I made an appointment to have the 1 year maintenance done on my 2014 335i that I picked up during a ED last August. I only have 6,500 miles on the car, but the dealership scheduled me for an appointment anyway.
When I asked about a loaner, I was told I wasn't eligible because this was considered "minor" service. Is this normal? FWIW, this is the same dealership where I bought the car.
I made an appointment to have the 1 year maintenance done on my 2014 335i that I picked up during a ED last August. I only have 6,500 miles on the car, but the dealership scheduled me for an appointment anyway.
When I asked about a loaner, I was told I wasn't eligible because this was considered "minor" service. Is this normal? FWIW, this is the same dealership where I bought the car.
I guess it depends on the size of the dealership. I dropped mine off at Crevier here in CA and they seem to give loaners to everyone for everything. They've got 275 available for loan! But they're the biggest in the western US and there's a lot of competition out here which may not be the case in your area.
Dropped my car off and the SA explained that they wouldn't have enough loaners for everyone if they provided one to everyone who came in for minor service (1.5-2 hours). This is probably the largest volume dealership in Houston, and he claimed they get 100-150 people coming in for service every day. He said they would provide one for service that required more than several hours. Said the next availability of a loaner is 2 weeks!! Oh well.
Dropped my car off and the SA explained that they wouldn't have enough loaners for everyone if they provided one to everyone who came in for minor service (1.5-2 hours). This is probably the largest volume dealership in Houston, and he claimed they get 100-150 people coming in for service every day. He said they would provide one for service that required more than several hours. Said the next availability of a loaner is 2 weeks!! Oh well.
Interesting, I was driving a lot between phoenix and san diego the beginning of this year, and at 7500 miles brought my car in for a oil change (that I paid for) and was given a loaner. Brought my car in for it's 1 yr service at 15K miles (the OBC said it was time for service) and was given a loaner, just had my car in for warranty work and was given a loaner. Getting a free loaner is one of the perks that BMW prides itself on, and if my dealer stopped, I would go another another dealer. I' reading more and more dealer are not given loaners out to people... I guess I should be happy I get a strip down 320i then...
I made an appointment to have the 1 year maintenance done on my 2014 335i that I picked up during a ED last August. I only have 6,500 miles on the car, but the dealership scheduled me for an appointment anyway.
When I asked about a loaner, I was told I wasn't eligible because this was considered "minor" service. Is this normal? FWIW, this is the same dealership where I bought the car.
It totally depends on the dealership since this is not something that is required by BMW.
The dealership that I go to claims they will not give a loaner for oil services (they have a shuttle or one can wait). They gave me one because I took it in for a warranty issue and they did the service at that time.
If I need to leave my car for service, I need to make the appointment at least 2 weeks ahead of time to get a loaner. But for an oil change (which I will have done this coming Tuesday) I just wait. It only takes an hour or so. I can take my laptop and get some work done.
For a regular service which takes 3hrs they offer me a loaner. I need to schedule it in advance. If its just a oil changes it hardly takes an hour and i would wait in the dealership when its done.
I have a great SA. I tell her what I need done and ask which day they would have a loaner for me. I always get an appointment a few days and get a loaner, no matter what the service is. And I have never bought a car from this dealership.
Yeah depends entirely on the dealership. My local one is terrible for sales (Rockville BMW formerly VOB) but awesome for service. Priority 1, no appointments needed, BMW loaner car for any service. They tried to tell me I couldn't get a loaner for my oil change, but I asked the newbie SA if I was expected to miss my 9am meeting (it was 8:30) and I quickly got a loaner anyways :rofl: (there was an entire fleet of them out front)
Dealer I buy from only offers a loaner on sched. maintainence so I use another dealer, closer to me actually, that gives a loaner for any service, including oil change. Normally I end up with a no-line or lux line 328i, but I scouted out a just returned 428i M Sport once & requested that. Occasionally an X3 or 5 series will be available, but seems the bulk of this dealers loaner fleet is basic 328i's.
We get a loaner no matter what the work is due to our special relationship with the BMW management and owners. In this world it really is who you know, but as some have pointed out. It's at the discretion of the dealership to provide loaners for the owners. Bigger the dealership, more loaners they can allocate, and vice versa.
I have to disagree on both accounts. I don't know a soul at my service dealership... never even get the same SA twice in a row... but they dole out loaners to everyone regardless of where you bought your car. They are medium sized dealership but have a huge loaner inventory.
My buying dealership (15 yr relationship) is the biggest in the area in a very big area. They could not be chintzier with loaners, basically scheduled maint. only.
The dealer I use for service (didn't buy my cars there) offers valet service for people within 50 miles of the dealership. They drop off a loaner at my house/office and take my car to the dealership. I have a dealership 10 minutes away but they suck, and it's a no-brainer when another dealership offers valet service. It's always a BMW loaner regardless of reason for service (state inspection, oil change, whatever).
I always drop off my car for any service that it needs and I always get a loaner. I never wait at the dealer for anything. The same held true when I owned an MB or Audi.
Your low-mileage 1 year service shouldn't take more than 2 hours; I can kill that much time shopping their inventory, drinking their coffee and eating some munchies, making any calls / checking email etc from their business center. If it's ever going to take longer because something is 'discovered' my dealer SA ALWAYS asks if it'd be more convenient for me to take one of their loaners ... once in a great while they may have to hunt one down but it's never taken more than 30 minutes.
Never had a problem getting a loaner for any service, as long as I scheduled an appt. ahead of time and specifically requested it. (Schomp BMW/Denver).
It's entirely dependent upon the dealership. My local BMW shop has a fleet of loaners, but they often discourage your use of them for "short" service visits. And if you do want one, you may have to wait weeks to get an appointment.
The VW dealership I take my Passat to, on the other hand, gives me a loaner every single time I go in if I want one. Even if it's for something that takes 1-2 hours to fix. And my Passat is 9+ years old. More often than not, I get an Audi loaner instead of a VW. Full disclosure: I usually deal directly with the service manager/director of service, as he's provided great service for me... which in turn I provided him with more business from family and friends. Not sure if that makes a difference in my case.
I made an appointment to have the 1 year maintenance done on my 2014 335i that I picked up during a ED last August. I only have 6,500 miles on the car, but the dealership scheduled me for an appointment anyway.
When I asked about a loaner, I was told I wasn't eligible because this was considered "minor" service. Is this normal? FWIW, this is the same dealership where I bought the car.
My service center gives a loaner no matter what. Reason is they keep the car for hours on end no matter what. Oil change? Yes, five hours later...so they give a loaner.
Some of the dealerships have such nice waiting areas you almost don't want a loaner. My friend took her Lexus in for an oil change last Friday. She described the waiting area and I must say it sounded really nice. Pool table, massaging chairs (she said it cuffs your arms and legs and massages your feet too), munchies, TV, work center. Makes me almost want to buy a Lexus!
To answer your question...I've always received a loaner no matter what work I'm having performed. Ralph Schomp and Murray BMW. My indy even provides loaners.
I've always been provided a BMW loaner - regardless of the dealership - if the work couldn't be completed the same day. I do know people at all of the dealerships that service my cars, but I don't think that has any real bearing on anything.
i didn't get a loaner, but i didn't really mind...had a 1:00 appointment, but dropped car off at 11:00 while wife and i ran some errands...SA called a couple of hours later saying car was ready...i only live 10 minutes from the place, so not much of an inconvenience getting there
but now i'm being bugged to complete the survey...do i mention not being offered a loaner when apparently so many other dealerships around the country offer them so readily?
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