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Dealers charging for loan vehicles now!

Californication69

Californication69

Bill
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2,224
Location
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Vehicle
T6.1 Ocean 204 4 motion
Wondered if anybody else’s stealer is charging for a loan car now.
Never known it in 30 years for an additional charge whilst your vehicle is in for warranty work.
Just spoke with VW Droitwich and they want £9 a day for a sh it tip small dirty van whilst mine is in for warranty work.
I took MY20 in for some warranty work in Nov 2020 and didn’t get charged.

The person on the end of the phone said, yes we’ve always charged for loan vehicles….
Just another feel in the pockets….
 
Varies, had some car dealers charge in the past, normally want fuel topped up on return also. Charge could be for insurance cover.
 
Californication69 said:
Wondered if anybody else’s stealer is charging for a loan car now.
Never known it in 30 years for an additional charge whilst your vehicle is in for warranty work.
Just spoke with VW Droitwich and they want £9 a day for a sh it tip small dirty van whilst mine is in for warranty work.
I took MY20 in for some warranty work in Nov 2020 and didn’t get charged.

The person on the end of the phone said, yes we’ve always charged for loan vehicles….
Just another feel in the pockets….
Click to expand...
Ive known other makes charge, usually for insurance, I've always found producing my insurance cert that states I have fully comp cover on garage loan vehicles shuts them up.

Giving you the worst van just makes you appreciate a Cali much more, go from the lowest spec transporter into a Cali & just think that if you had bought a conversion, chances are thats the van your camper would be based on.
 
Always depended on dealer really, and the agreement they have with the manufacturer on the customer service standards and minimum levels. Our tier 1 dealers had to have x amount of loan vehicles, tier 3, none. Most dealers are franchise and not OEM owned, so depends on how they want to ru(i)n their business.
 
I've known it from both VW vans and car dealers. Obviously always a van when taking in the Cali, but have always been nearly new amd clean. Always used to be handy for tip runs, but now the local council have made that not possible :confused:
 
Californication69 said:
Wondered if anybody else’s stealer is charging for a loan car now.
Never known it in 30 years for an additional charge whilst your vehicle is in for warranty work.
Just spoke with VW Droitwich and they want £9 a day for a sh it tip small dirty van whilst mine is in for warranty work.
I took MY20 in for some warranty work in Nov 2020 and didn’t get charged.

The person on the end of the phone said, yes we’ve always charged for loan vehicles….
Just another feel in the pockets….
Click to expand...
Are you sure the courtesy car charge was not to remove the Excess?
 
They couldn’t get me in for a month either.
Sacked them off.
A different tech was trying to tell me today, the starter is a special type of Gel battery.
I said it’s AGM. And he said, yes that’s Something Gel mat.
I said no, it’s Absorbent Glass Mat. With lead acid.
:oops::Nailbiting

Going with VWCV Birmingham, part of Swansway.
Heard some very positive things about them.
Hopefully they’ll know it’s an AGM battery and it gets charged whilst on EHU ;)
If they are good, they’ll get my services, and all warranty work for the next 5 years.
Also, with added bonus, can walk to B’ham local pub opposite St. Martins church.
Then hop on train home.
If the trains are running
 
Kayleigh said:
Are you sure the courtesy car charge was not to remove the Excess?
Click to expand...
Nope, just a £9 a day charge, nothing mentioned about removing the excess.
Unless she was reading from a script?
Not taking it to them now. Cancelled
 
Sad said:
I've known it from both VW vans and car dealers. Obviously always a van when taking in the Cali, but have always been nearly new amd clean. Always used to be handy for tip runs, but now the local council have made that not possible :confused:
Click to expand...
Had RR Westminster for 5 days, 2 years ago, no charge, whilst the velar was in.
Westminster was 3 months old and had £20k of extras. They mentioned something g about £135k worth of motor.
Wife’s had different sport and Evoque whilst hers was in.
Had so many cars over the years from dealers I’ve lost count. Company cars, own cars, maybe 15 different cars in the last 20 years.
Never been charged.

Although VW Cov tried charging me £36 for 5 days whilst VWCV had paid £6k for a spray of lacquer in my 6 month old 4M.
I said are you joking.
Send the invoice to VWCV. I’m not paying.
I didn’t pay and they sent invoice to VWCV
 
Sad said:
I've known it from both VW vans and car dealers. Obviously always a van when taking in the Cali, but have always been nearly new amd clean. Always used to be handy for tip runs, but now the local council have made that not possible :confused:
Click to expand...
True, have to book online for commercial vehicle and trailer at local tip
 
There is no such thing as “Free” anything. Someone has to pay whether its you or the insurance company. But the costs will always be passed on.
The same as “Free” postage on something you bought off eBay. Try going into the post office and saying you want to send something Free.
 
Ozzy Pete said:
There is no such thing as “Free” anything. Someone has to pay whether its you or the insurance company. But the costs will always be passed on.
The same as “Free” postage on something you bought off eBay. Try going into the post office and saying you want to send something Free.
Click to expand...
There’s lots of free things.
Walk in the park, hiking from my house into a forest.
I can even use logs for free.
With regards the post office, there is such thing as free post with an item if it’s within warranty.
So turning back to warranty claim on a vehicle, I’d expect a free loan car / van / whatever whilst it’s in for warranty work.
And free loan cars have been given for 25+ years.
Yes, I understand now we are in a cost of living crisis and company’s are also feeling the pinch.
But still, I found Birmingham VW don’t charge for a loan vehicle whilst the warranty issue is being looked at.
If it’s not under warranty then it would cost £20 day.
Wowzer! Times have changed..
 
Californication69 said:
There’s lots of free things.
Walk in the park, hiking from my house into a forest.
I can even use logs for free.
With regards the post office, there is such thing as free post with an item if it’s within warranty.
So turning back to warranty claim on a vehicle, I’d expect a free loan car / van / whatever whilst it’s in for warranty work.
And free loan cars have been given for 25+ years.
Yes, I understand now we are in a cost of living crisis and company’s are also feeling the pinch.
But still, I found Birmingham VW don’t charge for a loan vehicle whilst the warranty issue is being looked at.
If it’s not under warranty then it would cost £20 day.
Wowzer! Times have changed..
Click to expand...
Actually, now I think about it I normally post back junk mail and it’s free. No idea if it actually ends up with the sender though :)
 
Californication69 said:
There’s lots of free things.
Walk in the park, hiking from my house into a forest.
I can even use logs for free.
With regards the post office, there is such thing as free post with an item if it’s within warranty.
So turning back to warranty claim on a vehicle, I’d expect a free loan car / van / whatever whilst it’s in for warranty work.
And free loan cars have been given for 25+ years.
Yes, I understand now we are in a cost of living crisis and company’s are also feeling the pinch.
But still, I found Birmingham VW don’t charge for a loan vehicle whilst the warranty issue is being looked at.
If it’s not under warranty then it would cost £20 day.
Wowzer! Times have changed..
Click to expand...
Is that the “Free“ logs taken from the forest that someone owns?
”Freepost” is not “Free” it has been paid for by someone.
Why do people think they can get and expect things for free.
 
Ozzy Pete said:
Is that the “Free“ logs taken from the forest that someone owns?
”Freepost” is not “Free” it has been paid for by someone.
Why do people think they can get and expect things for free.
Click to expand...
Good grief charlie brown, free logs that are available from the NT, if they cant use them, they give them away.
Yes, I guess freepost is not free, and paid for by the company who you are returning it to, and we pay extra for the service as they have built that into their cost centre.
I expect a free loan car when in for warranty work as that's how it has been for the last 25 years, and it was unexpected.
Thus the topic of my thread...
I give my time for free, to help members on this board, and expect nothing in return, maybe read Matthew 7:12 and Luke 6:31
 
The crown always chop trees and leave for people to take, as it saves them moving and disposal costs.
Not talking about the stuff that’s left for nature/bugs to consume.
There’s also plenty of free phone box book places help yourself or add to, campsites do this too.
It’s free but nice to give back.
Free food banks, loads of things are free if you look
 
In general use “free” may be expected to refer to the recipient so the cost to anyone else is irrelevant.

Back to the OP, free courtesy cars may not be actually so if the cost is inflating the service cost but here we are talking about adding it as a separate item, the service cost not having been reduced accordingly.
 
Ozzy Pete said:
There is no such thing as “Free” anything. Someone has to pay whether its you or the insurance company. But the costs will always be passed on.
The same as “Free” postage on something you bought off eBay. Try going into the post office and saying you want to send something Free.
Click to expand...
The loan van / coffee is already part of the inflated service cost; If they try to charge you more then they are double charging.

Used to be a way of persuading you order a new car. You give a newer, better spec car as loan vehicle, and then offer a ‘good deal’ / part-ex.

Then when you are driving the courtesy car / van, the service department will most likely call and give you a price list for additional items on the service which might well exceed a £1000 (ie - new discs/pads, tyres, engine additive etc…which don’t actually need changing yet…and use the line “well, legally they don’t need changing yet, but if it was me with my family in the car..I would change them now to be on the safe side….”…amazing how many fall for the bullsh&t and either replace all the items, or, end up trading the vehicle in as it is and taking out finance on a new car / van - Dealer always wins!
 
Last edited:
Ch1pbutty said:
Got a Caddy last time the van was serviced + SMG Cowfold. No charge.
Click to expand...
I've always had a van from SMG Cowfold and they have never charged me, don't even ask for the fuel to be replaced. They are also happy to let me have the van for a few days or over the weekend if there is a warning light that they need to diagnose so they can order the part to fit the next day to save me bringing it back.
I've had BMWs and Mercedes and these have tried to charge me until I complain and then they waive it 'as a gestor of goodwill'. They have had to reduce their serving prices to compete in the market so are trying to charge for everything. It's very much dealer specific.
 
I’m sure breeze totton tried charging for loan vehicle (around 5yrs ago) then ditched it pretty quick as customers kicked up.
 
For most of the 11 years we have owned our California I have taken it to Martins Van Centre about 4 miles down the road from us. They always provide a replacement van, be it warranty work, servicing, bodywork, brake pad replacement etc. Never been charged, although the work is not cheap so the cost is there somewhere. Last time it was a new 5 seater auto caddy, designed as a car. Never had a rubbish vehicle although a non auto gear box can be a challenge!
 
Sounds like it’s hats off to VW in Newcastle upon Tyne. There was a significant delay but we eventually got given an Ocean to use for free while our MY22 Coast got some warranty work (initially minor repairs but they found a coolant leak and had to wait for parts). Happy to get our Coast back. I prefer the manual roof but did like the blind spot indicators on the loan vehicle.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
One way or another you will be charged for a Loan vehicle, either upfront or hidden in the Service cost.
If they say the cost is for insurance most comprehensive insurance policies provide full cover for loan vehicles during warranty or service work.
 
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