Does it really matter what car/spec you get as a courtesy car? It's only a car for a day or two, so I can't see why it has to be something spectacular! Are people afraid of what their neighbours might say because they are driving a 1.0l Polo for a couple of days?

Snobs, the lot of you.

Ofcourse everyone would love to drive a top spec Audi for a few days, but I don't see why you expect a garage to offer you a similar or better spec car than your own?

[Rich_W]

VeeFour said:

... when I had a B5 Passat 1.8T, VAG wanted £800 to do the cambelt service - my local guy did it for £250....

You know I get sick of people quoting stupid prices for work. Current price for a cambelt on ANY VW 3-10 years old is £319 (with all the tensioners/rollers) or £399 with the water pump. And we're a fair way inside the M25. So we may be more than the Indie. But there's a reason a Full Factory Service History retains value to the majority of people. It;s that too many Indies are too hit n miss with regards to ability/quality or honesty.

[sleep envy]

VeeFour said:

Remember that next time you notice that one of your regularly bought products at the supermarket has gone up in price.

Only the cost of building one of those can be an order of magnitude bigger.

I'm actually sure most car buyers wouldn't care too much if the showroom cost a fraction of the £10m quoted, if it meant more reasonable maintenance costs.

that all depends on how much the retailer has squeezed the framework suppliers, last round I was involved was 40% cut take it or leave it, local Market share, distibution costs, planning gain, etc, etc

you can't compare them

[VeeFour]

Rich_W said:

You know I get sick of people quoting stupid prices for work. Current price for a cambelt on ANY VW 3-10 years old is £319 (with all the tensioners/rollers) or £399 with the water pump. And we're a fair way inside the M25. So we may be more than the Indie. But there's a reason a Full Factory Service History retains value to the majority of people. It;s that too many Indies are too hit n miss with regards to ability/quality or honesty.

That was clearly displayed on the menu board at the service desk.

The cost of doing a B6 TDI belt service is similar.

Note that I'm not just talking about doing the belt - I'm talking about the full, major, 80k-ish mile service.

[sleep envy]

Rich_W said:

You know I get sick of people quoting stupid prices for work. Current price for a cambelt on ANY VW 3-10 years old is £319 (with all the tensioners/rollers) or £399 with the water pump. And we're a fair way inside the M25. So we may be more than the Indie. But there's a reason a Full Factory Service History retains value to the majority of people. It;s that too many Indies are too hit n miss with regards to ability/quality or honesty.

I think you're doing indies a disservice with your last comment

they tende to have to keep their customer base happy seeing as they, inthe main, rely on word of mouth

I only use indies for my car after very poor hit and miss services with an incredibly indifferent attitude

[Spitfire2]

Busa_Rush said:

But they're not charging that for workshop time, it's an overall inclusive cost for working on your car - a cost for a piece of work, not just for heating, lighting, mechanic and tools. My dentist doesn't charge me extra for the mouthwash or for listening to his music or for sitting in his chair

All 30/hour garages have the skills and knowledge to perform 90% of tasks on 90% of cars.

And, in my experience, are more likely to actually do at least 90% of what you've asked them to do. I caught out a main dealer years back where the 'technician' had obviously ticked off the checklist without even being near the car. Local garage along the road holds no such fears for me & were I not in a Company Car these day's I'd use them all the time.

[ChevronB19]

insanojackson said:

took my scirocco in today for warranty work and was given a 5 door golf, its not badged as a particular model but i recon its a 1.4 twist on a 60 plate. No charges made.

There are charges though - it's built into the overall cost (or if it isn't, they don't have a clue about business)

[sinizter]

XDA said:

Does it really matter what car/spec you get as a courtesy car?

It's not the end of the world, and I would rather have a car than not. Given any option, I would REALLY RATHER NOT drive a Ford Fiesta that feels like a cheap plastic toy if BMW/Audi can provide me with something decent from their range, when mine is in for work.

[kev b]

What surprises me is the fact that the manufacturers/dealers spend vast amounts on advertising, trying to persuade people to attend new model launches,take test drives or simply walk through the showroom doors, then, when the customers car is in for work give them a basic car to use. Surely this is the time to get the customer into a bigger, better specced model and let them see what they are missing instead of going through all the hassle of persuading them to book a test drive.

[Rich_W]

sleep envy said:

I think you're doing indies a disservice with your last comment

they tende to have to keep their customer base happy seeing as they, inthe main, rely on word of mouth

I only use indies for my car after very poor hit and miss services with an incredibly indifferent attitude

There are some very good indies. I have no doubt. I know of one that was set up by 3 guys that left our dealer. But there's an awful lot of them that say "Specialist" because they have a Snap On diagnostic box and a lead. The problem is that the longer the specialist is out of the loop so to speak their knowledge becomes left behind. Ask your Indie on your next visit to explain Can-Bus wiring ot duty cycling to you. Some will of course be able to explain it. But the majority won't. And the amount of customers that get told by the latter type "You hav to go to a dealer for that" So what happens when people stops going to the dealer and they decide to stop servicing the cars? Will people then winge they have to go even further for a dealer?

I make no secret I'm biased. But I get sick to the back teeth of people saying "Dealers are st, stick to the Indies" Or that "Dealers are rip off merchants" Come spend a day with me. See what I actually do. Then tell me we're out to rip off customers.

ETA. Sometimes there is "communication errors" I cringe when I hear "Service Advisors" bullstting customers. I suspect that's what grates with more people than a higher bill. Maybe that's the advantage the Indies have. You will actually speak to someone who has seen the car.

Edited by Rich_W on Monday 14th March 22:56

[slomax]

When my brother got crashed into and his car was off the road for about a week, his insurance gave him a courtesy car FOC. He said he would only accept a like for like vehicle, his current car is a '98 1.6 Volvo S40. Considering it went to a Vauxhall dealership to be repaired he was expecting a 1.4 boggo Astra as a courtesy car. But no, the same day he got crashed into, they delivered a brand spanking new S40 2.0 diesel with the sport pack and leather interior. And when i say brand spanking new, it had 14 miles on it! As you can imagine he was very much over the moon!

[Davie]

Courtesy cars were the absolute worst thing about working in dealership. Dealing with countless people who, because they've spent £20,000+ on a car then assume they can demand something of equal spec or better everytime they walk in. Sorry, we don't have a fleet of Astra VXR's or Passat R36's just sat waiting. It's a courtesy car, clue is in the title... it's a courtesy that the dealer provides to save you getting wet when you walk to the bus stop or avoids the inconvenience of having to get the bus along with the great unwashed.

But yes, most will provide the car for free however most will charge for insurance when it comes to serving and repairs and generally, the cars will be nothing special. However, if it's warranty or recall work, most dealers can waive the insurance or claim back from the manufacturer and in cases where the work may take longer, a more suited car can be arranged from the dealer, manufacturer or a hire company though again... unlikely Enterprise or Hertz will have a 2009 RS4 with carbon ceramic brakes, but they may have a Mondeo.

I did work for a dealer who set up a deal with a local hire firm. They ran a fleet of Corsas and arranged all insurance and so on and also offered upgrades. Ie, the dealer will pay for say a Corsa but if you want a Vectra it's an extra £10 and so on. This was good as it allowed for a much bigger range of cars plus reduced the risks of the dealer being short on cars if the work ran on... and yes, countless times I put a dealer courtesy car out and then found the work ran over, so at 8am the next day when Mr Jones arrived for his 1.0 Polo courtesy car that was still out... I then found myself relieving the sale director of his Passat CC keys.

Though, I did work for a Vauxhall dealer and we had a pink Agila for those "special" customers. Ie the ones who waltzed and treated us like second class. Ahhh yes, My Christie... Derek's just away to bring your courtesy car round. Then watch as their face drops when the pink wagon clatters up outside. On the otehr hand, I also sent a little old lady off in a brand new Mk6 Golf GTi with DSG box once... she didn't expect that when she brought her Fix in for an oil service. Funnily enough, the chap who'd had been very arrogant to me and was waiting for his courtesy car wasn't as happy with his Polo. What goes round comes round.

Be nice to your dealer, build up a good relationship and doors will open.

[LeightonBuzzard]

I work for Honda. We have a fleet of 60 and 11 plate Civic's Si's, Hybrids and Jazz's better than poverty spec. Auto/Manual all free and at your choice of vehicle.

[sleep envy]

Rich_W - there's a number of main dealers who don't know what it is either

[Waugh-terfall]

Davie said:

Courtesy cars were the absolute worst thing about working in dealership. Dealing with countless people who, because they've spent £20,000+ on a car then assume they can demand something of equal spec or better everytime they walk in. Sorry, we don't have a fleet of Astra VXR's or Passat R36's just sat waiting. It's a courtesy car, clue is in the title... it's a courtesy that the dealer provides to save you getting wet when you walk to the bus stop or avoids the inconvenience of having to get the bus along with the great unwashed.

But yes, most will provide the car for free however most will charge for insurance when it comes to serving and repairs and generally, the cars will be nothing special. However, if it's warranty or recall work, most dealers can waive the insurance or claim back from the manufacturer and in cases where the work may take longer, a more suited car can be arranged from the dealer, manufacturer or a hire company though again... unlikely Enterprise or Hertz will have a 2009 RS4 with carbon ceramic brakes, but they may have a Mondeo.

I did work for a dealer who set up a deal with a local hire firm. They ran a fleet of Corsas and arranged all insurance and so on and also offered upgrades. Ie, the dealer will pay for say a Corsa but if you want a Vectra it's an extra £10 and so on. This was good as it allowed for a much bigger range of cars plus reduced the risks of the dealer being short on cars if the work ran on... and yes, countless times I put a dealer courtesy car out and then found the work ran over, so at 8am the next day when Mr Jones arrived for his 1.0 Polo courtesy car that was still out... I then found myself relieving the sale director of his Passat CC keys.

Though, I did work for a Vauxhall dealer and we had a pink Agila for those "special" customers. Ie the ones who waltzed and treated us like second class. Ahhh yes, My Christie... Derek's just away to bring your courtesy car round. Then watch as their face drops when the pink wagon clatters up outside. On the otehr hand, I also sent a little old lady off in a brand new Mk6 Golf GTi with DSG box once... she didn't expect that when she brought her Fix in for an oil service. Funnily enough, the chap who'd had been very arrogant to me and was waiting for his courtesy car wasn't as happy with his Polo. What goes round comes round.

Be nice to your dealer, build up a good relationship and doors will open.

That's great! Mum's taken in a Peugeot 308 SE 1.6(120) and received a 308 Sport, lower spec, but with the 1.6Turbo, she enjoyed that. From the list I posted earlier, we took the A6 in for a Service early morning, followed a blue 08-reg A6 2.7TDI most of the way in, then lost it nearer the dealer, 25mins later we were given the keys and walked out to the same A6 we'd followed in. Quite often we're told, "You've got my A4 today, here are the keys".