All of our previous cars over the years (BMW, Ford, Lincoln, Mazda, Subaru) had loaners readily available, whether it be a rental car agency at the dealership that could provide a free car or just an inventory of loaners on hand when the car was in for warranty service or for a recall. It wasn’t until I got my current car (Jeep Wrangler 4xe) that I realized that not all manufacturers/dealers regularly provide loaner cars. I’ve found that 3 of the nearest Jeep dealers do not offer loaners of any sort. One offered me a free Uber ride home, the others just said no and that it’s not a Jeep policy to give free loaners. Apparently Jeep Wave does sometimes reimburse for 1-2 days of a rental car, but apparently you have to fight them for it. Doesn’t help me much when the Jeep has multiple recalls on it right now, one of which takes 3 days to fix (HV battery) and the other warranty may ground my Jeep for a few months (dashboard glass replacement).
So just curious - is this a brand specific thing? or do my local Jeep dealers just kinda suck?
It’s more dealer specific than brand specific, but obviously, the higher-status of the brand, the higher the level of service should be, in theory, in a perfect world.
Also depends on whether you bought from them I think. When I had my eqs serviced at a local dealership which I didn’t buy from, they didn’t want to give me any rental cars. Only gave a cheap ass EQB after i begged really hard.
Someone told me the story that his relative works the counter for Enterprise at BMW Beverly Hills, I would never want that job. Last time I asked about a loaner at local BMW dealership, they mentioned a waitlist but they were always quick with uber pickup and drop-off.
My local jeep dealer does it but you’ll need to book far in advance which usually doesn’t work for an immediate repair need. So yeah very dealer specific. Also if a repair has gone sideways with delays good service departments or advisors can try to get you into something even if it’s with Enterprise. Was talking to someone yesterday who said at their previous BMW dealer the loaner fleet was 70 cars.
The model X loaner I got for a few days after complaining smelled of dog farts and the shocks were completely blown. Kids got sick in the thing after 5 minutes. It was worse than a Uber credit.
I parked it outside with the falcon doors open and front door open just to air it out. Threw a bunch of dryer sheets in it too. It didn’t help. Nasty.
Since you live in NorCal, never have anyone you care about take a Tesla in for service at Dublin.
I’ve always received a loaner from my Volvo dealership in Northern Virginia when I’ve requested one. People online complain about Volvo dealers not being the greatest with loaners though, so my dealer may be an outlier.
My dealer focuses big time on providing a stellar experience.
