Are the loaner cars supposed to be complimentary at ALL dealerships across the nation?

 

Loaner cars are complimentary, the most you have to pay is the Fuel for it

 

Thank you for your reply, I was charged $5 a day.

 

Yep. Even when you pay for service out of pocket.
That's why I love Lexus dealers - they may be expensive, but you get pampered in the process.

 

Are you under 24? $5 will not cover a loaner, but will additional insurance.
Although I never had to when I was that age.

 

No I am not 24...much older...but not over the hill.

 

Unless they sold you add'l insurance, it doesn't make sense to charge you $5/day then.
You could call the corporate (800) 25LEXUS to inquire about it.

 

Nope, they said it was to cover fuel, maintenance, wash, admin, etc...

Yes, I plan on calling corporate.

Thanks for your feedback.

 

Here, your own insurance policy must cover rentals, otherwise you have to buy the daily insurance for the loaner. $5 sounds pretty reasonable to me if that's what it is...

ADD: just saw the note about the fuel, if you don't have to worry about fuel, that is still a good deal. I have to return with a full tank.

 

Hope you get this figured out. It's been a while since the last time I had a loaner, but I don't even remember having to put gas into it. I guess I'll find out when my 10K complimentary service comes up.

 

Sorry to get technical, but... Lexus officially offers loaners as part of warranty for any service lasting more than a day. Anything beyond that is at individual dealer discretion. My experience has been across multiple dealerships is I can always have a loaner (one time it was a Hertz Kia of all things) if I schedule in advance. Generally, if I bring the vehicle back with the same amount of gas it had when it left, there is no charge, but as has been said, I've read where some dealers charge a flat rate for consumed gas, going over some big mileage amount, etc... All pretty reasonable in my estimation.

...I point out that technicality, as I think it's a big plus that Lexus commits to loaners in writing as part of their warranty. They don't commit to things like gas consumption, etc. and that is at dealer discretion. Two other luxury German brands leave the whole loaner thing up to the discretion of each dealer, with no word ever said in writing about them. I had my former BMW dealer want to charge me $80 per day for a loaner, and I had to go talk with the Sales Mgr to get that resolved.

 

At the Lexus dealership i go to....it depends on the service time. I don't see why they would even charge you $5/day. that cost should be billed in somehow to the labor (cost of business).

 

Not sure there are any written rules for this. Definitely nothing in any documents provided by Lexus. However, over time in my experiences with Lexus and in reading various posts here at CL the following statements are generally true, though YMMV:

For warranty repairs, yes. Generally, if there is a problem with your Lexus they want you in another Lexus while yours is being repaired. Many times you will get the same vehicle as a loaner as the one you are driving but not always.

For out of warranty repairs, not necessarily. That is at the discretion of the dealership. If loaners are available you might get one and you might not.

For general service while under warranty, not necessarily. Many will provide a loaner, however, if the service being provided is less than two hours (such as just a standard oil change) they may not offer one to you. You can ask and may be provided a loaner depending on availability. If you ask for one at the time you schedule your service you may find available appointments to be several weeks out due to demand for loaners.

For recall service items, yes. However, as stated above if the service will take less than two hours the dealer may not offer a loaner to you. You may have to ask for a loaner. I have had several recall items on my RX and while most times I received a loaner there was one I was told that no loaners were being provided as it was a quick fix. Meaning, under two hours.

Normally, you are asked to bring the loaner vehicle back with the same amount of gas as you left the shop with. If you are being charged $5 and told not to worry about putting gas in the tank then that is a deal and I would not argue about that.

If you feel your dealership is not following the rules the best thing to do is to call Lexus Customer Service. The phone number is in your Owner's Manual. Give them a buzz, tell them your situation and ask what services "should" be provided to you and what services "must" be provided to you.

 

In my Honest opinion, call Lexus Corporate now. Don't let it be too late. If your engine was a defect, you should have a new car.....don't let the dealer just simply fix it up, and down the road, you may have more problems.

I am eager to see what the corp words are on your situation, hopefully you get it resolved to your satisfaction

 

I couldn't agree more. I am planning on calling them this afternoon. I think what happened is they couldn"t determine what was wrong with the engine so they (the dealership) damaged the part so they wouldn't have to go through the warranty. After being in the shop for 6 days consistently telling me the mechanic wasn't at fault and then all of a sudden the 6th day you say it was the mechanics fault. Sorry I don't buy it. Will keep you posted.