[RJJJ]

Hi guys, I will go to the dealership to fix a broken AC system. If it takes more than a day, can I get a loaner vehicle? Is it free? My car was purchased this year so is loaner under warranty?

[sygazelle]

Congratulations on your new X6. Awesome car.

I'm in SF Bay Area and my dealer offers loaners on an as-available basis. I schedule service when a loaner is available and I've always gotten one for free, regardless of how many days it takes.

[RJJJ]

Originally Posted by sygazelle

Congratulations on your new X6. Awesome car.

I'm in SF Bay Area and my dealer offers loaners on an as-available basis. I schedule service when a loaner is available and I've always gotten one for free, regardless of how many days it takes.

So if there is no loaner available, do you offer car rental as well? Thanks

[Pictor]

I've never paid for a loaner but then again this (I think) it varies from dealer-to-dealer. I would call ahead and request one because if you didn't ask for one ahead of time they'll likely tell you that a loaner isn't available. In that case, they may offer you a shuttle ride or point you to the waiting area. This has been my experience with multiple dealers but you mileage may vary.

[wdlv]

As the other two members mentioned, I have never been billed for a loaner. The only issue that has arised is availability of a loaner. If possible schedule your visit for when a vehicle is available.

Good luck and congrats on your new vehicle

[sygazelle]

Originally Posted by RJJJ

So if there is no loaner available, do you offer car rental as well? Thanks

I think they do, but I've never had to use it. So, I don't know if you have to pay for the rental car or not.

I would ask your Service Advisor for a loaner as if its expected and see what he or she says. Something like, "I'd like to bring it in when you have a free loaner available for me. I'm really busy and I can't do without a vehicle while by X6 is getting fixed."

Good luck!

[thereef510]

what's your experience with a dealer you didn't buy from? I got a better deal from an out of state dealer but I will be servicing my car with the local dealer. I assume I'm SOL because why would they give me a loaner right?

[sygazelle]

Originally Posted by thereef510

what's your experience with a dealer you didn't buy from? I got a better deal from an out of state dealer but I will be servicing my car with the local dealer. I assume I'm SOL because why would they give me a loaner right?

I'd bet it depends on if there are other BMW dealers in your area or not. The dealer makes money on maintenance and warranty repairs. I'm guessing they would rather give you a loaner than have you take your BMW across town. I've got 3 dealers withing 25 miles. I bought my car at the dealer who gave me the best deal. I get my car serviced at the one that is closest. They are happy to give me a loaner.

[Marty in NY]

Originally Posted by RJJJ

Hi guys, I will go to the dealership to fix a broken AC system. If it takes more than a day, can I get a loaner vehicle? Is it free? My car was purchased this year so is loaner under warranty?

Dealerships are independent from BMW and individually owned. I have had varying experiences with loaners at different dealerships. I have never purchased a BMW at my local dealership and they never give me a loaner because of that.
However, I have had service done at several other BMW dealerships and they have given me loaners. They never charged me, some take your credit card in case you wreck or damage their loaner and some just hand me the keys.
Like others have said, if I know they will have my car a while, I schedule my appt for when a loaner is available but have also just spontaneously asked for one and got it.

[VTENGR]

Honestly - I would be absolutely shocked if BMW didn't give you a complimentary loaner. I've driven Acuras, Lexus, Mercedes and Now BMW and all of the dealers before BMW offered loaners - even if dropping the car off for an oil change. It's definitely something I would expect from a luxury car brand - I just assumed all dealerships would operate this way.

Even though each dealer is independently owned, BMW NA wants to maintain a minimum standard. I believe they offer incentives for dealers to have loaner fleets so there really wouldn't be a reason for a dealer not to have loaners, not that I can think of at least.

WRT to Marty - that's a shame you're get lesser service from your dealer because you bought elsewhere. I wonder if they treat people who just moved into the area the same? I moved from DC to Atlanta, owning an Acura, and the dealer down in Atlanta treated me like gold - really reinforced the brand in my eyes. My wife drove a Lexus and we lived in town - I would drop the car off on my way to work to get serviced so I would go to the dealer closer to work - they never batted an eye at the fact that we bought the Lexus elsewhere. My Mercedes was bought used, again, the MB dealer I would service the car and treated me like everyone else.

[thereef510]

Originally Posted by sygazelle

I'd bet it depends on if there are other BMW dealers in your area or not. The dealer makes money on maintenance and warranty repairs. I'm guessing they would rather give you a loaner than have you take your BMW across town. I've got 3 dealers withing 25 miles. I bought my car at the dealer who gave me the best deal. I get my car serviced at the one that is closest. They are happy to give me a loaner.

lol there's only one dealer in my city. There's a crackling sound coming from one of my speakers, I'm pretty sure it needs to be replaced, I'm gonna go in and ask them if they'll give me a car because idk how many days it'll take to replace it but I'm all but sure they'll say no. Last time I tried to get an oil change on the car we bought FROM THEM they refused to give me a loaner saying it's only for work that takes longer than 4 hours, which it ended up taking 6 hours but they still didn't give me a car at the onset. my local dealer used to be great but now they're awful

[plutnicki]

So weird to hear all these experiences from people around the country. I've bought all my BMWs from the same dealership. Get service done there too. Every time, warranty or no warranty work, I've gotten loaners. 1 or 2 times they've gotten me a rental from Enterprise instead of a BMW when they ran out of BMWs. The sales manager told me if that ever happens again to come see him and he'll put me in a car... I've never exercised that though.

I get good deals, but not some of the insane deals I've seen people get here on the forums. But they're fair, and the customer service is top notch so I have no complaints...

[karateboi87]

I've never gotten a loaner in Chicago area but at the same time I've never had any work done that required the car to be there over night.

[sygazelle]

Originally Posted by thereef510

lol there's only one dealer in my city. There's a crackling sound coming from one of my speakers, I'm pretty sure it needs to be replaced, I'm gonna go in and ask them if they'll give me a car because idk how many days it'll take to replace it but I'm all but sure they'll say no. Last time I tried to get an oil change on the car we bought FROM THEM they refused to give me a loaner saying it's only for work that takes longer than 4 hours, which it ended up taking 6 hours but they still didn't give me a car at the onset. my local dealer used to be great but now they're awful

On the good side, you are not surrounded by 7 million of your closest friends like we are in the SF Bay Area. We have several BMW dealers but it comes with a price. I love it here but living in a place with less population has its appeal, even if it means you have to pay for a rental once in awhile.

[puckybadger]

Originally Posted by plutnicki

So weird to hear all these experiences from people around the country. I've bought all my BMWs from the same dealership. Get service done there too. Every time, warranty or no warranty work, I've gotten loaners. 1 or 2 times they've gotten me a rental from Enterprise instead of a BMW when they ran out of BMWs. The sales manager told me if that ever happens again to come see him and he'll put me in a car... I've never exercised that though.

I get good deals, but not some of the insane deals I've seen people get here on the forums. But they're fair, and the customer service is top notch so I have no complaints...

That is known as keeping a good customer for life. They know you don't have to have the last nickel on every deal. Is an extra $500 really that important on a $90K+ vehicle vs being treated like you own the place? Didn't think so. As for some of the "insane" deals some have reported, I'm not so sure about that.

[thereef510]

Originally Posted by puckybadger

That is known as keeping a good customer for life. They know you don't have to have the last nickel on every deal. Is an extra $500 really that important on a $90K+ vehicle vs being treated like you own the place? Didn't think so. As for some of the "insane" deals some have reported, I'm not so sure about that.

not only did my local dealership lowball me on this latest lease/trade we were trying to get. we even went ot them first out of loyalty. AND when we tried to service our F15 which we bought from them, under warranty, they tried to say they no longer give out loaners. So please stop acting like just buying from your local dealer without getting an 'insane' discount means that you get your run of the place, we sure didn't. so why should I continue to do business with them?

[Leotno]

My local dealer takes a deposit before they give you a loaner.

[dream54ing]

As mentioned depends on the dealership. Our dealership in Arizona usually have a few hundred loaners available at a $20 flat fee, which includes windshield insurance and no need to fill gas when returning. most vehicles are either new or with less than 1k miles.

[sygazelle]

Originally Posted by puckybadger

That is known as keeping a good customer for life. They know you don't have to have the last nickel on every deal. Is an extra $500 really that important on a $90K+ vehicle vs being treated like you own the place? Didn't think so. As for some of the "insane" deals some have reported, I'm not so sure about that.

Car buying and dealer interactions are different now than before the Internet. Car buyers have choices. The reality is the whole dealer MO is to extract ever dollar they can out of their customers. They are there to make money and there is nothing wrong with that. A way to even the playing field is to research and find out the real price by learning what deals dealers in a given region are giving.

Regarding how the dealer treats the customer, I've bought a lot of cars over the years and I don't have any personal experience that suggests that paying too much for a car buys you any different treatment after the sale. What does get you better treatment after the sale is treating the staff at the dealership with respect and be reasonable with them. I try to use that approach and my experiences with my dealer have been 10 out of 10.

Regarding insane deals, your comment hints that some of these deals posted by forum members are not true. Certainly that is possible in some cases. In my case, 14 months ago, I got 6% off MSRP plus all the other available discounts based on info learned on this forum. I email my SA the the exact build I wanted and the price I was willing to pay (6% off MSRP), and in the email I told him I would prefer to buy from him but if his dealer couldn't agree to that price, I would shop around. He sent me an email back the next day and agreed to my price without any attempt to negotiate the price upward. As a result, my wife got a great car at the right price.

[Marty in NY]

Originally Posted by VTENGR

WRT to Marty - that's a shame you're get lesser service from your dealer because you bought elsewhere. I wonder if they treat people who just moved into the area the same? I moved from DC to Atlanta, owning an Acura, and the dealer down in Atlanta treated me like gold - really reinforced the brand in my eyes. My wife drove a Lexus and we lived in town - I would drop the car off on my way to work to get serviced so I would go to the dealer closer to work - they never batted an eye at the fact that we bought the Lexus elsewhere. My Mercedes was bought used, again, the MB dealer I would service the car and treated me like everyone else.

Yeah VTENGR, my local dealer sucks, they always have. They replaced two drive shafts on my X3 and ignored me asking them to just put a diff set of wheels on and see if the vibration goes away. Finally when they were out of ideas and two drive shafts later they put another set of wheels on and road tested the car and the vibration was totally gone. Well, I got two new driveshafts out of it Then I asked them to stop the windshield washer tank from leaking when it was full, that took three visits before they could figure it out. I never get a loaner, not even a chance to pay for one, nothing, nope, you have to buy the car there in order to get a loaner yet each time I try to buy from them, they end up being among the highest price.

[puckybadger]

Originally Posted by sygazelle

Car buying and dealer interactions are different now than before the Internet. Car buyers have choices. The reality is the whole dealer MO is to extract ever dollar they can out of their customers. They are there to make money and there is nothing wrong with that. A way to even the playing field is to research and find out the real price by learning what deals dealers in a given region are giving.

Regarding how the dealer treats the customer, I've bought a lot of cars over the years and I don't have any personal experience that suggests that paying too much for a car buys you any different treatment after the sale. What does get you better treatment after the sale is treating the staff at the dealership with respect and be reasonable with them. I try to use that approach and my experiences with my dealer have been 10 out of 10.

Regarding insane deals, your comment hints that some of these deals posted by forum members are not true. Certainly that is possible in some cases. In my case, 14 months ago, I got 6% off MSRP plus all the other available discounts based on info learned on this forum. I email my SA the the exact build I wanted and the price I was willing to pay (6% off MSRP), and in the email I told him I would prefer to buy from him but if his dealer couldn't agree to that price, I would shop around. He sent me an email back the next day and agreed to my price without any attempt to negotiate the price upward. As a result, my wife got a great car at the right price.

Totally agree! It cost nothing to be nice.
I also got 6% of MSRP, no dealer fees plus all incentives. It's those 9%-10% off MSRP that I am questioning. Here in Milwaukee we have 2 dealers but I also called 5 Chicagoland area dealers, spoke with the internet sales person and found out that 6% was it so of course I stayed local

[chrisny]

I think most dealers do this right, just not all. I've found less and less care if you bought the car there, that's an old way of thinking. As others said, they make money off service, and the loaners are called "courtesy" vehicles for a reason. I don't think most service departments want to turn away business.

Used to be loaners topped out at 3's, maybe 5's. So even if you brought your 100k 7 series in, you were getting a base engine 5. Even that has gotten more generous, as now I see X7's and 7's out there. They try to give you something at least in the same class. I usually prefer to try out other cars just for fun. It's actually smarter from a sales perspective for them to have quality loaners. I bought a 550 after extensive "test drives" in a 535 loaner, when I had a 335 at the time. Wasn't unhappy with the 335, but the loaner piqued my interest.

Again, not all do this. But appointments are definitely helpful and the pickup/delivery service they have now is another added piece compared to say, 20 years ago.