Pentracer

I just got off the phone with my local MB dealership in Greensboro NC and they told me they do not give loaner cars to clients who didn't buy their car from their dealership. Is this normal? We have a Lexus and had a BMW, neither of which were bought from the local dealers, and never had an issue getting a loaner.

We live an hour away from this dealer. Am I seriously going to have to take off work so my wife doesnt have to stick around in the waiting room for hours? Oh and they are also closed on Saturdays so a weekend service is not possible.

If I had known this, I might not have bought an MB.

tbone

In northern California, the dealers started this same practice about a year ago. Makes no sense to me.

Ormond2004

My local MB dealer gives me an Enterprise rental when I take my car in for service. I didn't buy any of my cars there. Hmmm, maybe that's why I got stuck with a dirty Kia Amanti.

mmgrad

i'm in so cal, and i've always gotten a loaner car for whatever reason i bring in a car for... even when i bring in the car just for an A or B service, they still give me a loaner...

it was to my understanding that MBs usually provide a loaner regardless of where you bought it, but, i guess times have changed and each dealer operates differently

DWP

It's pretty much at the discretion of the dealer. I don't think that MBUSA has any policy on that subject, although if somebody knows differently, please chime in.

We bought our car at M-B of El Dorado Hills and service it at M-B of Sacramento. M-B of Sacramento provides a loaner, typically a late-model C-Class. Earlier this year we drove the loaner for two weeks, no charge, while they waited for a part from Germany. Both dealers were under the same ownership when we bought in '03, though.

mmgrad

my CLK was from Fletcher Jones in Newport Beach but all the service was done at either WI Simonson @ Santa Monica or Rusnak in Pasadena... got a loaner everytime and never a problem... and i must have brought that CLK in for service at least, oh... 20+ times in my 4yrs of owning it... its got a real long history

NO_WUR_E

When I called to bring in my car for a service and inquired for a loaner, I was asked "did you buy your car here?" With a reply of a "Yes", the tech then said, "Yes, we can get you a loaner car".
Bringing the car into a dealer (not where I bought my car), I was just offered their shuttle service twice.....no loaner. My wife bringing in my 2 young kids, they made the descretion of providing her one.

Flash Gordon

Same damn practice in my area. I bought it at Millenium which offers below average service. Called Ray Catena in Edison, they told no loaner. I don't care for this kind of discrimination! The dealer is getting paid for the service whether you bought the car from them or not!

tbone

Not only do we not get a loaner, but if we want a rental, we have to pay for it!

xraymd

Not an MB thing but up to the dealer. My dealer in Sylvania, OH only does loaners if you bought your car there. I'm curious to see what they do about Porsche as they've recently acquired it from another dealer in town, so technically almost nobody has actually bought their Porsche there.

KosherBenz

R&H motorcars, They give it out comparable loaner cars to what you are being serviced. I brought my car in and they have me a 2006 3K mile E350 to drive for the day. Good place.

jschade

My dealer always gives me a loaner, and yes, I bought the car there. A few years ago I was closer to another dealer when my c class air conditioning went out (under warranty). I went to that dealer for a diagnosis and asked if I could get a loaner to run a few errands while the car was in the bay. I was told by the SA that "only people that buy their cars here get a loaner from here." I politely thanked him for the information, and then told him that with a policy like that he could rest assured that I would never buy a car from them. They missed the perfect opportunity to sway me to their dealership for my next purchase.

What doesn't make sense is that when you visit another dealership other than where you bought the car from, that dealership has a perfect opportunity to "wow" you with excellent service and accomodations so as to "steal" you from your original dealer the next time you are ready to make a purchase. Aside from most MB dealers, every other business in the world loves it when a customer from the competitor walks through the door.

mick1

teach them a lesson: when you get the customer's satisfaction survey from MBUSA, give the dealer a low score for not providing a loaner car.

WEBSRFR

This is a very narrow minded and somewhat childish and vindictive policy. A customer driving the car should be entitled to a certain level of service. After all the dealer gets paid for the service either way and they should be grateful for the business and trust placed in the dealership. What's the point in treating certain customers as second-class customers? There can be many reasons for where you purchased your car. What if you move after purchasing the car? The current policy relegates Mercedes owners who move to second class treatment from MB dealerships

I completely agree. Severely mark down the dealers in the MB survey if they don't provide a loaner just because you didn't get the car from them If you also want to drop MB a letter, here's the address:

Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC
Customer Assistance Center
3 Paragon Drive
Montvale, N.J. 07645

If enough people contact them of this absurd policy perhaps they will stop alienating current customers from the dealerships and the brand itself!

slk55lvr

What makes this policy even MORE idiotic is the fact that:

1. It's the maintenance/service department that makes the real money for a dealership.

2. This type of policy is virtually guaranteed to alienate 70% of the people you impose it upon. How many cars do you think they'll ever buy from your dealership.

I've had a wonderful experience so far with the dealership near me, they've offered a car every time. I've never accepted since I have other cars, but if they said something like this to me I'd never get my car repaired there again.

Barry45RPM

Exactly exquisite, lethal and dead on! The dealers & SA's live & die by these surveys. It is just plain **** poor service to deny a loaner. The money paid to the dealership by MB for any given warranty service is exacly the same for a car purchased there or not. 2 can play the same game. The dealership owes every MB customer a level of service that is unequaled by any other manufacturer.

zergcerebrates

No loaner car is not unsual, its really up to the dealer. For those who don't have loaner car offered they should have shuttles or rental car for you. For example I live in Los Angeles and Penske doesn't provide loaner for people who didn't buy the car from them, but they provide only shuttle service not even rental. As for Rusnak Arcadia and Long Beach Mercedes(they're both great) they give you rental cars for free and you can usually reserve a Mercedes C class free of charge, but for Long Beach Mercedes its an extra $20 for C class $80 for CLK.

jimbo1mcm

They used to just give you a loaner( usually a late model C) and ask you to replace the gas you use. For me, it would usually take about 12-13 dollars for my distance from the dealer. New policy now is a flat rate of $14.95. I guess you can drive further now. Doesn't affect me greatly, but it shows a trend. I guess people weren't replacing the gas they used.

rickyfanmdr

I bought my car from Mercedes Benz of Long Beach, and I have always had my car serviced there. I always get a free loaner. They give a full-sized car for free. I usually take the free car--usually a Toyota Camry. They ask that you replace the gas you use or charge a per-gallon fee if you don't refill the tank. You can upgrade to a Mercedes, but you have to pay the difference. There is an on-site Hertz car rental agency at the dealer.

revstriker

I disagree with your opinion. If a dealer feels that offering loaners to everybody is not cost effective, then I don't see whey he should do this. The fact is that providing loaners to EVERYONE would end up costing the dealership money. They would have to recoup that money somehow by either charging more for services (not covered by warranty), or by getting more money for each car sold.

Dealers use the "free loaner" as an enticement to get customers in to buy their cars. Some, who perhaps have greater competition with other dealers, may extend this to all customers, but my guess is that most do not.

I did not buy my car through the dealer, and therefore have to pay the $30 for a rental. Not really that big of a deal to me, and certainly not something that would make me travel further to get my car serviced. It may tempt me to consider the dealer when I purchase my next MB.

I do agree that noting this on the survey is a good idea if it really bothers you.

WEBSRFR

My point is that if after you buy your car and move, you are treated as a second class customer. To me, this is unacceptable. Your logic would make sense if the dealership is not concerned about developing better customer relations and hopefully gaining a new customer in the future. The dealership gets paid the same amount for service and I think a lot of people who posted here agree that this policy is insulting and short-sighted.

bganson

It costs $20 per day for a Merc loaner vs. a freebie from Hertz at Wilsonville Mercedes here in Oregon.

revstriker

I don't agree that you are treated as a "second class" customer just because you do not receive a benefit from the dealer reserved for customers who purchased a car there. I also do not agree that this is that decremental to developing better customer relations, or gaining new customers in the future. Sure, some may decide to go elsewhere because of this, but I would bet the business lost because of this is less than the cost of providing everyone with a free loaner car. I also understand this policy as a way of maintaining and/or increasing their dealership business.

You are free to feel bad or cheated about this, and you are free to complain, in fact, I would encourage you to do so. If there are enough people complaining about it, I'm sure the dealership may reconsider (and of course, raise their prices to cover these costs). I just have my doubts that this "no free loaners" issue is enough of an issue to drive people into going out of their way to get their car serviced, enough to cover the costs of providing free loaners to everyone.

RJC

They started the "no loaner if no buy here" crap in S Florida about a year and a half ago...it's pure and 100%

Benz-O-Rama

I purchased my car pre-owned from a non Mercedes dealer in Texas and had it shipped to Maryland. I've taken it into my local MB dealer a number of times and have been given a free loaner every time. Not only a loaner, but another Mercedes. A C-Class a couple of times, an ML, a CLK-convertible, and I was offered another E-Class once. My dealer has a rental car company on premises, but they only give out Benzes. Although, you only get 100 miles a day free. After that, it's .25 a mile but I've never gone over the 100. I thought all MB dealers were like this but after reading these posts, I'm starting to feel pretty lucky. Having said that, I would be pretty friggin pissed, if I just spent a bunch of money on a car and had to shell out more money when the one I purchased wasn't operating properly.