hawtheric1

Dealer tried to charge me $10 today while they keep my car overnight for some warranty work (hub cap broke and exterior temp gauge fell back into the grill housing).

I told him to go kick rocks (not literally) but I refused to pay it. They gave me a Smart Car in an attempt to get the last laugh I'd imagine.

Has anyone else been charged/paid the $10 for a loaner? I understand that they want you to bring it back with the same amount of gas, cool, i get that. But I'm not paying for a loaner when I'm having warranty work done. Oil changes and non warranty stuff I can understand.

Thoughts?

14cue

Lame. Never heard of this before.

shchow

Getting a loaner is not automatic.
It is dependent on the dealership, whether or not you purchased the car from said dealer, availability of loaners, and how loyal a customer you are, etc.
It is fully at the discretion of the service manager.

MB_AMG

It really depends on which dealership you are dealing with. Loaners are not automatic and during this period of tough times I know some dealers started to charge on loaners. With our dealership, even if service dept doesnt have loaners, I would give clients a demo to drive if the he/she bought it from me.

yaymitch

Go to a different dealer.

tanktube67

Loaner = $0.00
Rental + $$$.00

Be careful with the Stealer you go to.

hcetzneb

Ask them to clarify what the 10 is for.. alot of STEALERS ( thats so childish and geting so old and makes employes of the dealers aka techs not want to help with stuff or give suggestions and belive me there are lots of things that i dislike about dealers but i try to state my opinion not bash someones place of work).. Alot of dealers put 10 fuel charges on loners which benifits the cust. because when they give you 3/4 of a tank and you dont have to refill it which is very fair...

i understand customers points but try to understand that not everyone whom gets loaners are honest.. we have people who crash them and try to hide it.. people trash the insides of them, we even had one guy who swap the wheels of and put others on with bald tires.

These are bought,owned, and maintained by the dealer not mercedes.. we dont even get reinbursment for lending them out ..

I think both sides need to be understanding customers and dealer .... the dealer should not charge for a loner and if they put a gas charge on it they should explain to the cust what it is.. And i think customers need to have respect that of the dealers cano smoking, clean up your mess, dont abuse them both sides would be happy..

wuyichao

remember that dealers are there to make a profit. take everything they say as bs, make them to honor the warranty and you have to take care of the rest of issues.

VCA_AMG

Just had my wife's 06 BMW serviced yesterday...Free oil change, free replacement cabin filter, topped off all fluids for free, and gave me an '09 3-series loaner for free during the day while they performed the work. I couldn't imagine paying for a loaner car anymore, but BMW's free service does spoil. Get in good w/the SM at your dealer and he'll hook you up most times.

SickSpeedMonte

My dealer has an enterprise... satellite (I guess you'd call it) in house. If they dont have a Mercedes to lend you (which they rarely do), they'll loan you an enterprise rental car, free of charge. They don't cover the insurance on the car, so you have to cover that. Maybe the $10 covers the insurance on the car.

jsr

My dealer (Mercedes Benz of Chandler) has an Enterprise on site. If you go with a standard Chrysler rental then it is free. If you want a Mercedes loaner though, it'll cost $5/day.

gravedgr

I get a new C300 every time I take mine in, even if its a "its making a noise, could you look at it" drop off. All they ever ask is that I make sure the fuel's topped of when I bring it back. I often give the loaner to my wife while I take her Odyssey so I can take the kids to day care (transferring seats to/from the loaner is a PITA).

rory breaker

I had the same problem with a dealer (except they wanted to charge full $40 a day). I emailed the GM, he called me back immediately saying the policy is to only give free loaners to people who bought their car at that particular dealership, however he will make an exception for me.

Call the GM. Its a ridiculous policy.

hawtheric1

That's my dealer too!

220S

As people have already said, it's dealer dependent. But if you bought the car there, they should provide you with a loaner. Otherwise, they aren't obligated under the Geneva Convention

Most all (maybe all?) MB dealers contract thru Enterprise for a rental (which the dealer covers and calls it a loaner.)

NYCGLK

My dealer loans C by default and ML upon request. They said they will be adding a few GLKs to loaners as well. They will also come and pick up your car (within 30 miles) and bring loaner to you and swap them back when your car is ready. All this for scheduled maintance and warranty work. That's what they claim, but I haven't needed to use any of the services yet.

Considering they have full warehouse of smarts maybe they'll add those too, I would not mind trying driving that thing for a day to see what I'm NOT missing hahah

I guess it all depends on a dealer.

Lexani

You're driving a Mercedes and lamenting about a $10 rental charge? Suck it up.

People can be so ridiculously cheap at times, it's a shame.

hawtheric1

I knew this comment was coming. Honestly though, I thought it would have come sooner rather than later.

Yes, I drive a Merc and yes I can afford to pay the $10 but I drive a Merc because I don't rollover and pay for things that I believe should be comped.
Just one man's opinion. Thank you for sharing yours.

FYI - It wasn't a rental, it was a loaner but we're splitting hairs I guess.

Hawth

taylorcoleman

Hawth:

I agree with you. Competitive MB dealers should not charge for a loaner--it's just tacky I think.

On the other hand, some people do not like things bundled, as unbundled limits the ability of a company to overcharge. Bundling can provide convenience, but can come with a higher price tag overall.

NYCGLK

+1

To OP, people I know who drive MB's don't drive them because they save 10 bux here and there. 10 bux is a drink at bar, maybe 2 during happy hour. And is 10 bux worth crappy relationship with your dealer and being laughed at driving away in smart car.

Sincity

You shouldn't be charged...period. It is not the $10 but the principle of it. Everyone here could care less about $10 since some of you spend that much or more on coffee or cigs.

hawtheric1

+1

dps01

+2

I would never use a dealer again who didn't provide me with a free loaner for overnight in-warranty repairs.

Just because you can afford to pay for something, doesn't mean you should have to. With that attitude, it's no wonder there are so many crappy Merc dealers in the country.

gsrjc

my dealer doesn't charge for anything

NYCGLK

If you could care less then why would you care out of a principle? Why not laugh and throw a 20 cuz that's the smallest bill in the wallet (or 100 for some high rollers here)? You guys are driving cars that cost twice mine and are freaking about dealer charging 10 bux. I would give him 10 bux as a tip for driving loaner out for me and taking my car and making sure it gets taken care of.