Anyone know what BMW, Mercedes etc... have as their loaner car terms/policy? I know how Lexus treats me but I have a friend that just bought a new Range Rover in the $ 70,000. price range. The dealer is about 100 miles away and refused to give him a loaner since the loaner would not be staying within the county. Needlees to say, he was not happy at their "policy". Do the other manufacturers have such limitations? My Lexus dealer (Sewell) has been very generous with loaners as needed with no limitations except to refuel.

 

Lexus' corporate policy requires dealers to provide loaners for warranty work. It is on their web site and it is built in to the cost of the car.

As for other car makes, I think it depends on the dealer.

 

your friend must be very very irritated and pissed and hating his Land Rover dealership.

i would be.

 

Seems to me he needs to call the general manager of that dealer and explain what took place. People take loaners of all manufacturers-dealers out of a dealership's county on short trips etc., something doesn't seem right with what he was told. MB doesn't care where you take a loaner though many dealers, including Lexus dealers, often have a reasonable mileage request and charge at times for overage.

 

Loaners basically vary according to each dealership, but follow generalized company policies.

Most Lexus dealerships loan out ES and RX, and sometimes Camry, but most have no qualms about where you drive it to and how many miles you put into it.

I know that MB have sometimes loan out general rental cars; a few have car-rental facilities attached such as Enterprise or Avis, and loans out those cars.

That Land Rover dealership should have been able to loan out a simple Ford (hell, at least a Focus) for a while. I can understand not loaning an LR3, but anything to help the loss of a car due to warranty-related issues...

 

Lexus of Seattle sends us to the rental place down the street to rent a vehicle, the dealership just reimburses us for the payment. Hardly the loaner policy that was explained when we purchased our vehicle there. I've never recieved a Lexus loaner yet.

 

Philip summed it up.

Wow, your friend better get used to it, since it won't be the 1st time he'll be needing a loaner

I looked at the lr3 before getting the gx. I don't understand why people get this suv
The range and the sport is a different story though

I've gotten IS, ES, and RX as loaners. There were no mileage restrictions, just fill up the gas where it was or you have the dealer do it and they'll charge you.

I believe some mb or bmw might b@tch at you for loaners if you didn't buy from them.

 

Nice GS loaners...

Lexus is pretty good about getting out loaner cars, I think it was part of their superior service strategy from the start...a perk which the other makes then tried to follow.

 

I needed service on my GS. Turned out that it would not be finished in time for my trip from San Franciso to Los Angeles. I told them I needed the car for the trip and they told me they would give me an RX as a loaner and told me it was ok to take it on the trip. All I paid for was the gas.

 

Lexus technically is to give loaners for warrentied service over 4 hrs but they are VERY VERY open with this policy.

In speaking to some personnel, some dealerships do it, b/c it SELLS themselves. TO be honest, I would have NEVER gotten a RX if I hadn't constantly gotten them as loaners. The RX just won me over as a great SUV.
It also keeps people happy.

SOme dealers tend to loan more to those that buy cars from them, and who can blame them?

There are also horror stories, people with a 1990 ES 250 coming in Friday night, requestiing a loaner and driving it all weekend, then not getting the service done. RXs being used as a damn cargo truck. Etc.

Lexus is the best with loaners, NO ONE is close.

This is funny but one of the days of my birthday celebration, the local Infiniti group came out to show love. I drove the RX 400h loaner I did my review on to it. When they asked did I get a new ride, I replied "no a loaner". THeir jaws dropped and I heard all about the rentals they get with the giant stickers and if they are lucky a G35.

 

Lexus can AFFORD to be. Their vehicles don't break down that much.

Wonder how many loaner cars get handed out at Mercedes shops?

 

Unfortunately it's not Lexus as a whole, each individual dealership has their own rules. A great service manager or advisor will be fair and treat you right whether he's working for Lexus, GMC, or Ford. A ***** will still be a *****, even at Lexus!

 

I've had two loaners for the current RX: an ES350 with 26 miles on it, and an RX350 with 650 miles. The RX went home with me, 125 miles away, and back to the dealer.

The same dealer (Lexus of Wayzata, on the west side of the Twin Cities) had my RX300 in for a warranty paint fix one time. I made the appointment, then got called out for a business trip out of town for the time of the repair, but before I took it in. I called the dealer. Their reply: "Just hang on to the loaner, and bring it back when you get back to town." That was a good part of why I went back to them.