[Al Pinã]

TLDR; Are you now getting downgraded loaners when your car is in for service due to the supposed used car shortage?

Disturbing news to say the least. I scheduled a service for my 2019 750 to address what sounds like a failing CV joint on the right front wheel. We typically come to Perillo BMW on Clark street in Chicago as they have always treated us brilliantly compared to other Chicagoland dealerships.

Because I'm exceedingly tall (and we own a loaded flagship vehicle) the loaner department always put us in something comparable to our 750, usually an X7 or 8-Series. Because my particular car has been in the shop for over 140 days since new, (crazy, right?) needless to say I've spent a lot of time in their various loaner cars. We've always taken great care of them and treated them as if they were our own.

So my wife was in the loaner office getting the car sorted while I spoke with the service advisor. After a while she comes out and says "all they have for us is a 530i or an X2. They are claiming that due to high demand for used cars they had to sell off the loaner fleet." Now I understand the various supply chain problems, but Perillo has always maintained a huge fleet of loaners because they are a high volume dealership with a very busy service department. So I guess what I'm asking is: Have any of you had similar results when having your car in for service? I cannot really imagine another reason for them denying us our usual perk of a comparable car, other than I heard that much of the office staff is new personnel and maybe they weren't trained properly…

[jm600rr]

You guys must be lucky. At my dealer with my M8, X5M and my previous m5 or m4 they always gave me a base 3 or 4 series and once an x5 which I was shocked. lol.

[Resjudicata]

Yep; I've been into service multiple times at both local dealerships to me and it's been like pulling teeth to get a loaner.

Although I now know the guys and one dealer got me an 740 for a day. And the other local dealership got me an m750i for two different times.

Ask for a manager and let them know you're needs.

[fl650]

Owned three 650i's since 2006 and now a 2020 M8 coupe. Only loaner cars I've ever been given are a 3-series, X1 or occasional X3. Slumming it here in Florida.

[FBMWWINS]

Here you pay salty for a loaner and do not necessarily receive something in the same class or similar. With my F06 650i I got a G32 (630d) just once whereas on the other (service) occasions I usually got a 3 series SW (F31). When I took my M850i for service 1 month ago I actually decided to wait as they were "friendly" enough to service my car right then with me waiting on the spot so no inconveniences at least!

[WCH]

I've had a M5, X5M and now a M8 vert and purchased about 10 cars from the same dealer. Best I ever got was a 5 series wagon. Last time they gave me a M340, which was fun; however, I often get base 3 series or an X3. I'm just happy to get a BMW loaner.

To the OP, selling off the loaners doesn't sound crazy given the supply of cars right now.

[mjr24]

Originally Posted by ALPINA_DREAMS

TLDR; Are you now getting downgraded loaners when your car is in for service due to the supposed used car shortage?

Disturbing news to say the least. I scheduled a service for my 2019 750 to address what sounds like a failing CV joint on the right front wheel. We typically come to Perillo BMW on Clark street in Chicago as they have always treated us brilliantly compared to other Chicagoland dealerships.

Because I'm exceedingly tall (and we own a loaded flagship vehicle) the loaner department always put us in something comparable to our 750, usually an X7 or 8-Series. Because my particular car has been in the shop for over 140 days since new, (crazy, right?) needless to say I've spent a lot of time in their various loaner cars. We've always taken great care of them and treated them as if they were our own.

So my wife was in the loaner office getting the car sorted while I spoke with the service advisor. After a while she comes out and says "all they have for us is a 530i or an X2. They are claiming that due to high demand for used cars they had to sell off the loaner fleet." Now I understand the various supply chain problems, but Perillo has always maintained a huge fleet of loaners because they are a high volume dealership with a very busy service department. So I guess what I'm asking is: Have any of you had similar results when having your car in for service? I cannot really imagine another reason for them denying us our usual perk of a comparable car, other than I heard that much of the office staff is new personnel and maybe they weren't trained properly…

Same here....got 330i the other day and normally only have had X7 M50I or M850i....occasional X5.

[JDS]

Back in October last year, not long after picking up my 840i (used), there was a small item needing attention and my sales advisor organised for me to have their new Alpina B5 while they fixed it.

I think their service department was even surprised...

[Al Pinã]

Originally Posted by jm600rr

You guys must be lucky. At my dealer with my M8, X5M and my previous m5 or m4 they always gave me a base 3 or 4 series and once an x5 which I was shocked. lol.

Geez. Now I feel bad for complaining! lol

[unfoundnemo]

Originally Posted by jm600rr

You guys must be lucky. At my dealer with my M8, X5M and my previous m5 or m4 they always gave me a base 3 or 4 series and once an x5 which I was shocked. lol.

I'm happy if I even get a 3 series. Lately, I've found myself in a 2 GC or X1/2 if I opted to take one. In my case, this is a low volume dealer (13 new cars in inventory right now - all but 3 have 4 cylinders), so it's not like I could expect them to have a huge fleet with lots of options. I at least I get much more personal service and it's only about 1.5 miles away from my house. I typically just deny a loaner any more.

[Al Pinã]

I think the reason I'm a bit more sensitive is because there were times that they kept my car for several weeks at a time. The idea of buying a $119K car only to end up putting around in a stripped base model 3-Series seemed unacceptable.

Also, as we use our 750 for our real estate business, I couldn't imagine picking up a high value client in an X2.

[unfoundnemo]

Originally Posted by ALPINA_DREAMS

I think the reason I'm a bit more sensitive is because there were times that they kept my car for several weeks at a time. The idea of buying a $119K car only to end up putting around in a stripped base model 3-Series seemed unacceptable.

Also, as we use our 750 for our real estate business, I couldn't imagine picking up a high value client in an X2.

I suppose that could get annoying rather quickly. I even try to stay off the highway with a car like an X2 because I know I'll just end up frustrated.

I haven't had to rely on them for anything more than the courtesy transportation they're meant for; basically something a bit more convenient than using a shuttle. When I did have one for a few days, I didn't use it for anything other than going to/from work or a few errands around town, and switched over to my secondary car for the less menial tasks.

[snareman]

People get nice loaners? I usually get something along the lines of an X2 or 330. Certainly nothing in the realm or a 5 or better despite being on my 3rd M, 7th total car with the dealer.

[Wolfman64]

We have been lucky I guess. Got every flavor of 8 series and last time a brand-new X3 M.

[limeypride]

The dealership... monopoly... meh, same thing... (Fields) here in central FL don't give loaners if you didn't buy/lease the car from them. Having just moved here from WA, I plead my case saying I lived 3,500 miles away when I bought my M8 and while my lack of precognition/foresight is clearly shameful, could you give me a fucking break... please. They did oblige which is a plus but I dislike the principle in general. In my not-remotely-humble opinion on this topic, loaners for cars like these should be a *brand* thing, not the choice of, well, local... I can't use the word I'm thinking of here so feel free to use your imagination.

BMW Bellevue was my staple for many years and loaners there for my 550s, M5s, M6s, X5M and M8 were all over the place. There didn't appear to be a policy that tried to align nicer loaners with owners of the more expensive models. I can't say I was particularly bothered by that but, in hindsight, it would've been nice to get something closer to the same ballpark.

[snareman]

Originally Posted by limeypride

The dealership... monopoly... meh, same thing... (Fields) here in central FL don't give loaners if you didn't buy/lease the car from them. Having just moved here from WA, I plead my case saying I lived 3,500 miles away when I bought my M8 and while my lack of precognition/foresight is clearly shameful, could you give me a fucking break... please. They did oblige which is a plus but I dislike the principle in general. In my not-remotely-humble opinion on this topic, loaners for cars like these should be a *brand* thing, not the choice of, well, local... I can't use the word I'm thinking of here so feel free to use your imagination.

BMW Bellevue was my staple for many years and loaners there for my 550s, M5s, M6s, X5M and M8 were all over the place. There didn't appear to be a policy that tried to align nicer loaners with owners of the more expensive models. I can't say I was particularly bothered by that but, in hindsight, it would've been nice to get something closer to the same ballpark.

Back circa 2003 when I had an Infiniti G35 that I had to get a not my local dealer because they didn't have them they also didn't want to give me a loaner. I said, "so you're going to give me crappy service because I didn't buy the car from you because you didn't have any to buy?" They gave me a loaner.

[unfoundnemo]

Originally Posted by limeypride

The dealership... monopoly... meh, same thing... (Fields) here in central FL don't give loaners if you didn't buy/lease the car from them. Having just moved here from WA, I plead my case saying I lived 3,500 miles away when I bought my M8 and while my lack of precognition/foresight is clearly shameful, could you give me a fucking break... please. They did oblige which is a plus but I dislike the principle in general. In my not-remotely-humble opinion on this topic, loaners for cars like these should be a *brand* thing, not the choice of, well, local... I can't use the word I'm thinking of here so feel free to use your imagination.

Agreed, should definitely be a brand thing, most CAs sell it as if it is.

I suppose dealers that have a monopoly for the area don't have to worry about competition, but they make more money servicing and doing warranty work on a car long term than the sale, so it's still worth catering to all to try to build a relationship and keep them with the brand.

I heard from others my dealer has stated a similar policy but have "let it slide" for them when there was availability. They have never given me an issue, nor even mentioned it (only one of my previous cars was purchased there, and that was 7 years ago), but I also buy all my tires from them and leave a lot of the scheduling up to their convenience, so I'm sure a different attitude could bring out that statement.

[bloozemanAZ]

Originally Posted by limeypride

The dealership... monopoly... meh, same thing... (Fields) here in central FL don't give loaners if you didn't buy/lease the car from them. Having just moved here from WA, I plead my case saying I lived 3,500 miles away when I bought my M8 and while my lack of precognition/foresight is clearly shameful, could you give me a fucking break... please. They did oblige which is a plus but I dislike the principle in general. In my not-remotely-humble opinion on this topic, loaners for cars like these should be a *brand* thing, not the choice of, well, local... I can't use the word I'm thinking of here so feel free to use your imagination.

BMW Bellevue was my staple for many years and loaners there for my 550s, M5s, M6s, X5M and M8 were all over the place. There didn't appear to be a policy that tried to align nicer loaners with owners of the more expensive models. I can't say I was particularly bothered by that but, in hindsight, it would've been nice to get something closer to the same ballpark.

Originally Posted by unfoundnemo

Agreed, should definitely be a brand thing, most CAs sell it as if it is.

I suppose dealers that have a monopoly for the area don't have to worry about competition, but they make more money servicing and doing warranty work on a car long term than the sale, so it's still worth catering to all to try to build a relationship and keep them with the brand.

I heard from others my dealer has stated a similar policy but have "let it slide" for them when there was availability. They have never given me an issue, nor even mentioned it (only one of my previous cars was purchased there, and that was 7 years ago), but I also buy all my tires from them and leave a lot of the scheduling up to their convenience, so I'm sure a different attitude could bring out that statement.

It should indeed be a "brand thing" as I totally became accustomed to and honestly flat out spoiled with my prior 20 years with Lexus. I always received a loaner equal to my GSes I owned during the period or greater. They always took my height (I'm 6'6") into consideration and provided accordingly. More so when I was doing heavy business travel they would drive the loaner to my house and swap it for my car to take back for service and do the reverse when my car was ready. I'm honestly not holding my breath that will ever happen with BMW.

So far with my wife's X5 and now the M850i I've always gotten an equivalent loaner from my dealer. The one rare exception was when they did run out of BMW loaners and had to put me in a rental when taking my wife's X5 in for service. Even then they did take my height requirements into consideration and had a Toyota Highlander procured for my loaner (took an extra 20 mins to get it delivered to the dealer) but I was okay with that vs the Corollas they had onsite and were handing out.

[snareman]

I just had my M4 1200 mile service and got typical 330 has a loaner. It was at least at 330 with only 300 miles on it.

[CosmicCharlie]

Originally Posted by limeypride

The dealership... monopoly... meh, same thing... (Fields) here in central FL don't give loaners if you didn't buy/lease the car from them. Having just moved here from WA, I plead my case saying I lived 3,500 miles away when I bought my M8 and while my lack of precognition/foresight is clearly shameful, could you give me a fucking break... please. They did oblige which is a plus but I dislike the principle in general. In my not-remotely-humble opinion on this topic, loaners for cars like these should be a *brand* thing, not the choice of, well, local... I can't use the word I'm thinking of here so feel free to use your imagination.

BMW Bellevue was my staple for many years and loaners there for my 550s, M5s, M6s, X5M and M8 were all over the place. There didn't appear to be a policy that tried to align nicer loaners with owners of the more expensive models. I can't say I was particularly bothered by that but, in hindsight, it would've been nice to get something closer to the same ballpark.

I too moved to central FL from elsewhere and have found Fields to be a PIA to deal with… I was always treated like a second class citizen when I brought my m550 for service there, and when I was looking to buy a '21 m5c, they made it impossible… I switched to Reeves in Tampa and even though it's less convenient to where I live I got a great deal on my M5 and have been happy with their service dept (though I've only used them for break in service and 1 oil change). I'd never do business with Fields again- I expect to be treated better when choosing to spend six figures on a car. They have more than enough goobers who are fine groveling for msrp on base spec crap- Fields has made it very clear they're not interested in dealing with discerning customers who value their time and money.

[Resjudicata]

Originally Posted by CosmicCharlie

I too moved to central FL from elsewhere and have found Fields to be a PIA to deal with… I was always treated like a second class citizen when I brought my m550 for service there, and when I was looking to buy a '21 m5c, they made it impossible… I switched to Reeves in Tampa and even though it's less convenient to where I live I got a great deal on my M5 and have been happy with their service dept (though I've only used them for break in service and 1 oil change). I'd never do business with Fields again- I expect to be treated better when choosing to spend six figures on a car. They have more than enough goobers who are fine groveling for msrp on base spec crap- Fields has made it very clear they're not interested in dealing with discerning customers who value their time and money.

Sounds like our dealerships near DC.

[fl650]

Dealer argument is that they finance the loaner program using dealership proceeds. Still find it very hard to believe that there isn't significant manufacturer support. If Lexus can do it, why can't BMW?