[chris325]

Just dropped mine off for a couple of days to investigate a gearbox fault and asked for a loan car to keep me on the road. Now I'm realistic, I wasn't expecting to get the keys to an M3 or 650, but I did expect something the same size as my 325. Maybe a new 320d demonstrator. In the past I've known dealers to use the time in a loan car to showcase a dearer / bigger / newer model in the range - a couple of years ago a friend got an XJ while his old S type was in the Jag dealership.

What cars have others got typically while theirs have been off the road?

[Kerr]

320d, 120d and a Mini.

[jrah]

I got a Mini Countryman diesel once, 116i before that, not brilliant cars but got me to work and back.

[magic77]

usually its a fleet of 1s these days it seems - joy of times

[rich1068]

318i, 320d, Mini One, Mini Clubman, Mini Cabrio. I'm really not fussed, anything that gets me about I'm happy with.

[wallsmk2]

got an x1 last time with 118d engine. Not sure if the engine was supposed to sound like that but I fancied my chances ploughing a couple of hectares. Truly horrible car inside and out.

[scotgc]

I have had,
116i convertible sport
E91 320i msport
F10 523i msport
E92 335d msport after I complained,, my previous 325d was in the stealers for 5 weeks waiting on a part !

All acceptable cars in my eyes. Would have loved a cooper s

[chris_s1]

118d 's normally, although occasionally I have had something nicer - E92 325i once, E91 330d.

When I had a VW, I used to specify that I required an auto, knowing full well that the dealership didn't have any autos on the loaner fleet. Used to get me all kinds of wierd and wonderful things - a W12 Phaeton once, Toureg V10 TDI, occasional Golf GTI DSG. I was doing 50k/year on a Golf with 10k service intervals, so was in there a lot lol...

[Falmouthboy]

You normally find that the 'courtesy' fleet is managed by the service dept and kept separate from the 'demonstrator' fleet that is managed by sales (and taken home each night by a salesman as a company car). You can always ask the sales team if while your car is in for the day you can take an extended test drive - they can only say no (but of course if they say 'yes' you would then get the follow up sales calls etc).

Normally I only want an 'a to b' courtesy car so am quite content with whatever they give me.

[The_Bear_Yid]

I didn't get or ask for one when mine was in.

What's the problem btw?

[KASPA]

Mini one's last time I went in. After a lot of complaining was given a 116i sport.

[wheelie good]

I bet you got an M5 and was complaining of the petrol bill

[chris325]

I got a new 116i in white, I suppose while its pleasant enough to drive, its a cheap nasty poverty spec interior and from the outside (its transit white) looks like a Citroen Berlingo panel van thats been given a vicious beating with the ugly stick..

Mine has developed an intermittent fault where no matter how hard you shove the stick, it won't enter reverse or 1st. It doesn't happen that often but while its under the AUC warranty they can fix it, I can imagine i will be an expensive job if it gets any worse or falls out of warranty.

[kaishang]

Do you think arranging a weekend test drive, then driving 650 miles to Cumbria and back would be taking the mick?

[Hotcoupe]

Originally Posted by kaishang

Do you think arranging a weekend test drive, then driving 650 miles to Cumbria and back would be taking the mick?

Only if you took the car back with the low fuel light displayed.
Pop in a pounds worth to make sure it goes out.

[ian_m]

pug 206 when i dropped the car off at very short notice one Saturday when the headlight unit broke,
when serviced a 1 series with bloody awful Olympics advertising and then just recently, as part of warranty work/complaint, a new 3 series sport in drug dealer/pimp white with 19" rims and blacked out windows.

[BarrySt]

When I had a Merc the dealers were keen to provide a Smart car as a courtesy vehicle. I declined needless to say.

[G82Dude]

Originally Posted by chris325

Just dropped mine off for a couple of days to investigate a gearbox fault and asked for a loan car to keep me on the road. Now I'm realistic, I wasn't expecting to get the keys to an M3 or 650, but I did expect something the same size as my 325. Maybe a new 320d demonstrator. In the past I've known dealers to use the time in a loan car to showcase a dearer / bigger / newer model in the range - a couple of years ago a friend got an XJ while his old S type was in the Jag dealership.

What cars have others got typically while theirs have been off the road?

Does it matter? It's a NEW free car - gets you where you need to be?

Makes you all the more happy to get back in yours if it's a lower power engine, etc.

Or arrange something with the sales/service staff before you arrive if it's an issue... A free car is still a free car.

[The_Bear_Yid]

Originally Posted by chris325

I got a new 116i in white, I suppose while its pleasant enough to drive, its a cheap nasty poverty spec interior and from the outside (its transit white) looks like a Citroen Berlingo panel van thats been given a vicious beating with the ugly stick..

Mine has developed an intermittent fault where no matter how hard you shove the stick, it won't enter reverse or 1st. It doesn't happen that often but while its under the AUC warranty they can fix it, I can imagine i will be an expensive job if it gets any worse or falls out of warranty.

Mine was a bit reluctant in second sometimes. They changed the box because of it. The new/recon one is probably worse and I'll go back if it's the same next time I go out.

[Frobius]

I've had an E87 120d M Sport, F20 116i Sport and an E90 LCI 118d M Sport. Those were all loan cars from the sales dept rather than courtesy cars though. The service dept generally has a load of F20 116i's.

They've all been fine and generally interesting to drive different specs to the 330.

[stupot]

Demo and loan car fleets are both run separately as has been said earlier.

The dealer is stuck between a rock and a hard place when deciding what to put on.

He wants to put on really nice spec stuff for 2 reasons. There is no doubt that once someone has personal experience of a car it does create a huge want one factor and secondly the high spec stuff is much easier to sell on than the mundane everyday stuff. It’s rare for a dealer to still have a high spec demo at the end of its run, most sell pretty quickly. The plain stuff always sticks around and struggles to sell.

There is always a but though. Again 2 reasons to put low spec stuff on. First is the cost of the dealer stocking, tying up a lot of money in 10 huge spec loan cars can start to cost a lot. Second reason is people treat loan cars terrible. They come back bumpers scuffed, kerbed wheels. Generally abused.

As has been said earlier, if you specify an auto you have more chance of getting the 5 series they need to have on!

[Mani59]

I had an E91 330i M Sport once, but this was a loan car from sales rather than service.
Before that, it was a 120d.