Main Dealer - courtesy vehicles

[Davie]

I guess it's down to the individual. My Mother has a Clio and she's quite happy to drop her car off and walk or arrange a lift, in fact she sees taking a courtesy car as "putting them out" and so needs to be forced to take it. Similary, the old man had a Volvo S40 and on the (numerous) occasions it was in, he was delighted to get the keys to the dealerships new V70 R design demonstrator... but he was also equally happy to get a Fiat Panda. His theory being "I drove a car in and I drove a car out five minutes later... what's the issue?"

[bennyboydurham]

A friendly chap at my local BMW dealer told me it's a case of 'first up best dressed'. The early bird then could catch a 5 Series Touring or a couple of decent 3 Series. The slower birds would end up in a Mini Cooper. The stragglers would end up in a Mini One D or a 116i. I got a 320d, so I guess I was reasonably early.

I did get to borrow a new 730d for the day with lunch thrown in, but only because I already drove one. I wouldn't fancy my chances of getting it to use while mine was having an oil service!

[Waugh-terfall]

^ My old Maths teacher back at school had an 04 760Li Sport, he'd get nice cars delivered to work. Once he had a 318i because that's all they had, but then it started snowing, his car was going to be in for a while and so they came to get the 318i and gave him a new X5 3.0d M-Sport

[Kiltox]

The dealer I bought my last car from thought a Nissan Micra was a fair substitute for a 2.0 Laguna when it was their fault I couldn't drive it................

They then thought a Xsara Picasso was an even fairer substitution.

Guess where I didn't buy my next car from? No charge for courtesy cars from them but it turns out upon closer inspection that my insurance from them would've been void anyway -stupid salesman had ticked the bos that said "Is the driver over 21 years of age"!

[insanojackson]

ChevronB19 said:

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

but warranty work costs nothing my friend.

[wolfie1978]

my indie normally gives me a courtesy car. Usually his vw transporter van. It gets me home and back again so i don't care. But i pay about 30 quid an hour. If i said bmw's labour fees i'd expect better

[[e-mail]]

I have worked for many different company's as a service advisor/senior service advisor/assistant manager and it has always been the same thing, a rush and a panic to get enough courtesy cars back for the day, the last two main dealers (Peugeot then BMW) i have worked for used a system call dealer car manager,this logs all of your courtesy cars on one system and arranges the insurance and paperwork, we used to get charged £5 a day for insurance by the arranged insurance company, at Peugeot we charged the customer £10.00 per day and at BMW we charged £25.00 per day, quite often we would waive these charges or put it down to the £5.00 (covering our cost) depending on how nice the customer was, after i think 14 days that courtesy car is then free to insure with the company for the rest of the month (we still charged) but to be honest it is so hard juggling the cars about that normally we missed this and were just glad to get enough cars back for the next day, if a part goes backorder the main dealer will eventually supply a car/hire car as a rule but not usually until 24 hrs, so ive had it where ive had a re-call with a parts backorder (BMW 4 cylinder coil packs springs to mind as one of my last) and no cars available at all. I AM NOW OUT OF THE MOTOR TRADE THANK GOD lol.

[Fox-]

I always get a loan car from my local BMW dealer if I need it and I don't pay them for insurance, either. But that said I only ask them for it if I need it and I'm often happy to walk back home, or hang around, or whatever so perhaps they don't see me as a nuisance with it.

I declined the last courtesy car at a service simply because it seemed like a waste of everyones time for me to take a car, drive it 4 miles into town, park it up and then drive back again when there was a Park and Ride opposite. In the end they offered me a lift instead which was even better!

[All that jazz]

For me personally, I would expect a (no charge) courtesy car for warranty work, but not so much for scheduled servicing, although that would be nice. To my way of thinking, if I've recently (anything from the current day right up to when the warranty expires) spent 5 figures on a new motor then it shouldn't break in that period. However, if it does break then I'm not going to be happy about it and the very least the dealer should be doing is making a lot of apology noises, handing me the keys to another car (at no cost to me) so I can continue with whatever I was doing, and generally doing whatever it takes to get mine fixed and back to me ASAP. I don't really care what the courtesy wheels are, but if I was about to embark on a 200 mile trip to London I'd have something to say if you handed me the keys to a 1L Micra and ask for something more suitable. That is of course an extreme example; I would be happy with a 1L Micra for pretty much any other situation.

The reality of it (at least with Evans Halshaw Vauxhall anyway) is one or more of the following, depending which branch you go to :

• there will be a £5 charge for insurance
• there will be a £10 charge for insurance
• there is a 12 week waiting list
• we don't provide courtesy vehicles for van owners
• the only courtesy car we have is a 1L Agila.

For servicing I always go to an indy who charges about half as much as Vx and provides a foc courtesy car without any drama. It's been a battered 1.2 Clio for the past few times, but I don't care, wheels is wheels.

[Toaster Pilot]

All that jazz said:

• we don't provide courtesy vehicles for van owners

That, for one thing, is RIDICULOUS.

Given most people who drive a van depend on it for their living, I'd expect a courtesy should said van need warranty repairs, without question! Obviously this will probably need to come from a daily hire company but why should that be a problem?

Main dealers get away with too much tbh.

[ArtVandelay]

Not a courtesy car from a dealer but one when I had my accident last year. I was instantly informed I'd be receiving "like for like" whilst my 6 series was in the garage. A phone call later and I was told I would be the proud driver of a new Mercedes S Class for the coming weeks whilst the BMW had it's work done. I was pleased with this, even though it was only a 350 IIRC

A while later I got another phone call - due to my age I couldn't get cover on an S Class (current car group 49 BTW) and I'd be offered a smaller premium car - Audi A3, VW Scirroco etc. I wasn't bothered really and thanked the gentleman on the phone.

Another short while later I received another phone call... I couldn't have those either due to my age. The S Class I could kind of understand but a decent hatchback with less than 200bhp shouldn't be difficult to get cover on surely.

In the end I was loaned a Vauxhall Insignia diesel Auto and I struggled to get over 30mpg in it

I wasn't really arsed if I'm honest, but I was gutted when I didn't get the S Class Had it not been mentioned I'd have quiet happily sat in the Insignia - although it had an awful driving position.

Hopefully come service time for the big 6 they'll give me a V8 powered car.

"I'm sorry sir the only V8 we have in at the moment is the M5"

"That'll do"

[Toaster Pilot]

"Like for like" cars during insurance claims are 99% provided by credit hire companies at £really stupid per day - a lot more than the standard hire rate.

[ArtVandelay]

Toaster Pilot said:

"Like for like" cars during insurance claims are 99% provided by credit hire companies at £really stupid per day - a lot more than the standard hire rate.

£350 per day IIRC for the S class

[Toaster Pilot]

ArtVandelay said:

£350 per day IIRC for the S class

Hmm, not quite as inflated as some, because I can see Avis Prestige etc charging that.

[ArtVandelay]

Toaster Pilot said:

Hmm, not quite as inflated as some, because I can see Avis Prestige etc charging that.

As I said, it was only a 350... like for like indeed!

I just needed a car TBH, but the VX was truly awful to drive, couldn't get comfortable at all and I'm a short arse.

[Toaster Pilot]

Vauxhall are good at making uncomfortable cars, my Astra H was horrendous and a recent Astra J rental car was terrible too (and it wasn't a boggo spec one either unlike my own Astra)

[ArtVandelay]

Toaster Pilot said:

Vauxhall are good at making uncomfortable cars, my Astra H was horrendous and a recent Astra J rental car was terrible too (and it wasn't a boggo spec one either unlike my own Astra)

I just felt too high in this, seat was at its lowest, and wheel at its highest to try and see the instruments properly but no matter what I tried I just couldn't find that sweet spot.

Same today after me mam shifted the car, I couldn't physically get into my seat as it was that far forward

[anonymous-user]

I'm glad this popped back up again after asking my own questions earlier last year. I finally needed the service last weekend and popped to my local Audi dealer for the job.

As previously stated, I was excited as I'd been told they'd try to up sell and I can see my next car being pretty much any of the range around my current car.

I had a nice coffee, served by a lovely receptionist, in lovely surroundings when the service manager called me over and told me he'd find me something nice from the board as a courtesy car. I was genuinely excited! I simply love trying different cars and my excitement showed as my girlfriend burst out laughing as she saw my face while I was craning to see what keys he was bringing.

The guy returned and exclaimed he'd got something nice for us. Then presented us with with keys to a 1.2 A3 convertible. I have never been so disappointed or looked so ungrateful! I had to apologise to the service guy after my initial reaction.

I've learned not to get my hopes up now!

And also that dealers take the nice cars home for the weekend!

[HarveyM]

THe local main dealer used to charge me £25 per day for a courtesy car when my Renault company car went in for services. At least I got to claim it back on expenses. I was appalled - where's the courtesy, after all? That wasn't a courtesy car; they were running an undercover hire car business on the side!

When I had my Ypsilon I used to take it to the local Fiat dealer and they were good. They offered courtesy cars if required, and I had a selection of small Fiats and Alfas over the years of varying specifications. I only ever had to prove my insurance covered their car, or else pay £10 for their insurance.

The Fiesta goes to the local dealer. I don't need a courtesy car as they're 5 mins walk away. What I like about their service is that they always wash the car - never had that service from a dealer before!

[Dog Star]

XDA said:

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?

Too right - I just want something to get me home.

Stratstones Mercedes in Leeds will either take me to work or give me a courtesy car. Interestingly when I asked if I could have the Smart car round the front that was painted like a cow they wouldn't let me have it - evidently they weren't allowed to give Smarts as CCs as people had complained. I can imagine the sort of up their own arse tt with a company C klass that goes to Merc complaining that they only got a Smart.

I was once in there and there was this chinless prissy tt getting a lift into work - why was he in there dropping his car off? Because his car hadn't had it's "mini valet" when previously in for it's service. Bone idle, whinging sod - all that faffing around cos he is too idle or "important" to give his own car a wash and vac I'm just glad I don't work in a customer facing job. I'd descend into stabbage fairly swiftly.