Does your dealership offer you a loaner car?

[mackdaddie12]

My question is: does your dealership offer you a courtesy loaner car when you bring it in for any type of service??

Here's why I ask...

With my MO, the other week, my service engine light came on. "No problem," I thought. My MO is pretty new so I'm sure it's covered under warranty. I'll just drop it off, get a loaner car, and head to work with no time lost.

Imagine my surprise when the Nissan dealership said they don't offer loaner cars!! Because of this unexpected news, I couldn't drop my car off that day and miss work to wait for my car to get fixed. I asked them, "so you're going to make me assume the risk of my car breaking down because of a manufacturer's flaw instead of giving me a courtesy loaner car?" Their reply was "yeah, pretty much." And they simply gave me directions to a rental car place. WTF?!

Okay, so maybe I'm spoiled because my last car before my MO was a Lexus IS 300. Everytime I had to take in my Lex for any reason, whether it was routine maintenance or not, every Lexus dealership I went to always gave me a loaner car for free. No questions asked! I guess that's why Lexus is Lexus and Nissan is Nissan.

[hfelknor]

"I guess that's why Lexus is Lexus and Nissan is Nissan."

This is true. You paid for your loaner when you bought the Lexus.

Homer

[HuskyFan]

When I bought my car the dealer gave me a card which entitles me to a loaner car, but I believe I must call ahead to make an appontment and reserve the car. The dealer also has a shuttle service which will drive me where I need to go within reason. I did not buy the extended warranty.

[Dethpickle]

I just brought mine in for the SES light - (0420).

Since I had already pulled the code (thanks y'all), I told them what was wrong and we established it was under warranty. At that point they would NOT offer me a loaner.

But after some checking, the lady noticed I hadn't had my alternator switched out yet for the recall. THAT warranted a loaner. Good thing too, since it took them 4 days to get one in.

And now I know... don't buy the Armada, Dave. You don't like it. It's like a truck, but more craptacular.

Dave.

[andy]

i bought extended warranty with my MO.
the dealer told me that every time the car is in for any service covered by that extra warranty, i can get a loaner for free. and they do offer me one.

[SugarRushMurano]

Nissan standard warranty does not cover loaner cars.
The extended warranty does!

I dont need the 'loaner car 'overage during mechanical breakdown... because i have my other vehicle . The thought of having a loaner (and all its liability) make no justification. I just drive my other car. That is why i dont ask for the extended warranty and never ask for a loaner form my dealership. They do have shuttle though. So if i need a rid eback to my home/office, that will do.

[mozman]

I agree with hfelknor, you're paying for the loaner car when you buy at Lexus prices and the higher priced service costs.

With Nissan and probably any other non-luxury brand car, loaner cars come with major service work or is dependent on the dealerships service shop. They only keep a limited number of loaner cars on hand. My Lexus dealer has a ton of loaner cars.... ok not that many... but when my wife brought in the RX300 for service recently they ran out of Lexus loaners and gave her a Lincoln LS instead.

[nissanlove]

our dealership offers loaner cars, you just have to call ahead and book one. we don't have extended warranty. somtimes we get lucky and get a 3.5 altima. those are fun haha.

[Eric L.]

Technically Nissan owes you a loaner only if you purchased the extended warranty. None of the dealers Nissan dealers I've been to offer loaners. In fact, my current dealer gave me an excuse line about how customers trash their loaners so they can no longer offer them.

[dmako]

Yes twice, but... it's through enterprise so I had to wait for them to pick me up, drive me to the car, sign paper work, return car (filled with gas) to Enterprise, sign papers, have them drive me back to dealership.

Too much hassle when the car was in just for a day.

[special-k]

I *did* purchase the extended warranty and my dealership still does not offer me a loaner. The best they'll do is drive me down to the rental place where I have to wait in line and put the deposit on my own credit card to use thier car -- and that's only if the dealership needs to keep the MO overnight for repairs. *sigh*

[HuskyFan]

Originally posted by nissanlove
our dealership offers loaner cars, you just have to call ahead and book one. we don't have extended warranty. somtimes we get lucky and get a 3.5 altima. those are fun haha.

My dealer also offers loan cars when you buy the car from them. Sometimes finding the best price at another dealer isn't as convient in the long run. Finding a dealer who goes out of his way to offer good service along with fair pricing is worth considering.

[GripperDon]

Originally posted by special-k
I *did* purchase the extended warranty and my dealership still does not offer me a loaner. The best they'll do is drive me down to the rental place where I have to wait in line and put the deposit on my own credit card to use thier car -- and that's only if the dealership needs to keep the MO overnight for repairs. *sigh*

Ditto G

[mozman]

I do get loaners at my dealership.... BUT, they give it to you with just about an empty tank of gas (the needle is just next to the empty line).

I complained once and they said they do that because they used to give a full tank of gas, but customers bring the cars back empty. This has been going on for like 4-5 months, so they couldn't use gas prices as an excuse.

So my last loaner I had it for 24hours and commuted with it. Refusing to pay for any gas, my eyes kept drifting to the fuel guage every other minute... nervously I made it back to the dealership.

[Jim C]

Wow! I guess I'm REALLY lucky with my dealer service. I did NOT buy from the sales division of my current dealer service department. Long story short, they were dicking me around on whether they had the vehicle I wanted. But, since the dealer location is extremely convenient to me, I went to them for a service issue (MIL illumination). They ended up needing to do an evap emission test and when they did, I got a free loaner car. When I had my alternator replaced and it took them an extra day, they also gave me a free loaner car for the second day. My understanding from them is if service takes more than a day, I get a loaner car - and that doesn't involve sitting at an Enterprise counter. They do the paperwork right there. Because of how I've been treated, I am very happy taking my Murano to them.