Dealer service courtesy car

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Nate001

628 posts

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#288763 21-Jul-2021 19:47

Went to book my annual VW service today, this year the dealer has started charging a $25 "admin + insurance" fee for their courtesy cars. In all my previous experiences its been included free whenever I've requested a loan car, even this time last year it was free at same dealer.

There are two ways of looking at it:

a) $25 is fair as they need to maintain cars, clean and petrol is included.

b) $25 is petty as you're spending >$350 on a service and they should not charge it.

Whats people's experience? is this a new thing beginning to creep in?

(Car is still within warranty period so I need to get it serviced with dealership)

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3873 posts

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#2747830 21-Jul-2021 20:05

No, you don't "need" to get it serviced at the dealer to preserve the warranty, you just need to be able to prove that the dealers service and maintenance plan was adhered to and that the approved parts were used. Not having it serviced at the dealer does introduce an additional argument that you will need to be prepared for in the event of an issue (i.e. you need to have records that prove the work followed the manufacturers recommendations)

On the other point, I agree it seems a little petty given the prices being paid for as service. I have not come across this before at least with Ford, Kia, or Hyundai dealerships.

They could build it into the cost of a service, but then it penalises customers who don't want this service. The other way of looking at it is that they are being transparent and only those that use the service are paying for it.

Lazy is such an ugly word, I prefer to call it selective participation

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eracode

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#2747874 21-Jul-2021 21:26

Unlike many/most other brands (and at least the other Euro brands) VW no longer include a ‘service plan’ in the price of a new car. You have to pay for the servicing but they give you the option of a three-year service plan for about $1,500 when buying the car.

Sometimes I just sit and think. Other times I just sit.

tchart

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#2747916 22-Jul-2021 07:47

It's not new - well mostly...

Our past three vehicles (all new purchases BTW) were from Honda, Kia and Suzuki. Always had them dealer serviced and the dealer's have never ever offered free courtesy cars. This is standard practice AFAIK. This goes back 15 or so years.

Our latest car is a LDV Ute. They always give us a free courtesy car - usually an ex-demo so not some beat up thing. After my other experiences I love the fact that they do this.

Batman

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#2747921 22-Jul-2021 07:51

eracode:
Unlike many/most other brands (and at least the other Euro brands) VW no longer include a ‘service plan’ in the price of a new car. You have to pay for the servicing but they give you the option of a three-year service plan for about $1,500 when buying the car.

I don't like these plans. You never know what rubbish you get when you buy a discounted service plan. Be it dental or haircut, house maintenance or car service.

I swear when i record what they do, they don't do anything useful when I buy these plans.

trig42

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#2747968 22-Jul-2021 08:42

tchart: It's not new - well mostly...

Our past three vehicles (all new purchases BTW) were from Honda, Kia and Suzuki. Always had them dealer serviced and the dealer's have never ever offered free courtesy cars. This is standard practice AFAIK. This goes back 15 or so years.

Our latest car is a LDV Ute. They always give us a free courtesy car - usually an ex-demo so not some beat up thing. After my other experiences I love the fact that they do this.

I've got a Kia, and I've always had a 'free' courtesy car when I get a service.

Got one booked for next week (first service I have to pay for from them) and I'm getting a courtesy car. No charge (apart from the $100 or so extra I'm paying for the service to keep the warranty happy).

Bung

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#2747973 22-Jul-2021 08:51

Batman: >I don't like these plans. You never know what rubbish you get when you buy a discounted service plan. Be it dental or haircut, house maintenance or car service.

I swear when i record what they do, they don't do anything useful when I buy these plans.

How do you know what they do when they do any servicing? In the case of our car the invoice is made up by the front desk from the work sheet done by the mechanic that did the job. From what I've seen of these work sheets they contain a lot more than gets transferred to the invoice.

I must admit that I usually mark things that are replaceable when I'm checking the car so I'll know that they really have been changed.

Tockly

345 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2747983 22-Jul-2021 09:06

I have a VW also and have never had to pay for the loaner car. In fact the dealer I use just books one for me without me even asking.

Normally the deal with the loaner is just replace any fuel you have used, which I think is fair enough.

As for the service plans, I've had one on the last three VW's I have owned and it's great. When you add up the costs of the services up to 100,000kms or three years which ever come first, they normally cost a lot more than the plan. Money well spent in my eyes. The VW ones are not via a third party they are VW plans and from my experience they are very through and normally find other little issues that are resolved under the warranty.

eracode

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#2747987 22-Jul-2021 09:14

tchart: It's not new - well mostly...

Our past three vehicles (all new purchases BTW) were from Honda, Kia and Suzuki. Always had them dealer serviced and the dealer's have never ever offered free courtesy cars. This is standard practice AFAIK. This goes back 15 or so years.

Our latest car is a LDV Ute. They always give us a free courtesy car - usually an ex-demo so not some beat up thing. After my other experiences I love the fact that they do this.

The Euro brands all offer a free loan car when your car is being serviced - but you certainly end up indirectly paying for that somehow. Often you have to arrange the loan car in advance, when making the service booking, because they don't have enough loan cars to cover everyone on any given day.

Sometimes I just sit and think. Other times I just sit.

shk292

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#2748000 22-Jul-2021 09:58

Tristram VW have been charging for loan cars for at least a year in my experience, and I agree this seems petty given it cost me north of $900 to have rear discs and pads changed recently. To their credit they didn’t charge me for the car during the two repeat visits when they couldn’t fix a problem the first time.
I’m happy to say I’ve now sold the last VW I’ll ever own…

tchart

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#2748026 22-Jul-2021 10:25

eracode:

The Euro brands USED TO all offer a free loan car when your car is being serviced

There, fixed that for you :D

Maybe its the sign of the times or seems to vary depending on what dealership it is.

I guess if you are servicing 20+ vehicles a day, that would mean you need 20+ courtesy cars. Which for a Euro brand that probably means a load of euro car $$$ sitting around.

Brendanfoot in Wellington have never offered free courtesy cars in the past 10 years of dealing with them - our past two cars were from them (Kia/Suzuki).

networkn

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#2748027 22-Jul-2021 10:31

My Euro dealer charges nothing for a car, but they have limited cars, so you need to get serviced on a day they have a car available, which can mean a week or more wait. If I was to have a mechanical issue that required immediate attention they have a pool of cars for that.

I've not been charged for that, but neither would I expect to be, seeing as my car included servicing for 5 years.

wlgspotter

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#2748030 22-Jul-2021 10:40

I too have never have to pay for a courtesy car for all the cars I've owned, and I've owned a Toyota (used import tho), a Mitsubishi and 2x Hondas. However as @eracode alluded to I have to request it in advance, at the time of booking the service. In fact one time I've had to pick a service date to fit in when the courtesy car is available at the dealerships.

Having said that, I've only had to request a courtesy car when we moved up to Auckland (with Honda). When we were living in Welly I didn't have to request for a courtesy car as the dealerships are all in the City and within walking distance from the office, and as I don't need to use the car during the day, I simply drop the car off at the dealer in the morning, then walk to work. Will walk back to dealership in the afternoon to pick up the car before heading home. I must say though on a few occasions Honda Cars Wellington did ask if I need a ride to work etc when dropping off my car in the morning.

Would be interesting to see Honda Cars East Tamaki will charge for a courtesy car when I next book it in for service, which is not due until end Oct.

Edit: Fixed some typos/grammar

Obraik

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#2748032 22-Jul-2021 10:51

Tesla has a few loan cars (I've seen a Model X, S and a 3) in Auckland but they're usually booked out a few weeks in advance so if you need a car you have to wait until one is free. Otherwise, they will give out Uber vouchers, enough to get you to where you're going and then back to the service centre. In Christchurch they don't have any loan cars currently so Uber is the only option.

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riztricted

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#2748033 22-Jul-2021 10:51

wlgspotter:
I too have never have to pay for a courtesy car for all the cars I've owned, and I've owned a Toyota (used import tho), a Mitsubishi and 2x Hondas. However as @eracode alluded to I have to request it in advance, at the time of booking the service. In fact one time I've had to pick a service date to fit in when the courtesy car is available at the dealerships.

Having said that, I've only had to request a courtesy car when we moved up to Auckland (with Honda). When we were living in Welly I didn't have to request for a courtesy car as the dealerships are all in the City and within walking distance from the office, and as I don't need to use the car during the day, I simply drop the car off at the dealer in the morning, then walk to work. Will walk back to dealership in the afternoon to pick up the car before heading home. I must say though on a few occasions Honda Cars Wellington did ask if I need a ride to work etc when dropping off my car in the morning.

Would be interesting to see Honda Cars East Tamaki will charge for a courtesy car when I next book it in for service, which is not due until end Oct.

Edit: Fixed some typos/grammar

I booked a service at Honda East Tamaki for August. They do not charge for loan car.
Just need to book 2-3 weeks in advance.

Also if you have a great relationship with sales person who can arrange current model as test drive / loan car for 2-3 hours it takes to service.

Bung

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#2748036 22-Jul-2021 11:02

tchart:
Brendanfoot in Wellington have never offered free courtesy cars in the past 10 years of dealing with them - our past two cars were from them (Kia/Suzuki).

Apparently their daytime option is a rental @$57.50. You can get a courtesy car with the overnight option at the L Hutt branch. L Hutt also have express option.

I usually use Wgtn branch but tell them not to bother with anything cosmetic. I can do the cleaning and the less movement around a congested dealer yard, the less chance of scratching (yes BF I did notice).

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