Main Dealer - courtesy vehicles
Discussion
I don't go into a dealer often enough to want a courtesy car! Mine's in there once every 9 - 12 months, they're a mile away and I walk back
When I had BMW's the dealer was 15 miles away, and I'd usually have a 2-3 week wait for a courtesy car so they could allocate me something, which was a 118 or 120d
Didnt mind really if they'd have given me anything reasonably new and unlikely to break down
When I had BMW's the dealer was 15 miles away, and I'd usually have a 2-3 week wait for a courtesy car so they could allocate me something, which was a 118 or 120d
Didnt mind really if they'd have given me anything reasonably new and unlikely to break down
insanojackson said:
but warranty work costs nothing my friend.
That's not exactly true. Warranty work costs the customer nothing, but the dealer doesn't do the work for love, they charge the manufacturer for the repairAs for having to pay for a loan car, this is something that has been covered many times before, and no doubt will be covered over and over again as well, but the answer is still the same.
The costs you pay for insurance are to reduce the excess should something go wrong, and you prang the car. Dealers generally have an insurance excess that is in the thousands, not the avaerage £250 or so that the average private owner pays - Which would you rather pay?
Try phoning your insurance company and asking for a quote on several hundred thousand pounds worth of cars, with a policy that covers anyone that might want to drive one, regardless of age or experience, and then tell them that you'll also have 5 technicians driving 30 or 40 cars a day that aren't actually owned by you, but by a customer. I'd guess that they won't be quoting £1000 with a compulsory excess of £300
Courtesy cars be a strange thing, when I had an Audi they'd always give the me the worst car possible - my neighbour had one too and his loan cars were all significantly better than mine, that was his comment not mine. But then I never sucked up to them, and to be fair wheels is wheels so I cant complain.
BMW now, went once and my loan car was a 730d, it was printed on my sheet/invoice thing and as soon as the servie advisor looked at me he crossed it out and gave me a compact. It was a nice compact to be fair. But I didnt like his attitude. Same dealership the last time had 2 courtesy cars parked out front, one was an expensive funky 1 series, one was a crap one. The service manager was sat next to my service advisor person and I noticed him get up, go to some room behind, go and move the funky car round the back and then return to his seat. I got the crappy one! Anyway then the work to my car overran and I had this loan car for like 6 days, I ever rang them up on day 4 and asked of they wanted it back cos I didn't need it over the weekend (my car was due back on Monday) and I was told no thats fine don't worry. Then they didn't charge me the £15 daily thing AND put £20 of fuel in my car.
Cannot work them out, very courteous in some ways, rude in others.
BMW now, went once and my loan car was a 730d, it was printed on my sheet/invoice thing and as soon as the servie advisor looked at me he crossed it out and gave me a compact. It was a nice compact to be fair. But I didnt like his attitude. Same dealership the last time had 2 courtesy cars parked out front, one was an expensive funky 1 series, one was a crap one. The service manager was sat next to my service advisor person and I noticed him get up, go to some room behind, go and move the funky car round the back and then return to his seat. I got the crappy one! Anyway then the work to my car overran and I had this loan car for like 6 days, I ever rang them up on day 4 and asked of they wanted it back cos I didn't need it over the weekend (my car was due back on Monday) and I was told no thats fine don't worry. Then they didn't charge me the £15 daily thing AND put £20 of fuel in my car.
Cannot work them out, very courteous in some ways, rude in others.
My local independent Alfa Romeo specialist is great.
They've got a couple of Alfa 156s they keep as courtesy cars. No paperwork, no charges, no fuss. They just chuck you the keys. The cars are always on fumes.. So that's how they assume the'll be given back.
First time I took my car there, I didn't even know CCs were on offer. As I walked out, the girl shouted 'You forgot these keys!'
I dropped my car in one morning without booking (when the clutch went). Both their CCs were out. Fair enough, I hadn't booked.
The girl at reception said 'We don't normally give this car out because it's a bit well worn' The 106 Diesel I was given was a bit ratty & the door didn't lock. 'Sorry about that, but don't worry if it gets stolen, we got it 3 years ago for £75 so no problem if it disappears.
Did the job fine.
Cheapest ever Manchester to Leeds commute for the next couple of days too. Much better than the train!
They've got a couple of Alfa 156s they keep as courtesy cars. No paperwork, no charges, no fuss. They just chuck you the keys. The cars are always on fumes.. So that's how they assume the'll be given back.
First time I took my car there, I didn't even know CCs were on offer. As I walked out, the girl shouted 'You forgot these keys!'
I dropped my car in one morning without booking (when the clutch went). Both their CCs were out. Fair enough, I hadn't booked.
The girl at reception said 'We don't normally give this car out because it's a bit well worn' The 106 Diesel I was given was a bit ratty & the door didn't lock. 'Sorry about that, but don't worry if it gets stolen, we got it 3 years ago for £75 so no problem if it disappears.
Did the job fine.
Cheapest ever Manchester to Leeds commute for the next couple of days too. Much better than the train!
Its to cover insurance as said, seems reasonable to me.
Waugh-terfall said:
In the past we've had Audi A2 and some A4s, recently, given in a 1.8T A6 (since we got the current one -A6 2.4 SE- in 06):
06 A4 2.0T Multi-tronic
07 A4 2.0TDI SE
08 A6 2.7TDI SE
59 A6 Avant 2.0TDI S-Line LeMans Edition (fully loaded)
All Free
Lucky, last time I was at Audi they had a notice in the waiting area saying courtesy cars are charged an admin fee of about £10 per day.06 A4 2.0T Multi-tronic
07 A4 2.0TDI SE
08 A6 2.7TDI SE
59 A6 Avant 2.0TDI S-Line LeMans Edition (fully loaded)
All Free
Edited by Waugh-terfall on Monday 14th March 12:14
va1o said:
Its to cover insurance as said, seems reasonable to me.
Ouch, just before Christmas we had a very nice, highly specced A1 S-Line TDI for two months whilst they faffed about with our A6 for 34hrs...Waugh-terfall said:
In the past we've had Audi A2 and some A4s, recently, given in a 1.8T A6 (since we got the current one -A6 2.4 SE- in 06):
06 A4 2.0T Multi-tronic
07 A4 2.0TDI SE
08 A6 2.7TDI SE
59 A6 Avant 2.0TDI S-Line LeMans Edition (fully loaded)
All Free
Lucky, last time I was at Audi they had a notice in the waiting area saying courtesy cars are charged an admin fee of about £10 per day.06 A4 2.0T Multi-tronic
07 A4 2.0TDI SE
08 A6 2.7TDI SE
59 A6 Avant 2.0TDI S-Line LeMans Edition (fully loaded)
All Free
Edited by Waugh-terfall on Monday 14th March 12:14
ETA: Just remembered, last month my mate bought a 'Cherished' MINI, it developed a small fault on the way home, dealer came to pick it up and dropped off a brand spankers One D with 30mi on the clock, handover sheet suggested he needed to be 21, (he's 20, dealer knows this), but that signature box was left empty. Bought the Cooper back with petrol topped up and wasn't fussed that the Diesel was now on empty.
Edited by Waugh-terfall on Tuesday 28th February 13:26
Matt_N said:
Honda want £20 per day for a couresy car according to the latest bit of blurb they sent me the other day, offering me an oil change and quick check over for £150!
SAAB can beat that. Wrote to me last year offering "Special discounted servicing deals".A "full service" was £570+
an intermin service (oil and filter, their words) was £240+
No car included as I was only 23
va1o said:
Waugh-terfall said:
Ouch, just before Christmas we had a very nice, highly specced A1 S-Line TDI for two months whilst they faffed about with our A6 for 34hrs...
Looks great! Almost bought a Sport TFSI in that colour (Scuba Blue) a couple of weeks ago as it happens 
Waugh-terfall said:
Why didn't you?! - Only gripe was the lack of Nav (still had the upgraded tech pack flip up screen thing) and the fact that the electric mirrors wouldn't fold when it was locked. Still. 2,000mi in a 70mpg A1 TDI > 2,000mi in a 26/28mpg A6 V6.
It was one of the launch ones and had been used as a loan car for just over a year wasn't in the best of condition, so didn't really justify the price asked.The MMI screen comes as standard in UK and nav can be added on via an SD card if it has the connectivity pack. Mirrors are same as the Ibiza need to fold them manually inside, seems a bit pointless think its a restriction on the electrics. Overall though I reckon its the best small car on the market at the moment, practicality aside
VeeFour said:
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.
How the hell does the guy even break even for £250? Must be charging about 7 quid an hour labour.
va1o said:
It was one of the launch ones and had been used as a loan car for just over a year wasn't in the best of condition, so didn't really justify the price asked.
The MMI screen comes as standard in UK and nav can be added on via an SD card if it has the connectivity pack. Mirrors are same as the Ibiza need to fold them manually inside, seems a bit pointless think its a restriction on the electrics. Overall though I reckon its the best small car on the market at the moment, practicality aside
Aaah, that's handy to know. I think the only things it didn't have were Heated Seats, Climate and Bi-Xenons/LEDs.The MMI screen comes as standard in UK and nav can be added on via an SD card if it has the connectivity pack. Mirrors are same as the Ibiza need to fold them manually inside, seems a bit pointless think its a restriction on the electrics. Overall though I reckon its the best small car on the market at the moment, practicality aside
Odd about the mirrors, the rest of the pack seem to fold on lock.
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